A note on spiritual bypassing: In a recent post, I wrote “Compassion is necessary. But to be really strong in our compassion, we have to embrace a Transcendent perspective.” Some might think embracing a Transcendent perspective is a form of spiritual bypassing. According to Robert Augustus Masters, spiritual bypassing is “the use of spiritual practices…
I have been thinking a lot lately about what’s going on in the world these days and the questions I have been getting about how to deal with political, economic, and social chaos as someone trying to live a spiritual life. How do I, as a spiritual being, live a human life in an uncertain…
I have been receiving questions recently about how to deal with suffering in the world, and specifically about the recent events in Charlottesville. For example, one Facebook user saw my Batgap interview and asked the following: “You briefly mentioned Charlottesville at the beginning of the interview. Can you describe how you process seemingly apocalyptic news…
This is an excerpt from the original video Consciousness has to do with accepting what is. Stress is caused by resistance. The way out of it is to allow what is to be. We have a habit of judging things as wrong or bad, and this stresses us out. Nonjudgmental awareness helps us be more…
This is an excerpt from the original video The self is not independently real, but has an existence similar to “the monster under the bed.” Children assume “the monster under the bed” is real, but it’s really a figment of the imagination. To function compassionately in the world, we have to allow a sense of…
It is important not to make a problem out of existential pain. The pain of existence is an internal sense of not being enough. It feels like an ache, sadness, or depression. Most people try to alleviate this feeling through some distracting activity. It doesn’t work. The way out of existential pain is to be…
Awakening is now more common, but still rare. You have to decide that you’re going to beat the odds and wake up. You’re the one. If you think, “It’s kind of rare, I don’t know,” it’s probably not going to happen for you. A helpful attitude is that you will either wake up from the…
It’s harder to relate to another person when you are generating your own negativity. All you can really do is be with that content. Witness it nonjudgmentally to the degree you can. If you can’t, notice that and forget about how long it might take. If your practice is good, it may not take that…