THE SPIRITUAL GROWTH MEASURING CUP –  “Many of us use spiritual principles as a power greater than ourselves.” “This makes sense to us.  Because we have tried many times to think ourselves into a better way of life.  Trying it the other way.   Practicing a better way of life by living according to spiritual principles, will eventually have an effect on our thinking.” (It Works, How & Why, p. 15)  “The real spiritual progress of the aspirant is measured by the extent to which he achieves inner tranquility.”  – Swami Sivananda (1887 – 1963) Hindu spiritual teacher

Out of Our Heads  – Sheryl Crow(4:26)

Swami Sivananda quotes (3:47)

Celtic Tranquility Meditation on (8:30)

In what ways have you determined that you’re making spiritual progress, lately?

Outer Calm = Inner Tranquility

By Rivka Caroline

“You shall dwell in sukkot seven days, every citizen in Israel shall dwell in sukkot, so that your descendants shall know that in sukkot I caused the Children of Israel to dwell when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 23:42–43)

For eight days we camp out in a sukkah. We eat there, we drink there, and we hang out there.

Here’s the funny part: The comforts of home are left inside the house, while we live life outside in a very basic, über-simple structure.

There are plenty of spiritual reasons as to why we make and dwell in a sukkah. I also think we might be onto something for those of us still living in cluttered homes (with its counterpart of cluttered thinking).

What is in a sukkah, exactly? Table, chairs, shared meals, guests, and great The comforts of home are left inside the house conversation. There is something very liberating about having a really bare-bones setup. No ornate lamps, no china closet, no piles of unopened mail. It’s the quintessential example of how the best things in life aren’t things.

The sukkah serves as a reminder of how temporal stuff really is. When we dwell outside in the simple, bare-walled sukkah, we look up at the star-filled sky through the sechach above and have a deeper realization of our dependence on G‑d. What a fabulous wake-up call to reprioritize our lives and make time and space for what really counts.”  (https://www.chabad.org/theJewishWoman/article_cdo/aid/2306039/jewish/Outer-Calm-Inner-Tranquility.htm)