Spirituality for Living

The difference between coming to rest in life, and stagnation. Very different dynamics. We often feel that anything in life must be our decision. That we have to be in control. So we often set rhythms in our life that actually raise our general stress level. We think we either have to be driven, or [...]

Are we never to force our will on life? People think that without force, without “taking initiative”, we would never express ourselves at all. Never do or create anything. We are told any creation is an act of will. Everything is supposedly hard work. Well, stress happens even if you find the inner way. But [...]

The search for rest is what takes so many people into substance abuse. To take a break from their inner chaos. The process that leads to addiction is not “evil” in the person. We do even the harmful things because we perceive a need, but are not always in touch with our real needs. So [...]

We often dilute the bodies wisdom and thus natures wisdom, by deluding ourselves that thought is superior to instinct. That wisdom is something we achieve. That we can gain it by being educated, “smart”. All mysticism and wisdom traditions contradict this. It arises from the dominance of scientism today, and modern scientists are weak substitutes [...]

When I give my talks I tend to just go with the flow of inspiration, regrettably it means I sometimes “leave no trace”, even in my own mind.
I like the format of these discussions, going with the flow. It gives all a chance to talk and is more interactive. People learn by doing, not by [...]

Centering is one of those so simple it seems impossible sort of things, but in fact centering is as simple as forgetting to breath. People tend to have breathing trouble not because they forget to breath, but because they are over concerned with it or their emotions (which differs from feelings).
Everyone can tell you what [...]

This is a low of the universe. From physics, to chemistry, to biology, the world is a balance between two states; action and rest. Now commonly the default state is seen as rest and there are reasons to believe this, but even zero point resonance isn’t without energy.
Is zero point just balanced? Basically yes, but [...]

The world is very simple. So simple it seems to be hard for us to understand. Every physical science has as its bottom line patterns of action and rest. Any physical phenomenon works like this, and so do we. There is no such thing as a place without energy, or a time without energy for that [...]

Comfort is both a good thing, and perhaps one of our greatest evils also. We tend to neglect our instincts with comfort. We mistake comfort for ease, and we can be totally at ease but not comfortable. In that case, people tend to just suffer the stress to keep the ease.
Comfort has two domains: the stasis [...]

I practice Vipassana meditation, and when I’m with fellow mediators they say they would like to experience how relaxed I appear. I tell them, that’s only an appearance. That I’m just observing my spasming back and legs that want to move. My body is completely not at rest. That’s a good thing to tell them, [...]

We all seek comfort. Cling to it in the face of what we are told, and we often tell ourselves it is a cold cruel world. It can seem like life’s only saving grace, but comfort is both a great good, and also potentially one of the worst evils we face. It’s a natural cycle, [...]

I find that rest and growth come in cycles. As if spirit is directing all sorts of synchronicity, and then once the information has been received the rest begins to integrate what was taken in. Yes, indeed. I have called it the breath of the spirit, but our “self knowledge” often misdirects the growth cycle [...]

You know the healing power of a baby!? It is big! Yes, babies are examples of human nature in its pure form. Taoism says this. Buddhism says this though less bluntly. Many of the pagan faiths have the divine child symbolism, which was also taken up by Christianity, and many see the “Christ child” as [...]

Where does our ego come in? Ego comes in because we attach to the supposed virtue of rest, of a narrowly defined peace, and feel we can claim spiritual success if we can say “I am this” even if it’s a very broad term produced by very vague thinking. We turn to traditions and give [...]

The Gnostic divinities are in the realm of the emanation. In the realm of self knowledge. Gnosis is a quality of the individual emanation, and not a body of knowledge that is fixed and must be accepted. Mandean and Manichean Gnosticism even reached China.
To know yourself is to know God, i.e. all divinities? Yes, exactly.
For [...]

What is the way to self experience? This nature that people distrust, the nature that people disrespect because it’s amoral, unfeeling, unkind, these are all human judgements that denote a human understanding of nature, and we have to make it “better” for us.
This reminds me of a Buddhist talk I heard. He asked people who [...]

In seeing the illusion you can see the reality behind it, but many stop there. They see how they, and their teaching, was mistaken, and that attachment is the source of suffering. Then they become detached, and stop there. They bring a spirit of detachment to the world, and when confronted with attachments they won’t [...]

Food magic is not unlike many other disciplines, and it can both be tied to healing magic and self transformation. “What you put in” is perhaps one of the core principles of all magic. But the term sorcery, literally means putting in and taking out. There is a lot to consider with that, and dark [...]

Is color a primary way to identify foods and purpose? Color and smell. This was how alchemists worked too actually, and how many of our modern chemicals got a lot of their descriptive terms assigned. Some rather poisonous fluids smell like water. But yes, as I compared them earlier to shamanism, anything in your cooking [...]

If your calling is the philosopher, you function on meaning and principles, and if a situation seems to have no principle you feel lost. Me, I function on rhythm or cycles, flow. I function on chaos. When the fire stops burning then I wonder what’s up.
Creating chaos? Ah no, I don’t need to create it, [...]