In early 2019, Franciscan mystic Richard Rohr featured a guest editorial by Episcopal priest Cynthia Bourgeault in his Daily Meditation*newsletter. Bourgeault focused on the familiar phrase known to Christians as “the kingdom of Heaven.” She writes: So, what is the Kingdom of Heaven? Biblical scholars have debated this question for almost as long as there […]
February 2019 In 1956, the Platters (pictured below) recorded their biggest R&B hit – “The Great Pretender” (watch them on YouTube). Memories of that song – in particular its title – came to me when I was considering how clever the finite mind is in creating pretense. In that nondual place of infinite awareness – […]
Jan 2019 Don’t all the world’s religions and spiritual traditions teach that the ultimate goal of life is happiness and lasting peace, and that these qualities reside within all of us, at all times and in all circumstances? Why then do we continue to suffer so deeply and frequently? “Happiness, like the patch of blue, […]
December 2018 In this context, “narrative” is just a fancy word for the story we tell ourselves about something or someone. It may or may not be accurate or truthful but “our story about” is usually important to us. It is this emotional attachment to the story that causes suffering. Let me provide an example. […]
November 2018 In a conversation the other day one person shared how she had experienced an “ego flare” when a friend said something that she interpreted as a criticism of her self-image as a supportive, helpful person. She explained that her reaction was disproportionate to the comment – beyond her usual calm demeanor. This prompted […]
October 2018 There is a huge challenge in distinguishing the separatist thinking of dualism from the nondualist viewpoint of interconnectedness and oneness. As with many challenges, there are less-than-obvious traps as one attempts to make distinctions. The biggest trap for me has been resorting to dualistic approaches in describing the elegant reality of nondualism. As […]
September 2018 A number of us were gathered in the home of Bill and Lynne Twist to hear from a Peruvian shaman named Arkan Lushwala . The people seated in their living room were financial supporters of an organization co-founded by the Twists, The Pachamama Alliance. I met Lushwala several years before at another Pachamama […]
August 2018 Back in 1998 when I started this newsletter, I recall seeing this quote from Tom Atlee, a fellow advocate of conscious evolution: I’ve come to believe that things are getting better and better and worse and worse, faster and faster, simultaneously. I invariably get a few nods and chuckles from people with whom […]
July 2018 [This month’s editorial is a repeat of one I wrote twenty years ago in one of the earliest issues of this newsletter. It was published in August, 1998 without the pictures. Next month’s issue will mark the 20th anniversary of the newsletter.] Our modern problems are no longer the result of single agents […]
June 2018 I often get asked if I do more writing than what appears here in my monthly newsletter. The answer is most definitely! Besides writing books and four or five articles a year for third-party publications (like futurist journals, Christian Science Monitor and others), I regularly write blogs for FutureShapers – the company I […]