Articles
On Beyond Two Sides of Existence
The picture we are seeing here-knowing it’s just a picture (a map)-is of two sides of existence: one, the appearance, the phenomenal, the apparent material world, the mortal dream, Body, Mind, and World (BMW) which arise simultaneously to play Maya,…
Why Spiritual Teachings Can Seem Contradictory
“We have two eyes to see two sides of things, but there must be a third eye which will see everything at the same time and yet not see anything. That is to understand Zen.” ~ D.T. Suzuki Summary for…
Why No One Can Give You Enlightenment
The following are some notes regarding how one must “go the final mile” oneself, and no teacher or guru can hand you liberation on a platter. Enjoy. “A Master is a fully-realized Being. A Guru (or Sat Guru) is a…
On Creativity: Nikola Tesla and Plato’s Cave
These musings are in response to a friend, a spiritual teacher and former physicist & mathematician, who expressed an opinion about the inventor Nikola Tesla. His view was that Tesla was a 3rd rate physicist, and not up there with…
True Meditation: A Quiet Mind Versus A Silent Mind
“To ask the mind to kill itself is like making the thief the policeman. He will go with you and pretend to catch the thief, but nothing will be gained. So you must turn inward and see where the mind…
Who Becomes Enlightened?
I’ll sometimes hear or read comments like, “he’s an enlightened master”, or there is a story around some sage’s enlightenment, or a teacher or life coach states they become enlightened at some age, or there is an obvious assumption among…
A Dialogue With Francis Lucille Regarding Teaching and Life Coaching
This post is a record of first, a written question-and-answer dialogue between the Advaita (non-duality) teacher Francis Lucille (Rupert Spira’s teacher) and a student that was posted online a number of years ago (no longer available, so it is posted here…
My Personal Misery Trainer – Comedy Skit
Props (optional): clipboard, running pants, a bottle of beer (Ordinary looking guy, maybe a little mussed, a little fussed, like he had a ling night, gets up in front of a group in a room) “Hey. Hi, my name’s Larry…
Kissing a Sweet Goodbye to The Three Principles
From a recording: “If you’re listening to this in your car and you find yourself in a beautiful feeling, roll down your window, pop the tape out of the tape player, and throw it out the window. Stay with…
There Is No Such Thing as Enlightenment
I once heard the spiritual teacher (of Advaita, Non-duality) tell his students (who he would rather refer to as “friends”): “Would you rather be enlightened, or happy? Would you rather be enlightened and unhappy, or unenlightened and happy?”. While I…
The Reality of Universal Consciousness
Jesus said, “I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind.” – The Gospel of Thomas The hard thing to…
Intuitive Intelligence
“Ordinary intelligence is a cerebral function. It appears as the faculty of adaptation and organization. It allows complex problems to be handled by bringing into play a large quantity of givens. Linked to heredity and to acquired conditioning of the…
The Four Seals of Buddhism and The Meaning of Ott’s Jack’s Cheese and Bread Snack Lyrics
I first heard this song about ten years ago, and loved it, and was intrigued by the lyrics. Ott – Jack’s Cheese and Bread Snack One: All composite phenomena are impermanent. Two: All contaminated things and events are unsatisfactory.…
Comedy Sketch – Advaitins Anonymous (AA)
[Note: this sketch was performed by the actor Vishal Patel who read the script and volunteered – at a recent Francis Lucille retreat, in Temecula, California. I did the fake “announcement” afterwards] “So I heard there was a woman who spent…
What is Spirituality?
“It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere” – Agnes Repplier It’s interesting to see how much misunderstanding of the word “spirituality” there is in our culture. And, I…
Nonduality and the Three Principles Psychology as Teaching Models
An acquaintance from an online forum sent a message to me recently, with a good question about Sydney Banks, who had a large awakening experience and, eventually, inspired what became the Three Principles Psychology movement. His question was in regards…
Notes On Saving The World
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – Jesus (John 16:33) If I see a worm on the…
What is Nonduality?
Nonduality is the cutting edge. It is the cutting edge of spiritual seeking — the end of it; it is the cutting edge of creativity — the source of it… and it is the cutting edge of society: where “thought…
Spiritual Reflections on Spiritual Teachings (The Three Principles, Non-Duality…)
This is an update to an article I wrote a couple of years ago. I just re-read it and liked it, so am expanding it beyond mentioning The Principles (3P) in order to include the non-duality teachings I’ve been involved…
Sanity, Insanity and Common Sense Revisited
The title and content of this article refer to the book “Sanity Insanity and Common Sense” that was an early entry in the spiritual psychology field that has come to be known as “The Three Principles”. What follows is the…
Is Meditation Needed?: Meditation and the Three Principles
Meditation… Like yoga, is something you hear about more and more, as more and more people do it, talk about it, or feel they should do it. But with increased popularity, is there a decrease in understanding? Like yoga,…
Western Philosophy of Mind and the Problem of Life
Turning Western Philosophy of Mind on It’s Head Is life a problem to be solved? The philosophers and scientists who are trying to figure out how the mind works are basing their models on an orientation towards problems solving. They…
The Paradoxes Along the Path
This essay is about the apparent paradoxes seen when one looks deeply into philosophical questions and encountered long a spiritual path. At some point, a beautiful juncture, after grace bestows light upon the limited human mind, the Land of Paradox…
Proof of Heaven and Dialogues With a “Mad” Solipsist
solipsism |ˈsälipˌsizəm| noun the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist. This dialogue started on Facebook, where I made a posting about the book Proof of Heaven, by Eben Alexander, and evolved into…
CACTUS JOURNEY – Mountain Hike August 18, 2013
Was a good day: hike in mountains, ate San Pedro. Unbelievable how the swallows came out, as I was sitting at the overlook where Rowan’s ashes were released a couple few years ago. Seems like a miracle I fucking found…