Category: Spiritual Growth
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I’m addicted to addiction
I was in a room full of people not too long ago, where the well-known and, in many circles, well-respected speaker announced, “We are addicted to unhappiness,” and almost everyone in the room began nodding with a collective sigh. Now, if you know me at all, you know that nodding is my cue to, instead,…
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How to make anybody do anything…
I can make anybody do anything for as long as I want, and so can you. Here’s how: Think of the goofy thing you want them to do. If you can’t think of any, here’s a quick list that might give you some ideas… Go to a specific building every week (or more) Speak or…
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A petition for more powerful magical clothing
I was vacuuming the house this morning and came across something that has made more than one person upset — a prayer book and prayer shawl (in a decorative bag) on the floor. Understand that this is a room without any furniture. No desk. No shelves. No end table from Pier 1. Oh, there is…
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The Buddha Su-u-u-cks
My favorite thing about the title of this blog post is that it might get some people a bit hot under the meditation cushion, but it’s not too likely to get my website firebombed. However, had I replaced Buddha with Jesus or Mohammed… well, that could lead to a whole different set of consequences. And…
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I had a dream… I think
(This morning, I felt the urge to tell this story rather than examine something about psychospiritual thinking… but perhaps it’s the same) Three years ago, on my honeymoon, I had a dream… maybe. I’m a middle-aged man living in a village. Date? I don’t know. But it’s a small-ish village. Dirt streets, simple wooden buildings,…
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You can be the next Tiger Woods, guaranteed!
WARNING: This will be an unusually short post for me 😉 I already talked about this particular issue, so I don’t need to rehash it. But I ran across the PERFECT example of it, so I had to bring it up again. So… There’s a new movie called Milarepa: Magician, Murderer, Saint directed by a…
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“It’s all an illusion”… is all an illusion!
“It’s all an illusion.” “Nothing has ever happened to nobody.” “Everything is just the play of consciousness.” Sounds cool, yeah? Core, essential, pithy truths, right? Sure, if you nod your head and believe everything you hear just because it feels good. You may have statements like these on your fridge or on posters on the…
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Back away from the enlightened guy… nothing to see here
In January of ’06, my wife and and were in Mumbai, India (as if there’s another Mumbai you would confuse it with. “Does he mean Mumbai, Kentucky?”) for a friend’s wedding. And, btw, if you ever hava a chance to go to India I can’t recommend enough going for a wedding put on by a…
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How to Become a Millionaire Self-Help Guru (it’s easy!)
Now you can become a millionaire as Self-Help Guru! Just follow this simple six-step plan and in no time you’ll be living the life you thought you would have if you followed the advice of Self-Help Gurus! STEP 1 – Pick some ubiquitous aspect of being human, something that a large number of people experience…
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The Santa Claus Conspiracy
Do you believe in Santa Claus?Seriously. This isn’t a rhetorical question. Do you? Assuming your an adult and don’t wear tin foil hats to keep “them” from beaming thoughts into your head, I’ll bet you answered “No” and you probably thought it was a stupid question. But let’s take a look at this Santa Claus…
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Last Meditator Standing… or Survivor, Tibet
No, I’m not proposing a new reality show where we put 10 meditators in a room, issue concentration challenges to them, and see who America votes for as the best meditator (though, now that I write it… nah, never mind). What I want to talk about today is the problem with monks and meditators. Not…
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A Reason-able project?
I don’t make an effort, but when I see Bill Moyers’ show, Faith and Reason, on my Tivo, I’ll watch it. I spent so many years listening to spiritual teachers and, well, old habits are hard to break. So far, I haven’t been able to make it through an episode. I hear a lot about…
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The day I stopped nodding my head
I hopped in a car to ride down the spiritual path at the age of 7. By 10 I was comparing notes with 63 year old physicians on the clinical application of hypnosis for anaesthesia and pain relief. And off it went from there… biofeedback, Vedanta, Shaivism, Tai Chi, Aikido, Taoism, Vipassana, Zen and Tibetan…