Redwoods

If you’ve ever walked in a redwood forest, you know firsthand the feeling of awe. The redwood reaches high overhead, sometimes hundreds of feet tall, their bases as wide as a car, sometimes wide enough for cars to drive through. There is no place more peaceful than a forest, no place that can take you so quickly out of the day-to-day nonsense and into the present moment. Continue reading “Nothing More Noble Than Trees” »

You’ve been lying on the couch for 45 minutes. You’re focused on your breathing or some other thing you decided on beforehand. You’re aware of sounds outside, but you are concentrated. You can no longer feel your body. A kind of bliss arises in your mind. Suddenly you hear humming, or feel strange vibrations course through you. As light as air, you drift out of your body, and turn to see your body still on the couch. Continue reading “Reality of Out of Body Experiences” »

I am surprised, sometimes shocked, at how many people call themselves Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, or whatever without having read the scriptures or main writings of that particular religion. So many people simply believe what their parents had told them, or what the church minister said. But you can’t truly be Christian or Buddhist unless you understand the tenets and teachings, and the best way to do that is to go to the source, or as close to the source as that religion allows. Continue reading “Don't Be Lazy: Go to the Source” »

As humans we apply labels to everything. It’s a nifty little language tool that helps us identify objects in our world, and to communicate about them with others. Obviously we need labels for communication sake.

But when people start living through labeling, of themselves and others, problems arise. Continue reading “Living Through Labeling” »

I am surprised by the number of people I meet in person and online who have never stopped to consider the nature of their thoughts or beliefs. What seems to be much more common is that people’s minds are dragging them around, back and forth through life experiences, and they assume that all those thoughts and beliefs that arise are correct, important, and worth defending. Continue reading “Exploring the Mental Experience” »

I’m not a political person, and I tend to avoid anything that takes sides on social and political issues. For most of my life, I’ve just gone along and done my own thing, no matter whether it was “politically correct”, socially acceptable, or considered “normal.” But in the last few years, I’m finding I have a growing concern over the religious views in this country. Continue reading “Rising Religious Concerns” »

While I was driving home the other day, I saw a bumper sticker on the car in front of me that said, “My God is the RIGHT God!”

Holy righteousness, Batman, can this be true? Well then, my imaginary friend is smarter than yours! Continue reading “My God is the RIGHT God!” »

One of the most useful skills you can get out of meditation is the ability to see and experience objectively how you label patterns of thinking. Soon you realize you have a lot of incorrect labeling in your speech for your views, and you notice it in others. You also start to catch lazy thinking, especially regarding what we know versus what we accept, versus what we believe. Continue reading “What You Know, Accept, or Believe” »

One of the things I’ve been focusing on in the last year is examining and breaking down the beliefs I held. A belief is simply an idea that we are clinging to with fervor. Just because you believe something doesn’t mean it’s true. We often believe things that we later discover are untrue, but even worse we often hold to beliefs even when the truth is staring us down! Continue reading “Breaking Down Beliefs” »

Master Yoda

That’s right. I said it, I said it, I said it! Master Yoda is every bit as real as Jesus Christ, and perhaps even more so. It doesn’t matter whether there is evidence that Jesus really existed in the flesh, or if he was really the son of God. He may have been real, or he may not have been. Continue reading “Master Yoda Is Every Bit as Real as Jesus Christ” »