Impatience, Time and Nothingness
I am looking to circumambulate two propositions: That impatience stems from a skewed relationship with time, while nothingness and the serious engagement with death are profoundly integrating and healing. […]
The Many Faces Of Aloneness
Like the weather shaping landscapes, aloneness pervades our psyche in ways that continually modulate its character. This topic recently came to be worked through in one of my psychotherapy groups, and as if by synchronicity, it also surfaced in the Mindsight Intensive during our explorations of unfamiliar modes of awareness we can access through meditation. I took this as an opportunity to try to put some order in this complex topic that elicited many questions from patients and students alike. […]
The Enlightening Power Of Darkness
A meditative journey through the power of darkness Creativity has its roots in the power of darkness. Orpheus may have been an extremely talented artist of very ancient times, but he also became a powerful archetype in the ancient Greek and Roman imagination. He was venerated as the greatest of all poets and musicians. As a hero, he visited the underworld and returned to the world of the living. […]
The Dream Of Ordinary Waking Consciousness
Examining ordinary waking consciousness The content of this article is taught in a practical and experiential manner in next year’s 2022 Mindsight Intensive. Details of the curriculum can be found here. The movie Escape Plan with Stallone and Schwarzenegger depicts an archetype we have to wrestle with when we want to examine ordinary waking consciousness. Stallone is a top-secret agent specializing in breaking out of prisons to reveal weaknesses in the prisons’ security. […]
Three Pairs Of Opposites That Can Help Or Prevent You From Getting Out Of Your Own Way
Awareness, Surrender and Meditation. In my previous blog ‘The core secret of mindsight – Get out of your own way’, I explored the notion of doing less to gain more, a fundamental principle in mindsight training. In this blog we are exploring three pairs of opposites students often confuse with each other, and that can get in the way of our getting out of our own way. The three pairs of opposites are ignoring versus suppressing or pushing away, surrendering versus giving in, and faith and belief. […]
The Core Secret Of Mindsight – Get Out Of Your Own Way
Consciousness and Mindsight Does this sound familiar? You consciously decide to have a snack and you go ahead and have one. You then decide to put on laundry, and you go down to the laundry room to do it. It then occurs to you that it’s a good idea to get married to your partner, and you arrange to do so. And by the way, it’s time to buy a house, and off you go and look for houses. Finally, you decide to watch some TV and there you go, watching it. This is more or less how your day unfolds, just with many more decisions you believe having consciously made. But is that really what goes on? […]
Control Or No Control? – That Is The Algorithmic Question
Awareness – Wiring your brain for mindfulness rather than mindlessness. Here are two related questions that two students recently asked about mindfulness meditation: “I am confused about control. There seems to be a contradiction: On one hand it feels like we take control in meditation, on the other hand we learn to relinquish control. What’s the solution?” […]
Basic And Applied Mindfulness – A Short Introduction To Wisdom
Through wisdom we grow and find peace, to access the full potential of human consciousness. What I teach can sometimes feel daunting, first and foremost because the brain is the most complex object in the known universe, the mind even more so, and there is no way around complexity in teaching and learning about the mind. I also consider my students’ experts in their own subjective experience of being alive. […]
Avoidance Yoga
Avoidance Yoga stems from the fact that the brain loves to use movement and action as avoidance.
Newsletters, Reflections and Announcements
Newsletters, reflections and announcements.