Why Do We Keep Doing What We Know Is Bad for Us?
Why do we keep doing things we know aren't good for us? The answer may have less to do with weakness and more to do with habit, emotional soothing, and conditioning....
Here in these passages, is a powerful excerpt from the book, A Journey to Oneness that speaks directly to the dramas we are watching unfold, right now. It’s uncanny that these words of Divine wisdom were written in early 2003. They feel just as relevant to the state the world today as they did back then.
Is God a terrorist? No, obviously not. God is love. But not everyone agrees with that. “God is on our side” has been a rallying battle cry since religion was invented. But it’s inaccurate to blame religious differences for our bloody history of killing each other.
It’s easy to be kind or loving to someone you like. Why should you bother to be loving toward the contemptuous, the hateful, the miserable, or people who are simply annoying?
Willingness to explore your self-imposed limitations is essential to growth and to healing, but you cannot simply decide to be willing. Everything is a journey and a process of unfoldment. You may be saying right now, “I am willing!” And what good does it do you?
About six months into my heartbreak, I had a rude awakening. I was sitting on my bed pulling up my stockings. A mirrored door was ajar and its reflection caught me off guard. In a flash, I recognized the woman hunched over her feet, glowering at the mirror. It was me, caught in a moment of self-revulsion.
I know some remarkable people, even some who are considered great human beings, but I have never known anyone whose heart is open all the time. Even the Dalai Lama speaks of anger arising and of saying things that, much to his chagrin, can never be taken back. Forgiveness of oneself and others is...
We all experience everyday annoyances with the people around us. What turns an irksome characteristic, situation, or event into a source of continued frustration? It’s our expectations, our “shoulds” that cause aggravation and annoyance...
Prior to becoming a therapist, I believed as the majority of people still do, that trauma and subsequent PTSD are experienced by only a small portion of the population and limited primarily to combat soldiers and first responders such as firefighters, police and EMT’s; as well as residents of war-torn countries and victims of catastrophic events.
Why is it that so many of us feel we need crisis in order to face our fears, to bring about the change we already know we need to undertake? After my last big crisis, I asked myself this question. It seemed my crisis meter had an alarm clock and every ten years I brought about a doozy.
If we don’t see ourselves as worthwhile contributors to society and we don’t approach our aging with dignity and respect for ourselves, how can we expect them to see us that way? As we age, our families become helpful and supportive, or neglectful and critical...
Our indigo kids' are deeply committed to be who they came here to be, and that is likely different from anything that has come before them. It may challenge us as parents, teachers, counselors, and adults, but it is our work to help them find their way in this world. Of course, I would be lying if I...

The work I do isn’t “my” work. These are ideas whose time has come and they need capable scribes. Our true wages in life consist of the satisfaction we get from a job well done. Aside from that, well, the rain falls on the just and unjust alike.
We have little control over the future. And the future is where we tend to look for our security, seeking the assurance that everything will be all right. The illusion is that we have control over many variables in our daily life and that...
Rather than embrace change and uncertainty with poise and confidence, the timid allow it to hold them back. Indeed, we can be our own enemy. We can get in our own way. The secret to getting past this fear is in tapping our inner zentrepreneur...

Fear drives our impulses to forcibly control others, and to try and make the whole world behave as we want. Fear stimulates our mistrust of one another. It fosters close-mindedness, terror, judgment, bullying, frustration, and the awful destruction of human-on-human violence. Fear explains why...

Grief is like this. I was only half-listening to a song on the radio, yet a wave of sadness overcame me for the loss of my father. The song had nothing to do with my dad nor my mood, as I was content and even joyful before the song.
I was about to have my evening meditation at about nine o'clock. I reached to turn out the light when a voice spoke to me, as if a real person were standing close to me. The voice said, "Robert, it is time we had a long talk..."

From the first day of our trip, we were met by the whales. Although I had been in deep communication with the whales and had received instructions for the structure and practices for the trip in the year prior our journey, I was still blown away by the magnitude of what we experienced.
Imagine... a world where any time you inflicted pain, whether physical or emotional, unto any other being you would immediately feel the same pain. Such was the situation in a science fiction story entitled Rule Golden...

So many of our problems arise from a fundamental disconnection with our own awareness, our own wisdom, and the natural world. Once we disconnect ourselves from what we know, and what is real, we are free to careen headlong into...
When we feel stuck or want to change something, it usually comes from the desire to improve or rid ourselves of something we don’t like, or that’s painful. Perhaps you’re inspired to change because...