mindfulness

Getting REAL with the play of life [excerpt from GAME] 

This book is saying who you think you are is not real, that ‘self’ is only a made-up character in a made-up game. 

And it is saying that apparent reality is only ever a game resulting from the settings of that character. 

That is quite some statement to make. 

It sounds a bit insulting actually. A bit dismissive. Well actually seriously, rudely, uncaringly dismissive. 

Because we might, at this moment, be thinking of who we are, all th…

One of the aims that comes up often in our courses is the wish to make a difference…

To be someone

To have impact

To change the world

To be known

To leave a legacy

To make our way into the history books

We could take this at face value…

Most books and courses on productivity, influence, courage, knowledge, experience, effectiveness, impact, vision, charisma, leadership and focus do just that.

They dive straight into the ‘how…?’ without pausing to question in any way the model of reality…

In 1964, Abraham Maslow published a book called ‘Religions, values and peak-experiences’. 

It was his attempt to take these “rare, exciting, oceanic, deeply moving, exhilarating, elevating experiences that generate an advanced form of perceiving reality” out of the domain of the exclusively religious and into the realm of the universally human. 

That was his focus in 1964 when religion held a far greater prominence in Western Society. 

Now, almost 60 years later there is a different entanglem…

My sister and I were in Costa one Sunday (we love a café). We were talking about holidays.

A memory came up of when we were in France in a swimming pool. I was waiting behind someone on the ladder to get out.

At the same time as I pulled myself up the ladder, the woman in front dipped down. Her foot went right down the top of my swimming costume.

In reality, it probably took less than a few seconds for her to extract her foot. In my memory it took so long that it is probably still there. My s…

[excerpt from HOME, the return to what you already are]

For Byron Katie, it was waking up on the floor of her residential care home watching a cockroach crawl over her foot.

For Eckhart Tolle, it was what he described as ‘an inner transformation’ after decades of depression.

For Jeff Foster, it was the point of absolute despair ‘transform or commit suicide. There was no other option.’

For Roger Linden, it was on a walk through Hamstead Heath in London ‘one second it was Roger - me - walking …

[Prologue from FREE]

At first, everything is an adventure. There is so much to explore and see and listen to and do and make and learn and take apart and experience. You reach and crawl and pull yourself up and toddle, investigating your world, awed by the miracles of light and sound and texture around you.

Sometimes you cry and sometimes you laugh. Sometimes you are cross and sometimes you are not. Sometimes you are tired and you sleep and sometimes you are wide awake and ready for adventure.…

[Excerpt from HOME]

I was on a non-duality retreat and the teacher began by standing up and saying “There is no point in your being here……It doesn’t matter if you come to any of the talks. There is nothing whatsoever to be gained. You might as well be outside in the gardens or in your room.”

There is absolute honesty in this because it is true that there is nothing for the self identity or ego to be gained – ever. The ego which is essentially the search for Peace, freedom and joy is obscuring …

[Excerpt from 'It's not you... and it's not me']

This is not an internet quick fix.

It is not a way to secure the undying love and commitment of the person who we think will make everything OK.

It is not a way to never feel rejected, lonely, sad or isolated.

It is not a way to get them back or to change their minds.

It is an orientation of healing and expansion for the rest of our life.

It is meeting each moment of suffering in its fullness, of seeing what it reveals and how it points the …

[Excerpt from SANE, getting real with reality: 'Why bother then?']

And as we dig deep into what is actually true it becomes clear that nothing is objective. There is nothing that is independent or separate from the observer. Everything that looks real and fixed is only always 100% subjective. A function of observation. Nothing more and nothing less.

This means that the closest we can get to seeing what is true is the realisation that life or being is the only constant. There is a knowing of ex…

[Excerpt from 'It's not you... and it's not me']

Ultimately, of course, we want to live in harmony, in love and absolute connection with the people in our life. Of course we do.

We tried one way to get there and it didn’t work. It pushed people away. It created conflict. It tried to fix in place people who didn’t want us. It lied and sulked. It rode over our deepest values.

Now we know the route to what we really want. We know that these loving relationships are created within us. They emerge…