What I learned today

The Insubstantiality of form

“What’s that burning smell,” I asked the day before yesterday when I came home in the evening? Was there a fire someplace in town..must have been because that’s what it smelled like, that campfire that smolders after you stomped on the fire. The next morning I smelled it on the front porch and thought that was strange how the... [Read more of this review]

The Wisdom of Seinfeld

Last night in a Seinfeld rerun George discovered that if he did the opposite of his first impulse the world worked for him. Today I was reminded of that wisdom as I was trying to get the battery to my 1972 Airstream trailer charged. It was a large marine battery that ran out of juice as soon as I got the trailer home. Advanced Auto checked it and said... [Read more of this review]

Air Stream

I don’t know if it was the name Airstream, the almost cult history of the trailer, its intelligence (well designed), our longing to look over the horizon, or because it was a deal we couldn’t refuse—but, regardless, we bought this 1972 trailer (everything works and its in great shape) that looks like futuristic dream from the 1950s. We... [Read more of this review]

Keep it simple

We don’t have to go to Walden Pond like Thoreau to discover the essential truth of life or take a retreat in a Zen monastery. We have all we need right at home in the simple rituals of daily life, like washing dishes, ironing clothes, fixing the bike or mowing the lawn. Simple is as simple does, goes the saying. Carrying out our daily chores with... [Read more of this review]

How to scoop an egg

As I was scooping my poached egg, slightly runny, from the little bowl my wife said I should have a egg scoop designed especially for that task. I looked at my spoon and thought how happier I would be if I had the right tool. Then I thought, “Hey, wait a minute.” Tasks start our with one tool, and in time imaginative thought comes in and... [Read more of this review]

To Write

“Is there any spiritual system without the word? In any number of spiritual practices—from the sacred syllables of tantric yoga to the mystics of the Kabbalah, from the Word of the Christian God to the talismanic writings of Taoist magicians—the word is central. To write is a sacred act. All sacred calligraphers try with greater and greater effort... [Read more of this review]

Self-awareness…what’s that?

Yesterday at the Happiness workshop I gave at the SVCC Woman’s Festival I felt so at home there with the twenty women who attended. None fell asleep when I talked, and all we responded as we looked at our minds as if its contents were the furniture in the house that we lived in. We live looking out through the sensory windows of the mind, wanting... [Read more of this review]

Hurt Locker: The Movie

For some reason I was really looking forward to seeing the Oscar Nominated Hurt Locker, even dreaming about it. I knew I was going to get a lot of metaphorical mileage out of this film just from watching the promotions on TV. War is an Addiction is the theme message of the movie, but it is a little more than that if you dig a little deeper. One could... [Read more of this review]

I AM HERE

What I’ve discovered in my search for self is that it can’t be found in time. What is good or bad is in the past, what I wish to experience is in the future. Neither past or future is who I am because I am here! I taste, I smell, I hear, I breathe, I see, I talk, I write, I think, I move….all here. So I must be here. Who I am..is here.... [Read more of this review]

Dive, Dive!

Suddenly I remember my days in the submarines. (1957-1960) When a submarine is on the surface, it behaves like a surface ship. when it submerges, it behave like a fish. But there is a very dangerous transition when the sub first submerges, and a large wave could tip it over as it ballast tanks are half full and half empty. And so with the path of liberation…there... [Read more of this review]

Backyard Talban

“Eat that, you terrorist,” I yelled at the backyard squirrels that defeated my best technological efforts to have a bird feeder that would keep them out of my seeds. This feeder had cost $70 and guaranteed that squirrels could not break through its defensives. But ti didn’t take their squirrel mind long to figure out that they could... [Read more of this review]

I ate Jesus

Went to Mom’s church last night for Christmas Eve service, at Mom’s request, and there we were Me, Mom, Tilly, Shannon and David..and our friend Sam. The seats were mostly empty, but the preacher did his best and spoke as if the whole church were full…but the truth of the service got through my critical mind. I found my mild resistance... [Read more of this review]

A clear mind lasts forever

You hurt me years ago; My wounds bled for years. Now you are back, But I am not the same. (from 365 Tao by Deng Ming-Dao) When we meet enemies from our past—some friend, family member, parents, a person on the street, acquaintance who has wounded us—and the mind’s tongue doesn’t suddenly lick a remembered sore, we know we have healed.... [Read more of this review]

Solder the wound

This morning in meditation the image of a circuit helped me see clearly what healing is. The present moment is fluid, impermanent, a flow of energy manifesting in interconnected patterns and systems. When our conscious mind selects some form as a conscious object and then holds onto that form (like a person who just attacked you), either through attraction... [Read more of this review]

Am I a Buddhist?

Every since I declared agnosticism at the age of 18 I have not claimed allegiance to any religion. And yet I’ve been a seeker of God or truth or self realization all my  life. Being an agnostic makes you take responsibility for who you are and what you believe. One starts on the path of liberation from the ground of not knowing. Now, having studied... [Read more of this review]

There are no problems…or solutions

We are told that opportunity is in every difficulty or a solution is in every problem. That sounds great and is very encouraging, but it really doesn’t help us untie our knot. Let’s take a look. First we must challenge our assumptions, think outside the box, so to speak. Here’s a good assumption: we believe if we look we will find.... [Read more of this review]

My mother’s dog is nuts!

My mother’ little toy poodle, Ebony, is certifiably nuts. She bought it to replace little Tiffy, and not wanting another puppy bought a four year-old poodle. Pedigree notwithstanding, the dog has some baggage. Yet, while others might be dismayed, the dog’s neurosis fits my mother perfectly. Let me explain. The dog, having been raised in... [Read more of this review]

Don’t buy it!

Commercials have great truths, that why they sell products that have little to do with truth. Their mantras like “Where’e the Beef?” or “Just Do it!” ring though our culture and play in our mind like the wisdom droppings of the Buddha. Right now I’m thinking of the commercial for Fios and the cable guy who has good... [Read more of this review]

Blithe Spirit,a review

I hope I don’t spoil the play for those who haven’t seen it; I hope my thoughts will make you want to see it. Plays are mirrors of our souls, and great mirrors are hung on our culture’s walls and polished up for continued viewing decade after decade. Look how long Shakespeare’s mirrors have been viewed. Noel Coward’s Blithe... [Read more of this review]

The ongoing revolution

We think the American Revolution stopped with the dethroning of King George, but if we look around clearly we can see that it has just shifted to a psychological, even spiritual level where the institutional powers are still falling. If you want a key word to find this insight, then type in the words INTERACTION in your supermind. No longer are we... [Read more of this review]

Steer by criticism, Captain

We are all captains of our ship and we sail by the stars and reading the sea that supports our trip. But what are the best signs and how can we quickly log our correct position on the chart. I would say look to the criticism and not to praise to find the reefs that would detour our journey or possible sink our ship. Praises while pleasant, only flatter... [Read more of this review]

Take off the mask

Halloween is coming and we purchase costumes, mostly scary for our kids and/or ourselves, to get ready for the one night of the year when death and fear are tamed and given to children for play. But few of us realize that beneath the Halloween mask is another disguise, our persona, that we wear beneath our skin. We wear our karma like clothes bought... [Read more of this review]

The Map of God

We are always in a map that is larger than we think. We open our map of reality with our mind and zoom right in on what delights or pains us. We see the streets next to us as threatening and in general we are confused about where we actually are. We never think to hit the zoom out button to see the grander scale. Zooming out is like asking directions,... [Read more of this review]

We are our habitat

One of our Western assumptions is that an object exists on its own and separate from its environment. Upon this foundation belief our medical and religious institutions are constructed like world towers, growing higher and higher. But now they are beginning to topple. Everywhere we are rediscovering that we are our habitat—and our habitat is larger... [Read more of this review]

In the presence of the Lord

I love this song by Krishna Das, “I have found a way to live in the presence of the Lord,” and it plays with other spiritual chants on my ipod player in the kitchen so when I enter the room my mind has a reference point outside my mundane worries. Throughout my house I have little altars, pictures of saints, statues, an incense burner, flowers.... [Read more of this review]

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