On the rare occasions I check the news or social media channels, I see nothing has changed. Those on the Right are convinced the nation is awash with anarchists forcing the nation into some kind of lawless, socialist welfare state; those on the Left are convinced the nation is teeming with racists hellbent on creating [...]

You and I don't know what we are. Don't know how we got here nor where we're off to next. Yet we are forever tossing around our opinions about this, that, everything. Look at the world news. Fear dominates, all of humankind paralyzed by the idea they'll come down with COVID, become seriously ill, die. [...]

Your eye has three receptors for perceiving red, blue, and green. The eye and brain then combine those colors to allow for approximately 300 different shades of color (e.g. orange, purple, yellow, and so on). This, for all intents and purposes, constitutes the world that we see. What if we wanted to see the entire [...]

It wakes you in the wee hours when you want only to sleep, whispers in your ear while you celebrate yet another milestone birthday, gazes up at you from earth or urn when you say good-bye to yet another loved one. It is the question that has haunted every self-aware human since the dawn of [...]

Each of us knows that person who is thin-skinned, hypersensitive, forever waiting for his/her buttons to be pushed, right? Of course you do. He/she gazes back at you in the mirror each day. Ah yes, you think, no doubt in a magnanimous spirit, I suppose I can be a bit sensitive on some issues. But [...]

Self-confidence. Self-loathing. Key measuring sticks by which we measure human happiness or misery, success or failure. We eschew self-loathing, but we aspire to self-confidence, self-esteem, self-love. And what we really want (but shhhh, don't admit it, since that would make us look bad), is to stand just a little taller than the neighbor, to make more [...]

Comedian-sage George Carlin had a bit where he advised parents to encourage their kids to question everything. "Kids have to be warned that there is bullshit coming down the road," said Carlin. "That's the biggest thing you can do for a kid." Parents, Carlin added, are the biggest perpetuators of bullshit, which is why most [...]

So there's this thing called the 'Perennial Wisdom' that's composed of the accumulated teachings of mystics and masters, gurus and prophets over the ages. You know the types, Jesus of Nazareth, Guatama Buddha, Ramana Maharshi, Teresa of Avila, Lao Zi, Shankara. The core of their teachings lies at the heart of all great religions and [...]

As I see it, we move through this thing called 'my life' until, at some point, our sense of ownership and control over it is exposed as the illusion it's always been. We spend years - decades - believing otherwise; that we have the reins, are making decisions, are responsible for the accomplishments and failures [...]

I read somewhere that the Truth in mystical teachings is revealed to the degree the reader or listener is ready. Until then, the mind will focus on the meaning of the words themselves, but the wisdom to which they point will be utterly missed. Take, for instance, a central precept to many teachings: to avoid judging [...]