The Story Writes Itself

It’s quite unsettling, and that’s not a bad thing, to recognize that this is all mind and what most call mind actually knows nothing. Another frickin’ paradox. Yup. It’s all paradox. Isn’t that a hoot! What we think of as ourselves is actually living, breathing paradox. Now that statement is bound to piss off a …

Question: Do you think reality is benevolent?

A friend sent me this question: Do you think reality is benevolent? My response may be of interest to many of you. From observation, I tend to experience it as benevolent, that it trends organically towards harmony. When life is left alone, let be as it is, it quite naturally wholes itself. That ‘leave it …

It Doesn’t Bode Well for Love

I’m not sure why sleepless nights are so rich with insights. Regardless of reasons, and mind can come up with a million possibilities, mine are. Maybe the breakthroughs require the freshly broken sense of control. I mean really, if we can’t control whether we fall asleep, what can we control?    Last night I couldn’t …

The Golden Idols of Our Lives

People want to use spirituality just like they want to use God. Fix me. Heal me. Help me. Awaken me. Overcome my enemies. Help my side win. People use money, power, force, and other people, exerting influence to the same end. There’s not a lot of difference between any of them. Some propel the world …

Back Where I Started

Rather than spending time discussing whose version is right and whose is wrong, I think I’ll spend the rest of my life with everyday people, those who are simply living, loving, doing their best with the life they’ve been given, and let them show me their secrets. I’d like to know people better, to see …

All That’s Left is Paradox

It’s easy to get sucked into non-duality, to think it is the answer. It’s true, well as true as anything is true. It’s the closest to describing what this is that I have found. I don’t argue that at all. Do you hear that sucking sound?I get it! That’s right. It makes sense. Hell no! …

Why Would Anyone Want to Wake Up?

Arguing with life, stressing out over what’s here and what’s not, makes you and everyone around you miserable. Most of us look for ways to make life better, but what if there is no way? How many years have you been at it, trying to win the unwinnable game? You win one and lose two. …

Ode to Sleeplessness

I sleep well most nights. This is something relatively new for me. For many years, I was a raging insomniac. I didn’t sleep well last night and found myself meditating around 4am, not so much to get to sleep but for something to pass the time. Sitting there, my pillow tucked behind my back, and …

Run, Rusty, Run!

A friend once told me that my practice was a type of self-soothing. It pissed me off. To my mind, the deep shadow work, the search for truth was anything but soothing. I wasn’t trying to feel better, or so I thought, I was after the big prize: Truth with a capital T. I’d sat …

Life Doesn’t Have to Hurt So Bad

There is only one insight worth the trouble, but that is the one that finds you, not one you can find. Anything short of that realization will ultimately be unsatisfying regardless of how awesome it feels in the moment of recognition. All but one insight dims. Most make room for the next, opening up the …

Little Girl Lost: Finding Your Way Home

I am captivated by the term ‘childhood’ traumas. It’s as if we think they are locked into a place in time and don’t infect impact encamp and inbreed with this moment, affecting the beliefs we hold, acting on the ways we respond, impeding our ability to love, increasing our willingness to hate. They are always …

Door Number One or Door Number Two?

There are some things we simply know, even though we squirm a bit putting that knowing into words. It feels more accurate to say what it isn’t but even that is filled with potholes … deep potholes, lose your car in them, deep.   It seems to me that reality is so much more than …

You Don’t Want This

You don’t want this, and when it finds you anyway, you won’t have needed me, or anyone, to show you how to get it. You say you want IT, but you don’t. You want a better life, a sweeter deal, not this. No one in their right mind wants this. It’s beautifully simple, and minds …

Every Moment is the Rabbit Hole

Most mornings, Sophia and I go down the rabbit hole, no, really. That’s what one of the trails at Whipple Creek is called. Whipple is our favorite of many great walks here in Southern Washington. The great news is that it’s less than two miles from my front door. What a treat!   Every time …