The first verse of the Tao Te Ching is one to be returned to, again and again ... The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. Yet mystery and …
Nonduality
Practice Notes: Truth & Practicality
It’s been quite a while since my last “practice notes” post. Partly this is because I’ve been deeply engaged, within the past couple of months, with a large writing project: the creation of a new book manuscript. So, the flow of my creative energy has been directed almost exclusively in this direction. And partly because there’s been such an abundance of, shall we say, “grist for the mill” …
Bachelors & Buddhas: On The Validation Of Scientific & Metaphysical Claims
If we define “bachelor” as “an unmarried man” – then the statement “Every bachelor is an unmarried man” is true by definition. Given how we’ve defined our terms, it simply cannot be false. It is necessarily un-falsifiable. Hence, it really doesn’t make sense to call such a statement a “theory” or a “hypothesis.” It’s not something that can be proved or disproved empirically. It’s not a matter …
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Practice Notes: Carrot Juice, Grapefruit & Eggs
Groceries Needed just a few things the other day—carrot juice, grapefruit, and eggs—so headed over to Trader Joe’s. Now, of course, I ended up with a few other things also in my shopping basket, but still a fairly small haul, overall. Scanned for a short line at the registers—and spotted one completely open. Yeah! Placed my basket next to the clerk—a young guy, late-twenties, maybe. …
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Practice Notes: The Jade Plant
I have a Jade plant that I very much love. I purchased it around four years ago, when it was just a small plant—four inches tall, or so. Now, it’s a good fourteen inches tall and wide, quite regal! I can say, with confidence, that over the past four years this Jade plant has grown—has increased in size, at least fourfold. Stealth Growth But have I actually perceived it growing—directly—with …
Practice Notes: Adornment
Noticing, in recent weeks, patterns of emotional energy that would seem to be connected to childhood experiences—accompanied by images from those earlier years. All to be welcomed, embraced with tender-spacious intimacy, allowed in their own time to transform, recognized as already liberated. Among the various themes these dreamlike scenarios (these apparitions from Elizabeth’s past) present, …