'If your right hands offends thee' -- the structural method for seekers dealing with desires & fears

Spiritual seekers find inevitable resistance of various kinds to their self-inquiry and surrender. These resistances are based in attachments to their personal identity and the associated desires and fears.

I'm usually not a fan of overpowering our desires and fears. Where these are strong, I find that is futile. In particular, ideas of laziness and willpower are almost entirely useless. Resistance must be engaged in dialogue, and our feelings shown into the light of awareness.

That said, the ancient method of dealing with desires and fears was structural -- eliminate the circumstances which caused them. Where the desires and fears are relatively weak compared to the strength of the spiritual desire, this can still be useful.

How do you make decisions the spiritual way?

How does one deal with difficult decisions? From the psychological perspective, it's important that one be clear and honest about what you want. Therapy and artistic expression can help with this. But from a purely spiritual perspective, you simply recognize that you are not the doer and that you have nothing to do with decisions. You let the mind fall absolutely quiet through surrender or inquiry. The funny thing is that these approaches are not actually opposed. They occur in different contexts.

Turn away from what you want or pursue it? Old vs. new school spiritual approaches to desire

The nondual traditions have usually held that the seeker must turn away from desires for fulfillment in the world -- through relationships, pleasure, etc. The seeker should use knowledge and the cut the attachment to these. My approach is a bit different. The seeker must indeed turn away from seeking happiness in these pleasures, but this is only going to happen through a process of honest admission and pursuit of desire. The old knowledge+willpower way doesn't work that well.

Exploring the many meanings of ego in spirituality

What is the meaning of ego? The word has many different and complicated meanings in the spiritual literature. Is it the sense that I am? Is it the emotions and fantasies connected to the self-image? Is it identification with these? Is it simply any kind of desire at all? Let’s go through some of the possibilities and their implications…

Like a baby half-asleep: the mysterious enlightened way of action

While enlightenment is about the changeless, it is also a strange fact that inasmuch as the enlightened can be said to act, they act well -- and do so without effort. By turning away from the world, they move in the world with innocence, authenticity, and creativity.

The mind is a thing of beauty and wonder if you don't look at it

Various myths point to a single truth: that the mind is a cavern of wonders if one does not attempt to enjoy or possess it.

What do you really want? Two ways of thinking about desire

There are two ways of thinking about desire -- both valuable in different ways. There is the way in which you try to get in touch with your emotions, which is the psychological way. The spiritual way involves recognizing that you what you really want is to be free of the burden of decision -- to just be.

A seeker's most important attribute: an all-consuming desire for Truth

What really propels a spiritual seeker forward towards the truth is overwhelming desire.

The ego is just inner conflict that rises to awareness

Ego is inner conflict -- we know it as it rises to our attention in the form of questions like "what should I do?" The spiritual approach to this conflict is simple: don't touch.

On desireless action

What does it mean to act without desire? A few thoughts and stories.