The Rose and The Sword, Lifeletter #91
I am exploring the realm of the soul these days, supporting people who want to reconnect with their soul. I’ve been stunned by how many people carry an instinctive recognition of their soul, in their bodies, and in the intuitive intelligence of their heart. Vonna, a friend of mine says, “Soul is certainly a mystery to me. I have no conceptual definition of it that satisfies—but I feel it viscerally, in the body, in a powerful way. It’s an unknown known.”
Read MoreIn Praise of Flow, Lifeletter #73
Ron Kurtz, who created Hakomi therapy, tells a very funny story of how he first began, called ‘How I knew God wanted me to be a therapist.’ It’s the story of a time he got roped into doing a therapy session at a mental hospital, for which he was utterly unqualified. He was forced to completely wing it, and it all worked out remarkably well, in spite of everything he didn’t know about therapy. I had an experience like this about five years ago. I was at home one day,...
Read MoreMeditation, Just Sitting & Hanging Out, Article 1
One of the Radiant Mind students from Germany asked me a wonderful question today, on the phone. We were talking about the practice of ‘just sitting’ and allowing everything to be as it is, which is one of the foundations of most nondual work, or the training in awakening to unconditioned awareness. Just sitting is not the same as meditation. Meditation usually has some kind of focus, like the breath, or a mantra, and a goal as well, some kind of state we are trying to reach. Just sitting...
Read MoreThe Place of No Pity, Lifeletter 54
This Lifeletter continues from the previous one, where I wrote about the retreat in which we brought together practices from the nondual and the shamanic teachings. There’s no need to go back and read Lifeletter #53, unless you want to. This one is complete in itself. I left off at the place where I called out to Heather for help. When she came over to see me, I told her about the intense physical distress I was in. After I went into some detail about my suffering, she simply looked at me...
Read MoreTapping Our Way Home, Lifeletter 49
I was speaking with a woman the other day about our fundamental nature-the openness of presence. This aliveness, where I am here without defences – simply, effortlessly, present. Without holding on to any fixed idea of who I am, because all such ideas come from the past. “I feel so vulnerable,” she said, “when I allow this openness. There are feelings, which I don’t want people to see. I’m so used to another way of being.” “Yes,” I said, “yes, we are so used to hiding,...
Read MoreFierce Clarity, Lifeletter 47
More than thirty years ago, my daughter and I were moving into our little house, in a Himalayan valley. Our landlady, who was welcoming us that night, put down her lantern and looked me right in the eyes. “In these mountains,” she said, “we have a saying. ‘When the flood comes, it leaves something, when the landslide comes it leaves something. But when the fire comes, it leaves nothing.’ Please be careful of fire.” I’ve heard her saying this inside me, many times over the years....
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