I met a friend for a couple of beers today, commiserating with him over what, potentially, could be his second divorce. En route home I had the music blasting, a rarity for me these days what with the kids living with me. The slight alcohol buzz in addition to the music led to some real [...]

When you think about the sheer volume of conditioning each of us undergoes in this life it is a wonder anyone emerges into any semblance of consciousness. From the moment of conception the conditioning of “me” begins in the form of the biological predilections of mom (egg) and dad (sperm). In that instant the architectural [...]

It takes some discipline but I’ve discovered the home-brewed serenity possible in simply watching one’s thoughts vs. identifying with them. This is one of those recommended steps en route to awakening but is easily overlooked. Thoughts arise and disappear in an continuous flow, like rain striking a sandy beach. We have little control over these [...]

There is nothing like a spiritual crash to teach a person the meaning of the word “humility.” Indeed, I think it safe to say that a man or woman cannot reach rock bottom unless the basic concept of humility has been forgotten (or never learned in the first place). A few years ago, when I [...]

Three years ago today I lost the most lucrative job I’d ever known and hours later similarly lost the girlfriend of six years I imagined I’d one day marry. For months leading up to that day my world had been crumbling, courtesy a long and growing admixture of anxieties, outright phobias, and physical ailments. So [...]

For reasons not entirely clear to me, I’ve got an unusually large number of friends suffering from a variety of crises. One in particular is having a tough go of it with a wife who suddenly announces her desire for a divorce (she is also carrying on a secret relationship on the side via a [...]

Last night my wife and I watched “The Last Days,” a 1998 documentary about the final months of the Holocaust, when the Nazis were bullrushing Jews out of Hungary and into the gas chambers just as fast as they could (the Germans knew the war was lost but Hitler was hellbent on exterminating as many [...]

I just finished Deepak Chopra’s book, “Buddha.” Say what you will about Chopra, but the man has created quite a cottage industry for himself. His other recent book on Jesus was also quite good. These are “fictional histories” not intended to be taken literally, and Chopra does an admirable job of explaining not simply what [...]

It took me a long time (we’re talking 40-plus years) to realize that an argument or fight with another is an ideal opportunity for personal growth. Yet for years I did just the opposite, pointing my finger at my partner and desperately trying to show her the error of her ways. “If only YOU hadn’t [...]

As the global economy melts down and stress levels rise, it’s a good time to remind oneself that only in the darkness does real human growth come. Anyone can jet ski around the Bahamas and feel good about the world, much harder to find inner peace in the cold gray days of January with no [...]