“In this experience, the sense of being a witness or seer of things vanishes completely, and instead you feel yourself to be whatever thing you are beholding. You don’t see the mountain, you are the mountain. You don’t hear a bird, you are birdsong.”
Category Archives: Meditation
What I Told My Children About Religion
After giving up on churches, we found yoga, meditation, and the power of example (plus John Coltrane.)
The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment: ‘No resistance’
Life occasionally backs us into a corner and brings us to our knees. In such moments, we can remember two words: “No resistance.”
Revisiting Eckhart Tolle: 20 Years After the Power of Now
You can criticize Tolle’s jargon and spiritual stardom. And yet he usefully describes the difference between living from ego and living from presence.
Writing as Spiritual Practice: Cultivating Deep Humility
Every time I finish a piece of writing, I see again the terrifying truth: Reality transcends anything that I could possibly say about it.
Conversation as Win-Win: David Bohm on Dialogue
The aim of dialogue is not for everyone to finish up and leave the room with the same opinion. Far more important is our shared state of mind. When everyone suspends their assumptions and opinions, we share a common consciousness.
‘You Are Not the Guilty Party’—Bubba Free John on Original Sin
What led me to abandon the notion of original sin was becoming a dad—and listening to Bubba Free John.
Crazy Wisdom and Criminal Charges: Coming to Terms With Bubba Free John
Even spiritual teachers with genuine insight can harm you. Keep your crap detector handy.
Testing Your Practices in the Fire of Suffering
What helps me: asking better questions, returning to the present moment, and remembering the Serenity Prayer.
Three Books That Changed My Life
Surprisingly, it’s often possible to reduce a 50,000- or 100,000-word book to a single page or paragraph of pure power. That’s enough to capture the essence that matters to you.
DOUG TOFT 