For several years now, it’s been clear to me: everyone needs a friend like my Snow Leopard Guardian Angel — a bright light, a beacon, a North Star, a teacher, a wise counselor, a polished mirror to see your own reflection.

The more people and relationships I encounter, the more I realize how rare and precious a friend you are. With no time or space to waste, you push outward on every wall of my being. Your words and actions never idle or sit stagnant. …

Life is good. As if there aren’t enough miracles to be grateful for — my heart, breath, and awareness, the sun’s warmth, the earth’s protection, the most present and awake partner, my Snow Leopard guardian angel, exemplary moral parents, the list goes on — I have been graced with four of the most curious, creative, playful, loving, and just downright good children.

Each is an undeniable testament to their mother — to her astonishing and powerful presence, to her goodness and wisdom, to the keen awareness she places around her words and actions, which she paints with such remarkable tact…

You are a miracle. Don’t think so? Point to something more miraculous, more awe-inspiring, more marvelous, than you, than your existence.

Yet, if you’re anything like me, this miraculous occasion, which we call life, is too easily and too often — in fact habitually — squandered in trivial pursuits. We compare, scrutinize, and pity ourselves and others. We gossip and fill the uncomfortable silence with our pointless words. …

You and I aren’t so different. Your skin may be a different color than mine. You may have Hindu or Catholic roots while I was raised in a Mormon culture. You may pee sitting down and I standing up. Your passport may say Peruvian and mine American.

But let’s not forget some basic facts here. We are each children of the Sun and Earth. We each want to be free from suffering, to be free from fear, hatred, and anxiety. We want to be safe, warm, and comforted. We all want a place or a person to call home. We…

Reverence is a companion — a strong force — in our ascent to the heavens. It continually raises us to higher states of being. Have you ever stood under the Milky Way, sat in a holy place, or been graced by the presence of someone whose wisdom and being you venerate? Have you ever felt awe, humility, or the attitude of devotion toward something much bigger than yourself, which inspired you to seek truth, wisdom, or understanding?

All inner development starts from this basic mood of the soul — the feeling that we have much to learn from the world…

Many of us are interested in personal growth — in cultivating faculties for our own pursuits — whether it be to climb the career latter, become famous artists or writers, or some other endeavor. But sometimes, when we walk the path of self-development, we forget our deeper intention — we find ourselves in our heads, we get lost in the rat race or in trivial and fleeting pursuits like money, sex, fame, etc.

To avoid this, then, for each step I take in the direction of improving my own faculties, I try to take two steps in the direction of…

“Children, love one another.” — John the Evangelist

If only these words could provoke in us the simple truth of our hearts, and guide us through life with steady hands and feet. Morality, though, can’t be established by preaching. People can’t just place moral precepts on us like stickers and expect them to change us permanently. Like the dry and lifeless symbols they are, they’ll just fall right off.

To really understand and shape your morality — your motivations, intentions, and behaviors — take a look inside yourself. Look inward to those impulses that shape your very being in this…