Self vs self esteem
Self vs. self – esteem You might think there is only one type of self esteem, the esteem in which we hold ourselves in relation to the world. But, there is an other variety of self esteem, more accurately described as Self esteem. Self esteem with a capital S is different from self esteem with [...]
Believing versus Knowing
The accompanying photo of camels in the desert, which are the small white parts, are easily overlooked in favour of the more obvious shadows. So too with believing and knowing. Beliefs throw long shadows. There is a difference between believing and knowing and I find it is one that most people overlook or dismiss. Actually [...]
Quitting the Causes of your Suffering.
We cause our own suffering, unwittingly. Most people do not see the connection between their own behaviour and their unhappiness. The behaviours I speak of here include gossiping, complaining, fault-finding, scapegoating another, forming a clique that excludes others, feeling that you know how another should act, feeling superior, needing to be right all the time, [...]
The Blame Game
Blaming, complaining, fault-finding, are all features of immaturity. They are indicators that you are not taking responsibility for yourself. You are not taking responsibility for your own life; for your decisions, circumstances, happiness, and so on. It’s a cop out. You are refusing to grow up, not only psychologically but more importantly, spiritually. One [...]
Rationality
Rationality The rational mind is a very useful tool for survival in the world but it is an interference in the spiritual quest. We live in a scientific era, where rationality and logic reign supreme as modes of thinking. Anything that is not amenable to scientific scrutiny is deemed unsavoury or dangerous or silly. [...]
Judgement
Judging The topic of judgement comes up often amongst spiritual seekers. I find amongst the people who speak with me that many feel they have trouble quitting their judgementality or else they have succeeded in leaving it behind to some degree only to find that others around them are still speaking judementally and that [...]
Loneliness
Loneliness Loneliness is a feeling of being without the kind of companionship one desires. It is the feeling of an unmet desire, often unnameable. It is the feeling that there is something missing, usually something one percieves as essential to their happiness or sense of fulfillment. The feeling of loneliness includes feelings of lack [...]
Unconditional Love
Unconditional Love This is a phrase I hear used a lot and I often wonder if people using it really grasp what they are saying or striving towards. The key is in the “unconditional” part. To love without any condition is to accept the other just as they are. It is to see them [...]
Jealousy
Jealousy “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on” Shakespeare -Othello Jealousy, the green eyed monster, is one of the most common, intense and obsessive states that can take hold of an individual. It is an example of what The Buddha was talking about [...]
Freedom
Freedom “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” were the words of a song by Kris Kristoferson in my youth. In my depressed moods I agreed totally with these words, interpreting the word freedom to mean the opportunity to choose what I wanted in whatever circumstances I found myself in and to have [...]
More about the ego
More about Ego. The word ego has many connotations. Freud used it in relation to what he called the id and the superego. The id is all the basic primitive drives. The superego is the demands of society. The ego is the part that negotiates between the id and the superego. In the East the [...]
“Child of God”
“Child of God” I used this expression in a talk recently, as a way of pointing to an attitude which I found to be essential on my spiritual path. Here I want to look at the implications of this phrase and how it effects attitude. Let’s take the word child and see what we associate [...]
Self-Inquiry
Self-Inquiry The term self-inquiry is used in spiritual development circles to refer to a host of techniques that a person can use to promote their own spiritual growth. The idea behind these techniques is that the ego, that aspect of our psychology with which we identify everytime we use the word “I”, is what [...]
Communication as a way to inner growth.
Communion: the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially on a mental or spiritual level, according to The Oxford English dictionary. It’s a word that often comes to mind nowadays. A few friends chatting openly and sincerely about whatever topic comes up is an example. Any company where people are singing and telling [...]
Sonnet-What does Truth feel like?
What does Truth feel like? [a sonnet] The Truth, it is no thing, It knows not how to feel, It thinks not of an ideal, It does not care to sing. It wears not what you bring, It shares not what you reveal, nor what it is you conceal, It’s repose is that [...]
What if?
What if – just what if you knew you were here on holidays? I mean, if you really knew that your time here on Earth is just a holiday. What if you knew there really is not such thing as death? How would you live differently from how you live now? What if you knew [...]
Ego will versus Divine will
“Not my will but Thine be done” Many of the great teachers had written some thing along the lines of “Not my will but thine be done”. I began to wonder what is the difference between my will and Thy will. My will is what we normally call desires or wants. It’s wanting the world [...]
What is Intuition?
Intuition is a feeling, a hunch , which is difficult to articulate but has a feeling of authority, nevertheless. Some light thought accompanies the feeling. It is accompanied by a sense of possibility. This feeling/thought then needs to be nurtured or investigated or just left sitting until it reveals itself further. I find intuitions to [...]
Separating needs from wants
In the confusion of everyday life it is difficult to distinguish between what we really want and what is expected of us. How many of us have ever considered this dilemma and if we have how have we acted on it? In a culture where notions of upward mobility are the norm it is hard [...]
The Changeover from external to internal spirituality.
There are two phases to the spiritual path. The first is what I call the psychological phase. It involves working on the psychological ego. This means dealing with issues from childhood, self esteem, finding a way to make a living, dealing with relationship issues and so on. It is what we normally deal with in [...]
Learning to recognise the Ego
The word “ego” comes from Latin, meaning “I” or “I am”. So all ego activity and thoughts are based on the fundamental assumption that “I am”. This condition develops in children, probably around the time they realise that they are separate from their mother. All other thoughts arise from this first thought. Psychology has had [...]
The Ego
“Can’t live with it, can’t live without it” used to be a catch phrase when I was growing up. It really does apply to “the ego”. It is a necessary thing in order to function in society but it is also the thing that causes us all our suffering. By suffering, I am speaking about [...]
