What’s it like living a human life after the mind has ceased running the show — once radical freedom has entered the picture and mental suffering has unwound to stillness? When someone not “there” considers such a change in condition, there can be certain assumptions. One thing often supposed is that a life of steady wakefulness consists of uninterrupted happiness. That existence is entirely pain-free. (more…)
Category: Teachings
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The Value and Limitation of Religion
So much trouble has been set in motion by religion. Even so, religious or spiritual practice surely has been a blessing for some who long to know the truth of what they are, beyond all limiting definition of a self. (more…)
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No Separation
What does it mean when it’s said that you are not separate? That you are not (compelling appearances to the contrary) apart from anything in momentary experience: another person, the immediate scene, what you are doing, observing. At no distance from the vastness that some call divinity. (more…)
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The Gold Within Us
Attention is gold, a commodity of priceless value. For it is via attention that we come to know reality, to sense what we deeply are. That “knowing” is not of the mind. It is more truly of the body and heart, something felt in the engagement with the moment. It is in the blessed space of attention that aliveness is sensed. (more…)
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Being a Parent
This writing is more personal than most posts on this site. I was encouraged to make it available, even so, in the hope it would shine a light.
The bravest thing I ever did was have children, although I don’t recall summoning courage at the outset. As much as I had wanted to be a mother, through and through, I had no idea what I was signing up for. How love would take my heart in its fist and crush it. How fear would assume a mighty presence in my day-to-day, like an unwelcome creature come to live among us, my son and daughter and their father and I. (more…)