Yogan's Journey to Life

Yogan Who am I? What is my story? So I am trying to define myself, and place myself into words, categories, and descriptions, such that it encompasses my whole life, and all of my life experiences. I have experiences that cover spirituality, new age, gurus, christianity, philosophy, psychology, academics, living in the United States, specifically Miami, Florida, Hispanic culture, the Spanish language, going to public and private schools, being a guy, being an introvert, having dogs and cats, having divorced parents that get along, having a brother and a sister, being 24 years old, having a bachelors degree in psychology, having lived in Portland for 4 years, while studying at Reed College, being a straight A high school student, feeling lonely/alone, having crushes, being in relationships, having had sex, wanting to be married with someone forever, not knowing what to do with my life, not knowing or being sure there is a God, also not even caring because I hold myself to my own ...

I was in my final year of college. I felt nervous about the whole thing. I was mostly nervous about my senior thesis, which is this year long project. I felt nervous about picking the right topic for me. I felt that I had the obligation to do something that was personal. At the same time I felt scared because I was already expecting that the people in my life would not understand why I am picking something so strange or unusual. Why not pick something easy? Why not pick something you know you can finish? Why not pick something that uses the available resources in front of you? Because those things should not ultimately decide what it is I will do. Because the most important thing is picking a topic that I would be glad fighting tooth and nail for, because it has something of value to offer to everyone. And I felt scared, and I knew that it was alright because I was standing up. So I learned to let no one, nothing, not fear or anything define me. That I must define m...

My Story: The Gift You Can Only Give Yourself When I was around 13 years of age, my parents sat me, my brother and sister down and led us within a session of meditation. My parents were really interested in Eckhart Tolle at the time. I, naturally, was interested in Eckhart Tolle as well. My brother and sister did not take to Eckhart Tolle the same way I did. I read his book the Power of Now. One thing I took from my parents and from reading Eckhart Tolle's book was that it was important to stop the mind or to get enlightened. Because the mind or unconsciousness was the cause of human misunderstanding and the self-inflicted harm we do to ourselves. So this was something I kept close to my heart. I took this idea very seriously. I felt out of place from those around me. I felt that no one understood me. In some ways I felt I did not understand myself. I just spoke, and I would search for words within myself, words that sounded right, that when I said them I felt they were the right ...