As a longtime meditator, I often found some difficulty, especially in the early days, in quieting my mind. It seemed so unnatural and difficult to attain a state where there were no thoughts buzzing around inside my head. What I have discovered over the years is that the more practiced I became at meditation – […]

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 – […]

Over the past several years I’ve noticed a significant upturn in “busyness.” Being “really busy” seems to have become very commonplace, almost a badge of honor.  When I get requests of any sort, they usually preface the request with “John, I know you are really busy, but….”  The truth is that I’m not “really busy” […]

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 […]

In a rare departure from my usual probing of our beliefs and the assumptions that underlie them, and challenging the status quo, I’ve been moved to write a short nostalgic piece, reminding us of the major changes that we have seen in the past couple of generations.  I wonder how my grandfather would have responded […]

[This is an excerpt from my book Getting to the Better Future, originally published in 2000; I think the subject is as relevant today as it was nearly 20 years ago – JR] The Titanic crew was complacent in their arrogance, believing that their ship was unsinkable. This complacency allowed them to be concerned over […]

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 […]