Soul's Code

Congratulations to Xuan-An Thai, an upwardly-mobile seeker from Texas who took a clandestine trip to Cuba — and stumbled upon a smokin’ (cigar, that is) smiling Buddha

First, we asked everyone in the world to send Soul’s Code an image of a person, place or thing that inspires or “enlightens” them.

Then, some in our Soul’s Code circle may have quietly imagined  . . . ‘Megan Fox meditating at Machu Picchu’?

Still others may have projected: modern-day shaman, Tony Samara, imagining satori in San Francisco?

But we suspect that you fell in love with the winning entry (left) because Xuan-An’s moment of Zen-lightenment in Havana, Cuba is such a pristine revelation of the  serendipitous, sublime, shit-happens quality of being that defies linear thought.

We’ve extended the best, brightest and biggest Soul’s Code photo, video and art contest: Get featured on our homepage, in our next postcard . . . “Take” a shot at snagging a spiritual basket of prizes worth $250!

The idea: Show us a person, place or practice that inspires, or enlightens you. Email us an image or video clip. Finalists will have their work featured on our homepage, and the winner will receive a

Grand prize:

* A $50 lululemon gift card 
* A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
* The companion audio CD, Meditations for a New Earth, by Tolle’s companion, Kim Eng
* An energy reading with psychologist and healer, Smadar de Lange
* And for when you have Zinned too much, Vaishali’s Gemstone Alcohol Detoxifier

A dude doing a headstand in Times Square and a woman striking a tree pose in the ocean. Meet our meditation junkies!

For the latest Soul’s Code photo contest we asked readers to submit photos of themselves doing their spiritual thing — yoga, pilates, meditation, whatever — anywhere but where we’d expect to typically see them. We received scores of terrific entries — a guy perched atop a hotel banister, a couple poised along the ridge of a canyon — so cool, that we were called to feature our favorites in a new Soul’s Code slideshow, Meditation Junkies.

We chose two winners, and we’ll send both a $50 gift certificate to SoundsTrue, a sort of iTunes for spirituality.

Have a chance to be featured in a Soul’s Code slideshow. The prize, other than Web glory, is a $50 giftcard to www.soundstrue.com

Does the notion of striking a tree pose in the beverage aisle of your local supermarket seem downright ordinary? Then read on.

Here at Soul’s Code, we want to see photos of you doing your mind-body spiritual thing — yoga, meditation, pilates, Tai Chai and so on — anywhere but where we’d expect.

The yoga studio? Forget it. Try the boarding gate at the airport.

Congratulations to Michael Hampson, whose photo, “The Kiss,” won the first Soul’s Code Show us your Peak Experience photo contest. As Michael explains, “This is Drew and Katie at a benefit I organized. The band had just finished their set. He was so happy to share the moment with her.” [It almost looks like it could be Adrian Grenier in the HBO series, Entourage.]

Michael has won a $50 gift certificate to www.SoundsTrue.com, the iTunes of audio courses, books, videos, and music for all things spiritual.

Show us! *Not* the money. We want your Peak Experience

Enter the first (but not the last!) Post a Peak Experience photo contest!

The Good News: You don’t have to write anything! (Well, just a couple of lines).

Here’s how to enter . . .

(Left: Cinque Terre , the Italian Riviera)