Linkbacks and updates

If your blog has been reviewed by me, and you would like to linkback blogside to the review on Spiritual Blog Reviews, I've created three different pics for you. Thanks to Prema for suggesting this! If you are interested in putting one of these up, please email me.

Also, please help me keep your information accurate by emailing me on changed information and broken links. (Feel free to keep reminding me as sometimes I get a bit behind on email)

A big THANK YOU to all for making Spiritual Blog Reviews the Number One result on a Google Search for Spiritual Blogs! It is my great hope that every seeker who finds this site can click through to a community, a thought, an author or an interest that may resonate with them. Namely, YOUR SITES! I'd also like to recognize the many, many emails that I get (which I don't always respond to, but please keep them coming!) suggesting excellent blogs for future reviews. Thank you!

Suggestions on how I can improve this site? Or, perhaps you'd like to contribute a review of your own? I'm interested and hope to hear from you. This site is about the spiritual blog community, a world that's getting wider and deeper by the minute as more and more people define what "spiritual" means to them and decide to write about it online.

With love, honor and respect,

Darcy

Indranet

Topics/Categories: Technology, Meditation, Tantra, Psychology

Something that touched me:

I've seen some horrifying things in life, but nothing quite like watching my son plop down in front of a television set and become a lifeless zombie like creature, nonreactive to even the words "ice-cream." This zombie-mode is well known and I've heard countless jokes over the years. But I didn't know that the phenomenon can actually be attributed to alpha-waves and is explained in this article:

Meditation and staring at a screen share the same brain waves, but are actually different internal states. It seems that looking at a screen hooks people seducing them with a fake feeling of relaxation through the presence of alpha waves and even lower brain frequencies.

This relaxation, though, not being integrated with an attentive and aware observation of the contents of the mind (as happens in meditation) gives rise instead to an internal restlessness and stress, often unrecognized until it becomes full-blown.

What's interesting, and as many mother's already know, is to question what exactly my son is learning from this pseudo-meditative commercialized input? I suppose I can take a gander- he came to me the other day and said so clearly in his 31/2-year old voice, "I love John McCain."

Review: I come across a lot of "technology luminary" types who have their thumb on the pulse of search, the internet and new technologies. Between you and I, at some point, the lingo, the discussions and the ideas fall into some categorized part of the mind and I begin yearning for something More. And then I found Indranet.

Meet Ivo Quartiroli, a logical mind tempered with breath, action and passion. Let me just attempt on this simple blog page to categorize in one word what Indranet's theme might be: Connection. Just think for a moment about what form connection takes in your life and on what levels. I may be presumptive in saying that those of you who are reading this are fairly "plugged in" to the world of computers whether on the user level or more advanced levels. You may appreciate that Ivo has delved deeply into the association between the soul of technology and the spirit of humanity. Example: from the post I Click Therefore I am, Toward Outsourcing our Identity:

Our identities are becoming ever more fluid, we feel affiliated with various situations with only a part of ourselves. The real communities of family and friends too are now more like windows which maybe we would prefer to also manage in our computers. Lifelogging projects want to extend the scope of our life activities which are processed and managed online.

The questions raised by Ivo in his superbly crafted articles (indeed, they go beyond the scope of just posts) beg the reader to examine his/her place before the computer, the TV, the blackberry or bluetooth. Can you go a bit deeper and think about words like anonymity, global consciousness, and social networking in the context of this paragraph from Wireless communication and reality mining as a reflection of pervasive consciousness:

La comunicazione senza fili e il reality mining come riflesso della consapevolezza globale

I observed that through our technological achievements humans unconsciously attempt to produce realms that emulate more advanced psychological and spiritual levels of human development, levels that can't be reached by the conceptual mind. What is achieved through technology is a simulation of the mystical conditions of a global mind that pervades the universe. The longing toward rejoining with the global mind is felt by every human being, but when we still identify ourselves with our individual ego and mind, we can't abandon those and be embraced by a wider mind. Nonetheless we unconsciously perceive a faint echo of the spiritual global realms and we construct through technology a simulated reflection of a pervasive conscious universe. This pale reflection on the technological level won't threaten our individual ego, still not ready to melt with the global consciousness.

True to form, Ivo explores connection on levels within levels; The self, the input and output, the social sphere, the spiritual realm, the physical realm, sexual intimacy... connection implies firewire in all necessary channels to achieve a higher level. From the post Disembodying at Broadband Speed:

Our sense of personal identities is much connected to the presence of our body and its feedbacks. Mystics say that when a person becomes spiritually enlightened, the connection with his body/mind is not the same as before since the identification with our limited structures is being replaced by a wider embrace.

I suspect that Ivo is something of a bibliophile, as you will find quotes and ideas from a variety of books, some of which may just inspire you to check them out from your local library. Whether or not you feel a connection with Indranet, Ivo's search for integrated awareness as presented to his readers provides a refreshing look at the technology of humanity from a luminary's perspective. Many thanks to you Ivo!

Feed: Posts Comments
URL: http://www.indranet.org/

This unification process of internal energies didn’t come as a “technical” skill, but as giving light with awareness at what was preventing the integration of the heart and the body. And much of what I saw in myself was rooted in collective religious conditionings, even though I had not personally been much conditioned in that sense. Those collective messages are stronger than our personal or family histories; they are just in the thoughts sphere that is breathed in by everyone.

--Port 2.0

Practical Spirituality

Topics/Categories: Family, Inspiration, Astrology, Motherhood, Gratitude, Dance

Something that touched me: Tumbling-what a fascinating number of applications that word has in my life. I recently visited the beach in Encinitas, CA and could have walked for days picking up rock after rock, polished smooth by the rolling, and washing, and tumbling of the ocean. And rocks don't complain about the loss of minerals, or the disintegration of a quartzite vein. In fact, all I saw was serenity as they sat, basking in the sun, roost for a fly, shelter for a crab, bathed by the tide and admired by me. Earlier this year, I found myself not quite so content with my own personal tumbling. Why would my computer have the gall to crash, sickness invade my household, finances sneer in my face and yet another frost kill my seedlings? Family death and friends giving life all wrapped up into a span of weeks.

I think trying to keep your feet on the ground is instinctual on some level. Where spirit kicks in is in the process of just lifting them up and tumbling, grounded in the consciousness that you are present in polishing yourself.

Here's an inspiration: Being Tumbled. I love the way Staci moves her words together, as if they were the rocks tumbling with her:

Today I feel open, curious, my vision feels sensitive as it adjusts from underground to daylight. I have decided to trust this constant slow. Something is growing here in the almost stillness. I am blessed to be able to stay with it.

Review: If you sit for a moment and recall something that you created- a pot, a garden, a poem, a blog, a child...think in the moments leading up to it's completion of the anticipation, then the exhilaration, the gratitude when complete, the responsibility of what to do with it afterward, the maintenance. Let me distill it down: with the birthing of something comes a whole slough of movements arising from it's creation. Practical Spirituality swirls around those everyday movements. Not so coincidentally, the author, Staci Boden is a certified Doula, helping women with their own magical child birthing moments (although the site is not limited to this in scope). For an in depth view of Staci's helping hands and heart, view her profile page.

Everyone experiences the moments of revelation differently, but Staci certainly has a unique and powerful way of expressing, delivering and involving her readers. Throughout her posts you'll see simple lines that might hit you contraction hard. Here's one from A Visit With Shakti that I empathized with: While on the outside I may look like a domesticated mother, inside a creative fire burns, fueling an ecstatic hunger to express.

Really, whether you're a mother or not, sometimes, the skin seems so mundane to hold such passion. I think part of Staci's journey that she shares on her blog is about bringing forward that exuberance for life-yes, even from an ordinary looking persona. For example, in her post entitled Are you hungry for meaning she puts a little shape into what she believes "spirituality" to be:

The term “spiritual” often leads to religion and God. But for me spirituality is simply a hunger for meaning. It is hopefully something that we can lean on during hard times. It offers insight into how we treat ourselves and others. Spirituality is a relationship with the unknown mystery of life; an energy that is difficult to quantify or touch. It’s not something we can use to get what we want so we can feel more in control over life’s challenges.

I think Staci honors the Unknown in her blog in subtle ways- by addressing the mystical connection (as in A messenger from the unknown: A big messenger in forming a relationship with the unknown is synchronicity.), or physically acknowledging the space a body takes on the journey to form that relationship. Here's a beautiful post on Dance entitled Movement is my medicine:

What makes moving spiritual for me is the opportunity to become aware as I dance. On a good day, I experience many levels of learning at once. I feel my body from the inside. I notice how energy expresses itself through me. As my feet move up and down, the earth holds me; as my arms open high, the stars shine and replenish me. Joy and grief transform through my skin as damp release. Thoughts come and hopefully, they go. Dreams arrive and grow into ideas.

Growth, dreams, birthing, dancing, nurturing, sharing and learning--here swirls Staci Boden. Enjoy her blog and her beauty. Thank you Staci for sharing your richness and wealth.

After about 8 months of letting go, diving inward, falling into the unknown and just being, form is birthing me into surprising directions. Along the way I have done my best, not always gracefully, to listen and follow. Some of my choices made no sense to the outside world. For years. But I’m seeing that if I hadn’t traveled here or there I would have missed essential threads in the tapestry of faith that is just now coalescing into being.
I now recognize how rare in life these moments are and am so grateful for the reminder to trust–myself and the unknown. I am a baby touching the tip of grandma’s wisdom, marveling at her presence.

-Sacred Life Sunday: Connection

Feed: RSS and Email

URL: http://practicalspirit.wordpress.com/

Holistic Personal Development

Topics/Categories: Health, Personal Development, Consciousness, Perception
Something that touched me: It is so strange to all of the sudden wake up and realize how my walk through the last few months has been so unconscious. Bringing myself back to the present moment brings myself back to joy--It's easier said than done, as we all know- I can't tell you how many business meetings I've been in recently where I've planned out what I'm having for dinner, reinforced my evening schedule, and created a to-do list in my head a mile long. Of course, we find the balance between this frantic, fast paced culture within ourselves, each in our own way. My guidance is the present. Awareness of the joy of being alive, appreciation for those around me, observation of beauty, flowing of events, emoting, retreating, releasing...

Here's a post that allowed some reinforcement of my flow for me- The Head and the Heart.

When we use consciousness to give us direction in life, we become more and more aligned with the power of Infinite Consciousness that pervades the universe. This power gives the will to be conscious to all that is finite in the universe – to be in harmony with the symphony called life. It is the power that evolves the soul from lower life forms to higher life forms. It is the power that propels everyone, in their own perfect time, from lives of limitation and ignorance to the eternal experience of Infinite Power, Knowledge, and Bliss.

Review: While the term "holistic" tends to be bandied about fairly often, I would say this blog is aptly named for content and feel and aligns with the true sense of the word. The author, Gregory Allen Butler says this about his blog:

Holistic personal development differs from traditional approaches to personal development by having one primary prerequisite: an inner connection to the source of being. That is the awakening of conscious awareness. When that is made, personal development becomes a process of effortless mastery.

"A process of effortless mastery"- I find this term so appropriate to this blog. Each post supports this process in one way or another. Most of the posts are instructive and some others personal, or at least express flavorful opinion. Here's an interesting question from the post Wrecking Ball through the Wall on conditions we create in our lives:

The world is so out of balance. People, after all, are dying of starvation while others are dying of obesity. It seems to me that more people care about winning the lottery than finding inner peace. More people care about who wins the Super Bowl than how much of the polar ice caps melt.
How did this state of affairs come about? This state of spiritual ignorance. A state of existence whose priorities are skewed from egoism and selfish considerations. How is it that we live in a world where disharmony, greed and selfishness are not even listed in DSM IV, the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders?

Moving past conditioning may not be as effortless as we would like, but there are some great tools placed before us on this blog. If you are looking for something to help you out of a rut, or give you that one phrase to make it all "click", you just might find it here. When the downward spiral flows in, this site might wash something up...(In fact, I searched the blog site for the term "downward spiral" and it actually came up with a post. Not surprising as Gregory has posted regularly since November of 2006.)

While you may think this sounds like a self help book blog, I would advise against scoffing and waving your hand toward your sagging bookshelf. Finding something interesting on this site is simple. Applying it, not so simple, perhaps... Like Holistic Goal Setting, parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5-"How many times have you decided on a course of action and simply didn’t follow through with it?"

This blog is a motivating and challenging opportunity for spiritual seekers to find nuggets of wisdom to adopt a more holistic lifestyle. Thank you Gregory for your contributed observations as you follow your own bliss!

Feed: Entries and Comments
URL: http://holistic-personal-development.com/

A soul on fire with longing for the infinite is a soul free from the ruts of conditioned thinking. It’s like the drop of water making its way down a ditch, to a stream, to a river, to finally reach the ocean. And in doing so, discovering that it is the Ocean itself.
-Patterns of Consciousness

Welcome Back

Yes, it's been a while since my last post. It's certainly not for lack of activity in my life! As many of you know, the speed of life with a small child very often rivals the speed of a Wall Street businessman's life. Sometimes, it's essential to put all of our electronics aside, camp, go to the beach and just be with yourself...go to ground, so to speak.

So I'm back- and weaving between work travel, work commute and three-year-old will be posts on excellent blogs. Please stay tuned!

Darcy

Shift Your Spirits

Topics/Categories: Spirit Guides, Spiritual Blogging, Writing, Angels, Webpage design
Something that touched me: So I'm sitting here in Las Vegas, of all places, between conference classes for marketing, exhibiting and trade show professionals. I'm focused on why I'm here- to learn how to make my company's message concise, clear and enticing on the display floor. What's our story and how do we set ourselves apart from the myriad other search engine creators out there kind of thing.

Admittedly, there's not a whole heck of a lot of excitement in a search box, relevance ranking and clustering of terms. What is the trick to writing so that people glean something of value and walk away nodding saying, "yes, I want to read more?" In the high-tech industry I find it challenging. But even my personal message needs refining at times. How do I differentiate myself, amidst these women and men in business suits with cell phones pressed against their ear and serious looks of concentration? I simply SMILE at everyone.
Of course, there's more to writing copy than smiling-and not all books are helpful, but Slade is. Here's an excerpt from Spinning Your Story:

I’d like to continue my thoughts on the difference between Your Story/Your Identity and the details, events, and plot-line “ingredients” of your life.
A time-line of details, or the conflict of events, is only a small part of a story. Consider Patricia’s articles about abuse — it’s not your fault if you are victimized (an event). You can’t choose what external forces invade your life; you can’t control the actions of other people.
So what do you do with a story of abuse? What do you do with a story of disease or some other tragic hardship?
Spin
You do what any good storyteller, journalist, writer, or filmmaker does — you choose the energy of a story that transcends the details. There’s not a single person on the planet who doesn’t have all the necessary ingredients for tragedy. But look at the recipe for Stories of Survivors — the details, the actions, the events — the elements that make up the story of a Victim are the same raw materials that you can use to tell the story of a Survivor.

Review: Slade Roberson- His name fluttered across my screen for the first time when I started blogging last year. I have since run across his name at least once per month (usually more) from bloggers who reference him, his site and his advice. Slade says:

My own blogging mission is two-fold:

• to inspire you to shift your perspective on the life you are already living into the unique, powerful, spiritual mission you know it’s supposed to be


• to show you how to use simple, extraordinary, web-based tools you already have access to — like email and blogs — to share your mission with the world

The bouquet of topics Slade talks on is refreshing and really does fulfill his blogging mission--you'll see topics from writing to spirit guides. Of course, on one level this makes perfect sense- there has always been the mysterious muse that graces the page. But Slade doesn't infer that he's inspired by some nebulous pen; he writes about communicating with spirit guides frequently, but also on communication with people. Every post you read seems to be about connection - with you, with me, with spirits, with nature, with angels, with blogs, etc.

Slade is clairaudient- which means he "hears things"...But instead of just relating the words, Slade actually shares the process, the journey, communication tips and revelations. Here's an excerpt from Ghost in the Flame Part 1:

“What is your name?” I immediately asked him.
“Harris,” he said clearly, in a sound I can’t call a whisper, because it swelled, with a surge of layers, more volume — the name came like a chord, as if several voices spoke in unison, all of them his. Earthbound spirits often present names or simple sentences to me this way, with an eagerness and added force, like a very young child who has only recently discovered he can answer the question.

Why else visit the site of a man who sleeps with books and wears a magic ring? (7 Random and Weird Things About Me.) Because it's not just about spirits-it's about increasing awareness of the community of spirits that surrounds you, intangible or otherwise. If you're a blogger, this may be something you've thought about; how do you increase traffic to your blog? How do you write in a way to keep people coming back? How do you boost your subscribers? There are juicy articles just waiting for you to bite in on his Behind the Screens page. You'll also notice that Slade is VERY active with his comments--have a question? Expect an answer.

Along the same lines, many of you have written me asking for advice with your new blog. Here it is: go to Shift Your Spirits. Spend some time reading--there's a reason why Slade has over 60 comments on some of his posts-- He knows what he's doing and he's sharing it with us. Slade is just one of those foundational steps in the growing online spiritual community.

Many thanks, Slade, for opening so many doors for your readers!

This web site — this broadcast channel — this techno-vessel is just one of the strands of the Web where we communicate. This is just my thread in the tapestry of the Stories and the Mysteries. At any time, you may weave the silver cord and the sky blue hyperlinks of your own voice into this Chorus of Consciousness, this great big ball of conversation we call the Web.
Doesn’t It Sound Enormous?Way too big for such an ugly little word –blog.

From Why I Blog

Feed: Via feed or email subscription

URL: http://sladeroberson.com/

Awakening Sense

Topics/Categories: Self-Inquiry, Psychology, Awakening
Something that touched me: I helped a friend try on a wedding dress today for a wedding that was cancelled last week. This couple had been serenely happy-in fact, I'd say blissful, until something jogged an old structural weakness in one of them and it all came tumbling down. They are working it out, but it made for interesting conversation over satin, beaded shoes and a friendly little seamstress who scrunched together the hemline and mentioned out of the blue "life is a series of simplicities all chunked together to form complexities." My friend, nearly in tears, held it in until we were alone and then gusted out her emotions about her ex-fiance-she loves him, but is beginning to demand respect. In order for her to reach this point, though, the whole thing needed to explode. The structure that they had built together prior to this point had a foundation of insecurities, control issues and platitudes all covered over with a nice layer of stucco. Reminded me of this post: Humpty Dumpty (pt. 1).

The Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme reminds me of our inner resistance to change, to acceptance, to transformation. Could it be that Humpty Dumpty is just afraid of change? Could he be hiding his own connection with spirit from himself?
If we allow our "old selves" to be dismantled and we are confident of a positive outcome then there is......a real opportunity. Dismantled means just to let things fall apart so they can be re-arranged more creatively.
This is the "adaptive mechanism" of spirit in action. It is the phoenix rising on whatever level we can let this happen. Finally it is becoming more human, more alive and more awake. It is accepting that the gift of Awakening Self is ever-present. (also see Humpty D. part 2)

Review: The idea of awakening, as you can guess from the title, is the main current of this blog. And this theme is swift and powerful. It's almost like wading into a lake for the first time and feeling your feet sink into a soft bottom when the surface is glassy...Awakening Sense, in my mind, is about pulling together the sinking feet, the flow of the water, and the crisp air you breathe into one single inhalation of consciousness- and each person is wading into the lake differently. I loved the acknowledgement of the metaphorical lake in this post "Common Domain."

How is awakening our "real common domain?"
One viewpoint: that it is an inevitable event for us all, that this is simply a matter of time and life-times. This event would be like a grand earthquake that levels the entire playing field of consciousness....and the one of the many becomes the One in its Unity State.
Another viewpoint: that awakening is like a series of tremors, a process of preparations. The starting point would be anywhere, because everything is part of the same big picture. This is a process common to us all. This is an activity we are all involved with whether consciously or unconsciously. Both viewpoints about awakening apply to us. We are all in the same boat, the same domain. Whatever we seek and desire is a reflection, no mater how distorted, of that Oneness that finally, or suddenly, becomes our True Common Domain.

There is a scholarly sense to this blog, but old-school, as though you are walking into a hidden back room where you might smell wine casks and expect a secret gnostic meeting. But the exploration of awakening from this Anonymous author (purposefully so, I might add) isn't dust- laden, by any means. These explorations carry with them that tingly feeling your foot gets when the blood rushes back into it after going to sleep. From the post "Credible Sources"--

These posts are original material, but not based on any spiritual "expertise" on my part. If asked what my credentials were I would say none in particular! I have simply re-configured what I have absorbed, pondered, and wondered about.
You will notice the lack of links to sources and resources. Why is that? To emphasize the Inner Resource that each one can link with; to underline that each of us actually can recognize and do this in their own way.

If you're looking for a blog to make your feet tingle, well, this may not be it. But it may make your mind tingle, and possibly open your heart up a little more so the blood can rush in. The navigation on the blog is simple-there are only three categories. But if you want to start with the basics of what this excellent blog is about, try this Overview page. Otherwise, let the lake bottom squeeze between your toes, steady yourself in the current and breathe deep. Many thanks to our unknown author for the very present and very real Awakening Sense.

Remembrance is one of the great spiritual keys; remembrance of Self, of the Beloved One. It opens doors and invites new insights and new feelings. Part of the natural cycle of remembrance is forgetfulness, indifference, doubt, etc......in other words these are natural reactions by those parts of us that are in fact not so natural.

From Key to the Treasure

Feed: Yes
URL: http://awakeningsense.typepad.com/