The gentle art of sanity amidst civilization
Posts tagged as:
When the mind is not crowded
By imaginary things,
It is the best season of your life.
-Kabir
I just chopped twelve hundred needless words from this article, which is fitting, because the point of all that blathering was to warn against getting lost in abstractions.
I think too much. Virtually all of us do, it’s no secret. Anyone who [...]
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There is an interesting discussion brewing in the blogosphere at the moment. My friend and fellow blogger Lisis Blackston of Quest for Balance wrote a controversial article last week about the feasibility of dropping your day job to pursue your passion.
We’ve all witnessed a growing culture of people who are quitting their lukewarm office careers [...]
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Just before flying to Thailand, I spent five days at a retreat community called Hollyhock. It’s a humble, rootsy little hamlet on the relatively remote Cortes Island. I knew very little about the program I’d signed up for, only that it was about Buddhism.
It turns out that it was a rather intense regimen of meditation. [...]
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Since I left on my trip, I’ve had quite a few deadlines to hit. Bus at 07:50. Ferry at 15:45. Plane at 14:30. Pick up the key after 5:00 and before 6:00. Meet so-and-so here at 7:30.
I’m also constantly checking to see if I still have my crucial items: passport, laptop, wallet and tickets. Occasionally [...]
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It was not until I was an adult that I realized that behind Sesame Street is a grand conspiracy.
It’s been on the air for forty years now, and we’re all familiar with the format: short, simple skits involving muppets, neighborhood human cast members and the occasional celebrity. Each skit has an obvious educational point to [...]
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When I sit down to write an article for Raptitude, I always try to pick a topic that I can resonate with at that particular time. I’ve got a folder full of great ideas for posts. At any given time, I’m only in the right headspace to write something decent about maybe ten percent of [...]
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“Do not seek the truth, only cease to cherish opinions.”
~Zen saying
I don’t watch the news anymore, and I don’t get the paper. It took too much time to read, and often it would put me in a bad mood. There was too much to disapprove of, too many unsettled and unsettling stories. So I cut [...]
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The first thing I heard was the crash. I spun around on my stool, and she was already crumpled on the floor, head bent against the radiator.
Her eyes were open and blank, and she appeared to speak, but it was just part of the seizure. She wasn’t there at all. Her movements were so stiff [...]
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Rich man crying ‘cause his money is time / Poor man smiling ‘cause he knows he ain’t blind
~ Sam Roberts, “Brother Down”
I can remember more than one night I spent wide awake as a child, frightened from a scary movie or some other show I wasn’t supposed to watch. As scared as I was, I [...]
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David began a 30-day daily meditation experiment on April 6, 2009. The original post is here. David’s progress log is here.
Well, the first official Raptitude experiment has come to an end. I just got up from my final meditation session. As far as I can tell, I am not enlightened. I can neither hear the [...]
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Follow David on his year-long solo trip to Thailand and New Zealand, on the new blog David Goes Kiwi. Many stories, photos and adventures await.