I have included several of my articles and essays on this
website, some of which have also been published elsewhere. Just click on the
title to read the entire essay. (These articles and essays are copyright by me. If you are
interested in reprinting any of them, please contact me for written permission.)
Awakening to the Miracle of
Ordinary Life
"We are faced with a profound mystery:
the mystery of ourselves here and now, on this earth.
Whatever scientific or religious beliefs we may have about
this mystery, about how and why we have come to be, most of
us are 'asleep' to its unfathomable immediacy, its
'now-ness.' We move through our lives in a state of waking
sleep, a state of psychological, cultural, and spiritual
hypnosis. ..."
The Alchemy of Consciousness
"In the great spiritual and philosophical traditions of both
the East and the West, the idea of consciousness spans a vast continuum of human
experience, from the profound “no-thing-ness” of deep sleep, to the faint
glimmerings of subjective awareness in ordinary sleep, to the subject/object
awareness of the so-called waking state, to the cosmic unity (non-duality) or
emptiness of ultimate awakening. ..."
Gurdjieff & the Further Reaches of
Self-Observation
"Self-observation is a powerful method not only of
self-study but also of self-change. First introduced to the West by G. I.
Gurdjieff, the remarkable teacher of psycho-spiritual transformation, as part of
his overall system of work on oneself, self-observation is best approached not
as a technique but rather as an entirely new relationship to oneself as a
living, breathing being. Self-observation as described by Gurdjieff is an
intimate pathway into one's own mind, body, and spirit. It allows us to
experience new levels of self-awareness, and by so doing to live more conscious,
harmonious lives. ..."
The Lost Art of Listening
"It can be said in general that most people no longer
know how to listen—either to one another or to themselves.
Though most of us have ears that can hear very well, we do
not actually know how to use these ears to listen. Listening
has indeed become a lost art. ..."
Reading & Silence
"'Today words no longer
arise out of silence, through a creative act of the spirit
which gives meaning to language and to the silence, but from
other words, from the noise of other words. Neither do they
return to the silence but into the noise of other words, to
become immersed therein.' ...”
Understanding & Wholeness
"Because of the way in which we constantly
identify with one or another aspect of ourselves, we find
that our ideas, our knowledge, our feelings, and our sensory
perceptions pull us in many different directions, without a
real sense, a real understanding, of our wholeness.
Nevertheless, the great teachings tell us that this
understanding, the global perception of the nature and
significance of our own being, is always available to us.
All that is required is a kind of self-remembering, the
instantaneous experience of the immediacy and openness of
our own existence. ..."
Real Thinking
"If there is a thread that connects human
beings throughout history, it may be the thread of real thinking, the thread of
heart-felt questioning about life and death, joy and suffering, and our place
and destiny on this earth. Since ancient times we have looked both within and
without for answers to the perplexing questions that challenge us at every
breath. We have felt, perhaps instinctively, that these questions—and our search
for the answers to them—are what give our lives real meaning. ..."
Self-Sensing & Effortless Action
"... What is self-sensing? In simplest terms it is
the turning of our attention toward our own organism in the midst of whatever we
are doing--a kind of "sensory listening." Though this definition may at first
seem vague, it is possible, through simple experiments, to understand what I
mean. As you read these words, for example, allow your attention to include not
only the words themselves, but also the muscular tensions in your shoulders and
neck. Don't analyze, judge, or try to change these tensions; simply sense them.
..."
The Desire for Perfection
"Inside each of us there is a kind of experiential measuring
stick, a sense of the disparity between how we actually live and the "ideals" we
hold so dear. Some of these ideals are part and parcel of our own biology and
essence. Some are drummed into us from the outside by our family, friends,
educators, society, and culture. And some may even come from something higher in
ourselves. Whatever their source, however, these ideals are all mixed together
with my actual experiences and perceptions in this rather messy being that I
call myself."
Personal
Problems & Spiritual Growth (including quotations from my interview in
Moscow with Father Alexander Mumrikov, a Deacon of the Russian Orthodox Church)
"Many of us
entertain a strong belief that our personal problems stand in the way of our
spiritual growth. Some of us even believe that the work of spiritual development
or self-transformation has to do with getting rid of what we perceive as our
problems, of what we most fear or despise in ourselves.
This viewpoint
rests on several major, but interrelated, assumptions. We assume, for example,
that personal problems are undesirable, and that the fewer problems we have in
our lives the better off we are. We also assume that our
problems are, for the most part, unnecessary, and that we should be able to
control our lives sufficiently to eradicate or at least minimize them. ..."
Transforming Fear
"Fear plays an enormous role in
the way we live our lives. From childhood to old age it shapes our behavior and
our perceptions by imbuing certain actions, thoughts, and experiences with a
“negative” emotional charge. From the fear of “the other,” to the fear of
punishment, to the fear of pain, to the fear of illness, to the fear of success
or failure, to the fear of censure or controversy, to the fear of our boss or
our mate, to the fear of someone passing us on the street, to the fear of
intimacy, to the fear of loneliness, to the fear of psychological exposure, to
the fear of change and the unknown, to the fear of death, to the fear of
damnation—our lives are filled with fears of every conceivable color and form.
..."
"As human beings there is a part of us that finds its identity
and meaning in the heavens above us. Looking up at the stars at night we
resonate with the vastness of space and time that is evoked. We sense a great
mystery there—a mystery that beckons us beyond the mundane concerns of everyday
life. ..."
Healthy Living through
Free, Natural Breathing
"A powerful tool that is often overlooked in
our quest to heal ourselves and to live healthier, more-conscious lives is our
breathing. The quality of our breathing, of our exhalation and inhalation,
reveals a great deal about our self-image, our basic stance toward life. By
observing, by sensing, our breathing in the midst of action we can greatly
expand our direct knowledge and awareness of ourselves. ..."
Breath Qigong: Transforming the Energy of Negativity
(First published in The Empty Vessel, Summer 2006)
"Qigong is
a wonderful tool for energy awareness and cultivation. And it can bring with it
a great sense of inner peace. When we are not practicing qigong, however, and
are faced with the often difficult situations of our daily lives, many of us
sometimes find ourselves at the mercy of negative thoughts, judgments, and
emotions that have little to do with the actual situations themselves and more
to do with the self-serving stories we tell ourselves about them. And we
frequently find ourselves expressing this negativity to others, often in
disguised ways. ..."
Propaganda in a Democracy
"When Edward Bernays, proclaimed by many as the father of public
relations, published his book Propaganda in 1928, few people realized the
far‑reaching influence that the new discipline of public relations would have on
society. Propaganda, Bernays claims, is not something pernicious that one
government or group inflicts on another, but is rather an integral part of
democracy itself. ..."
Click here to read more articles and essays, including articles on
breathing, in the
Articles and Spiritual Perspectives sections of Authentic
Breathing Resources.
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