5 days agoMember-onlyTransforming your Mindset: The Key to Better RelationshipsLike attracts like. — “Men suck.” “Women are crazy.” Do you hear this often in your circles? I remember about 30 years ago, I said, “All men are jerks.” Mind you, I was still in my 20s. My friend, a male, said to me, “Do you know every man in the world to make…Relationships3 min readRelationships3 min read
May 5Member-onlyHow Do You Respond to Suffering?You can play the victim, or you can transform it. — Yoga (and I mean the true meaning of yoga that includes Buddhism) is about liberation. Some yoga traditions believe in reincarnation, so this liberation is about being free from the karma of past lives. So we work through that karma best as possible in this life while trying to avoid…Buddhism4 min readBuddhism4 min read
Feb 8Member-onlyBe Leery When Someone Says, ‘God Told Me’Sometimes the ego deceives in an attempt to manipulate others. — Joel Osteen even calls bullshit on them. Sure, he might put it more politely while broadcasting to millions of people, but he still questions those who seem to have some red phone that answers calls from God. “[Y]ou’d think God speaks to them more than he spoke to Moses, David…Religion5 min readReligion5 min read
Feb 3Member-onlyIs the Body Evil?It’s too easy to blame our bodies for what’s going on in the mind. — One of my favorite classes blended qi gong, kundalini yoga, and shamanism. It was one of the wildest experiences. I’d shake my body while the teacher would whisk feathers or strike a tuning fork near me, and I’d leave each class feeling truly transformed. Then I’d read some old religious…Spirituality3 min readSpirituality3 min read
Jan 31Member-onlyWhat Rilke Teaches Us about Conflict and SufferingIt’s the moments of chaos that open us up. — Rainer Maria Rilke’s ideas from Letters to a Young Poet emphasize the importance of individual creativity and the pursuit of personal fulfillment through artistic expression. …Faith6 min readFaith6 min read
Jan 21Member-onlyI have a Ph.D…Employers won’t hire meIs a college professor useless in other industries? — I got the call last May that my college wouldn’t be renewing my and my colleague’s contracts. Yes, we were victims of post-COVID budget cuts in higher education. I can’t say I was upset because I had been applying for jobs outside academia for several years. …Job Hunting3 min readJob Hunting3 min read
Oct 4, 2022Member-onlyWhy Our Spiritual Practices Can Lead Us Off-CourseWhat we call ‘intuition’ might be our conditioning. — In Chapter 18 of The Cloud of Unknowing, the author describes how some contemplatives might easily go astray or go insane. We see this today with modern “contemplatives” — the “spiritual, but not religious” — who want to make their own rules concerning their practices. …Spirituality5 min readSpirituality5 min read
Jun 26, 2022Member-onlyUnknowing Is a Good Approach to LivingYou’re always open to new ideas. — I have to laugh at college students. One student who believed he knew everything about video production told me that I was pronouncing “lav” (short for lavaliere) wrong. …Mindfulness3 min readMindfulness3 min read
Published inILLUMINATION·Jun 4, 2022Member-onlyHigher Ed Just Broke Up with MeSome relationships need to end. — The call came Thursday afternoon. I could tell by Michelle’s voice that she was nervous. “The outgoing provost decided not to renew your contract for next year.” Immediate panic bitch-slapped me. How would I get health insurance? How will I access all those great research databases? …Higher Education4 min readHigher Education4 min read
Published inBetter Humans·Apr 7, 2022Member-onlyCan’t Meditate? Try This PracticePut some motion into your mindfulness. — You wake up in a total panic. You feel like someone has put a vacuum cleaner hose to your mouth. You just can’t breathe. You go to work, and perhaps you’re productive, but each spare moment brings you back to your racing thoughts. So you keep working. You keep moving…Meditation4 min readMeditation4 min read