Posted inReality Science

Intriguing idea: reality is stitched together from interlocking perspectives and experiences

Reality. It's everything that exists. Simple enough. Seemingly. But the reality is that reality is fiendishly difficult to define, figure out, get a handle on, tie down. Philosophers have debated the nature of reality for thousands of years. Humans, surely, for much longer. And modern science, even with all of its accomplishments, continues to struggle with what reality is, and isn't. So when the most recent issue of New Scientist arrived today, I took a look at the cover and knew that I'd have to read the Welcome to the Pluriverse article right away, because the subtitle, Forget the multiverse…
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Posted inAwareness Buddhism

I love reality as it is, and I also love reality as it isn’t

I've been thinking about my previous post, "Magical realism is an apt term both for Zen, and for life as a whole." Mostly the post was excerpts from a chapter about magical realism in a book by a Zen teacher, James Ishmael Ford. I said, "He makes a lot of sense here." I still feel that way, though now that I've finished Zen at the End of Religion, I stand by my statement that it isn't one of my favorite Zen books. Probably this is partly because I'm not as interested in Zen now as I was for most of…
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Posted inBuddhism

Magical realism is an apt term both for Zen, and for life as a whole

To most of us, certainly me included, there's magic (fake, but often captivating), and then there's reality (genuine, but often boring). Yet like so many apparent dualisms, there's good reason to view magical realism as a notion that blends the best of two seeming incompatibilities. That's how Zen teacher James Ishmael Ford views things in his book, Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual But Not Religious. I'm almost finished with the book. It's not among my favorite Zen books, but there's quite a bit to like about it. My first posts…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB secret initiation meditation is public Sikh scripture

Here’s another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. This post strikes me as being less of a criticism of RSSB, and more as a history lesson that illustrates how RSSB grew out of longstanding Sikh tradition, rather than being a unique mystical faith. Of course, this is obvious to most RSSB initiates, since passages from the Sikh scripture (Adi Granth,…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus Politics

Defense Secretary Hegseth thinks God is on U.S. side. Iran thinks the opposite. Both are wrong.

When I saw the title of a story in today's New York Times, "Hegseth Invokes Divine Purpose to Justify Military Might," I knew this was a 2 for 1 blog post issue. Meaning, I could criticize two entities that I despise in a single swoop: (1) the Trump administration in general, and Defense Secretary Hegseth in particular, and (2) fundamentalist Christian dogma. Hegseth is like a cartoon character who somehow is able to head up the United States armed forces. He prances around, trying to act all macho, yet is so vain recently he banned photographers from his briefings because…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB: guru is not a guru

Here’s another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. Gurinder Singh Dhillon is the current RSSB guru. The theme of Anon's post echoes the changes in RSSB that I've written about in "Sant Mat, version 2.0," "Has Gurinder Singh revised Sant Mat to v. 3.0?," and "Gurinder Singh completely upends Sant Mat dogma." When I was a member of RSSB, it…
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Posted inBooks Spiritual practice/meditation

The most far-out unexpected form of spirituality might be… just living life as it is

Like many people, I'm a big fan of the unexpected in movies, novels, and streaming shows. You know, that moment when the story line has been moving along in a predictable fashion -- interesting, but nothing special -- then the plot takes an abrupt totally unexpected twist that makes me go, Wow, I sure didn't see that coming. The people I thought were alive actually are dead. This is a computer simulation, not reality. The astronauts who long for their families back on Earth actually are clones with implanted memories. What seems to be a remote mountain community in Idaho…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

S*** I heard at RSSB

Here's another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current RSSB guru. S*** stands for shit (but I'm sure you could have guessed that). I really enjoyed what Anon wrote. Both humorous and sad. Here's a list of s*** I heard at RSSB during my time there. It stuck with me for a reason…
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Posted inMindfulness Neuroscience

Cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness

I recently finished writing in a ruled 8 1/2 X 11 pad of paper that I've used for various purposes, turning over a page to start writing on a fresh page without discarding what I'd written before. I was about to throw the pad away, or rather, recycle it, when I decided to look at the first pages and see what was there. Which was... 3 2/3 pages of scribbled notes that I'd taken titled "CBT & Mindfulness -- Waking Up." That made me recall listening to a series on the Waking Up app that featured a subject that interested…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB: The “tell your boss” test

Below is another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current RSSB guru. I like Anon's "tell your boss" test. Every religion is strange, because they almost always have a faith founded on the supernatural, for which there is no demonstrable evidence. So religions can make up all kinds of stuff up, claiming it…
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Posted inConsciousness Delusions

Mind isn’t separate from body, but we sure feel like it is

After being a dualist for about 35 years, when I was a member of an Eastern religion that believed we humans have a mind and soul that are separable from the body, I'm now a contented monist -- as it seems virtually certain that physical matter/energy is all that exists, the mind is just the brain in action, and soul doesn't exist. But I readily admit that this isn't the way how mind and body relate feels to me. Or to other people. For it seems that right now my bodily fingers are typing away on a keyboard, with the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB and critical thinking

Below is another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. Anon asks 30 good questions about the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, and the RSSB teachings. Some of them have answers in the RSSB literature, but they aren't convincing answers, as the answers raise even more questions. As Anon says, critical thinking is discouraged by RSSB, along with every other religion.…
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Posted inMindfulness

Thinking is good. Overthinking, not so good. Ruminating, pretty bad.

Sometimes people attached to a certain kind of spirituality (or pseudo-spirituality) say that thinking should be avoided, that somehow we should live in an intuitive la-la land where actions occur spontaneously and naturally, no thinking required. Aside from being totally unrealistic, I've wondered how it is that these people express their distaste of thinking in words that sure seem like thoughts. After all, what is saying or writing "thinking should be avoided" but an expressed thought, thinking should be avoided. Mindfulness practice, in my experience, doesn't view thinking as a problem any more than emotions are a problem. Both are…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB engages in weaponized recalibration

Here’s another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current RSSB guru. RSSB CONSTANTLY recalibrates its positions on its own beliefs and positions. It makes it hard to know where you stand. They're often subtly done and vague about it and it's never announced. The script just changes. It can also create a situation where you YOURSELF are just trying to get onto solid ground. RSSB also weaponises hypocrisy for…
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Posted inMeaning of life Personal/Stories

We are all living the dream life

A few days ago I was using one of the machines in my athletic club's circuit weight room, when I heard a guy at a nearby machine say, "Brian?" I said, yes, and the guy said “I’m Bob. Bob Jones.” [Not his real name, as I want to respect his privacy.] I hadn’t seen Bob for about 36 years or so. We used to play tennis together back when I was into the sport that I'd played since high school. Bob asked if I was still playing tennis. I said, no, not for many years. How about you? He said,…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Dating in RSSB (Radha Soami Satsang Beas) is a toxic cesspool

Here's another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current RSSB guru. I found it really interesting. Anon breaks new ground, so far as I know, by discussing how dating occurs among members of RSSB who are part of the Indian community in the Western world. In short, not well, especially for women. Enjoy... RSSB: DATING CESSPOOL TOXIC Anon here. As someone who spent a lot of time in Western…
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Posted inDelusions Politics

Last night’s State of the Union address provided more evidence of the Cult of Trump

Unfortunately, Donald Trump has inflicted himself on the national landscape for enough years to allow me to write several posts about how he acts like a cult leader, and his followers show him the devotion given to cult leaders. See: Trump acts like a cult leader in his coronavirus briefings Inside the cult of Trump, his rallies are church and he is the Gospel Cult of Trump shows how delusion is linked to blind devotion Cults can be political as well as religious Last night I showed my dedication to studying the behavior of political cult leaders, along with the…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Facebook post uses Deepak Chopra’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein to caution against spiritual bypassing

Someone recently sent me a Facebook post by Rosemary Holistic Therapy that has some interesting things to say about spiritual teachers acting badly and the danger of spiritual bypassing -- defined as "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks." I've shared the post below because I agree with most of it. It's a bit New Age'y for my taste, and indulges in some psychological talk that doesn't resonate with me. I also have no idea what the "life-force center" of the body is. But I agree…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

A thoughtful critique of the RSSB meditation practice

Obviously there's no one right way to meditate. There's lots of ways, and whether one seems "right" or "wrong" is entirely subjective. It depends on what sort of meditative experience someone wants. So if some religion, sect, spiritual path, or mystical practice claims This is the highest and best form of meditation, don't believe this. Because that sort of claim is complete dogmatic B.S. I'm confident in saying that because for many years I wrongly believed that the meditation practiced by Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a guru-centered religion based in India, was #1. It took me quite a while…
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Posted inFree will Meaning of life

Forget God, forget prayer, forget magical thinking. There’s no path in life other than the steps already taken.

Back when I was a member of an Eastern guru-centered religion, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), there was a lot of talk among RSSB initiates about being on the Path. That word, path, came with capital letters because this was a very special spiritual path, one that supposedly led from the illusion of this dark material world to the ultimate reality of God and heaven, a.k.a. Sat Purush and Sach Khand. Now, thankfully, I've grown out of that magical thinking. I'm happy seeing things as they are, not as how I fantasized them to be. I realize that the only…
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