 Meditation is practicing being in the moment of now. Its many forms attest to the challenge of finding and acknowledging that elusive moment. One would think capturing the experience of now would not be that hard, but in fact its difficulty lies in its brevity. By the time the moment of now is touched, it slips into the past. In reality, now exists in that nano-measured time of no thought, no awareness, which allows all thought and all awareness to exist at the same time. It is the moment of being within and without time. It is very complex and yet deceptively simple. It occurs in the breath, or in moving past the awareness of breath. In that moment, there comes the knowledge that, in reality, all time is now. This is important because it allows us to release regrets (past) and expectations (future)—we can live satisfied in the moment, in the now. We can move from now to now to now in a series of mindful, centered moments. Take a few moments during the day to center into now through focusing on your breath. This practice forms the basis and grows the control for other forms of meditation. Practice being centered in now and let that awareness inform your life. Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list.
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 It has been asked what the meaning of the word “Namaste” is that ends each of these entries. It is a Sanskrit word whose literal meaning is essentially “I bow to you.” It is pronounced “nuhm-uh-stay” but the “stay” is pronounced with a softness between “stay” and “steh.” In India and other areas in Asia, when people meet each other (or part from each other) they bring their palms and fingers together, fingers pointed up and their hands in front of their heart chakra. They bow slightly and intone the greeting “Namaste.” In doing so they are actually not simply bowing to the other person, but, rather, recognizing the spirit of the other person. “Namaste” means, therefore, “My spirit bows to your spirit” or “My spirit recognizes your spirit” or “My divine spark bows to your divine spark.” Essentially, this is a greeting that surpasses “Hi, how are you?” and instead recognizes the spirit in each person one meets while acknowledging one’s own spirit. It makes each greeting and parting a moment of spiritual connection, an awareness of that which binds us into one. Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list. (Art by Joy Argento)
 The body is fragile and subject to pain and disease. From a simple (yet painful) paper cut to broken bones, from a sprained ankle to cancer, from birth defects to the ailments of age, from a chemical imbalance contributing to depression to more complex mental illnesses, the body is an imperfect vehicle for the perfecting spirit. These imperfections provide the foundation for a wide variety of lessons for our spirits. Our responses to our physical challenges inform our internal realities and our interactions with others. Even a headache can change our ability to act optimally. Spirit, on the other hand, is always at the ready to be and do its best. When we are being our best selves, our spirits are overcoming the challenges in and to the body. On the other hand, sometimes these challenges obscure the spirit, subjugating it to a place from which its light cannot shine and inform the individual. In such cases, the mind and body act without the benefit of higher input. It is then that the individual can perpetrate harm to self or others, since its spirit has lost its connection to these beings. This loss is only an illusion—the spirit is still in communion, but the physical challenges obscure that reality. It is to be kept in mind that the body is ill, but the spirit is whole. The path of greatest progress is to acknowledge this with compassion. Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list. (Art by Joy Argento)
 Death is neither an ending nor a beginning, but it is, rather, a continuation of the process of the perfection of the spirit. It is in its way no different than birth into the physical realm. It is the rebirth of the spirit into the spiritual realm. As the physical body contains the spirit within the etheric body for a time on this plane, the etheric body continues to contain the spirit when it exists on the other side of the veil. This ethereal body is not fragile as is the physical one and has been described as a glowing white robe, but really that is what one sees with the physical eyes. Spirits are then described as angels, which are really a different type of being. When spirit is seen with the eyes of the heart, and not those connected to the brain, one can see that a departed spirit most often looks as he or she did in life, although often it is noted that the person looks younger than their physical body was at the time of the transition commonly referred to as death. This is because on the other side of the veil, the spirit can choose to appear as what they consider their best in their physical life, often in their mid-twenties or so. Spirits who transition when the body is still very young also seem to appear in young adulthood, because in the realm of spirit there is no concept of age, but, rather, simply of being. Not bound by space or time, spirit never dies. Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list. (Art by Joy Argento)
 Spirit is resilient. When faced with grief and loss, our spirit self, knowing the loss is really an illusion, is able to overcome and thrive. When a spirit leaves his or her body, memory soon returns of its eternal existence in the universe. Those left in the physical realm see a body bereft of life, not realizing that physical life is but one aspect of existence. In fact, the physical plane is a small portion of the totality that spirit experiences. The spirit incarnate knows what the physical mind often does not—that death is an illusion . . . there is no death and there are no dead. No one is gone from us forever and if one pays attention, the spirit that has left the physical plane will leave signs in the form of “coincidences” that contain meaning if we look closely and pay loving attention. If we wait patiently, with an open heart, the newly released spirit will find ways to communicate with us that he or she is not gone, but instead continues to be with us. On both sides of the veil, let life be celebrated in all its manifestations! Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list. (Art by Joy Argento)
 You are here for a purpose. At this moment you may not know what that purpose is. Some people know very early on what they are here to do, while others do not discover their purpose until later in life. But whenever we discover it, know that we knew before we came here what our purpose would be. And most of life in the body is focused in one way or another on remembering what our spirit chose as its life purpose. With so much to learn and experience while incarnate, the spirit that is you selects all sorts of lessons to help it fulfill its purpose. When you are born, you remember what that is for a while, but as you acquire language and learn, again, how to live in the physical world, the knowledge of the decisions made on the other side of the veil are lost to conscious awareness. Through quiet centering and meditation, as well as dream, one may discern glimpses of that time and those decisions. Unfortunately for the incarnate spirit, the path towards the goal of fulfilling its purpose is often one of trial and error, but there is a sure knowing when one discerns that one is on the path it is here for. This is the path made easy, a path the smoothness of which allows us to tread surely forward, knowing it has been ours all along. Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list. (Art by Joy Argento)
 Seemingly, all religions, belief systems, spiritually oriented organizations—organized or not—hold as a basic precept that you should do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. This principle takes many forms but the idea is the same, and for many this is called the Golden Rule—a precious metal symbolizing a precious idea. We can take this one step further and consider putting someone else’s needs ahead of our own, understanding in some manner—if not recognizing it consciously—that someday we may be in need of help, or solace, or comfort, or understanding and we would like to believe that someone would come to us with an open hand of caring. Being there for another person and giving them help in their time of need is a high form of love. Generosity and kindness increase spiritual awareness. We learn that doing the best for others often results in recognizing the best in ourselves. Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list.
 In the beginning, there was love, and the love inspired and informed the Creative Spirit, which sent this love into every corner of the universe and into everything in it, from the largest sun, to the smallest particle. Every rock, and tree, and stream, and animal, and being . . . everything was imbued with love. And, because everything was filled with love, each in its way expressed it and shared it, one to the next. The rocks, the trees, the streams, the animals, and the beings, all glowed with love, and each knew it was loved. As time passed, each being became aware of itself as separate from the next, and in this, each forgot they were filled with love and they were to share this love, one with the other. And into the spaces left by the withdrawal of the formerly all-permeating love, doubt sprouted and grew into vines of fear studded with thorns of hate. As decades and centuries and millennia passed, it was forgotten that the real substance and foundation of the universe is built on and through love. Now is the time to prune away the sprouts and vines and thorns and to remember, to feel, to reclaim the love that is our very existence and inheritance. Truly, we are love and all that is around us is love. It is time to become reconnected by and through love. Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list.
 When a tragedy (plane crash, mass shooting, bombing) or disaster (earthquake, hurricane, tsunami) occurs, we gather together, light candles, sing hymns, stand silently in prayer, sending peace, healing, and love. Our spirits reach out to each other and to those suffering and in pain. We gather, knowing that in that gathering, in the oneness this brings to our spirits, we can soothe and sustain. We can ask, as a group, for healing. This is not a baseless exercise; our beliefs and faith inform our actions and we know we are sustaining a positive change in the situation. Our real selves, our spirits, overcome the physical separateness we experience on this plane, and reach towards each other not simply for solace, but because it is in the nature of spirit to gather, to bring together positive energy, and send forth love and peace to balance the negative. Now, think . . . if we come together―without disaster or tragedy—with that same level of dedicated action and intention as a community, as a country, as a world, what effect we could have! Dwell on peace and love without ceasing! Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list.
 Natural disasters and manmade tragedies occur to impel us towards compassion and empathy. What happens to one, happens to us all. No matter the distance between the event and the witnesses, all are affected. Each disaster, each tragedy is part of a larger dynamic, the purpose of which is to learn. It is not comfortable to say this world is an illusion, that this plane of reality is an illusion, but the reality is the continuity of the spirit, and no matter the outcome of any event, the spirit remains intact and part of the whole. If we fill our world with hate, we feed the energy of hate and separation. If we fill the world with love, we feed the energy of love and community. Disasters and tragedies occur, seemingly with greater frequency the more we speak of and practice negative ideas. Each event that brings pain and sorrow to others challenges us to practice compassion, empathy, love, and generosity. Namaste! https://www.tobiehewitt.com/contact.html to join my mailing list.
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