Fist Full of Dollars

Buddhist art.

I don’t do spiritual practices in order to have specific experiences.

I find that the process has its own momentum and I don’t need to organize it as such.

I’ve also learned that there is nothing special about the experiences, no matter how amazing they seem at the time.

One tends to chase after experiences such as bliss and oneness — and what we will, for convenience, call God.

But these experiences come and go, they are not the prize, and are often just a big distraction. They can even be a trap, because one gets overly fascinated and focused on having these experiences, when really they are just things that happen along the way…you are supposed to keep moving forward and expanding.

It’s like walking into a room with one dollar bills strewn all over the floor. You can get distracted and spend lots of time gathering them. What you are not aware of is that this is in fact your very own palace and that your throne and the real jewels are further along, through many other rooms. You can spend a lifetime picking up dollar bills, or even finally go to the next room, which is littered with something else that seems valuable but is actually unimportant. I’m sure you get the picture.

If you need to have more of these experiences, or any other experiences, you will. The most you will need to do is make room for it. Just be aware that it’s too easy to become fascinated with the experiences. It’s one thing to acknowledge that they are mind blowing or beautiful or life altering. They are. But grasping at them or trying to acquire more of them or worse, confusing the experiences for enlightenment, is going to divert you from the real treasure.

Beautiful Sleepwalkers Series

Bat ray swimming.

Am I Wasting My Potential?

Let’s explore this potent question of living up to, or wasting, one’s potential. Once we get that out of the way, we can actually get…

After the illusion of self reader Q&A. Woman walking on the beach with reflection.

Reader Q&A: How to Live and Love After Losing Your Sense of Self

In this Reader Q&A we look at the struggle to find joy and engagement in daily life without a sense of self, without purpose or…

Buddhist mandala painting.

Why Should You Believe Me?

Spiritual teachers say a lot of conflicting things. How do we know what is true? This is such an important question. Leaving the issue of…

Roll of paper tickets.

Getting Back to Zero

How to connect with spirituality directly. Something I’ve noticed over the years of communicating with spiritual people is how crowded their minds become with the…

If the world isn’t real, why should I stay?

Reader Q&A. If you’ve got a ticket to Nirvana, why should you stick around ’till the curtain closes? A reader observes that people are unreal,…

Woman smoking in the bath.

Reality Check: People In Real Life

Why is the reality of dealing with individual people in real life so different than how we feel about people in general? That impersonal love…

More Basic Human

Woman covering her face.

Bombardment Tactics

What happens when the Programs fight back? Imagine you are playing tennis with the Programs. You’ve got a nice volley going—they hit the ball to…

Sunflowers.

What’s Your Ratio? Spiritual Consumption vs Practice

Are you serious about spiritual evolution, personal growth, deprogramming the mind, mastering your thoughts, emotions and focus? This bad habit may be holding you back.

Reader Q&A: I’m Having Trouble Turning My Passions into a Business

“I’m really interested in doing things. On the other hand, when it comes to translate an activity in a business idea. I’m stuck.”

does childhood trauma damage your soul

Spirituality, Meditation, Psychology and the Effects of Child Abuse

Does being abused as a child damage your soul? Is it possible that the current received wisdom of psychology is incorrect? I don’t think of…

Reflection in eyeglasses.

Feeling Guilty About Things Other People Do

So, there are several different components to this bit of programming that you’ll want to investigate further and become aware of. This is a pattern…

Dew on a spider web.

Inquisitive vs Acquisitive: Inquiring Minds Want to Know

The mind is not your enemy, unless its actions and mechanisms remain unexamined. Becoming intimately familiar with the levels, processes and different modes of functioning…

Dark view of tunnel.

How to manage being overwhelmed by thought loops

What to do when you go from one thought loop to another? How to deal with the sheer number of these programs? Getting an accurate…

Disco balls.

Drama Addict

Why do I keep getting drawn into other people’s drama and conflict when I’m working on inner peace and tranquility? Are you a drama addict?…

Opportunity for Massive Personal and Spiritual Growth

I’m in lockdown. Coronavirus has completely unwoven the fabric of my life. So why am I so damn excited? Grinning from ear to ear. Of…

Woman in hotel room looking out the window.

Compassion: What is it?

We’re continuing on the theme of greeting yourself with open, friendly curiosity. This time, we approach it from the perspective of compassion. Compassion means something…

Kitten sleeping.

Relaxing into the Paradox

All of your so called waking hours, the mental apparatus is arranging and rearranging the furniture, so to speak, to create your unique experience of…

Spider in a web.

Deprogramming is Possible

Are you ready to update your mental default programming? I think what’s hard is not knowing where to apply ourselves…spending our energy in places where…