Normal

It is normal to: take and assign responsibility when we have hardly any control over outcomes believe that we are right and everyone else is wrong go around judging everyone and everything, including ourselves, incessantly worry constantly about what others think of us create expectations and its counterpart disappointment for ourselves identify with our thoughts,… Continue reading Normal

You’re wrong

Your opinions are shit. My opinions are shit too. How do I know this? Two reasons: Look back at what we used to believe at any point in history. Point to a time where what we believed wasn’t batshit insane. Now look at your own beliefs and how many of those you have (quietly) changed… Continue reading You’re wrong

Trust the universe

No thing actually exists, separate from the whole. As I tried to point out in my last post ‘Any thing’ we can point at the heart of everything but the edges of nothing. That’s because those edges aren’t there. The thing is made-up and everything is connected. Everything is an appearance in consciousness. We apply… Continue reading Trust the universe

Any thing

I’ve written about concepts before (several times actually) and this will essentially be a rehash but nevertheless I feel like writing about the topic, so here it goes. Point at any ‘thing’. It doesn’t matter, just pick a thing. Whatever you chose, chances are you believe that ‘thing’ is somehow real, as a thing, separate… Continue reading Any thing

Love yourself

Basically all our issues can be traced back to a lack of self-love. We are horrible to ourselves. We think the most atrocious things about ourselves. If you think about it for one second, that is the definition of insanity. We make ourselves miserable. Why?! Because we have internalized from a young age that we… Continue reading Love yourself

Your thoughts aren’t yours

You don’t think your thoughts. Your thoughts appear in consciousness in exactly the same way that you hear sounds. Thoughts appear without any conscious choice on your part. Try not to think a thought. Try not to hear a sound. You don’t think that you are in any way responsible for the sounds that you… Continue reading Your thoughts aren’t yours

Spiritual dogs

All the teachings, whatever the tradition or religion, point to something. The same thing in fact. And we, the students, are a bunch of dogs staring at the finger doing the pointing. Try pointing something out to a dog, it will look at your finger, then you, your finger, you, your finger, etc. Oblivious of… Continue reading Spiritual dogs

Meditation

I had a short discussion about meditation today. A good friend referred to meditation’s purpose as being about quieting the mind. I feel that’s not a good frame to have for meditation. Meditation primarily is about observing the mind, your inner world, and understanding it. We have thoughts, narratives, in our mind. A voice talking… Continue reading Meditation

More questions

Q – I’m trying to understand enlightenment. A – No, you’re trying to avoid it. Q – No, no, I’m practicing yoga, I do daily meditation, I sat a 10 day retreat a few weeks ago, I listen to Ram Dass and I’m vegan. I’m trying to get enlightened. A – You can’t try to… Continue reading More questions