We can learn to be more peaceful and, in turn, create a more peaceful world. I, along with 19 others, have just recently returned home from yet another remarkable retreat, or “lab” as we fondly refer to them. For me this retreat was sweeter than any previous—mostly because of the new material that Jake and […]
Tag Archives | meditation
A Letter of Gratitude
We have been sharing this work with people for over fifteen years. From time to time we receive expressions of gratitude from people who have participated in this work—usually after attending one of our retreats . . . or more than one. Recently we received this letter of gratitude from a dear person, who so […]
The Secret That Drives Us . . . Limits Us
For the first many years of my life I sought ways to make myself feel safe. I sought out people who were safe and avoided those who were scary. Even before I had words for “safe, safety” and “scary,” my instincts guided me. This is true for most of us. Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, […]
Can You Hear Me? — it’s so painful not to be heard
Maybe one of the more painful, or even frightening things, is when we are unable to get another person—especially one we love—to hear and understand us. The person listening doesn’t necessarily even need to agree with us—if only they would listen and understand our experience. Can you hear me? Is that too much to ask? […]
3 Degrees of Consciousness
Imagine a circle. There are 360 degrees. You are locked inside the circle. The circle is—let’s call it your ego, or identity. The truest “you” is on the outside of the circle. To get out of the circle you must fire your booster rockets and go through an opening that is 3 degrees wide. If […]
As Consciousness Rises Tension Decreases
Our consciousness can rise, like the sun rising in this stunning photograph taken in the Carpathian mountains in Ukraine. And it is my belief that as my consciousness rises, the tension in my life decreases. Inversely, when there is tension in my life, the tension pulls my consciousness down to lower levels. So one of […]
What Is Reality?
“It is sometimes said that our image of reality is an illusion, but that is misleading. It may all be an appearance in the mind, but it is nonetheless real—the only reality we ever know. The illusion comes when we confuse the reality we experience with the physical reality, the thing-in-itself.” Peter Russell A […]
Grow Your Brain
Would you like to grow your brain—learn how to use more of your brain? What if you could go from using 15% to 20%? Imagine the changes that would occur. The 2014 movie “Lucy,” explores this subject by dramatizing what happens when the main character gains access to 100% of her brain. Essentially, she expands […]
Be Here Now Like Maow
Years of study with a Japanese Zen master gave me a strong referent experience of what it means to be here now. He was my first Zen teacher and now there’s our cat, Maow. We can all learn to be here now, like Maow. He is the master of simple enlightenment. Maow is always in […]
A Mindful Life
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living […]