NOTE: I think in this last blog I am in some sense arguing myself OUT of a position that I have thoughtlessly held for many years. That is, the idea that liberation is a wordless affair, best done in the silence of the heart. What is dawning on me that this is only half of […]
In the first part of this blog on language and thinking, I argued that the human experience of thinking is fundamentally grounded in what is not and that it is inherently anxiety-evoking. And this second blog is going to suggest – counter to what you might instinctively think as a meditator – that this is a price well-worth paying. Deliciously, […]
I’ve been grappling with the issue of language/thinking for many decades, but lately have had a few clarifying insights that I’d like to share here. I’m grateful to the brilliant community of meditators on the Mindsprings Practice Space with whom I explore these issues. And to the work of Phil Mollon, Evan Thompson and Francisco Varela […]
This is a transcription from a live teaching session with a question from a student about physical pain and the energy spine. You’re very welcome to join these 3x a week live sessions and participate in the meditation instruction and the discussions afterwards. They’re great… You can try out the re- and discharging the spine […]
This is a tidied up transcript of an answer I gave in the Live Sessions in December 2020. Chuck, sitting with his dog in front of his Christmas tree, was worried that he was having to visualise and discipline himself to keep on track with the 3 object practice we were exploring… OK, so here’s […]
There’s a question that comes up often in the Mindsprings meditation sessions: “When I am sitting or lying doing these body-based practices, I often notice that one side of my body is completely off-line or dull compared to the other one. Is this normal?”Judging by the number of times the asymmetric self arises, I would say […]
I’ve written before about the dread anxiety that can overcome me when I wake from sleep. Working with anxiety in a number of ways, I have managed to largely calm that morning dread down – but nowadays, what I am discovering is another morning entity: the Malistair. As I surface from the dim waters of […]
I have a chronic complaint – nothing too serious – that comes back time and time again through my life. When I feel it coming on, I have in the past descended into a depressed state because it feels so unfair. The symptoms are mild. Irritating more than anything else. But they linger and they […]
But how do you feed a spine? When I noticed with horror – and not a little bit of shame – that my spine was so chronically starved of energetic food. I was fortunate enough to be at the beginning of a wonderful Buddhist retreat with the teacher Rob Preece and his wife Anna. They are extremely good […]
I needed to replenish my beautiful spine from top to bottom if I was going to be meaningful in this world. We can look to the line of the spine for a more realistic report of our aliveness. But it doesn’t mean we won’t be shocked by what we find. I’ve just been on a […]
