Every judgement I make about how I am doing is based on unprovable assumptions. Our ideas about who we are and how we are going generate resistance and rejection of what is here.

Life is baffling. That we experience anything at all is astounding. We use our knowledge of the world like a safety blanket in an attempt to navigate with the complexity of life. This fools us into believing that we know what this is and we know what we are. The world can appear less baffling because of this, but it also means we become a prisoner of our understanding.

When we discover stillness, there can be a desire to escape into it. This is a rejection of life. Eventually we realize that all is stillness, so there is no need to escape anything - it is always and already here.

The fullness of our experience can never be captured in any label. Problems occur when we reduce the fullness of the experience to particulars within that experience. This causes us to contract so that the particular has much greater influence over what we are experiencing.

Out of the sea of physical sensation that we experience, we focus on a miniscule amount, and we allow this to determine our perception. The sea of sensation that we experience can never be captured in any label, and we have to ignore this truth to create our limited interpretations. Appreciating physical sensation is the key to unlocking our perception.

Our biggest regret is often that we didn't appreciate things more. Yet, when we are asked about how we would actually go about doing this, we can be at a loss about how to go about it. What does it mean to appreciate? The original video for this can be found on my YouTube channel https://youtu.be/AimVg32xNKc

Stillness is the support we are looking for. It is always available and completely unconditional. Stillness requires being at peace with what is here. When we are at peace with what is here, the world is able to shine.   Here is a link to the post I mentioned in the video: https://paulgarrigan.com/finding-home/

Choosing what is here means being faithful to this moment. It is only by doing this that we can find the peace so many of us are desperately seeking. The only alternative to choosing what is here is craving, and this always moves us away from peace.

Life became an intense struggle because of the things I thought I knew. The solution was wonder, and the realization that my ideas and beliefs were not supported by the evidence. All of the questions that bothered me were based on unsupported assumptions about life. I did not need to answer these questions but just realize that they were built on fantasy.  http://paulgarrigan.com/

https://paulgarrigan.com/

There are ways of relating to the world that eliminate suffering and increase joy. Insight into emptiness provides the freedom we need to break free of our usual way of perceiving. This makes space for our imagination to come in and revolutionize our relationship with life. If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can find out more here. Visit my website at: paulgarrigan.com  My YouTube channel is here. Music in this episode is "Wallflowers" by Bad Snacks

The purpose of this guided meditation is for you to experience trust and to clearly see how craving pulls us out of the stream of experience. It is recommended that you listen to the previous podcast (or YouTube video) called 'Craving Is The Source Of Suffering And Trust Is The Antidote' to better understand what is going on in this meditation.

Our life is an everchanging stream of experiences. When we attempt to resist this stream, it causes us to suffer. This resistance is caused by craving. We can learn to just trust the stream of experiences, and when we do this, we are filled with peace and joy. This is not something for us to believe - it is something we need to see for ourselves. If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can find out more here. Visit my website at: paulgarrigan.com  My YouTube channel is...

In this episode of the podcast, I discuss the book 'The Short Path to Enlightenment' by Paul Brunton and his ideas about the difference between the 'short path' and the 'long path'.   You can read Paul Brunton's Notebooks here.  If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can find out more here. Visit my website at: paulgarrigan.com  My YouTube channel is here. Music in this episode is "Wallflowers" by Bad Snacks

Trust and acceptance are two of the most useful ways of relating to life, but they can also make our situation worse. Acceptance can become a type of prison when what we are accepting is the limitations placed on us by the thinking-mind. Trust can be a path to despair when it is dependent on reaching a specific goal (e.g. I want my ex back).  If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can find out more here. Visit my website at: paulgarrigan.com  My YouTube channel is...

Literalism is at the core of most of our problems in the world today. In this episode, I share some musings on the book Imaginal Love by Tom Cheetham. Here he examines the ideas of Henry Corbin and James Hillman for how the imagination can help us break free of dogmatism, fanaticism, and the despondency that prevails modern life. It is through the imaginal that we once again re-enchant our universe.  You can find out more about Tom Cheetham and his books on his website here. If you are...

When our body (which includes the brain) produces thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations, it creates an illusion of a separate 'self' that is doing the thinking, feeling, and sensing. This experience of a separate 'doer' is what I mean by the mind. As we learn to trust the body to do what needs to be done, living starts to become effortless.  

Life can be so intense that it becomes unbearable. In this episode of the podcast, I discuss how loosening our grip on reality means things become much easier for us. It is this dream-like relationship with reality that so many of us deeply yearn for. It is the thing we are missing - it is the 'hole in the soul' we are trying to fill.  If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can find out more here. Visit my website at: paulgarrigan.com  My YouTube channel is here.  Music...

Life is messy, and this can mean we become desperate for any means of escape. In fact, we can end up in a position where much of our approach to life is based around avoidance. Trust is the realization that there is no escape, and it is only by cooperating with life that we can find peace.  If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can find out more here. Visit my website at: paulgarrigan.com  Music in this episode is "Wallflowers" by Bad Snacks

Intimacy is the experience of being fully accepted, understood, and cared for. It is a strong sense of connection that means we are never on our own. We can spend our whole life desperately seeking connection, but it will be hard to find until we realize that intimacy is not something that is given to us but something that we allow to happen. In this episode, we will look at the obstacles to intimacy, and how we can remove them.  If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can...

Many of us will remember how much more exciting and interesting life appeared to as as a child. Maybe you have yearned to experience things this way again?  In this episode, I describe how we can return to this state of wonder and remain there. We will also see why wonder is such a key element of well-being.  If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can find out more here. Visit my website at: paulgarrigan.com  Music in this episode is "Wallflowers" by Bad Snacks

The deeper our roots into stillness, the less we are troubled by life. This is why spending time in stillness each day is the most life-changing thing we can ever do. In this episode, I will share with you my experience of developing a relationship with the stillness that lies at the core of our being.  If you are interested in doing some coaching with me, you can find out more here. Visit my website at: paulgarrigan.com  Music in this episode is "Wallflowers" by Bad Snacks

Right now, we can alter our experience of reality just be developing a sense of appreciation for our surroundings. This is real magic, and it is one of the most important skills we will ever learn. Unfortunately, most of us only truly appreciate things when they have been taken away or when they are at risk of being taken away. In this episode of the podcast, I will teach you how to appreciate the familiar so you can fully engage in your life.  If you are interested in doing some coaching...

Just spending a few minutes every day being grounded can greatly improve our mental health and increase our sense of well-being. It gives us a reliable refuge from inner-turmoil that we can turn to at any time. In this episode, I describe what getting grounded involves, and we will get to practice some simple techniques. A video of the hand movement (Mahasati) can be found here  If you are interested in working with me, please click on here. You can also visit my website:...