Meditation

Meditation

Sense of Being

Sitting quietly, where is the focus? Listening to Life or to thoughts? The mind is a miraculous tool, no doubt. But it’s also a random noise generator. It weaves fantastical dances that mesmerise and entrance. It distracts the senses, instating its machinations as truth. Beliefs laid overtop of Reality lead to searching, not Being. Pausing, listening, feeling, Life’s ongoing artwork becomes evident—a continuous creation of colours, scents, touch, tastes and sounds, ever-present in an endless array of magnificence. ∙ The sound of rain drizzling as a background canvas for varying pitches in birdsong.∙ The scent of flowers and trees, so intense

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Who

Years ago, I had the belief that experiencing bliss and peace required toning down my emotions so that my actions would be more measured. This approach was inherently not blissful because I continually desired something in the future, something I thought I didn’t have, a particular experience. At its core, it was a hostile and unsustainable approach at forceful removal. To be honest, it was a bit of a relief to accept that emotions are part of life. What wasn’t pleasant was that they seemingly controlled me. I was reacting to stimuli rather than being fully conscious and respectful. Seeking

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No Separation – No Opposition

We humans divide existence into things, feelings, and ideas. We then separate them from each other by believing them to be independent parts. What we misunderstand or, more precisely, misrepresent in this process, is that there is no inherent separation. It is a mental projection that leads to discontent and internal noise. We believe in ‘I’ and ‘You’ and we fiercely protect that which we deem to be ours for fear of loss. In non-separation there is silence because we know that all is one and regard all equally. “All things, all bodies, all organisms, are from the same source

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Empty Concepts

There was a time when I fully embraced nihilism, which is ironic since the philosophy rejects fundamental aspects of human existence. But I was looking for a way to express and explain my experience that everything in the world felt empty. Essentially, I was attempting to blame objects for their hollow animation (yet failing to grasp the absurdity of said pursuit.) The more I looked, the more I noticed that the actual problem was an inability of the mind to adequately describe and define the underlying presence of the perceived. I discarded the theory and focused my attention instead on

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Discernment

Discernment

° Tenderness when catching a hangnail while donning a sock.° The irritation of rough fingertips in a knitted mitten.° Frustration with a thread that won’t let go its static cling.° Recent annoyances eddying in mind or body.° Fear, pain, disappointment weighted heavy in vexation. All are aggregations of psychic loose-ends. What can one do with them?Differentiate. Observing within enhances our ability of discernment. We develop inner sight that helps in distinguishing and deconstructing the labels we apply to things and events. By so doing we become free of hooks, regardless of their origin. We “mend our afflictions, defilements, proclivities to

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Crucible

Look Within

Bare yourself raw.Burn away the padding.Confront it all.See past the illusions.Connect with your divinity. The legend of a jealous Brahma trying to keep humans from discovering their divinity. ❝ Brahma called a council of the gods to help decide on the right place to conceal their divinity. ‘Let’s bury it deep in the earth,’ said one of the gods. But Brahma said, ‘No, that will not do because humans will eventually dig into the earth and discover it.’ Then another said, ‘Let’s hide it in the deepest part of the ocean.’ But Brahma said, ‘No, they will eventually dive down

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Open Questions

The quote at the bottom of this post resonates directly with one of the most important aspects of living a human life: awareness of the space in-between. In my late teens and early twenties, I showed clear evidence of an innate curiosity—an interest, or pull, to investigate the subtler aspects of existence unfazed by time. Unfortunately, the outward manifestation of pliant thoughtfulness was unmistakably absent. It wasn’t until after divorce, depression and recovery that the notion of “open questioning” became evident: (a concept my ex, now my best friend, tried for years to engage with me). As if a veil

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Sanctuary

Nothing about the spot in front of this fireplace ever gets old. It’s certainly a safe place for me, but what else? While talking with my coach about movement patterns I shared that “I get wound up easily.” To counter this, I need to be as conscious as possible to move in exactly the opposite way, chill. I’ve spent my life investigating what this means. At first I thought it was about how I ‘acted’. It became painfully evident that there was more to it—something much deeper inviting, calling and guiding. It was a bit like seeing an object out

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Health

Several years ago I battled with depression. It was hell. Thanks only to a dear friend who actually heard me, and realised the severity of my state, did things turn around. I’m happy and healthy now. But just as in addiction recovery, I have to make a conscious choice every day to shun the melancholic vortex and choose healthier paths. This takes energy. Physical exercise takes energy as well. As an endurance athlete, I spend many hours each week in training: yoga, swimming, biking, running, strength workouts and more. I do it because I love moving my body, being fit

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Infinite Pause

Occasionally, clarity presides. For me, it happens most often when sitting quietly in or after meditation. Life, in its wondrous simplicity …just …happens. Later, the individual ‘I’, believing itself to be the creator, moves about attempting to orchestrate and manage. This is both true and false at the same time. True because, the separate self creates all manner of illusions in pain and happiness. False, because these veils, overlaid on reality, mislead and complicate unnecessarily. Yesterday, while skiing, it was clear that no thought was required in order to transition the body effectively through the complex array of neural and

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Light

Here and Now

I recently had a very long travel day that provided an opportunity to spend time continuously listening to chanting and reading, interrupted occasionally by game playing. The many hours of idle musing laid a fertile bed for a simple question, one posed by a beautiful friend the morning after my arrival, “How does it feel to be there?” This modest, loving query quickly took root, giving rise to prodigious introspection. Among the gamut of impressions sprouting in response was a sense of lifelessness and disconnection from nature. Wanting to get some oxygen in the body and morning light in the

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Connection

I’ve found myself deeply gripped by sadness lately. As with most things, the causes are multiple, but the underlying theme appears to be the same—connection, or the lack thereof. In this hollow void, I’m referring to both myself and the world at large. Do you also notice that when a topic becomes particularly entrenched in your consciousness that it appears repeatedly throughout your life, from multiple sources, and in varying hues? The matter of connection is bombarding me in the contexts of forest ecology, nature exposure, friendship, vulnerability, global air quality, climate crisis, pain of silence, patience, wellbeing and wealth,

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Team Effort

I’m now 55, fit & healthy in mind, body, and spirit. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that life is a team effort. Friends and loved ones are constantly my teachers. They hold a mirror up for me. They support me.  I try to do the same for them. Thank you. Love you. Constant self-enquiry. Abiding in the present moment. These reveal the delusion of duality. ❝ The peace and quiet I thought I was experiencing was not really an experience at all. It was my own real nature. It was what I always am. ❞ ~Nothing Ever Happened Vol. 3: Papaji Biography.

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Space

I often marvel at Nature’s beauty and process, the interweave of all living beings. I shake my head with a smile at how fortunate I am to own a cabin in this magnificent theatre. Even still, I almost sold the place last week. I became overwhelmed at the enormity of the necessary repairs and my desired improvements. What’s more, I’ll be by myself through most of it. Questioning my interest in spending every free moment with renovations, and with the mounting depth and breadth of every single step, I began to feel that it was better to ‘get out while

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Even if…

Even if you’re only doing what’s fun, it’s still 𝙙𝙤-𝙞𝙣𝙜.Enjoying one’s work is not permission to continually extract.Fallow & replenishment are necessary. Nature has day and night, cold and warm, wet and dry, and four seasons for a reason. Humans have a multitude of circadian rhythms. We can work with them or, to our peril, fight them. In a podcast episode entitled Burnout and Renewal, Charles Eisenstein opened up and bared himself. He started by doing what he always does, investigate the substratum of life. In this case, he became the subject of enquiry. Devorah Brous beautifully went down the

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Keystones to Health

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