Recently I have given up cigarettes, again, and I am really getting a first hand view of addiction and what it entails. The dictionary defines addiction as “being physically and mentally dependent on a particular substance, and unable to stop taking it without incurring adverse side effects.”  I have found this to be true. In looking at my addiction to cigarettes I have surely felt a physical and mental desire. To me, however, I find it much more difficult to deal with the mental traps. In my experience, the times when my mind plays a large role in urging me to have a smoke, are the times when my mind is reflecting on similar past experiences. For example, when I am at a bar enjoying a beer. Somewhere after two beers a voice in my head tells me how buzzed I will get from drinking and smoking, and the body wants to follow. Read More

A heightened wave of experiential, spiritual practice is beginning to appear. Much as we still dwell in Enlightenment rationality and what Karen Armstrong so tellingly sees as superficial modernity, society is also now becoming more aware than ever that theory, theology, conceptualization, and even intellectual understanding do not by themselves a balanced life make. Read More

Serving a Larger Cause, Maria Rodriguez

It’s a true joy being in charge of room rentals in our new location, with so many beautiful options to offer – The Grand Room and Studio on the second floor, both of which are dominated by floor to ceiling windows, and three rooms on the third floor that can hold anywhere from 6 to 60.  Since we arrived here in midtown, my phone has been ringing off the hook with rental requests. Read More