Avoiding the Holes
Chatting not so long ago with a friend who is struggling to overcome the twin addictions of self-loathing and alcoholism, she announced that she had resigned herself to never being able to fully recover. To which I blurted, “But why would you wish to recover in the first place? What is it that you want [...]
A Horse With No Name
A mystic has informed you that across a vast ocean of water eternal happiness awaits. You gaze at the water from the beach, painfully aware that every attempt you’ve made to find happiness on this side of the water has failed, so why not? You immediately set out to lay claim to this everlasting reward [...]
I, Salmon
The motorist in front of me driving 10mph under the speed limit. An angst-ridden friend on the phone wondering how to increase his company’s sales. The blog post of a young woman bemoaning the absence of a man in her life on Valentine’s Day. A child’s psychosomatic illness because he has again forgotten his homework. [...]
When Universes Collide – Conclusion
In the late 1800s Swiss geologist Albert Heim was enjoying a climb in the Alps when a powerful gust of wind lifted him from the mountain and sent him plummeting to almost certain death. But a peculiar thing happened during his fall: instead of terror Heim experienced an overriding sense of love, joy, peace. “I [...]
When Universes Collide – Part II
So here I sit, the center of the known universe, population 1. If I dig and claw and scrape through all of the mind stuff accumulated over the past 47 years, if I burrow deep deep deep into the “known” part of that equation, what I uncover at the very core of my universal being [...]
When Universes Collide – Part I
You finish your coffee with a friend, rise and say your good-byes. As you exit the cafe something extraordinary occurs; something that almost always goes unnoticed. The focus of the entire universe gets up and goes with you. Like a spotlit actor moving across the stage, the universal spotlight remains fixed on you. Did you [...]
The Imagined Power of Positive Thinking
As a miserable teen I developed quite a crush on the self-help industry. On my darker days I could be found poring over the works of the industry’s earliest progenitors – Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, Mary Baker Eddy, Norman Vincent Peale. Later, I moved on to their modern-day successors – Wayne Dyer, Steven Covey, Tony [...]
Be Gentle With Yourself
Be gentle with yourself. It was a 'message' I received a few years ago during an attempted meditation that was going something like this: "Why do you always screw up your relationships? What is wrong with you? Here we go again, idiot!" You get the idea. And then something arose suddenly and completely and serenely [...]
The Suffering of Another
Live long enough and at some point all of us will find ourselves close to someone in profound pain. We’re not talking garden-variety suffering here. We’re talking about serious addiction, self-mutilation, suicidal despondency. Almost always we are talking about the end-point culmination of years of accumulated pain. There are no more tomorrows, the body is [...]
Avoiding the Holes
Chatting not so long ago with a friend who is struggling to overcome the twin addictions of self-loathing and alcoholism, she announced that she had resigned herself to never being able to fully recover. To which I blurted, “But why would you wish to recover in the first place? What is it that you want [...]
A Horse With No Name
A mystic has informed you that across a vast ocean of water eternal happiness awaits. You gaze at the water from the beach, painfully aware that every attempt you’ve made to find happiness on this side of the water has failed, so why not? You immediately set out to lay claim to this everlasting reward [...]
I, Salmon
The motorist in front of me driving 10mph under the speed limit. An angst-ridden friend on the phone wondering how to increase his company’s sales. The blog post of a young woman bemoaning the absence of a man in her life on Valentine’s Day. A child’s psychosomatic illness because he has again forgotten his homework. [...]
When Universes Collide – Conclusion
In the late 1800s Swiss geologist Albert Heim was enjoying a climb in the Alps when a powerful gust of wind lifted him from the mountain and sent him plummeting to almost certain death. But a peculiar thing happened during his fall: instead of terror Heim experienced an overriding sense of love, joy, peace. “I [...]
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When Universes Collide – Part II
So here I sit, the center of the known universe, population 1. If I dig and claw and scrape through all of the mind stuff accumulated over the past 47 years, if I burrow deep deep deep into the “known” part of that equation, what I uncover at the very core of my universal being [...]
-
When Universes Collide – Part I
You finish your coffee with a friend, rise and say your good-byes. As you exit the cafe something extraordinary occurs; something that almost always goes unnoticed. The focus of the entire universe gets up and goes with you. Like a spotlit actor moving across the stage, the universal spotlight remains fixed on you. Did you [...]
The Imagined Power of Positive Thinking
As a miserable teen I developed quite a crush on the self-help industry. On my darker days I could be found poring over the works of the industry’s earliest progenitors – Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, Mary Baker Eddy, Norman Vincent Peale. Later, I moved on to their modern-day successors – Wayne Dyer, Steven Covey, Tony [...]
Be Gentle With Yourself
Be gentle with yourself. It was a 'message' I received a few years ago during an attempted meditation that was going something like this: "Why do you always screw up your relationships? What is wrong with you? Here we go again, idiot!" You get the idea. And then something arose suddenly and completely and serenely [...]
The Suffering of Another
Live long enough and at some point all of us will find ourselves close to someone in profound pain. We’re not talking garden-variety suffering here. We’re talking about serious addiction, self-mutilation, suicidal despondency. Almost always we are talking about the end-point culmination of years of accumulated pain. There are no more tomorrows, the body is [...]