How Many Brains?
In some ways, the whole body can be seen as a “brain” in the sense that the brain is an interface with mind and consciousness. However, there are certain centers that are more focused as …
Category: Mind
The Importance of Actual Yoga
In Yoga, the key is settling the mind. Then the Self “behind” the noisy mind can shine through. Yoga Sutra 1 v2-3: Yoga is the complete settling of the activity of the mind. Then the …
The Strange Reality of Being Human
Most people think of themselves as a single being, distinct from others. This is my body, these are my private thoughts, and this is how I feel. However, this is just a set of ideas, …
What is Destruction?
We tend to see change as a loss, partly because the ego likes to feel in control. It’s also disturbing tamas, our inertia. And yet, the cycle of growth requires change: balance, disintegration, growth, integration, …
Forgetting
There is a curious experience we have as we grow into new stages of development. We forget what it was like to be in our prior stage. This is very simply because we remember prior …
The Challenges of Teaching
There is a common idea that awakened people automatically become teachers. But teaching is a skill, one that allows us to speak to the student at their level. Many don’t have this skill. They speak …
Self Sabotage
It’s very curious how we develop conflicting inner dynamics that get in the way of our own happiness. For example, we desire career success but sabotage our work by being sloppy or making mistakes because …
The Pace of Change
Many people experience the world speeding up. This is partly an effect of our perception of time. As we shift through the decades, our metabolism gradually slows and time seems to go by faster*. This …
Perspective
A worthwhile read in the New York Times Sunday Review: Why 2017 Was the Best Year in Human History. I’d change that to “known history” but he touches on some important points. Things are, for …
Breaking a Bad Habit
I’ve spoken before in various ways about shifting out of our habitual response to life. We tend to resist what we don’t want, including what is arising from inside ourselves. While this is a subjective …
The Chance Assumption
“What astonishes me, just as it astonishes a child when he becomes aware of his own identity, is the fact of finding myself here, and at this moment, deep in this life and not in …
Priorities
Watching the latest Star Wars movie, I was reminded of the choices we face in life. Do we favour the “dark side” urges for power, control, and fame? Or do we move with the light …