The below was written over the past month, as I did a (mostly) daily regimen of 15 minutes of meditation based on the various books about Buddhist meditation I’ve been reading. 1) at first it’s like a sitting still exercise: avoiding the... Read More...
Merry Christmas Everybody!
I don’t know how your Christmas is, but ours in The Netherlands is white. I’ve skated on a local lake, one of the few where the ice is not too spoiled from snow, this morning. An uncle, my parents and my brothers will gather today in my... Read More...
Blavatsky’s Psychology
The title of this piece is rather ambitious. I’m not going to go in depth into this topic right now: I’m sure there is enough material on the topic to write a book about, which I might just end up writing. ;) Just not today. Usually when... Read More...
Change isn’t easy – Discover your dharma?
It’s not often that I write about books I don’t like. In fact I was going to ignore ‘Discover Your Dharma‘, but my mom persuaded me review it. She said, it makes a good story: a book that has won awards that you don’t... Read More...
Spiritual newsletters, new spiritual book reviews
I’m sorry – I did not get around to posting the main points from my spiritual newsletter for three months. Instead of posting the whole contents here, I will share the posts and book reviews that I thought were most important and... Read More...
Shunryu Suzuki Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind give away
Apparently, by Shambhala’s mysterious standards, last months contest went well, so they’ve arranged for another one. I don’t think we should get used to this, but let’s enjoy the privilege while we can. There’s a 40 year... Read More...
Paradoxes of Giving
I’ve pondered for a while the psychological paradox that democrats give less to charity than republicans, that those who eat environmentally friendly food are similarly ungenerous, on average. I’ve not written about this issue before,... Read More...
New spiritual gift ideas December 2010
Great Vegan Cookbooks 2010 Vegan cooking is a challenge – even in today’s world with soy products available almost everywhere. And isn’t that the point? ALMOST everywhere? So, for your vegan friends – or your meat eating ones to give them a... Read More...
Can you feel the quality of a spiritual teacher?
I got a book for review recently that I put down within a few minutes because it made me all jittery. A few days ago we had a spiritual teacher do a lecture at our local theosophical lodge, and he turned the room quiet. We didn’t even have... Read More...
Alzheimers and spiritual growth
A reader asked (in Dutch): As a social worker in a nursing home I had a conversation last week with the wife of a gentleman living on our psych-ward. This lady appeared not to need the most common forms of support in dealing with the loss of her... Read More...