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” »

I planned a trip to Wyoming on a whim, and scheduled only one tour. The rest of the four days would be entirely open. Having to plan the trip at all is a bit annoying to me, but for work, plane schedules, and booking a cabin, that much had to be done. And that is where the planning ended. Continue reading “Spontaneity – The Spice of Life” »

As a non-theist, believers frequently ask me, “But what will you do if you find yourself facing God after you die?” Of course, that begs the question, “Which God?” but for the sake of simplicity and hypothetically speaking, I’ll stick with the Gods I know of, and because I’ve had one God in particular pushed at me for 47 years, I’ll start with Him. Continue reading “What I'll Say to God After I Die, or Not” »

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” »

One advantage of losing your biological father early on is that as you grow you can pick and choose who your father figures are. The very cool thing about that is you don’t have to pick and choose from local men. Oh, no. They won’t do. Instead, you can pick among the famous, and switch them out as needed. Continue reading “My Famous Father Figures” »

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” »

I was a very small child when my curiosity about self started. I found my inner voice fascinating, how I could visualize scenes in my mind, all the while looking out into the world, seeing outside and inside almost simultaneously. Continue reading “Synaptic Self & Mind” »