Recently, a friend asked about the technique I use for “silent fitness,” referred to in my letters. A summary follows: There Is No Single Right Way To Practice: A common approach to starting a mindfulness practice is to buy a “how-to” book or listen to a guided instruction. These approaches were not helpful for me. There are many correct ways to practice; the challenge is to find one that resonates with you. For some, step by step instructions like those found in a book are

In Silent Fitness Part 1, I emphasized the importance of keeping one’s practice free of expectations. That’s probably not realistic for beginners. Most of us are goal-oriented, and few have time to place efforts on activities that don’t produce results. What follows breaks from tradition, at least concerning mindfulness instruction I am familiar with. Writing about mindfulness experience is taboo because it invites aspirants to chase outcomes. Still, I think it might be hel

Before I begin, allow me to summarize Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. In Silent Fitness Part 1, I explained the technique I use. In Silent Fitness Part 2, I described the nature of our two-fold awareness and how silent fitness relieves dis-ease, which arises from thought. In Part 3, I want to cover the power of presence. The bliss that accompanies the simple feeling of “being” cannot be overstated. We live in a time of anxiety and stress. Technology promotes an ever-on l

I am hopeful that shining a light on the mindfulness journey removes some of the mystery and frustration sometimes encountered along the way. At the same time, I hope readers resist the temptation to set goals for their practice based on this information. Your experience will likely differ from mine. Besides, setting goals or evaluating progress in mindfulness practice is counter-productive. An analogy is offered by the children’s board game “Chutes and Ladders.” Those who h

We have now reached the current stage of my practice. As such, I will write about it in the “first-person.” As practice continued, mindfulness became increasingly natural for me. It’s no longer difficult to let go of thoughts and sit in stillness. Yet, I found something was missing. I am not living mindfully. Practice is therapeutic, but once it’s over, “dis-ease” tends to creep back in. “Presence” is hard to maintain throughout the day. Slow traffic angers me, as does malfu

Thanks again to everyone who purchased my new book, The Secret Within. I would greatly appreciate it if you posted a review on Amazon. This is the second post in a three-part series that provides a brief preview of the book. I have also posted a video on my YouTube channel featuring an interview I … Continue reading “The Secret Within, Part 2”

The Secret Within-Part 1 A special thanks to everyone who bought The Secret Within last week, propelling it briefly to #3 on Amazon’s new releases in the Emotional Mental Health category. Reviews posted on Amazon are greatly appreciated! This post, along with two more that follow, provides a brief preview of the book. ———————————————————— Part … Continue reading “Silent Fitness: Part 1, Awakening to Awareness”

Announcing the publication of my new book, The Secret Within: Finding Peace In Hard Times, by Clipston Publishing, now available on Amazon. How does one live joyfully despite difficult circumstances? Here’s what I learned after many years. Stressful events can dominate our thoughts. Learning to let go of troubling thoughts is like discovering a new … Continue reading “It’s Finally Here!”

What is the purpose of education? Presumably, it’s to learn things. But how do we determine whether or not that is occurring? My education was geared toward providing answers. Students with excellent memories held a significant advantage. I’m not sure that works anymore. I remember challenging my teachers with questions like “Why do I need … Continue reading “The Role of Education In An AI World”

What are the most important questions of life? Philosophical questions addressing life’s open-ended mysteries interest me most. I’m a mystic at heart, a person who, according to Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), seeks “union with reality.” From a practical standpoint, that means not only endeavoring to improve my life and the lives of those around me, but … Continue reading “The Space Between”

ChatGPT 3.5 was publicly released in November 2022. Prior to that time, very few people had directly interfaced with artificial intelligence. In January 2023, I asked Chat to review my blog and was blown away by its summary. I am a researcher by nature and immediately saw this was something very different. I signed up … Continue reading “AI: A Personal Update and Reflections”

Have you ever driven down the highway, arrived at your intended exit, and then wondered how you got there? Every time that happens, it scares me to death. Would I have snapped out of my thoughts if a deer had run out in front of me? When absorbed in thought, we’re oblivious to what’s going … Continue reading “The Tyranny of Thought”

“The world is deep, and deeper than day can comprehend.” -Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra I’ve always been interested in the bizarre, stranger-than-fiction workings of the sub-atomic world. It’s been said that the behavior of subatomic particles is not only stranger than we imagine, but stranger than we can imagine. When an electron (a negatively … Continue reading “Many Worlds”

Imagine, if you will, that a valuable box of paints is bestowed upon you; paints that have special properties, rendering them capable of producing a masterwork. -They are colorfast; every hue will outlive you. -They easily mix together or stand alone as you choose. -The paints express even the lightest brush strokes. “But I’m not … Continue reading “The Painter”

In the late 70s, a regular feature of TV’s Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update segment was a skit called Point-Counterpoint, starring actors Jane Curtin and Dan Akroyd. The skit featured a political opinion expressed by Jane Curtin and a caustic response from Dan Akroyd. In the most famous of these skits, Curtain argued that a … Continue reading “What Are We Really Talking About?”

We have two Siberian cats. As the name implies, they were domesticated from the wilds of frigid Siberia. To survive sub-zero temperatures, they developed a three-layered coat of dense fur. The cats are with us always; I mean that literally. The other day, I donned black dress slacks to attend a funeral. Once in the … Continue reading “Sticky Tape”

I recently stumbled across a mind-blowing stat. It seems that eighty-eight percent of the U.S. Population is younger than me, which is to say, they haven’t yet reached their 70th birthday. I knew I was getting up there, but honestly, I had no idea how exclusive my longevity is. Let’s face it, old people are, … Continue reading “We Become Our Thoughts”

This past weekend, we took down the Christmas decorations. The house now feels barren. An emptiness has set in. It didn’t seem that way before the Holiday Season. Maybe what I’m feeling is just the onset of winter’s blues; now that Holiday parties are over, and the grandkids have left. But it’s more than … Continue reading “Extending the Holiday Spirit”

Antifragile is a term coined by Nicholas Taleb, a mathematical statistician whose work centers on problems of randomness, probability, complexity, and uncertainty (which sounds a lot like the circumstances of our lives). His book, Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder, is a little dry, so I’ll save you the trouble of reading it by summarizing … Continue reading “Antifragile”

Is it just me, or does the year 2000 not seem that long ago to you, too? I’m not into the “New Year, New Me” gig; mostly, for practical reasons. I used to make New Year’s resolutions, but there are only so many times one can resolve to lose 30 pounds before just saying, “screw … Continue reading “How Should We Live This Life?”