Episodes
This episode was Inspired by a question from a listener about how doubt seems to be behind her continued OCD behaviors. Her take was that she needs more trust in wisdom and less doubt for her rituals to finally come to an end. I give another take and explore doubt in a bigger sense. What
Published 11/11/24
Today’s episode is the opening of another The Little School of Big Change call from the recent 6- week course. You are what’s here.When pain is here, you are pain. When anxiety is here, you are arising as anxiety. When joy is here, what you are is joy.Pain, anxiety, joy, and any other fleeting sensation
Published 11/04/24
This saying is very common. Stay in the conversation and things will begin to land more deeply. Although this seems true at a certain level, it also invites you to fall into the common traps of “waiting, “someday” and “becoming”, which are all thoughts.What can you do beyond simply staying in the conversation? We’ll explore that
Published 10/28/24
Life is constantly letting go. You don’t let go. You are let go. Who-you-take-yourself-to-be arises and dissolves as experience in each and every moment.Today’s episode is a portion of a recent call with the LSBC 6-week course where we explore the effortless, always letting go nature of life. ***Join me for a 6-day silent retreat in
Published 10/21/24
It’s not uncommon that someone might argue, “You say self is a thought, but no-self is also a thought, isn’t it?” Or, “Isn’t nonduality another belief?” Everything is a thought or belief when it’s a thought or belief. So yes, no-self can be a belief exactly like self can be a belief.But what’s between self and
Published 10/14/24
Initially, noise, movement and visual appearances are primary. They are what’s happening, after all! They are the entirety of experience. They are where attention flows. It takes a lot of energy to be absorbed in all of that moving, changing chaos, but we rarely notice. Eventually, the foreground might move to the background and the background
Published 10/07/24
Thought creates a sense of continuity. It creates a sense of you living your life with your past and your future. All of that – you, your life, your past, your future – only exist in and as thought. This process will happen. But what I discuss in today’s episode is the thought that says it’s
Published 09/30/24
Many questions are seeking conceptual answers. The answers to those questions tend to keep the questioner in ideas and concepts. Those are common and innocent, but generally unhelpful.We’ll explore some of the most common unhelpful questions and see what makes them unhelpful, and then look at some helpful questions – which point beyond the conceptual –
Published 09/23/24
Let’s have a serious talk. Thoughts are not true. Honestly, how in the world could they be? How could a formless blip of energy with some untouchable, vague images or memories or words, know about ‘you’ or the future?Thought is what creates the imaginary idea of a future. There isn’t a future known by thought.It
Published 09/16/24
In this episode, we explore two definitions of the word fix. There is to fix, as in to correct. We try to correct or fix a problem, or ourselves, or the way life appears to be unfolding. The other is to fix something into place, as in to solidify. Identities, opinions, and problems appear more or
Published 09/09/24
In this episode I respond to a question I received from someone who experiences depersonalization and derealization. Specifically, the questioner shared that they don’t believe this is a thinking disorder and do I agree? This sent me on a bit of a nice rant 🙂 I do agree. No thinking is “disordered” in the same way that
Published 08/26/24
I so often hear people feeling they are making things worse. They say things like, “I’m resisting, which is making these feelings worse” or “This anxiety is making my physical pain worse”.But what if “I’m making it worse” is just a thought?Can one thought really make another thought or sensation worse? Does it have that
Published 08/19/24
In today’s episode, I share an example of someone who experiences “health anxiety” to show how experience is “all conditioning” (EP310) and also how there is no conditioning (EP311). We explore the related idea that there is something other than what is right here, right now. This is another paradox. I feels like things
Published 08/12/24
Ana wrote to me saying that she began having social anxiety two years ago. She said she’s ashamed because she wishes she was strong enough to let this go. She went on to talk about how things are for her, but that first statement alone reveals a lot. She’s ashamed of something that has nothing
Published 08/05/24
Today’s episode is a conversation with Sarie Taylor and her Worldwide Wellbeing Community. When the mind is trying to hold onto some shred of perceived control, it often says something like “we have no control over what shows up, but we do have some control over what we do with it/pay attention to”. But that’s still
Published 07/29/24
In episode 306, Bill Giruzzi shared his experience and the insights he had during a period of extreme anxiety and suicidal depression. In today’s episode, his wife Lisa shares the incredible insights she had during that same time. In so many profound ways, Lisa deeply realized that nothing in life is really up to her. When
Published 07/22/24
Last week’s episode was called It’s All Conditioning. And, also, there is no conditioning. Conditioning is an idea that depends on time. It exists only in thought, which means it has no lasting, real existence. It’s an appearance, albeit a persistent, very real-feeling one. Conditioning exists in duality, as a label for a fleeting experience. The unconditioned
Published 07/15/24
All experience, in a sense, is conditioned. It’s all learned. And it can’t be anything other than what it is. It’s not your conditioning. The you with a life and problems and a past and future IS conditioned thought. It can’t have conditioning or be conditioned. It is a conditioned thought. There is a sense of
Published 07/08/24
This episode is a guided meditation of sorts…or something like that. We’ll lean together into what’s always here, never changing. What is here between thought and no thought?What’s aware of my voice?What’s wide awake when body and mind feel tired?
Published 07/01/24
In this episode, we explore one of my favorite phrases: Who cares? We’ll look at this in two ways. First, who cares, as in ‘so what?’. Second, who cares as in ‘who is the one apparently experiencing caring? Do you care about the things you’re reactive to? Do you really, or is caring a conditioned
Published 06/24/24
Everything we’re looking for – freedom, realizing your true nature, peace – is about letting go of everything we thought was true and real. It’s a massive letting go. Anything we cling to, or even believe, holds us back.This includes all pointers and all paradigms. Pointers and paradigms are like a flaming arrow. We follow
Published 06/17/24
Four years ago Bill had a massive brain bleed. Three years ago, he had his first panic attack. A little over two years ago, he was desperate to end his life. Then in April 2022, he awoke one morning feeling awful, per usual. But this particular morning, for maybe three seconds, his mind went quiet
Published 06/10/24
In this episode, I share a way of looking at our true, nondual nature and the dualistic experience we appear to be living in much of the time. None of this is new, but this particular way of looking at this was inspired by David Bingham. David’s pointings are based on the Koshas, an Indian
Published 06/03/24
Change happens by neglect. Neglect of me, the one with the big problem, and neglect of the problem itself.How do we neglect something that feels so solid and important? See it clearly.It’s like an impressionist painting. From a few feet back, the mind conceptualizes it as a pond with water lilies. But move closer and
Published 05/27/24