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 [...]
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 [...]
I Am
The 4 a.m. anxiety wake-up call. Shit, not again. The mental engine sparks to life and like that the mind is a whirl of anxious thoughts and fears about this person or that, regrets about the past, apprehension about the future, money, kids, health. It's as if they've been waiting there in the darker corners [...]
Ending Suffering, Part 2: Conscious Suffering
During the holidays my wife received word that a favorite cousin had been hospitalized with advanced brain cancer. He is young, handsome, charismatic, a business owner, a newly minted husband and father of a child not yet one. Family and friends are stunned, praying for a miracle. We humans are funny about our suffering. We’ll [...]
Saying No to the Role of a Lifetime
Imagine that you are an actor and the director calls with a new assignment. It goes something like this: “We’re sending you into a new theatre for the role of a lifetime.” So far, so good. “But be forewarned you are joining a hostile cast and some of the other actors may not be welcoming [...]
Self-Awareness: The Meaning of Life
Many of us have a relationship with someone who is utterly out of touch with his or her own behavior. You know the type, forever blaming a mate, society, the Communists, sun spots for what ails them. They repeat the same mistakes over and over again and are forever blaming the world for their problems, [...]
In the Shadow of the Podium
There are many thoughts that haunt the average human, and one of the most prevalent goes something like this: What do I have to show for my life? Did I make a difference? What will my life have meant? This mindset is summed up nicely during the concluding minutes of Saving Private Ryan, when the [...]
All is Well
What if everything is really, really OK? What if, as the mystics have taught, all is well, all has always been well and it always will be? Have you ever let yourself believe this - to really believe this? From an early age we are conditioned to be cautious, be careful, not to screw it [...]
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 [...]
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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 [...]
I Am
The 4 a.m. anxiety wake-up call. Shit, not again. The mental engine sparks to life and like that the mind is a whirl of anxious thoughts and fears about this person or that, regrets about the past, apprehension about the future, money, kids, health. It's as if they've been waiting there in the darker corners [...]
Ending Suffering, Part 2: Conscious Suffering
During the holidays my wife received word that a favorite cousin had been hospitalized with advanced brain cancer. He is young, handsome, charismatic, a business owner, a newly minted husband and father of a child not yet one. Family and friends are stunned, praying for a miracle. We humans are funny about our suffering. We’ll [...]
Saying No to the Role of a Lifetime
Imagine that you are an actor and the director calls with a new assignment. It goes something like this: “We’re sending you into a new theatre for the role of a lifetime.” So far, so good. “But be forewarned you are joining a hostile cast and some of the other actors may not be welcoming [...]
Self-Awareness: The Meaning of Life
Many of us have a relationship with someone who is utterly out of touch with his or her own behavior. You know the type, forever blaming a mate, society, the Communists, sun spots for what ails them. They repeat the same mistakes over and over again and are forever blaming the world for their problems, [...]
In the Shadow of the Podium
There are many thoughts that haunt the average human, and one of the most prevalent goes something like this: What do I have to show for my life? Did I make a difference? What will my life have meant? This mindset is summed up nicely during the concluding minutes of Saving Private Ryan, when the [...]
All is Well
What if everything is really, really OK? What if, as the mystics have taught, all is well, all has always been well and it always will be? Have you ever let yourself believe this - to really believe this? From an early age we are conditioned to be cautious, be careful, not to screw it [...]