There is a sacred moment in every journey when the search must come to rest. It is only in this stillness, this quiet surrender, at that moment that we can open ourselves to the sacred forces at work around us.

In letting go of our constant striving, we make space for the very thing we’ve longed for, to reveal itself. It’s not found through effort or desire, but through embracing the silence within.

When we stop seeking, we can receive. The universe, or whatever higher power you believe in, speaks loudest in our moments of surrender. In stillness, we find the answers we’ve been searching for all along.

Nigel Lott teaandzen.org

“We cannot rationalize our trauma out of existence. We can only release it, by feeling it fully, by crying it out, by letting the energy return to the flow. Like a baby, we must cry out, not just when the need arises, but whenever we are called to release the shadow that clouds our heart. The key to healing is not in the mind’s attempts to make sense of it all, but in the soul’s call to let go, to return to love.”

Nigel Lott teaandzen.org

Even amidst chaos, dissonance, and the shadows that occasionally wrap around me, a deeper truth begins to unfurl. Simultaneously, the alchemy of existence, of all truth reveals itself….LOVE

This is my faith. My hope.

It has grown from the depths of experience, forged through a journey of pain and darkness I never thought I could survive—pain that surged like a storm at times, a wound so deep it felt as though it would never heal. But it was never about the why of the pain. The reason didn’t matter. What mattered was the truth that emerged from the darkness: within the deepest agony, I found a seed of transformation, waiting to bloom into light.

I’ve learned this truth over and over: when you allow courage to rise in your chest, when you place your faith not in what is seen but in the unseen love of the universe, you can transcend the pain. Like an alchemist turning base metals into gold, the universe works its quiet magic when we trust it and surrender to it. With each passing moment, pain is transmuted into something else… something pure, something utterly sacred.

In those moments of surrender, something wondrous occurs. Time and space shift, and in the space that opens between worlds, love flows through. Love is not some abstract ideal; it is the very substance of the universe, flowing through everything. All things, all souls, are connected in this vast sea of love. And when we surrender… when we let go… we return to it, beyond the illusion of our separateness.

Hope springs eternal. This phrase didn’t originate with me, but it is an ancient truth, whispered by countless sages throughout history….a truth passed down like a sacred flame, flickering in the hearts of those who dared to believe. Hope is the breath before the storm. It’s the subtle prelude that stirs the soul to action, to rise and remember the light within. It’s the first step in the dance that moves us from fear to courage, from courage to faith.

And when faith is born, it arrives like a gentle but unshakable force, reminding us that love is not something we need to seek. It is always present. It has never left us. Even when we are lost in the darkest forest of anger, fear, or grief, love remains. It is within us, woven into our very bones, waiting patiently for us to return.

Love is the unbroken thread that ties us to the divine. It is the fire burning at the center of our being, even when we cannot see it. It calls us home, again and again, no matter how far we wander. And this return is not one of shame, but of grace. We return to love as if we never truly left. And we didn’t. We never did, for no matter how hard we try, love always remains.

Whatever you hear, whatever you read….. transmute it all through the heart, let it be rinsed in Love.

Nigel Lott teaandzen.org

“A Day of SilenceCan be a pilgrimage in itself.A Day of SilenceCan help you listenTo the Soul playIt’s marvelous lute and drum.Is not most talkingA crazed defense of a crumbling fort?I thought we came hereTo surrender in Silence,To yield to Light and Happiness,To Dance within,In celebration of Love's Victory”

Hafiz.

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Best to sit still with humility; dumbfounded by a profound truth, than to stand with pride believing your knowledge is all there is to know….Hafez

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When we open our hearts in service to another sentient being, we are not merely performing a worldly action, but participating in a divine act of spiritual connection. Through service, we are lifted beyond our perceived duality, recognizing the One that has always been present, beyond our imagined separateness. The moment we offer ourselves in service, we surrender to a higher calling…..one that invites us to transcend the illusion of separation and merge with the boundless love at the core of all life. In this sacred giving, we align with the sacred flow, a current as ancient as time itself.

Service is a doorway to the beloved, an invitation to remember our true nature. As we open ourselves to another, the boundaries that once defined us….our identities, our separateness, our fears….begin to dissolve. In these moments, we are no longer "I" and "them," but united in the one sacred heart that beats within us all. The act of service becomes a prayer, an offering of love, where the lines between self and other blur and fade into the oneness of the divine.

Through service, we are reminded of our interconnectedness, of the sacred presence that flows through every being. The more we serve with an open heart, the more we perceive that love is not a limited resource, but an infinite wellspring flowing abundantly from the Source, nourishing all who are open to receive. In giving from the heart, we receive not just gratitude or recognition, but the profound experience of touching the beloved within ourselves and others.

In this sacred connection, this divine interplay, we discover that service is not about what we give, but what we awaken within ourselves. Every act of love, every moment of care, is an opportunity to attune to the sacred rhythm of the universe and connect with the higher Self that resides within us. As we open our hearts to another, we simultaneously open the gateway to the fullness of our own soul, realizing that we are both the giver and the receiver of the LOVE that binds all of creation.

Service is the path that leads us back to the ONE, back to the realization that we are all expressions of one Source. As we give, we are reminded that in the great spiritual truth, there is no separation between "us" and "them." We are all emanations of the same eternal love, and every act of service is a reflection of the love that is ever-present, ever-giving, and ever-flowing within and through us all. Through service, we remember that in loving another, we are loving ourselves, and in loving ourselves, we are loving the ONE LOVE that resides in every being.

Nigel Lott teaandzen.org

Love is the fountain

of life-giving water.

No one and no thing can live without love.

This expression varies according to the capacity of the receiver and the giver,

and in its highest form,

love is divinity.

To love is to live.

You cannot really live without love.

The omnipotent laws of nature have this power in its divine potency pervading the universe.

The right to strike at the chord of love only belongs to the brave and sturdy at heart.

Essentially, love is self-communicative.

Those who do not have it catch it from those who have it,

for one cannot absorb love without making a response.

The secret of true love is that it is unconquerable and irresistible.

True love gathers power and spreads itself until it transforms everyone else.

Humanity will attain a new mode of life through the unhampered interplay of pure

love as it spreads from heart to heart.

A sacred truth imparted to me many years ago by my then principal teacher, my guru…Yogiraj Sat Gurunath Siddanath… among the many priceless gifts he bestowed upon me, this one remains etched in my heart:

"Anything not rooted in the soil of love, flowers not."

This simple yet profound message speaks to the very essence of life. Any thought, word, or action not anchored in love from its very inception cannot truly bloom. It cannot endure. It is destined to fail because it is not aligned with the most fundamental truth….the will of the universe, which is love.

Any intention, whether thought, word, or deed, that arises without love at its core, and without its companions….kindness and compassion….pulls us away from the truth. It steers us away from the heart of creation. And like all that is false, it will ultimately fade into nothingness.

For in the grand design of the universe, only love endures. It is the driving force of existence, and everything that is not rooted in love will ultimately perish, for it is not part of the eternal flow of creation. The universe is built to create love, and nothing else.

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL