Author: Joel

What You Will Find in Meditation

December 13, 2022

You can meditate if you believe in God or if you don’t. Either way, meditation/contemplation is a hopeful practice. We meditate because we believe there is something “out there,” or “in here” (inside us), or “way down at the bottom of everything.” You are attempting to connect with that thing. If you practice meditation on a regular basis, you will find something. For some of us, it helps to imagine that the universe has consciousness and personality. We ...  Keep reading

Meditation – A State of Resonance

November 21, 2022

We spend our lives trying to get into a state of resonance. You might say that everything we do is aimed at getting ourselves into rhythm with the universe. We eat and drink and sleep and do drugs to feel right. We endeavor to control our environment, establish routines, indulge our habits, seek stimulation and connection. That is all meant to regulate and feel in step with existence itself.

There are plenty of things that make us feel out of step – physical pain, broken relationships, interruptions ...  Keep reading

Getting Started With Contemplation – Taking Stock Of What Is There

November 13, 2022

The first thing to do if you are wanting to start practicing meditation/contemplation is to start by paying attention to and “tracking” everything going on inside yourself. Your inner experience is complex. It is made up of your thoughts and feelings, but there are other things, too – physical sensations, imaginings, intentions, a million little impulses. Before practicing meditation/contemplation, your inner experience can feel out of control. The goal is not to completely control your ...  Keep reading

The Purposes of Meditation/Contemplation

November 6, 2022

From time to time, I get out of the habit of practicing meditation/contemplation. And it becomes important to re-engage with these practices that help me sink deeper into myself and reconnect with contemplative thought. These meditative practices are what I need to live a serious, creative life, which I was born to do. From time to time, people also ask me to help support them in their own meditative practices. Basically, the questions center around how to start, what to do, and what is supposed ...  Keep reading

Becoming Open

June 20, 2022

I’ve had some things on my mind for a while, so I thought I better write them down. I’ve come to believe prayer is just learning to be open. It is not about saying anything or changing anything. It’s about learning to open yourself and practice intimacy. I’ve spent a lot of time exploring my inner world and realize now that it was all so I could learn to let God in. And if you do that, you will soon learn to let others in. The whole goal then is to provide space (“hospitality”) ...  Keep reading

Mother Death

January 17, 2022

Loving death

With all of its requisite pains,

Has come

To each of us in its own way

Each secret strand is strange to the others

Though they flow from the same spring

Silent and dark, barren and daring

You always feel

It is your fault:

“What did I do to deserve this?

“There must have been something.”

No one else seems to be suffering

In this way

Though they suffer in secret

With the same questions

When you first woke up, you did not know death

Though you were given directly from it

You were born ...  Keep reading

Jesus, Non-Dual Teacher

April 17, 2021

When we are so caught up handling sin, peddling forgiveness, and getting people into heaven, we forget that Jesus was also a great non-dual teacher. His teaching was revelatory, revolutionary and bewildering. Sometimes we think his teaching was merely a secondary part of his life, like “while I’m here to save everybody from their sins, I might as well say some stuff.” I don’t think we have to determine if one was more important than the other. What Jesus was teaching was very much in line ...  Keep reading

God Absorbs Darkness And Tragedy

April 7, 2021

Part of the problem with this transactional view of the gospel – that Jesus just came to offer forgiveness of sins and get you into heaven where everything is perfect – is that it doesn’t help us deal with the darkness we are still presently in. You get forgiven and punch your ticket, but you still do and think bad stuff and the world is still full of brokenness and tragedy.

This transactional gospel focuses on sin and sin management. It’s like this: God can’t put up with sin ...  Keep reading