How Things Seem

Reality is our code-word for What Is. If something is, it is real or has reality. We often speak of Reality as what stands beyond, or on the other side of, our veils of meaning – of what’s on our minds or only in our imagination. But what if there were no human minds orContinue reading “How Things Seem”

Necessary Delusion

Check this out. Everything around you includes you in its higher wholeness, and what is within you grounds you in deeper oneness. Harmony and communion are the special terms designating these distinct dimensions of Reality – around and including you, within and grounding you. The concept of harmony requires you to be centered in yourself.Continue reading “Necessary Delusion”

First Things

If we don’t really understand ourselves, how can we know what we need to be healthy, happy, and whole? In our ignorance we are left groping for what feels good, for what might help us get ahead of the game, or at least distract us from the anxiety of not knowing what “the game” isContinue reading “First Things”

Thresholds

In Higher Nature I explored the major stages of human development as they correlate to our experience of wellbeing and fulfillment over a lifetime. Wellbeing is a more stage-specific value of how aligned our development is to where we ought to be at that point, while fulfillment measures our degree of self-actualization with respect toContinue reading “Thresholds”

A (More) Meaningful Life

A mentor and friend of mine passed away recently. He was 79 years old and a one-time member of a church I served back in my ministry days. He and his wife were good friends with another couple who were founding members of that same congregation. The supernatural orientation of religion, its tendency for gettingContinue reading “A (More) Meaningful Life”

Deep Within and All Around

One of the more obscure concepts in mystical spirituality to explain, and arguably the most important for understanding what it’s all about, is the Ground of Being. The Christian theologian Paul Tillich popularized the term in the mid-twentieth century, but it has been foundational to the perennial tradition of spiritual wisdom for nearly 3,000 years.Continue reading “Deep Within and All Around”

Five Aspirations

Damn, if it doesn’t keep happening. We set our sights and give chase to something we expect will satisfy our longing – for what exactly, we’re not sure, but this might be it. After it’s over, and even if we managed to grab on and gulp down the promising thing, we feel more unsatisfied andContinue reading “Five Aspirations”

Two Things About the World You Need to Know

In The Story That Got You Here I reviewed the developmental journey that started with your physical attachment to Mother, gave way to emotional attachment to your mother and other family members, and continued to advance with your intellectual attachment, in the form of beliefs, to the worldview of your tribe and larger culture. ThisContinue reading “Two Things About the World You Need to Know”

Becoming Aware

To call something an “illusion” commonly assumes that it was somehow designed to deceive or mislead us into believing what isn’t true. To believe an illusion is to live in delusion, and no one wants that. What we want is the pure and simple meaning of things, without any spin or labels or partisan agendas.Continue reading “Becoming Aware”

Secure in Delusion

One of the charming yet potentially devastating traits of our species is in the way we lose touch with what’s real, even preferring illusions to what’s right in front of our face. And yet, the condition of fully believing our illusions – called delusion – creeps over us so gradually that we actually have noContinue reading “Secure in Delusion”