I have been observing myself as a spiritual practice. Trying to “remember myself” as Gurdjieff would say it, call upon the “witness” or “observer”. Be awake. Either way, I have noticed something remarkable about myself: see if you can relate.
When I am in front of my computer* (where I spend most of my day) and I encounter something that requires the slightest push on my end, I see myself automatically going to the computer game of my choice, freecell.
I began observing this phenomenon about 6 months ago (it was there, unobserved, for many years). But 4 days ago I decided to employ “restriction,” which is one of Kabbalah’s main tenets, and see what will happen.
For about 36 hours I closed the freecell program as soon as I opened it. Then every time I was “awak
Most winners in life master one thing in particular: they are astute. Astute: having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people.
Accurately assess… as opposed to have an opinion, have a good feel, or guess…
Is that a skill, a capacity, a virtue? What is it and how do you get it?
A have a new “most visited” post, the 31 quotes that give you chills… Why? Because it promises an experience… an experience you crave in the consistently dull and painful life you have.
Wanting to get chills without any other benefits says a lot about you and your life. What does it say? For one: you are a mystery to yourself…
I have said it before… humanity bars its way to evolution by thro
The narrative ((narrative:
* 1.a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious.
* 2.a book, literary work, etc., containing such a story.
* 3.the art, technique, or process of narrating, or of telling a story: Somerset Maugham was a master of narrative.
* 4.a story that connects and explains a carefully selected set of supposedly true events, experiences, or the like, intended to support a particular viewpoint or thesis: to rewrite the prevailing narrative about masculinity; the narrative that our public schools are failing.))
A student of mine, after listening to my last Sunday call recording, asked why Jews turned to a different strategy than the slaves from Africa. Or Native Americans.
Actually, I continued to participate after the incident I’ll tell you about… but NEVER intended to contribute any more. Or not really. I was participating from hurt… knowing that what was broken cannot be fixed.
18 years ago, as I was coaching someone, it because clear to me that there are this core invisibles, that are underneath every issue, every distinction, every weird, unethical, unsavory action a human being makes.
Even though the distinction that there is a broadcast going on that everyone hears and everyone tunes into some of it, part of it, the part that feels relevant to what is going on for them.
I remember, it was 1991, and I drove home after th
This blog (on Kabbalah) is new, and I decided to look for a logo image for it. A picture of a left wrist with the famous red string around it felt like an excellent idea.
So I went on Google and search for “Kabbalah String.” What a mistake. First off, there were 420 thousand pages listed. Intimidating. Second: most of those sites are hellbent at throwing dirt, venom, spit, at Kabbalah, and everything that has anything to do with Kabbalah. They call it a religion: it is not. They call it a cult: it is not.
I resisted being sucked into …
…reading that trash: I don’t need to get dirty just so that I can find a good pict
During the summer of 1966 I ran into a girl I knew from elementary school. Turns out she applied and was accepted to the same school I was going to start in that September.
We were having a chat. I remember thinking to myself: Compared to her I know everything… why am I going to school?
We both graduated. I am sure she still thinks she knows everything. My experience is that I know less and less as time goes by.
Whether you can identify with my 19 year old person, or my 69 year old person, and to what degree will be important, so jot it down.
This article is about the inner workings of a human… that if you get it wrong, the price you pay for the error is your life.
Is a human like a assembled faucet? When it drips you have to replace the whole thing?
I energize my water in a 5 gallon (20 liter) plastic containers with a spigot.
The spigot is replaceable, but I am not strong enough to unscrew it. I have the replacement spigot… I bought it a year ago, but is still sitting on my kitchen counter. I still need to be mindful that the old spigot, which is just another word for water tap… still drips.
Both are context words. Neither talks about the stuff that is inside the context… inside the wrapper. The wrapper tells you how to look at the content.
It has nothing to do with the stuff, or the quantity of it. It can be great, it can be plenty… the context, scarcity or abundance will tell you what to feel, what to think, what to do.
Why? Because context is decisive.
You can have plenty inside the context of scarcity, and feel that you don’t have enough. Enough time, enough stuff, enough happiness, enough whatever…
…or the opposite, you can have little, but inside the context of abundance, you have what you have, and what you have is enough.
How to Get Your Mind to Read ((article by Daniel T. Willingham (@DTWillingham) is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author, most recently, of “The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads.” Republished from the New York Times
Photo: Credit Lilli Carré))
Americans are not good readers. Many blame the ubiquity of digital media. We’re too busy on Snapchat to read, or perhaps internet skimming has made us incapable of reading serious prose. But Americans’ trouble with reading predates digital technologies. The problem is not bad reading habits engendered by smartphones, but bad education habits engendered by a misunderstanding of how the mind reads.
1. I think it was in 1991.
I have been observing myself as a spiritual practice. Trying to “remember myself” as Gurdjieff would say it, call upon the “witness” or “observer”. Be awake. Either way, I have noticed something remarkable about myself: see if you can relate.
Most winners in life master one thing in particular: they are astute. Astute: having or showing an ability to accurately assess situations or people.
The narrative ((narrative:
Actually, I continued to participate after the incident I’ll tell you about… but NEVER intended to contribute any more. Or not really. I was participating from hurt… knowing that what was broken cannot be fixed.
This blog (on Kabbalah) is new, and I decided to look for a logo image for it. A picture of a left wrist with the famous red string around it felt like an excellent idea.
During the summer of 1966 I ran into a girl I knew from elementary school. Turns out she applied and was accepted to the same school I was going to start in that September.
This article is about the inner workings of a human… that if you get it wrong, the price you pay for the error is your life.
Both are context words. Neither talks about the stuff that is inside the context… inside the wrapper. The wrapper tells you how to look at the content.
How to Get Your Mind to Read ((article by Daniel T. Willingham (@DTWillingham) is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia and the author, most recently, of “The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads.” Republished from the New York Times