A Beautiful Thought: Recent Episodes
A Beautiful Thought
Your life can improve simply by noticing how your life is already wonderful.
In this podcast, I'm going to draw your attention to things in your life that you can appreciate today, to help you feel happier and more inspired. I'm also going to interview people to discover their struggles, their own hero's journey, and the lessons they discovered that enriched their lives and might enrich yours.
I welcome you to the final episode of A Beautiful Thought.
Looking around us, we might notice there are many strange inversions in the world. Things seem to be the exact opposite to what they’re supposed to be.
For example, once there were grand books telling stories that would appeal to the masses, and at once teach high spiritual ideas, such as the Mahabharata and its extract, the Bhagavad-Gita.
Now the popular stories we see seem to be mere backdrops to act as propaganda for powerful organizations such as BlackRock. The spiritual ideals are eliminated, the entertainment reduced, and the message they want to push is most prominent.
Another example is the concept of “mother”. In the tradition of yoga, once men would mentally refer to women as “Mother”, controlling their lust and attempting to see them as the Divine Feminine. Now in TikTok videos, young men leave comments calling attractive women “Mommy”, for quite another purpose.
We might say our innocence has been taken from us, or we might say that we willingly gave it up. But even in a world like this, our innocence can be regained. The solution can take time and effort, but it is simple.
By pursuing sexual continence, control of one’s own thoughts, and keeping God in mind, we can regain that innocence. Instead of moving deeper into the world, we move deeper into ourselves, into self-control, and into our own spirits.
The rewards are numerous, and perhaps they are even perfect.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Purity Of Mind: Episode 480)
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If you’re a verbal thinker, you’re likely a highly linear thinker. That can mean it’s easy for you to get stuck in a thought pattern.
One thought leads you to the next, then to the next, and then it leads you back to the first thought. As our brains operate with state-based memory, we may find more and more things that bother us.
Unable to perceive the overview of our mental patterns, we might stay like that for days, or possibly years.
One solution is meditation. When we take the time to observe our thoughts, we do gain that overview.
Another method is journaling. By putting our thoughts on a page, we can begin to recognise the patterns and the structure, and we can more easily find a way out.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Getting Lost In Thought: Episode 479)
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Often a memory will come to mind, and we get a glimpse of something we did. In that moment we might sense an incongruence.
We grasp for a sense of self, an idea that we had about who we were. That leads us to resist what actually happened. The inevitable result is suffering.
In fact, grasping and resisting are so closely related that we might say they are the same thing. To grasp for something we wish were true is to resist the reality.
In a single moment, we can let go of grasping, let go of resisting, allowing, embracing or even worshipping what we once were, and what we now are.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Grasping And Resistance: Episode 478)
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In Allen Carr’s Easy Way To Quit Smoking, he describes a situation where a recent former smoker has a thought: “I want a cigarette.” Carr informs us that, even though we might literally have the thought telling us we want a cigarette, that doesn’t mean we actually want a cigarette.
It’s similar with many fleeting desires that surge in our bellies and heads. We get the whim to go to the fridge and stare to see what there is to eat, even though we’re not particularly hungry. We feel a sexual urge, even though we do not wish to procreate. While that urge’s fulfillment may give us satisfaction for a moment, it is unlikely to grant us happiness.
On the contrary, a life spent chasing whims is commonly a depressed one, and a lonely one.
Many desires are like these urges - mere caprices. Though they present themselves as very important and urgent, they normally are very different from our souls’ dearest wishes. Finding those requires a lot more patience and looking within.
When we do have a whim like this, it presents us a chance to find out more about who we really are. Watching the thought and the desire within us, we might quickly find that, however much it demands, it is not in control.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Fleeting Desires: Episode 477)
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Our breath is a bridge between our conscious and unconscious minds. At any moment, we can take control of it and start to influence those deeper parts of ourselves.
One classic technique is the Nadi Shoshana, or "channel cleansing" breath. The index finger and middle finger are placed on the forehead, as if either side of the third eye. Then the thumb and ring finger are used to alternate the nostrils.
By timing our breaths we can quickly settle our passions and our minds, calming them and allowing us to enjoy life a little more.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Breath Control: Episode 476)
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Matt Welsh is a musician from the United States, creating conscious music intended to bring awakening to the mind of the listener. Matt is known by his stage name “BLUVBU” (“Be love, be you”).
In this interview, Matt tells a story of teenage heartbreak, struggle and grief. Getting out of high school, he decided to break up with his sweetheart Sarah in order to pursue his passion, touring the east coast of the US as a drummer in the band Bright and Early. It was a hard decision for Matt, not wanting to leave his girlfriend behind, but also believing that it was important for him to go and experience the world.
When he finished touring, he went back home and eventually reunited with his girlfriend. He found that they’d both changed, both being more mature and more experienced - through good and bad.
Then Matt woke up one morning to a strange phone call from Sarah. He got in his vehicle and went to see her, as something seemed to be wrong. Tragically, that was the last time anyone heard from Sarah.
After that, Matt faced the difficult challenge of overcoming his grief, figuring out who he was and what he wanted to do with his life. By way of this tragedy, he decided to live life to the fullest and become something great.
Hear Matt’s story in this interview.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – A Life-Changing Loss With Matt Welsh: Episode 475)
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Many people receive their view of the world primarily through television and news sites, without putting into context what the media is telling them. They may even have personal experience seeing the media lie about some subject they know well - but they don’t hold that in mind when they see the news talk about any other subject.
In media there still exists this saying “If it bleeds, it leads.” The most shocking, most sensational stories go to the front page, and if the news isn’t sensational enough, they may well change the title to make it seem more alarming.
In this age, it’s not just the news who twists the truth this way. There are even scientific papers which present a very uncertain conclusion in the paper itself, and a very different version in the abstract to show to the public.
When something seems alarming, it’s very important to ask: Are they trying to make me afraid, and why?
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Fear Is Here:Episode 474)
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In Swami Muktananda’s Play of Consciousness, he recounts the story of visiting his guru, Baba Nityananda. Muktananda observes Nityananda fulfilling his morning routine - spending an hour or more worshiping himself.
In another part of the book, Muktananda tells aspirants more directly to follow Nityananda’s example and worship themselves - turning their attention and praise within and basking in their own divine consciousness.
Perhaps it’s difficult to conceptualize exactly how to do it. Many people in modern culture are not familiar with what it means to worship.
Even so, the process is quite simple. If we imagine bowing to a great saint or to our god, we might start to feel a little twinge, a feeling of praise or glory. Then we can turn that feeling towards our own inner light.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Worship Yourself:Episode 473)
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When we grow as individuals, we might find ourselves making new classes of error that were previously unimaginable to us. For example, having gained new confidence in speaking with friends and strangers, we make a faux pas and we don’t know how to talk ourselves out of it.
We might feel shame or guilt, wonder how we could have said such a thing, or even think “This would have never happened when I was more of a quiet person.”
It’s true, it never would have happened to the old you - the old you didn’t have the power to make such a mistake, nor did they have the power to relate or inspire as you do now.
Here you stand on the brink between what was comfortable and what we might become; here we honor our errors.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Our Wonderful Errors: Episode 472)
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In this age of information, when we’re curious about something it can be easy to pull out a smartphone and search for what we’d like to know. The ease of access to information means we don’t always have to stop to think any more.
There are many things that are valuable to figure out for ourselves, without the use of Google. We can engage our memory, our logic, and our creativity to fill those gaps in our knowledge. Whether we’re right or wrong, we have pumped juice into those forgotten parts of our brains, again awakening that potential.
For example, a beginner guitarist might wonder how to add a seventh note to a G chord. He could look it up, or he could stop and think about which notes are being played on which strings, and which fret he might finger to add that F note to form the seventh chord.
Then there are things which an Internet search won’t yield easy answers. For example, the feeling of a chord progression going from the first chord to the fourth, and back to the first. Nobody else can tell us exactly how that feels. We must feel it for ourselves, noticing with attention and purpose.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Learn For Yourself: Episode 471)
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Amina Mara is a conscious dreamer of broad and profound experience, now having lucid dreams as often as 3 times a week - a frequency which is uncommon even among recognized dream practitioners. Amina is also the host of the Dream World Podcast where she interviews people about how their dreams affect their lives, among other subjects.
Years ago, Amina found herself in an unhealthy relationship, isolated from her family and unsure how to progress in her life. Through exploring her dreams she found a path to wisdom and greater freedom. By imagining vividly in her dreams she began to form a more fulfilling life, even receiving the inspiration to create her podcast.
In this interview with Amina Mara, you can hear how she developed her dreaming skills, how her passion enabled her to move past her fears, and the wide-ranging and exciting possibilities that are available to a skilled dreamer.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Deep Dreaming With Amina Mara:Episode 470)
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Going through our lives, we might be able to arrange things so we can have a series of good experiences, maintaining the outside world in a careful balance, so it seems like we are happy.
In some ways, this is dysfunctional, and in an extreme case, it is the attitude of a drug addict. They arrange things so they can get another fix, and feel satisfied. Soon after, they have another lack.
We might believe that our good experiences fulfill us, but perhaps we are merely avoiding dissatisfaction.
If we look deep inside, we might find we don’t really need to do things or receive things. All we need is our own support, being our own best friend.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Whaty Is Fulfilling:Episode 469)
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If you live in Australia or the United States and tell people you’re travelling to Mexico, or Colombia, they might tell you that you’ll be lucky to return alive.
Even many Mexicans might tell you they’re scared to go to Michoacán or other beautiful places.
Normally these aren’t well-travelled people, but they have many concerns about where the danger lies. When you ask if they want to go too, they might say “I can’t.”
One day you might have said “I can’t,” but when you tried some small adventure, you found you could. Take a few small adventures, each one bigger than the last, and after some years you find yourself doing things that, just recently, you couldn’t have imagined.
The world is waiting for you.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Adventure Awaits: Episode 468)
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Memories surge in our minds and we cringe, wondering why we had to do that thing which caused us so much shame. On one level, we identify strongly with the past version of ourselves who did it, and on another level, we strongly resist it - not wanting to believe that we ever had the capacity to do such a thing.
In On Becoming A Person, Carl Rogers describes in many ways how his patients would almost always reach a certain point in therapy, where they let go of many ideas and ideals about who they believed they were. They realized that their identities were more complex and fluid than any paragraph or summary. They were complete people, ongoing processes that were free of definition.
In that scenario where we are plagued by some cringey memory, we can make a choice to let go. We can let go of the resistance, embracing our past self as an aspect of us. We can let go of the identity, accepting that we are more than could ever be defined by one event.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Concept Of Yourself:Episode 467)
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In Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Quit Smoking, Carr and his students describe how quitting smoking can appear difficult - even being built up as a momentous task by anti-smoking campaigns. However, once one proceeds with correct understanding, the act and habit become as simple as remembering to park in a new parking space.
Many aspects of our lives are like this. We can struggle to give things up, laboring under false knowledge - and continuing to fight against it.
Or we can take up truth, and find simplicity.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Take Up Truth:Episode 466)
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Oksana Fajardo is a coach living in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, helping people leave unhealthy relationships and feel secure in themselves.
To get there, she had to leave a toxic relationship herself, realizing the nature of the relationship, studying various aspects of personal development, and applying them in her own life.
She discovered that she had an anxious attachment style, and her marriage was based on a kind of love addiction or addiction to fantasy - always trying to believe that the relationship was something more or different than it was.
Eventually she left the marriage, and around that time, the German government ordered citizens to go into lockdown. That meant she couldn’t see her friends, let alone make new friends, which again presented an ordeal, and opened a door for personal growth.
She started researching again, finding a lot of tools to overcome limiting beliefs and other aspects of herself. Finally, despite all of the uncertainty and misinformation, she decided to leave Germany and come to Mexico, where she found freedom.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Escape From Germany With Oksana Fajardo:Episode 465)
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The man in the hall said “Much of what I do is motivated by a desire to make up for the bad things I did in the past.” Many in the room stood up in the circle to show that they resonated strongly with what he’d said, that they too wanted to heal and let go of that part of themselves.
While we might not literally believe in a karmic scoreboard, it seems the thought can drive many of our actions. We want to offset our past mistakes with new deeds.
However, maybe we don’t need to do that. If we have reflected on the past, repented or decided to be a different person, now we are transformed.
That is more than enough.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – There Is No Scorecard: Episode 464)
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In the Lakota tradition, they have this phrase “Wakan Tanka”, which is often translated as “Great Spirit”, meaning God or Divine Nature. However, some scholars suggest that a more literal translation is “Great Mystery”.
Many times we might face an existential crisis, some aspect of life or of ourselves which confounds us. We might even face the untimely death of a loved one. The Lakota will sometimes go to someone in such a state of grief to ask for their advice, as those people are as close to Divinity as a person can be on Earth.
When we do face those difficult questions, we might struggle with it, but perhaps we should embrace it. When we face those great confusions, we might be facing the Great Mystery.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – The Great Confusion:Episode 463)
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When we were children, many of us couldn’t wait to grow up. We wanted to be independent, to be responsible for ourselves, to have the freedom that adulthood would afford us.
Now we may be grown, and we think about those carefree days of our youth, wondering what we had missed by spending our time wishing for the future. “We were happy and we didn’t even know it,” we say to ourselves.
The big lie is that one day things were or will be fundamentally different than they are now. We look to the past or the future for our salvation, thinking that is where happiness is to be found.
Perhaps we’re mistaken to look so often in this way. Perhaps these are the good old days.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – The Big Lie: Episode 462)
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In many parts of the world, people are charmed by images of the Buddha. They liked to put them on a mantlepiece or in their garden as ornaments, perhaps without thinking about the deeper meaning of these statues.
In Thailand, the image of the Buddha is so revered that it is illegal to use it as a decoration. The only appropriate place for such an image is a shrine for contemplation.
When we see the Buddha in a garden or on a shelf, we could berate the householder, or be shocked that the Buddha has been reduced in such a way. Or we could notice Him, and elevate Him in our minds, feeling grateful for the wisdom of Our Teachers, creating a shrine in that very moment, in that very place.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Make It Holy: Episode 461)
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Peter Young is the managing director of the Free Cities Foundation, an organization which seeks to promote economic development by providing greater security than is normally provided by governments, at a price far lower than ordinary taxes.
Years ago, Peter was studying in York in England, and decided to teach English so he could travel more. He decided to move to China, where he ended up living for 10 years.
At first, he was amazed when he heard foreigners speaking even a small amount of Chinese, ordering food in a restaurant. Soon enough, he decided to start learning the language and engage himself in the culture, even studying the etymology of Chinese characters and the ancient texts that they reference.
Of course, living in a foreign country and attempting to assimilate comes with its challenges, and you can hear about them in this interview.
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At certain dark times in our lives, we might begin to wonder if it’s worth going on. We might start to think about taking our own life, and even seriously considering it.
If we’re in that position, it can become apparent that we really have nothing left to lose. In that case, we could just take off, venturing into the world or into the wild like Alexander Supertramp.
The world is a vast, various, curious place with a lot of people to meet, jungles, deserts and highways to explore. If we’re close to giving up, we may as well find out for ourselves if there’s something out there for us.
So, why don’t you just go?
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Why Don’t You Just Go?: Episode 459)
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In Keith Johnstone’s book Impro, he describes a situation where there is a circle of actors improvising in verse. As the circle goes around to one of the actors, he comes up with some incredible rhyme that has the actors gasping and the audience in hysterics.
When the circle comes back around to that same actor, he might be feeling pressure - the pressure that he’s putting on himself to be the same person who just came up with that amazing rhyme a moment ago.
Putting pressure on oneself like that is rarely the right way to come up with something great. The first time, he was relaxed and willing to say the first thing that came into his head - willing to flow.
The only way that he has a chance to invent something as stunning again is to feel comfortable with inventing something ordinary - to be just another human, an ordinary guy.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Ordinary Guy: Episode 458)
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We might feel fear about doing something, taking a risk in our careers, traveling to a new place, or taking a workshop that is outside our comfort zone.
These fears might make us uncomfortable. However, they are truly an expression of how much you care for yourself - wanting to keep yourself safe, healthy and protected.
The problem is, in this case, the way we express our desire for safety prevents our potential for growth.
How can you meet your needs in a way that truly serves you? How can you feel healthy, safe and full, even while taking risks and growing?
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Healthy Self-Love: Episode 457)
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In the movie Concussion we can watch the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the physician who discovered that many football players in the USA were receiving a form of brain damage known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The repeated blows to the head and resulting concussions over many years lead to many problems with mental health in the players.
Many people attempt to prevent Dr. Omalu’s efforts, asking him to have some respect for the players’ bodies and families. However, Omalu had a higher ideal of respect - that pursuing the truth and perhaps preventing further injury was valuable.
We can see, in a Hollywood version of events, how the good doctor showed reverence for his patients, praying and asking for their help before he performed an autopsy. Dr. Omalu’s commitment to truth and completion presented him with many difficulties. Finally, his work was recognized as true.
How can the virtues of one person, fully embodied, make a difference in the world?
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Concussion - The Movie: Episode 456)
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When we begin seated meditation, it’s possible that we see it as a chore. Perhaps we know that it is good for us, but it is hard to put ourselves on that cushion, and when the timer rings we get up as quickly as we can, having pushed our patience to the limit.
With a little discipline, we begin to enjoy the practice, seeing the changes it makes in our lives, or perhaps seeing the practice as an end in itself.
Soon we might see our seated meditation as something precious, deserving of a little ritual. Just as we dress carefully to enter a church or temple, just as the temple is a place dedicated to worship, we might set aside a place and robes for our meditation.
Meditation is an event; it is something special. When we treat it as something special, it may become more special still.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Meditation Is An Event: Episode 455)
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We have access to certain information, so we don’t always pause to think about the information we don’t have. Once we do pause to think about it, we can realize very quickly that there might be a lot we don’t know.
As Donald Rumsfeld said in his wisest and most-disparaged quote: “There are known knowns, things we know that we know; and there are known unknowns, things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns, things we do not know we don't know.”
Even in a mundane situation, such as someone being rude to us, we can ask ourselves “What might we not know?” Perhaps that person is normally very nice, but just having a really bad day or struggling with grief. Or perhaps that person is rude to everyone, and there’s absolutely nothing personal about it.
Don Miguel Ruíz reminds us in The Four Agreements, we should not make assumptions. Unfortunately, that is tricky and even impractical, because we’re not always aware of what we assume. A more practical tip comes from Difficult Conversations, in which the authors tell us to assume that there are things we do not know.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – What We Might Not Know: Episode 454)
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Every year since 2015, people have gone to Anarchapulco, finding ways to bring more freedom into their lives.
Kurt Robinson took the stage again in 2022, asking people to reflect on their lives. He asks, what might you learn from the past - when you were living on your edge, in those moments when you doubted if you could continue or if you could succeed, how you pulled through in one form or another, and how things were never quite as bad as they seemed.
He asks what you might learn from the future - imagining even the worst case scenario, facing your own death and wondering what it might mean, how you might put your life into context and die in peace.
Finally he asks, what is going on right now? What liberty can you gain from noticing the life that is unfolding before you, the life in your body, the light of your consciousness?
Join us for Kurt’s powerful presentation from Anarchapulco 2022 - “There Is Still Magic Within You”.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – There Is Still Magic Within You: Episode 453)
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In our jobs, if we are working for an employer or working for ourselves, we might be tempted to cut corners. Nobody will notice, we tell ourselves. There we set the precedent of not giving our all, and slowly we reduce our integrity.
On the other hand, we can say to ourselves “The way I do one thing is the way I do everything,” and “My work speaks for me.” By noticing and improving even the small details, we speak to the world: “Precision matters; I will do my best even if nobody notices.”
In time, people surely will notice.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – The Work You Do Matters: Episode 452)
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We can get caught up in our routines, facing our everyday lives - the same activities with the same attitudes.
We might have a fantasy, believing that one day things will be different. At the same time, we might be afraid to think about where this path is leading us, because we already have a concept of where it does lead.
Allowing ourselves to bring those questions clearly into consciousness, we can begin to see what landmarks lie along that path. If we are not taking care of our health, we can see that it might get worse. Likewise, if we are changing our thoughts and taking action in the area of health, we can see it might get better - even though the effects are not yet apparent.
Gently, we ask ourselves these questions, and we begin to see the future, and alter our destiny. Where is this belief leading me? How is this mode of being going to affect my future? What will happen if I choose to be something else?
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Consequences Of Our Actions: Episode 451)
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Sometimes we might lose our temper, shouting or even just becoming passive aggressive with our friends. Sometimes it’s appropriate for them to draw a boundary and say, “Please don’t speak to me that way.” But many times it’s not necessary.
When our friends respond in a way that demonstrates absolute patience, that they see our good intentions purely, we will want to live up to their expectations of us.
Through their grace, we see ourselves better.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Someone To Overlook Our Flaws: Episode 450)
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It’s well-known to criminologists that poor company can affect a person’s values and life situation. At first a person might find the concept of stealing abhorrent, but after spending a few months hanging out with people who find it normal, it is likely that person will also find it normal.
Likewise, if we surround ourselves with righteous people, people who are motivated, who meditate, who take care of their bodies and their diet, all of those habits and qualities are likely to enter into our minds and days.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Be Careful The Company You Keep: Episode 449)
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Luis Fernando Mises is a consultant for many companies, teaching servant leadership, and is also a guide in the spiritual realm, leading sacred breathwork ceremonies and other types of ceremonies. Throughout his many years of experience he has learnt how to create an environment that is conducive to growth and revelation among his clients and students.
In this interview Kurt and Luis discuss the principles of leading a ceremony and how it relates to business, to intimate relationships, and every aspect of life.
Luis explains how our breath is a link to our unconscious processes, and how it is a powerful tool to activate our parasympathetic systems, bringing us into a state of deep relaxation, and even awakening emotions which might have been numbed for years.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Sacred Breathwork with Luis Fernando Mises: Episode 448)
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On social media, you can find many videos that bring your emotions to the surface - footage of dogs caring for cats, a clip of a father seeing his daughter for the first time in years, cute ducks rescuing their ducklings and many other things.
In the comments, it’s normal to read people saying things like “I’m not crying - you’re crying!” or “Wow, is someone cutting onions?”
Perhaps these comments are just jokes, but perhaps they’re reflective of the cultures we live in. Rather than simply say they are moved, many people find a roundabout way of saying that they are affected emotionally.
Maybe we don’t need to be cool, to be detached from our emotions, or make excuses for them. Maybe those emotions are worth being honest about.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – There Are No Onions: Episode 447)
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In the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup, there is a famous scene where the president of Freedonia, played by Groucho Marx, talks himself into believing that the foreign ambassador is going to refuse to shake his hand. Naturally, when the ambassador walks in, Groucho slaps him in the face.
It’s an absurd scene, and it’s also very incisive. Many times we believe we know the intentions of others, and we behave accordingly.
This almost always has consequences in our relationships. If we believe someone is avoiding us on purpose, then we might start to act awkwardly around them, and soon enough they might start avoiding us, even if they weren’t previously.
We can never know others’ intentions perfectly, and so it makes sense to assume that there are things we do not know.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Second Guessing: Episode 446)
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In the introduction to No Limit Hold ‘Em: Theory and Practice, poker theorist David Sklansky says that he held off from writing a book about NLHE for so long, because he would often see certain players win consistently, even though their style of play was not technical.
The biggest winners were often players who had a feel for the game, understanding their own emotions and the emotions of the other players, being in touch with the moment and knowing how to interpret their intuitions.
The game of poker may have changed over the years, however this principle rings true in many aspects of life. As hard as we try to follow the wisdom of our teachers, sometimes it might be justified to go against tradition. As hard as we try to follow our stated values, sometimes it is beneficial to defy them and discover some deeper value, some deeper wisdom.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Play By Feel: Episode 445)
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In recent years we’ve seen a lot of chaos in the world, a lot of panic, fear and confusion.
Many people have lost friendships, because they realized with shock that their friends had very different values to them. Instead of valuing research, discernment, and companionship, they valued compliance.
Some people managed to maintain their calm and wish others health, even if they disagreed. Perhaps we can even go one step beyond, and have a good time - no matter how crazy the world gets.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Have A Good Time: Episode 444)
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Sara Zobek was working in logistics for an import company in Poland when she decided it was time to change her life, enroll in a course, become a life coach and make her way to Mexico.
In this episode, Sara tells us about how she made the decision, rejecting the ideals of prestige and stability that might have kept her working for a corporation, facing her own self-image and limiting beliefs, and traveling the world.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Becoming A Coach With Sara Zobek: Episode 443)
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Socrates famously said “The only thing I know is that I know nothing.” Socrates noted that others labored under the illusion of knowledge, but they weren’t aware that it was an illusion. His awareness of his own illusion was what made him, reputedly, the wisest man in the world.
Many times during our lives we might get the feeling that we don’t know what is happening in our lives, that we’re not really who we try to be, that we’re just pretending we know how to be an adult.
We might be very uncomfortable with that idea. However, it surely beats the alternative of being certain in foolishness.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – You Don't Know Jack:Episode 442)
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Sometimes manipulation and motivation can seem quite similar. What makes the difference is the circumstances and the intention.
For example, if your partner said they would go to the movies with you, but now they’re not in the mood, you might sing a song, dance with them, make them laugh. Now they want to go to the movies, and you have a great time.
In a different situation, a person might suspect that they’re about to hear a difficult subject come up in conversation. They put on your favorite song and cook you a good meal, and suddenly you don’t feel like talking about anything serious.
Using these tricks on people can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on how you use them.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – The Right Use of Tricks:Episode 441)
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According to a popular conspiracy theory, history has been recently erased, removing the memories of a worldwide civilization with advanced technology.
One of these technologies was the power of sound healing. Many cities and towns over the world have extensive tunnel systems beneath them, and in many cases the cathedral is the central point. The huge pipe organ in the cathedral would spread vibrations, perhaps sending music through water in the tunnels.
According to the theory, the church would use these vibrations to promote positive emotions throughout the cities, adjusting the song depending on the needs of the people.
Whether these stories are true or not, it’s clear that we do not have access to that technology. However, we do have the power of a much more extensive network, which is the Internet and social media. By using the tools of our era, we can send positive vibrations all over the world.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Spread The Vibration:Episode 440)
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People often find themselves in tricky positions. If they haven’t ever made a heart-level decision to honor truth, if they haven’t carefully thought about the situation, or if they’re not fully aware in the moment, they will likely say something that is not true.
It’s not exactly a lie - in the strictest sense a lie is when you deliberately state an untruth. In that moment, the person is merely saying what is salient. They say the first thing that comes to mind without fully considering how it aligns with reality.
We can be disturbed when we start to notice how often people do this. However, the reality is that these kinds of misrepresentations are to be expected. It is much more common to say whatever is convenient than it is to clearly think about the situation.
We might get upset when there is a big untruth. However, perhaps it is more important to notice and be grateful when someone clearly and accurately states the facts.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Praise Truth:Episode 439)
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Rich Simpson was living in Melbourne, Australia, working on some projects as a documentary filmmaker when the world started to change. The Victorian government started to introduce rules that restricted everyone’s lifestyle, eventually affecting Rich’s income.
The police and military presence started to become a lot more obvious, and police actions became less and less professional.
When Rich noticed how people were reacting without question - in fact, even becoming hostile to people with different opinions - he decided it might be time to leave.
He had to ask the Australian government for permission to leave Australia, and decided to fly to beautiful Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where he fully embraced his liberty.
Listen to the interview to find out how Rich escaped Australia, started making money online and found a new life in Mexico.
Content warning: strong language, drug references
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Escape Australia Witch Rich Simpson:Episode 43)
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When we feel the cold, we might try to escape it by thinking hot thoughts, imagining the sun in our faces or a warm blanket. Normally that leads us to disconnect more from the cold, and therefore leads us to more discomfort.
If instead we embrace the cold, we might notice that the thing we are running from is not so bad after all. The cold might not be our favorite state, but it is a sensation more or less like any other.
It is the same with our emotions. We do whatever we can to avoid feeling them. When we finally do, we find that they are not what we imagined; they are just another element of us.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Lean Into Discomfort:Episode 437)
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If you tell your colleagues that you visited a friend in hospital on the weekend, they might have varied reactions.
One of your colleagues might say “Oh, that is depressing”.
Another colleague might say “That is so sweet that you were there to support your friend.”
We might say that both of these perspectives are equally as valid, but they’re not equally beneficial for us.
Which way would you prefer to see things?
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Is It Sad:Episode 436)
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It’s not easy to get on stage and speak or perform before a crowd of people. For many it is a greater fear than death.
When we do take the stage, or present our writing, artwork, songs, to others, we are taking the chance that it might be rejected. Many crowds will be sympathetic, but we may even receive ridicule.
Our audience may acknowledge our passion, our effort, our skill - or they may not. That is what makes it such a powerful statement - to ourselves, if nobody else. We are willing to put skin in the game, to put our passion on the line, to show what is within us.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – You're In The Game: Episode 435)
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It’s common for us to have expectations about what will happen in our lives, in our work, in our relationships. Our mind is busy trying to project what might happen, and then we have some emotional reaction to these stories about the future - perhaps feeling hope that they will happen, or despair that they won’t happen.
If these visions play out without us noticing them, they may well cause us suffering. Even if the actual events that pass are agreeable, we might not enjoy them, simply because we expected something different.
When we notice these stories fully, being present with them, allowing them to exist, we keep our minds from going off unrestrained. Our everyday life becomes a meditation - noticing the thoughts, and returning our focus to whatever task is at hand.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Let Go Of Stories: Episode 434)
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There is a famous story about Sylvester Stallone having to sell his dog for $25 in order to eat. When he finally makes a deal selling the script of Rocky for $35,000, he goes back to find the man who bought his dog. Stallone offers $100, then $500, then finally $15,000 and a part as an extra in Rocky.
The moral of the story is, when you are certain what you want, it’s important to adapt your strategy to align with that end.
In this episode, Kurt talks about the future of A Beautiful Thought, and how he might adapt his strategy in order to attain success.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Adapt the Strategy: Episode 433)
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Sometimes we might get a feeling - anxiety, worry, fear - and we’re unsure if it relates to an intuition, or if it’s just our emotions getting carried away. So how can we tell the difference between a gut feeling and a common worry?
In a sense, the worry is noise. We know that we can worry about things whether our worries are justified or not. The problem is how to get to what is below the worry.
So we can process our fears, our insecurities and anxieties, thanking them for being there, being present with them, or breathing through them. When we find ourselves in a place of peace, we can ask if there’s still a question, something a little more subtle at the bottoms of our bellies. That is how we will know.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Gut Feelings: Episode 432)
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We’ve heard the phrase “Trust the science” many times over the last couple of years. However, science is an ongoing process of inquiry. The only way it can work is if people don’t trust it, but instead subject it to reasonable scrutiny.
The greater modern myth is the concept that we don’t have the authority to learn for ourselves, to observe the world around us and form our own conclusions. If our personal observations are at odds with a peer-reviewed study, we should reject our own experience and trust a paper written by someone we have never met.
Science is more than double blind tests and peer-reviewed papers. In fact, the only way anyone can do science is by trusting their own observations and forming conclusions based on them.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – The Myth of Science: Episode 431)
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The function of breathing in humans is special, as it is one of few processes that can be controlled consciously or unconsciously. So it provides an interesting link to the deeper parts of our minds.
When we get stressed or upset, if we notice the breathing we might find that it is shallow. By deepening the breath, we can calm ourselves once again.
Practicing the nadi shodhana, or alternate nostril breathing is another important way to settle ourselves down. By breathing in and out using each nostril, we can balance the brain waves, bringing the mind to a quiet place.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Remember to Breathe: Episode 430)
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Looking at other people’s reactions, sometimes we might be disturbed. We did our best to be kind, to be helpful. Even so, sometimes people get angry at us, make accusations and claim we are cruel.
Often we cannot account for others’ internal processes. However, we can always be mindful of our own actions, and thereby we can find liberty.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Our Own Actions: Episode 429)
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Anarchapulco is a conference that started in 2015 for liberty lovers everywhere to gather in one place.
In this episode, Kurt talks about his experiences in the first year, and how it has changed, gathered momentum and inspired off-shoot events.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Anarchapulco Reflections: Episode 427)
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When a person is depressed, it’s common for them to take less care of their personal appearance. They might not feel motivated to brush their hair or choose a nice outfit.
This can be part of a negative spiral. When we take less care of our appearance, the world might not look upon us so fondly.
Conversely, a person who doesn’t feel 100% can begin to change their mood by starting to adjust how they look, boosting their confidence and their spirits.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Look Good Feel Good: Episode 427)
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We might often assume that two ideas are irreconcilable, that there is no way they can go together or coexist in the same space. When we look a little deeper, we might find that the two are actually entirely compatible.
For example, you might find a creative type who struggles every day to write ten pages. He never voices it, but his belief is that “Getting ahead takes hard work,” and “Hard work means suffering.” Even in something he does to express himself, he makes demands on himself.
If you ask this man the question “How can you be both productive and joyful?” his first reaction is likely to be that he can’t, that it’s impossible. If he keeps trying, he might come up with a new belief, something like “I like to express myself,” or “Creating can be fun and creative challenges are part of the fun.”
Combining the opposites can change how we interact with ourselves.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Combination of Contradictions: Episode 426)
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We don’t necessarily go looking for criticism, and often people are too polite to tell us what might be obvious to them. We might avoid hearing about our flaws, but the consequences of our actions are a little more difficult to ignore.
When people do let us know about our flaws, it’s probably not going to be easy to take. However, that level of truth can sometimes result in the most beneficial change.
How do you take feedback?
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Being Grateful for Grievances: Episode 425)
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Zach Barth once created a game called InfiniMiner, which became the inspiration for another game known as Minecraft.
Zach sat by and watched as Minecraft became the most commercially successful video game in the world, eventually being sold to Microsoft for 2.5 billion dollars.
That was a difficult challenge for Barth, and he felt bad about it for literal years. However, he didn't stop creating. Fans say his games are the most original they've ever seen.
When Minecraft was sold to Microsoft, Barth started to laugh as he could see the absurdity of the situation. Nothing about it made any sense, and he was comfortable with that.
(Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Embrace The Absurdity: Episode 424)
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When people tell us that the stars affect our fates, we might think of astrology and we might be very interested or perhaps think such things are unscientific.
However, the field of heliobiology is an emergent science that shows a relationship between solar activity, Earth’s magnetism, and our own bodies.
In Maghrabi & Maghrabi (2020), the researchers review 38 studies that show such an effect - affecting our blood, our hearts, our minds.
While most of these correlations relate to negative aspects of human experience, is it possible that solar flares might be bringing about some good for humans?
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Space Weather:Episode 423
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If we begin a new hobby or discipline, calligraphy or architecture theory for example, we might suddenly notice a remarkable amount of detail in the world around us.
Suddenly we can see calligraphy in a classic style in all kinds of advertisements, on bottles and billboards. We notice the porticos, columns and dentils in the oldest buildings in our city, standing out with particular prominence.
The world is full of detail and it just takes a little bit of knowledge to begin to expose what has been around us all along.
And it’s fascinating.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – What is Now Visible:Episode 422
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Our speech is one of few tools we have to interact with the world, so it is wise to use it carefully.
In the past, guides of gentleman's etiquette recommended to never criticize someone behind their back, and never in public. To criticize someone in front of a crowd is likely to embarrass them, or even provoke resentment.
Therefore, criticism should be in private, and to a person’s face, in order to give them the best chance to recognize their mistake and adjust their behavior.
Gossip in general is unproductive. Talking foul of another, or talking about their affairs, is unlikely to lead us to greater truth. While we might get some pleasure from it, there are many ways to get pleasure - speaking about our own dreams, goals or even problems in a way that is enjoyable and respectful of others.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought – Purposeful Speech: Episode 421
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We might say to someone “If you met me years ago, you wouldn’t have liked me.” Perhaps this is an indication that we don’t fully accept ourselves now.
Imagining our past self, we might still have some judgments about that person. Perhaps that one was uncertain, lacking in self-belief, or awkward.
At any moment we can turn towards the past and offer that old self our current love. Eventually they might be a point when we are receiving love from our future selves.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Love Your Past Self: 420
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Perhaps there are two ways to get ahead in life.
One way might be to learn the tricks of the trade, creating the appearance that you know what you’re doing. Another might be to learn the fundamentals of the trade, knowing it thoroughly so it’s clear you know what you’re doing.
One way might be to develop your cunning, managing and controlling everything you possibly can, planning ahead and being very smart - thinking ahead of those who might have ambitions of their own. The other way might be to develop your character, inspiring others to help you and wish you well.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Learn the Trade: Episode 419
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Chantal Beaton is an entrepreneur, veteran of the cannabis business in Canada, and recent escapee to Mexico.
In this episode she tells the story of how she changed her mindset from poverty to professional, how she imagined she would feel when she gained financial independence, and how things seemed to start happening for her when she made those shifts.
In Canada for many years, cannabis vendors were selling publicly, perhaps even openly defying the law. Eventually the government decided to make the plant legal, by monopolizing the industry. That meant a lot of these vendors would go out of business, and that is how Ms. Beaton decided to go start an enterprise providing packaging for cannabis.
Content warning: discussion of cannabis and other psychoactive substances
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - The Free Canadian With Chantal Beaton: Episode 418
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We have so many past experiences that we might assume that the causes and solutions to our problems lay there. We might spend a lifetime looking through the details, all the dirt and grit in the hope of finding some jewel.
Perhaps the power of the present is more than the sum of the past. Perhaps we don’t need to understand all of the causes of a thing to let it go. Perhaps we just need to take a leap of faith.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Jump Up and Over: Episode 417
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If we buy into some of the myths of consumerist culture, we might mistakenly believe that it’s not just things that are to be consumed, but also people. When we treat people in a way that they can be consumed and disposed, that they are only valuable as long as they serve us, we also affirm the same about ourselves.
Conversely, when we affirm that there is some value inherent in ourselves, we also affirm that it is present in others.
Perhaps that value is easy to find, when we allow ourselves to look.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Inconsumable: Episode 416
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We might subject ourselves to a lot of unnecessary suffering by trying to help people who have not asked for our help. In the end, we learn the lesson that it’s best to only give advice or other assistance to people who ask for it.
Perhaps spiritual beings are the same. They wait patiently, hoping that we will ask for their help, knowing that they truly can help us, providing the support, comfort and guidance that we need to live at our best.
We might doubt this is true, especially if we don’t believe in God or holy things. Fortunately, this is always available to be tested. All we need to do is say a name of God or any Great Saint, and earnestly request their assistance.
What will happen?
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Comfort is Yours: Episode 415
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There are so many things we assume in our lives, without necessarily realizing that we assume them. We might be caught in a trance, hypnotized by our own beliefs, with no idea that we’re even under their guidance.
When we take time to reflect, or when we find the questions of a skilled counselor, we might begin to reveal those assumptions. Now we see the dress of truth, and perhaps what is underneath it.
There are things we assume to be necessarily opposed, such as fun and work. Perhaps these things are more compatible than we realized.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Play with Questions: Episode 414
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Luis Fernando Mises is a coach and consultant for businesses, finding ways to implement “servant leadership”, showing managers how to better serve their employees and create a productive environment.
In this interview, Kurt and Luis discuss some unusual and important concepts, for example how solar activity affect the magnetism of the earth, and the frequency of the Schumann resonance, which in turn affects the emotional states of human beings. They also discuss the concept of “The Secret” or “The Carnegie Secret”, the idea that the power of our imagination can affect outcomes in our lives - either by changing our subtle behaviors, or by some unknown mechanism.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Waves of Earth with Luis Fernando Mises: Episode 413
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Starting a project, you might dare to imagine what the fruits might taste like. Perhaps your friends will be congratulating you on doing something amazing. Perhaps your followers will approach you and thank you for what you have achieved.
When you begin, those things might seem distant. At the same time, they might seem so palpable that you can reach out and touch them.
The world is waiting for you to speak your piece. The hills will awaken and the clouds will delight, when you pick up a pen and begin to make a difference.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Make a Difference: Episode 412
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In Better Angels of our Nature, Steven Pinker outlines the amazing decline in violence over the course of history. It may seem surprising, but we are living in close to the most peaceful time in human history yet.
Just a few hundred years ago, people had pastimes which we would see as horrific today, such as watching public executions, or burning cats. It was common for men to get into violent confrontations over the slightest insult, defending their honor. Today we don’t see that as honorable, but as immature.
As long as we dedicate ourselves to the values of peace and freedom, and apply our resources with care, the world is likely to improve.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - A Realistic Hope: Episode 411
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When a caterpillar perches itself on a tree and starts enveloping itself in goo in order to enter its chrysalis, it doesn’t stop to think.
If that caterpillar had the ability to cognize as a human does, it would be shocked to see what it was doing. It might find its own behavior extremely puzzling, having never seen such a thing before.
Likewise, when we go through puberty we might be alarmed, and we have to ask our parents to understand what is going on with our bodies.
If humans were going through a spiritual transformation, we might not understand it intellectually. Just like the caterpillar, we don’t have to.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Trust the Process: 410
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Sometimes we slip up and accidentally reveal the true and vulnerable nature of our beings. Quickly afterward we follow it up with a joke or something that changes the context of what we’ve said, in order to cover ourselves up.
In the case of men, many tease their friends to show their affection, instead of saying directly how much they care for their brothers.
People won’t necessarily know how to take it if we’re real with them. Then again, maybe they’ll understand entirely.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Be Real: Episode 409
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Super Ego is an MC and hip hop producer coming out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, also known as a founding member of the Hip Hop Chess Club which encourages youth to use their strategic skills and exercise their creative talents.
In this interview, Kurt and Super Ego discuss many interesting ideas such as a potential mass awakening of humanity, how technological developments such as the Internet, cryptocurrency and NFTs provide a new path for artists to build a following and an income, how online communities can change the way we interact and share ideas that sound a little strange, and the nature of scarcity and abundance.
Content warning: mention of suicide, psychedelic use, language
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Mass Awakening with Super Ego: Episode 408
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At certain times we might feel different and we’re not sure why. Perhaps we are more anxious, paranoid or excitable than usual, and our mind might start racing to find reasons to justify why we might be feeling that way.
There can be important personal lessons from these feelings. They also might be less personal than we realize.
Often the cause of these feelings is heliophysics or “space weather”. Solar flares affect the magnetism of the earth, and in turn that can affect our central nervous systems. For example, some studies show that there are correlations between high solar activity and human breathing, melatonin levels, and hospital admissions.
We don’t need to blame ourselves for feeling strange. All we need to do is note those changes and adjust our actions accordingly.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Crazy Energy: Episode 407
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When we listen, we might have the habit of forming an opinion very quickly - perhaps before we’ve even heard the general outline of the situation. We might even be quick to interrupt with our interpretation, to explain what we think we know to this poor soul in front of us who clearly has no idea about the mess he is in.
Just like the blind men touching the trunk or side of an elephant, we don’t necessarily know what it is we’re facing. Having come to our conclusion so quickly, we might not be willing to take in the extra data that would be vital in forming a whole picture.
Besides that, when a person starts telling us something, their primary motivation might be just to be heard. Solutions come later.
When we take the time to listen to people, we can develop our perspicacity. Instead of just repeating the patterns that we have previously identified, we have a chance to learn something new.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Please Listen First: Episode 406
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There is this cliché in western culture of “treating yourself”. The idea is, if you feel down or uncertain of yourself, the best thing to do is buy a material object for yourself.
Generally, this is not the best way to feel better. For one thing, experiences tend to be a far better use of money than objects, at least when it comes to happiness. Objects wear out and fade, but our memories might stay with us for a lifetime.
Then we also have the option of treating ourselves without spending money, and they are numerous. We can find someone in need and help them, spend some time with a loved one and tell them how important they are to us, go for a walk in the park, or sit for five minutes in silence.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Treat Yourself: Episode 405
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In Play of Consciousness, Baba Muktananda describes a meditation - going to each part of the body, beginning with the toes, and saying to it “These toes belong to the guru. Guru Om.”
He goes through each body part, releasing his identification with them until he gets to the crown… then back down to the feet.
Sometimes we identify very strongly with things that have happened to us or things we have done, with things we believe or think, and especially with our bodies. In a very real sense, we can never own our bodies completely - our claim on them is temporary.
What happens when we decide today, to let go of that claim?
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Surrender the Body: Episode 404
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Link McElvenny was recuperating from some health problems and found that his collarbone was weak… so weak that it snapped on the dojo floor, setting him back months in his return to health.
He started to learn that the demands he had of himself were a significant causal factor in his health. The more he tried to push himself to recover, the more setbacks he had. So slowly he started to let go of that tendency.
Another important challenge was worrying about the future. Link found out personally that most of the things we worry about do not happen. When we can release the urge to overthink things, we find that there is little reason to suffer.
Continuing his spiritual studies, he learnt some key lessons from the ancient Indian text, the Mahabharata. The most important was the underlying theme of peace in the epic - no matter how many times the characters fall, they always have a chance of redemption. And no matter how many times they recover, they might well fall again.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Return to Health Part 2 with Link McElvenny: Episode 403
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A long time ago, paper was scarce, and people had to choose carefully what they wrote.
Some of what they wrote survives to this day, and some of it is just as valuable as when it was written.
Today it is very easy to find the Torah, the New Testament, the Koran, the Yoga Sutras, the Vedas, and many other holy texts, carefully preserved from a long tradition. It’s so easy that we might even take it flippantly, and when we pick up these books we seek to disagree or dismiss that ancient wisdom.
But read well and earnestly, especially aloud, drawing the spirit from those words, and you might very quickly find the deeper meanings, the deeper emotions, and the deeper value.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Read the Scriptures: Episode 402
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If you only speak one language, you might assume that other languages are more or less like codes. You just swap some words for others, and change the order around a little bit, and “voila!”
In fact, it’s not like that at all. Every language has its own assumptions, and normally close ties to the culture from which it comes.
Learning a language means we can learn to challenge our way of thinking, to think in a different way. The things we assumed which were previously obscured now start to become prominent.
As we go deeper, we start to realize that people speak a certain way because people’s souls are a certain way. To truly understand, we must immerse ourselves. These things don’t come from a classroom, from a textbook. We can’t be methodically schooled on the deepest parts of our being. But perhaps some hidden aspect of Self will be revealed when we learn a language.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Learn a Language: Episode 401
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In Brave New World, a manager of a factory gives a little history lesson, saying:
“Sleep-teaching was actually prohibited in England. There was something called liberalism. Parliament, if you know what that was, passed a law against it. The records survive. Speeches about liberty of the subject. Liberty to be inefficient and miserable. Freedom to be a round peg in a square hole.”
In that dark, dystopian world, everyone would agree with His Fordship. In that society, superficial happiness is valued much more than introspection, and so being miserable must be despised.
Yet, in our darkest moments, it is misery that accompanies us, that encourages us to re-think and repent, to go back to that drawing board of the soul.
The freedom to be miserable might be one of the most valuable
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Freedom to be Miserable: Episode 400
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On 90s sitcoms like Seinfeld the characters would debate whether it was fair to break up with someone by a phone call after 3 dates, or perhaps that person deserved the dignity of a meeting in person.
At some point it became less common to call people, instead just using text, and eventually just ghosting, not responding to their messages or calls at all.
We can even find articles that attempt to justify ghosting, saying that it is somehow kinder than having a difficult conversation.
If we do take the time to have difficult conversations with them, to discuss our feelings, to tell them what we really think even though we’d rather shy away… That lays the groundwork for a fundamentally kinder society.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Something Else: A New Way of Relating: Episode 399
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Link McElvenny was practicing in an ashram, meditating and chanting, and offering service as a kitchenhand and later a manager of the kitchen.
Link took his role seriously - perhaps a little too seriously, pushing himself hard and burning the candle at both ends. With a combination of factors - his autoexigence, a parasite, and other imbalances - his health started to deteriorate. His weight dropped to under 110 pounds, severely underweight for his height.
He decided to leave the ashram, returning to Australia to recuperate - a difficult blow to his ego to depart in those circumstances.
He started eating well again, and his health improved with the support of his family. Unfortunately, that was not his only challenge on his return to health.
Listen to hear Link’s story in the first part of this interview!
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Return to Health Part 1 with Link Mcelvenny: Episode 398
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In Sam Harris’s app Waking up he often asks the listener to notice the condition of being aware, and to “rest as that condition”. We fall back into awareness, and allow ourselves to see that everything we experience is just a different flavor of consciousness.
In the Siddha Yoga tradition, there is an important mantra from the Vedic tradition: “Soham”. It is often translated as “Thou art That”, meaning “the individual consciousness is equivalent to the universal consciousness.”
The common practice in Siddha Yoga is to meditate on the mantra - exhaling focusing on the syllable “So” and inhaling focusing on the syllable “Ham”. By meditating in this way, we might learn that truth, that everything we experience is a play of consciousness.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Rest as that Condition: Episode 397
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When many people visit Latin America or Latin Europe, they are astounded by the hospitality of the people who go out of their way to chat with you or accommodate you. Their sweet demeanour shows their sweet hearts that cannot be hidden.
Likewise, when we read certain books such as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, we might notice the tenderness that Covey exhibits in the book. The way he talks about demonstrating compassion with his children reveals his nature.
We can take the time to be grateful for the kindness we receive, and in doing so we might begin to be transformed.
Note: In the episode Kurt refers to the phrase “Whatever you find to do, do it with all your heart”. The source of this phrase is actually not the New Testament - it comes from Ecclesiastes.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - God Bless Them: Episode 396
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The bystander effect describes a situation where nobody takes action because they believe it’s not their duty, or that there’s nothing to be done. For example, if a person is stabbed in the street in a city, being watched by a crowd, people might not call the police because it seems obvious that someone must have done something.
Those people watching weren’t malicious; they didn’t want harm to be done. Even so, their inaction allowed greater suffering.
When we think about these situations ahead of time, we give ourselves the chance to decide how we will act.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Psychopaths and Heroes: Episode 395
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There is a power imbalance that occurs when someone has money and someone else wants their business. That’s why it’s common to hear about people being cruel to wait-staff or other people in customer service.
By that same token, that’s why it’s important to be conscious in being gentle to those staff, so that we don’t let the role of customer go to our heads.
Doing trade together can allow us to break down prejudices over time. A racist entrepreneur must pay the price of turning away potential clients, or seeing them go elsewhere, where they are treated better.
On the other hand, when a business owner says “no” to a client, we all know how powerful that can be - to say “your money is no good here” means that there are things you value more than money. That is the power we all have when we choose our trading partners.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - The Power of a Customer: Episode 394
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Things happen to us that seem to cause us suffering. Someone might steal a prized possession, a friend might let us down when we really want their support, or people don’t accommodate us in our peculiarities.
Soon after having our phone stolen, we are much more aware of our surroundings, gaining street smarts. When a friend doesn’t support us in that moment, we understand our own independence. When our family doesn’t accommodate us, we find that they have also stopped enabling our bad habits.
The indifference of others might even seem evil to us in the moment. Upon reflection, those indifferent folks were agents of change, and agents of growth.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Thanks to the Indifferent: Episode 393
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If we arrive in a new city or town, we might know nothing about it. When we take the time to stop a local and ask for some tips, suddenly we find we’re in contact with someone who has decades of knowledge about this locale.
Similarly, if we have a new task which seems difficult, we might be stumped. If we ask the right person for help, we might find solutions of a class that was previously unknown to us.
Asking for help is awesome.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Ask Nicely: Episode 392
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An ordinary person will see a conflict or an anomalous event in their life, feel frustrated or upset, or perhaps indifferent and withdrawn. The day passes and the events are soon forgotten. Weeks or months later a similar event comes to pass, and it happens just like the last time, over and over, repeating the pattern.
An outstanding person only needs to see that event once to advance their level of understanding. If they feel upset or withdrawn, they ask themselves why. They reflect on how they might have behaved differently, or thought differently.
Then the next time it happens, they are duly prepared. Every event is a source of wisdom.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - The Wisdom of Events: Episode 391
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In popular culture it’s common to hear phrases like “Oh my God!” or “Jesus Christ!” as exclamations of horror, or surprise. When we do hear or think these things, we can use it as an opportunity to remind ourselves what those words mean.
Likewise, if we hear powerful words from another tradition such as “namaste” or “Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim”, we can ponder and start to tap into the feeling that goes with them.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Holy Phrases: Episode 390
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In Mos Def’s song Fear Not Of Man he tells us that people always ask him where hip hop is going. His response is that hip hop is about the people, so if we’re wondering where it’s going, we can simply ask ourselves: “Where am I going? How am I doing?”
In this monologue, everything that Yasiin Bey says about hip hop also applies to the world in general. If we are worried about where the world is going, we don’t need to do anything but look within, examine our goals, our emotions, our mental state, our momentum.
Bey also tells us that he isn’t worried about governments trying to present an inflated vision of their power. In the end they are mortals just like us. So perhaps there is nothing on Earth to fear.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Fear Not of Man: Episode 289
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Marshall Rosenberg taught us that when we want something, when we have some deep unfulfilled need, we can simply ask for it, and make a suggestion on how that need might be fulfilled.
It’s just as well that Rosenberg and his legacy in the Center for Non Violent Communication started compiling an inventory of needs, because if you ask many people about their deepest desires, they probably won’t be able to tell you.
Reading through the inventory of needs, we might soon discover that our beings are a little more complex than we had thought. Imagining what it feels like to have authenticity, trust, and to be understood, we might quickly find deeper levels of fulfillment previously unknown.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - What We Really Need: Episode 388
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David Rodriguez is the host of the Freedom Lovers Show on YouTube, the leader of the GATTO Project, and founder of the Education Options Expo in San José California.
Of course, David didn’t always know how to bring ideas like these to fruition. In this interview he tells his story about returning to church and being offered to become a church leader, to bring people the fine lessons contained within the Bible.
However, at some point he decided to pause and ask himself “Do I really believe all of this?” including the ideas of eternal hellfire that are often taught as part of Christianity. Searching himself, he found that he didn’t buy it completely, and upon leaving the church he discovered a different way of being. Instead of looking for reasons that people might be condemned, he accepted them as they were, and as a result he was happier.
Seeking a new direction, he enrolled in a leadership development program which encouraged the participants to begin a project - following their dreams and putting them into practice. He considered being practical, starting a profitable enterprise. However, his leaders advised him to pursue his passion. So he did.
Learning from great educators such as John Taylor Gatto, he saw grand and fundamental problems with the schooling system of those United States. So he embarked on his journey to educate people about education, forming the Education Options Expo.
Listen to the interview to hear the full story, and find out what David learnt.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Free to Learn with David Rodriguez: Episode 387
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Many people say that they cannot meditate, because when they sit down to practice, their mind is full of all kinds of worldly things - their job, their house, their mortgage. In fact, this means that they are indeed meditating - in some sense of the word.
All of the things that they think about in their daily life, are now coming to their minds in a more conscious way. This is a positive sign. Eventually those worldly thoughts might pass, and they will have a very different experience.
It is also a reflection of how their minds operate in regular life. The more our minds return to focusing on pure things in normal life, the more those things will come to mind during meditation.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Whatever Comes to Mind: Episode 386
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Let’s say you see two people getting a little frustrated in a traffic jam. The man behind starts to honk his horn at the fellow in front, and that fellow exits his vehicle looking like he is ready to come to blows.
Then the man behind says “Hey, love and peace my friend. Let’s not get carried away.” Even though the tension is still high, it’s suddenly clear that this interaction will not be physically violent.
According to Steven Pinker, author of Better Angels of Our Nature, In the Middle Ages, it was very common for people to get into physical altercations and kill each other over the slightest provocation. We can see the effect of this when we watch period movies - everyone is exceptionally polite to each other, even calling their close friends Mr. or Mrs., so as not to run the risk of offense.
Though we might see more violence than ever portrayed in the news or coming up in our social media feeds, in many ways we enjoy an exceptionally peaceful time among our peers.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Love and Peace: Episode 385
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When it comes to external success, many people dispute the idea of the “self-made man”. Many famous singers and moguls came from wealth, with their parents helping them along the way. They already had a leg-up in this world. Perhaps that is true.
However, when it comes to internal success, the playing field is more or less even. A person can be the son of a Brahman, or a carpenter, and have just as much chance of becoming a Great Saint or spiritual teacher.
Great spiritual teachers are not made from different substance than the rest of us. In fact, it is precisely because they are made from the same substance - that they face all the human difficulties that we do - that makes them so great.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Just a Man: Episode 384
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When we find ourselves wrestling with an emotion, there are many techniques we can try to allow it to pass.
We might try welcoming it, giving it space, paradoxical intention or leaning into the emotion. We might even try somatic methods, moving our bodies around in order to shake off the state.
However, sometimes through all that trying, all we seem to do is re-enforce the same state. Perhaps in that case the best thing to do is let go of all the techniques, and simply step out of the way.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Cycling Through Techniques: Episode 383
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Estreyah Uribe is an actor in Guadalajara, Mexico with indigenous heritage, specifically from the Wixárika tradition.
As a girl and young woman growing up in Sinaloa, she faced a lot of negative attention because of the way she looked, her indigenous features and brown skin standing out to the other students in the schools she attended.
As a child, she followed creative pursuits, feeling the fire in her belly. Perhaps she was in contact with the natural self-esteem that many children have. Over time and with the negative pressure, that fire became replaced with a knot.
She stopped caring about her looks, embracing others’ judgements that she was “ugly”, and becoming more judgemental of others in order to protect herself from their opinions.
Eventually she returned to the arts, getting involved in the theatre. She also took therapy, and formed a collective of indigenous actors in Mexico, and finally re-ignited that fire in her belly.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Fire in The Belly with Estreyah Uribe: Episode 382
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People will often give lip service to the idea of being open-minded, saying “I’m all for having an open mind, but not so open that my brain falls out.” Normally this means that a person is willing to consider new ideas, up to the point where some strong bias or prejudice kicks in.
Really, we cannot know if a new idea is absurd until we have considered it. If we refuse to consider it, we must be resigning ourselves to the limits of our previous conceptions, or misconceptions.
Exploring ideas can be confronting, even a little scary. However, the alternative is to maintain our prejudices, slowly hardening and moving in the walls that keep us from truly understanding the world.
The good news is, there are many tools that can aid us in our quest, such as logic, lateral thinking, the “six thinking hats”, and the idea of serious play.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Ask Questions: Episode 381
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In the Christian tradition, we hear these words repeated: “The Kingdom of God is within.” If that is true, then it must be true that the Kingdom lies within every person - and perhaps within every element of ourselves.
Likewise, there is the refrain “What you do to the least of these brothers, you do to me.” Of course this applies to how we treat other people, but perhaps it also applies to how we treat the smallest parts of ourselves.
Therefore, if we have some frustration, angst or inquietude within, what will happen if we pray to it - or treat it as if it is an important, vital part of our beings?
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Thank the Inner Lord: Episode 380
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In Mos Def’s song Fear Not Of Man, he makes several references to the Holy Quran, and adds some wisdom of his own for us to interpret. One verse that he references is 33:3: “Put your trust in Allah, for Allah is sufficient as a Disposer of Affairs.”
In our daily lives, it might be easy to get wrapped up in events, details, and even trivialities. Looking around us, we might see chaos and not recall that it is possible that there is some reason behind the scenes, gently guiding things into place.
We are always capable of remembering and expressing that Trust in the deepest parts of ourselves. If we do our best, surely everything will work out okay. We might even get a little help.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - God is Sufficient in Disposing of Affairs: Episode 379
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In many traditions, there are rituals associated with food.
In the west, we might say grace before we eat, and in the east sometimes they say grace after they eat. In the Hare Krishna tradition, they only eat food they have prepared themselves, or when it is prepared by someone they know and trust - and it is always offered to Krishna before it is served.
In the Sikh tradition, they treat food as holy - perhaps even as the material manifestation of God. It sustains us, and therefore it must be sacred.
When we’re in the kitchen, we don’t have to rush through the cooking process. We can take our time, and even say thank you to the vegetables as we cut them and cook them. The extra care serves to make the food extra delicious, and truly worthy of saying grace.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - To Bear False Witness: Episode 377
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If we grow up in a developed nation, we might not have exposure to shills and various scams that go on in the street in many parts of the world. As a consequence, we don’t learn the street smarts necessary to see through deception, even when it might be staring us in the face.
If we don’t encounter deception every month or every week, then it might not even occur to us that someone is lying to us. We might simply be naïve.
That makes it so much more important to dedicate ourselves to the art of analysis, learning about body language or about various tricks that hucksters, politicians and even potential partners use to fool us, weaving a thicker and thicker web of lies.
In this episode, Kurt discusses some observations about deception, including how to see who is a shill, how to notice the subtler messages in propaganda, and the principle of “to the bitter end”. If we are discerning, we may well notice these things in ourselves, and open ourselves up to greater levels of truth.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - To Bear False Witness: Episode 377
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In Baba Muktananda’s Play of Consciousness, he tells the story of traveling to a distant realm through meditation, entering a dark place that we might call “hell”, and then seeing, seated upon a dark water buffalo decorated with flowers and silk, Yamaraja, the Lord of Death.
Yamaraja extended his hand in a gesture that represented fearlessness, and Baba was not afraid. Instead, he was delighted, “overjoyed and filled with gladness”.
Baba knew and embodied the idea that everything is to be welcomed, everything has its place, and everything is part of a divine process.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - This Too is Lord: Episode 376
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The expression “manners maketh the man” is an old one, going back hundreds of years, and it has been placed as a motto on many family crests. The heads of those families might have known wealth and nobility, but the thing they chose to identify with the most, the value that they chose to represent their family, was politeness.
When we trace back the history of the word “make”, it didn’t always mean “create”, but also had the meaning of “complete” - adding the finishing touches. Today you might have a nice house, a beautiful spouse, a grand automobile… But a person is not really complete, unless they have manners.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - A Beautiful Thought - Manners Maketh the Man: Episode 375
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There are many games we can play in life - some that elements of society have dictated to us, and some we might come up with for ourselves.
For example, we might believe that other people’s opinions are the source of our value. That results in a very difficult game to win. Even if we look cool in others’ eyes, our sense of self-worth is still tied to their whims. It can be taken away as quickly as it was given.
But then, maybe we don’t need to play a game in order to win. If we choose the right beliefs, it’s possible that we can win in almost every moment. For example, if we decide that we are inherently valuable, and so are all the people we interact with, we find success every time we express that through our thoughts or actions.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: A Beautiful Thought - Play, Not Games: Episode 374
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In Marshall Rosenberg’s books and presentations, he gives us a practical guide on how to express ourselves effectively in the form of “non-violent communication” or “compassionate communication.”
The basic idea is, if we can express ourselves and assert ourselves without blaming or judging, we can make it very easy for people to hear our message and learn how to get along - giving and receiving feedback about behavior, and taking responsibility for our own emotions.
One important formula is to state our observation, our feelings, our needs and a suggestion. For example “You said you would arrive at 3, and you arrived at 4. When that happened, I felt frustrated. What I’d like is clear communication, and congruence. Perhaps in the future you can think carefully about how long it will take you to arrive.”
It can be difficult to state our feelings, but one pitfall to avoid is saying a feeling that is also an accusation, such as “I feel intimidated,” or “I feel betrayed.” If I am intimidated, there must be someone intimidating me. Instead, focus more on the emotion - for example, sad, frustrated, lonely, surprised, delighted.
For the transcript: Non-Violent Communication A Beautiful Thought
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As an adolescent, Pilar Waters found herself alone a lot, perhaps with too much responsibility over her own life. Her stepfather going in and out of prison, and at one point stealing their family home, left Pilar with an unstable life.
She moved to Montreal and entered into the party scene to attempt to feel like she was in control, but it didn’t help. Feeling the confusing burden of responsibility, she started to limit her own eating.
After a few years of facing an eating disorder, and not knowing how to ask for help, she eventually asked a friend who took her to the hospital and helped her find a psychologist.
Hear what Pilar learnt from her experience about control, self-control and how to select a therapist in this interview.
For the transcript: In and Out of Control with Pilar Waters A Beautiful Thought
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When we sit down to meditate, we might use some technique to get to a certain mental state. We might count a few breaths, or repeat a mantra. After 15 minutes or so, something has changed, and now our mind is calmer than it was.
Perhaps at a certain point, such techniques are unnecessary. Now we know what state we would like to enter, and as we sit down we simply arrive there without effort or pressure.
Likewise, if we are in prayer, we might focus very hard on our well-wishes for others, or bringing peace upon the house in which we are staying. What happens if we let go of the effort, and simply notice the divine quality that already exists in the object of our prayer?
For the transcript: Assume the State A Beautiful Thought
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In an old audio course, Zig Ziglar recalled an experience walking into a soup kitchen. He saw someone who might need a little cheering up, and perhaps in that moment he didn’t feel like doing it.
However, he said to himself “I have a reputation here. People know me.” His self-image as a person who helped others was so strong, that enabled him to get leverage over his actions.
Perhaps one day we won’t need to use our egos in this way to inspire ourselves to act. In the meantime, if we have a strong ego about our ability to help people, it’s good to use it.
For the transcript: I Have A Reputation Here A Beautiful Thought
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There are many habits that are very good for us, for example meditation. We can reasonably predict that if we practice meditation, over time we will gain more presence of mind, increased concentration, greater understanding of our emotions.
We know that by practicing exercise regularly, we will improve our health, feel strong and gain confidence.
We might even guess that by meditating on our own death, we will be able to leave the fear of death behind, something like exposure therapy.
If we know these things, the only question that remains is: Will we do it?
For the transcript: Will You Do It A Beautiful Thought
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Now meditation is known throughout the world to have many benefits for our physical and mental health, for our concentration, reduced anxiety and clarity of thought.
Yet we stand to gain much more in terms of inner peace, easy acceptance of new situations, self-knowledge, and even deeper mystical experiences.
We fill our days with work, play and distraction, and often not feeling fulfilled by any of it. A habit of 30 or 60 minutes a day can give us rest from the world, and also show us the world anew - bright and glorious.
For the transcript: Meditate A Beautiful Thought
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There are a lot of hard decisions that we must make in this life. Many decisions become far easier when we think them through in advance - perhaps even before we know for sure that we will face them.
It is likely that sooner or later, we will be in a position to help someone, perhaps even save their life. We can’t say exactly in what form it will come, so it normally pays to be prepared.
If we don’t think about it in advance, if we don’t make that decision to help someone, we may find ourselves in the regrettable position of being able to help, but passively standing by. Later we might wish we could have acted differently, but our wishes will be little consolation to those others involved.
Therefore, you are invited to think about it now, while the stakes are still low. What will you do in a difficult situation?
For the transcript: The Heart Decision A Beautiful Thought
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Many of us have the experience of reaching for our phone or wallet, and when it is not in the exact spot we expect, we experience a moment of panic. Then as we dig a little deeper in our pocket or satchel, we find it was there all along, and there was never cause for concern.
Most humans develop object permanence by the age of 2, but it seems that few of us ever trust it completely.
We might pray and wish that our possessions remain safe, or we could take a more stoic approach. Perhaps our objects don’t really belong to us - we are just their stewards in our time on Earth, and can be taken from us at any time.
Perhaps they will be taken from us in just the right moment.
For the transcript: Lose or Gain A Beautiful Thought
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The breath is a curious physiological function in humans, being one of the only functions which can be under conscious control or unconscious control. This is one of the aspects which makes it a vital link to the deeper levels of the mind.
By practicing a technique such as alternate nostril breathing, we can quickly bring peace to a perturbed mind.
For example, we might take 20 breaths from one nostril, and then take 20 breaths from the other nostril.
Or we might breathe in on the left nostril, retain the breath and then breathe out from the right nostril.
After some weeks or months of practice, we might find that we bring our breaths down to two or one per minute. If we expand that practice to the rest of our lives, we might find that we can stay composed even in the most difficult situations.
For the transcript: Breathe A Beautiful Thought
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The feelings of attention and significance are fundamental human needs, but many people don’t know how to meet their needs in a way that is healthy.
A man may send an obscene picture to a woman to get her attention, and even though in some form he achieves significance, it is likely to fall short of his highest hopes. Similarly, though less offensively, a woman might emphasize her cleavage, perhaps affirming an insecurity - stating through her actions that her personality won’t be adequate to attract the man.
In an extreme case, a person might injure or sicken oneself to gain attention, or be cruel to gain significance.
Surely there must be a better way, and there is, though it takes courage, vulnerability, and honesty.
Perhaps you might find your own way to meet your needs while meeting the needs of others, when you ask the question: how can we be together?
Content warning: sexual themes
For the transcript: How Can We Be Together A Beautiful Thought
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If you don’t take a moment every now and then to take stock of your life, you might not realize all of the things that you have in your favor, or some of the things that might work against you.
Here you are, with your “version of humanity, in all its simplicity, and all its complexity,” with your problems, previous successes and failures and all the wisdom you’ve gained from them, the past that is still carried with you - positively or negatively, your life expectations, aspirations and disappointments, your skills, strengths and resources, your degree of openness, your willingness and readiness to change, your cultural values, your entire range of relationships, your interpersonal communication skills, your blindspots, and all the external aspects of your situation for or against you.
Whatever you have… It’s enough.
For the transcript: What You Have as a Human A Beautiful Thought
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Lev Rozenberg is an entrepreneur, expatriate and immigrant, being born in the USSR, growing up in Florida and now joining Kurt in Guadalajara.
As a 17-year-old in Florida, he found himself having some kind of unusual mental experience while on the beach with friends. Perhaps it was a heatstroke, or a panic attack, or the build-up of stress from his schooling, but he began to have a seizure and ended up in hospital.
The doctors did several tests and confirmed that there was nothing physically wrong with him. That led to additional anxiety - wondering when a seizure or panic attack would happen again, and he soon dropped out of school.
Eventually he found a way to try psychotropic medications, and soon realized that they were causing more problems than they were solving - with physical pain and emotional numbing.
Listen to the interview to find out Lev’s journey and life lessons.
For the transcript: Psyched Up with Lev Rosenberg A Beautiful Thought
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Any ordinary process that we go through in our days can be used as an object of meditation, for example, drinking a glass of water.
Picking up the glass, we can feel its coolness or wetness. We notice the sensation of the glass against our lips, the water entering the mouth, the sensations in our throat.
Allowing these things to appear in our consciousness doesn’t require any effort; they simply are.
Now we might notice what is happening inside of us, our presence, our calm or discomfort. We might have avoided looking at these things, but here they are, again effortless and ready to present themselves.
For the transcript: Simply Noticing A Beautiful Thought
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If you say “Life often gives us situations we don’t expect,” most people will agree with it. But if you observe others, or even yourself, you might notice that their reactions indicate that they don’t really believe it.
We face life hoping that things will go our way, and when they don’t, we experience disappointment, frustration or anger.
Staying mindful of our bodies and of situations, we can say “yes” to them, accepting what is apparent. That way, we can respond to the situation as it is, not as we hope it would be.
For the transcript: Saying Yes A Beautiful Thought
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When we face a difficult situation in our lives, our first impulse might be to attempt to resolve the situation, to change something externally to make things more to our liking. Inside, we might be burning, raging or simply extremely uncomfortable - and it is in part this discomfort that leads us to seeking external solutions.
It is good to take action and adjust our environment to please us, but sometimes the more beneficial path is to face that discomfort.
What happens if we look inside, going directly to the feeling, allowing ourselves to sit with it - and perhaps even learning its lessons?
For the transcript: Go to the Feeling A Beautiful Thought
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If we’ve never paused to wonder about our motivations, we might assume that we know exactly why we do things. Not having practiced introspection, we might have a huge gap in our own self-knowledge - and we don’t even know that we don’t know
Sometimes people believe that motivations are simple. For example, an atheist will declare that a theist believes in heaven “just because he’s afraid of death.” Yet when we do ask why people do things, we find that it’s difficult enough to understand our own motives, let alone the motives of others.
In fact, the reasons people do things are various, multi-layered, and often contradictory. When we look inside we can see that, and as a result we can more deeply relate to others.
For the transcript: Asking Why A Beautiful Thought
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Nathan Fallou traveled from Europe to Senegal to try to get an authentic experience, to understand the music and dance traditions such as Sabar, to speak the native language of Wolof and know the hearts of the people.
He ended up collaborating with world-renowned master percussionist Doudou Ndiaye Rose, forming a festival called Deggi Daaj to celebrate Doudou’s talent and legacy.
Even though Doudou was recognized as living human treasure by UNESCO in 2006, in his own country it was difficult for his team to even get a meeting with the Senegalese Ministry of Culture. That changed with the persistence and determination of Nathan Fallou, and in the fourth and final year of Deggi Daaj, the Ministry of Culture even decided to come and show their support for Master Doudou
After that, it seemed that Doudou’s mission on this earth was complete. You can hear more about the circumstances describing Doudou’s departure in this interview.
For the transcript: The Call of the Senegal with Nathan Fallou A Beautiful Thought
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Most of humanity lives in cities, and we might not even notice how unnatural that is until we get out into nature and feel the grass between our toes.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of being surrounded by the jungle or forest, and the longer we spend in nature, the more we realize that we are a part of it.
Today you might notice a tree or bush, or butterfly, and recognize that it is alive, and that it is your peer on this earth.
For the transcript: Being in Nature A Beautiful Thought
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In Latin America, it’s common to hear people talk about “un buen detalle” or a nice touch. Or as we say in English - unfortunately, sometimes disparagingly - “It’s the thought that counts.”
A small gesture can make all the difference, to show someone that we care, that we’re thinking about them, that we want them to be well and share in our joys.
According to Professor Laurie Santos, director of the Science of Well-Being course at Yale, noticing when people are in need and helping them can make a huge difference in our levels of happiness in the long term.
For the transcript: A Nice Touch A Beautiful Thought
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Reflection might be one of the most important skills we can learn as a human being - the exercise of discernment, directed towards our own thoughts and actions, with the purpose of self-improvement.
However, it’s extremely rare that we receive lessons in how to reflect, perhaps even from our best teachers or from our therapists.
Picking up a journal, we can quickly begin to see our thoughts on the page, and ask ourselves questions such as: What was their motivation in this situation? What was mine? What assumptions did I have, if any, that caused conflict? How might I think about this differently? How might I act differently?
We need not wait for life to transform us and teach us lessons. Every day we can use our pens or our minds is a day we can consciously decide to be better.
For the transcript: Think About it A Beautiful Thought
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In your life, if you are observant, you might notice a lot of people who are on the same path, who have been on that path for years. Following the same path, it is likely that they will meet their destiny.
However, occasionally a spark lights up behind their eyes, and they make a decision: “My life is more than the circumstances that have been presented to me; now I will act.”
It might look subtle at first. Perhaps a friend who has been stuck in the same job for years finally decides to start his own business in his spare time. Perhaps a cousin who has had a partner whom he doesn’t really appreciate decides to risk being single and somehow become comfortable in his own company.
What does it feel like to take that first step out of the comfort zone?
For the transcript: Take the First Shift A Beautiful Thought
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Nathan Fallou traveled from Europe to Senegal to try to get an authentic experience, to understand the music and dance traditions such as Sabar, to speak the native language of Wolof and know the hearts of the people.
When he saw the performance of master percussionist Doudou Ndiaye Rose, he instantly knew what would be the next step in his education. Doudou was then in his early 80s, and still very much with a commanding and graceful presence, conducting many drummers - many of them his children or grandchildren.
After the show, Nathan went backstage to ask if there was any way he could help. Doudou was welcoming, and that began a partnership, something like the relationship between a guru and devotee, and later like that between a father and son.
Just as Nathan saw something miraculous in Doudou, Doudou saw something outstanding in Nathan, and that led them to collaborating in an event that would combine musical traditions and talent from Senegal and all over the world, the Deggi Daaj festival.
For the blog: The Call of Senegal Part 2 with Nathan Fallou A Beautiful Thought
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Many people see apologizing as a form of weakness. If a person apologizes, in some form they are admitting defeat.
It does make sense to be careful about how we use apologies. If a person apologizes for everything, it is likely that they are too passive, and others will take advantage.
However, the fact of “admitting defeat” in an apology is also the thing that makes it a wise person’s strength. This person is willing to acknowledge that they made a mistake, and commit to being better.
When we have the habit of committing to change, and sticking with it, our personal growth is boundless.
For the transcript: Sorry is Power A Beautiful Thought
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When we feel saddened, depressed or heartbroken, our innate reaction might be to contract. We push our shoulders forward, covering our body - perhaps in order to feel safe, protecting what is hurting.
However, this normally prevents us from experiencing our pain fully, and as a result it prolongs it.
Pushing our shoulders back, elongating the spine and breathing deeply, we feel our pain completely.
The pain doesn’t disappear, but now we face it boldly. Our internal warrior is awakened.
For the transcript: An Open Chest A Beautiful Thought
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According to the idea of Dunbar’s number, we all have about 150 people that we know reasonably well - knowing their name, their profession, their interests.
That means there are more than 11,000 combinations of friends we could bring together - more with every acquaintance that we meet.
When we say to someone “Maybe you’d like to meet my friend Beto; he’s also interested in rock climbing,” many times they will not act on it. But occasionally they will, and form a lasting friendship.
They might even remember that it was you who helped them meet. Or perhaps they will just enjoy each others’ company.
For the transcript: Bring People Together A Beautiful Thought
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Take a book off the shelf, and open it to the dedication. It’s normally something simple like “For my wife” or “For my father”.
It is appropriate that a book should start with a dedication like this, because it is likely the most succinct in the whole book - the most meaning condensed in the fewest words, even though the full extent of the meaning is hidden to everyone except the author.
Even so, reading a phrase like this we can begin to guess at the depth of meaning, its feeling, its smell and touch. The potency of the dedication might well be worth writing a whole book in order to approximate it.
Perhaps the things we see around us also have a similar profundity of meaning. If you take a personal object and recall all the sensory experiences associated, to where will you be transported? How much might it mean?
For the transcript: Shades of Meaning A Beautiful Thought
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Abdul Abdullah is an artist from Perth, Australia, five-time finalist for the Archibald - the famous Australian portrait competition, and the recipient of many other awards and recognitions for his provocative artworks about race, racism, introspection and identity.
In this interview Abdul shares his story about growing up in Perth, engaging in some kinds of juvenile delinquency, being raised in humble beginnings but with the consistent support of his family, going to art school and being willing to experiment with his art.
A key challenge came to Abdullah when he submitted a portrait to the Archibald prize. He met Muslim Australian author and academic Waleed Aly, painted his portrait and became a finalist in the national competition for the first time. To Abdullah’s surprise, he started receiving hate mail, a dozen letters a day.
Apparently these people hated Abdul just because of his new mentor’s politics, and because of his name. It was then that Abdul had to decide - would he stay angry, or would he transmute his anger into something positive, through his art?
For the transcript: An Artist Blazes His path with Abdul Abdullah A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes people might contact us after having left on bad terms, or perhaps they contact us in a difficult situation when it is hard to hear from them. If we have practiced patience and even-mindedness, when they call us we will be pleased all the same.
In a classic story about the Buddha, a man hears about this teacher who is leading his son down a strange path. The man approaches the Buddha while he is teaching dharma to the seekers, curses Him and spits in His face. The Buddha just keeps smiling the whole time, and bids the man farewell.
The man walks off and thinks about this strange reaction. It occurs to him that perhaps the Buddha is a true teacher, that his son is following a man who will indeed show a spiritual path.
The next day, the man returns to apologise to the Buddha. The Buddha says he will not forgive the man, because he is not the same person who received the curses the day before. The Buddha had already let go of the events so completely, that he had no reason to hold a grudge. And so, He invited the man to join them.
For the transcript: Lovely to Hear from You A Beautiful Thought
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There is a certain aspect of our culture that expresses itself when we eat. Instead of taking our time to enjoy our food, we rush through it as if it is just another task to get through.
There is a very old meditation that we can practice to experience our food more deeply. We take a single raisin, and attempt to notice every single sensation involved in its consumption.
There is the texture, different sensations in the lips, tongue, cheek and gums; the experience of breaking the skin; the sweetness of the flesh; and the crunch of the seed.
Just as a skilled musician can hear the individual notes in a chord, a meditator might find different notes of flavor or texture in a simple experience.
For the transcript: Feel the Good A Beautiful Thought
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When we begin to contemplate something that is going on in our lives, the initial impulse might be to think about the external situation. We might completely ignore that there are things going on inside us.
Now, let us observe those things. Perhaps there are sensations in the head, throat, heart, solar plexus or belly. Perhaps those are emotions that we recognise well, and perhaps not.
We can examine them, noticing their texture, warmth, and strength. We can give them names. We can gently sit with them for a few moments.
For the transcript: Direct to the Emotion A Beautiful Thought
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Often a memory will emerge in our heads that bothered us, thinking about something a former lover did, when we were accused of something, or when someone did something that seemed hypocritical. If we’re present, we might notice that we’re not just thinking about the memory - we’re also identifying with the role we were playing in that moment.
Perhaps we put ourselves in a victim role, thinking “I can’t believe that person did this to me!” At once we are identifying with the role, and resisting it. Naturally, it’s uncomfortable.
When we notice, we can take a deep breath - breathing life into the memory, and exhaling the tension of it, just as we would do with a big stretch.
As we relax using the breath, we can find quickly that we don’t need to relate to that memory.
For the transcript: Relax the Ego A Beautiful Thought
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Eve Colantoni was working hard in the hospitality industry, trying to force a relationship that wasn’t working out, and taking 14 pills a day for various maladies. When the relationship finally ended, she started to realize that there were a lot of things in her life that needed to change.
One important aspect was her excessive drinking. When she took a massage and acupuncture, and looked into nutritional supplements, she saw a different path that would lead her to deeper understandings about her health.
She decided to study nutrition, to become a public speaker, and an expert in essential oils, finding out how to balance her body, providing the vitamins and minerals that are necessary for it to build important neurotransmitters. She discovered how to move past her addiction the easy way, among various other imbalances.
For the blog: The Essence of Health with Eve Colantoni A Beautiful Thought
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In the song Esta Vida by Mexican band TresDe Copas, the group tell us what it’s like to see the sun peek through the window and be filled by the view of a beautiful dawn.
Then in the third verse, they tell us again how good it feels to receive a hug from the early morning and again be filled by the vista of a beautiful sunrise.
To some, this might seem like repetitious, lazy songwriting, but perhaps it’s an important reminder - just because something happens every day doesn’t necessarily make it any less special. Every sunrise and every moment is there for us to enjoy.
For the transcript: Another Dawn A Beautiful Thought
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When we enter a marketplace, either online or in person, we can see all kinds of objects - produce, prepared food, handicrafts that people have made in their own homes, fabricated items, chocolate, coffee, exotic fruit from foreign lands.
In those moments we can pause to take in all the wonders before our eyes - all of the grand gifts that nature and the ingenuity of humanity have to offer us.
For the transcript: The Magic of the Market A Beautiful Thought
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As we advance in meditation, we might notice how it affects the rest of our lives. Perhaps in a moment when previously we would have reacted immediately, we now have a fraction of a second to diverge from that previous ingrained habit.
We now have a space between reaction and response, in which we are free to choose something a little different.
We might call this having a cool head, an even mind, equanimity, imperturbability, or upeksha. In that space, we are truly free.
For the transcript: Equanimity A Beautiful Thought
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In many cultures, we have the habit of saying “nice to meet you” or even “it’s a pleasure to meet you.” We might say it as a formality, or we might bring out the meaning of those words deeply as we say them.
As we get to know someone better, we might enjoy their company very much - so much in fact that we forget what life was like without them, and we fall in the trap of taking them for granted.
It is a kind of superpower that we all have, to awaken our gratitude, to notice our friends, to send them a message saying how much we appreciate them. Even more than on the day we met them, we are glad to have met those special few.
Who can you thank for their presence in your life today?
For the transcript: Glad to Have Met You A Beautiful Thought
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Moni Charlie found herself in a place in her life where there was stress mounting up, with problems at work, opportunities at work, problems with her friends’ health, in addition to all the regular stressors that people have.
Instead of taking time to step back and relax to let all the stress out, like many people she decided that she could handle it best by charging forward. That eventually led to emotional burnout, with Moni getting more out of touch with her emotions, and they finally appeared in her dreams to get her attention.
How can we avoid treating all the pressures of the world as our own? Find out in this interview.
For the blogt: Burning Out with Mono Charlie A Beautiful Thought
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In The Last Temptation of Christ, the Great Teacher, portrayed by Willem Dafoe, is asked why he isn’t a better Jew. He says the scripture instructs us to tell the truth, and he never tells the truth - he doesn’t have the courage. Within him lies something so powerful and transformative that he doesn’t dare speak it.
In the world we commonly find introverts who might be cautious with their words, refraining from saying what they really feel. We also find extroverts, who feel free to talk about anything, except perhaps what is truly in their hearts.
Members of Rotary often ask themselves these four key questions:
- Is it true?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it foster good will and build relationships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Sometimes it is necessary to use a test such as this in order to restrain our speech, to hold back from saying something that might be hurtful and unhelpful. Likewise, if you are holding your words, afraid to speak, and your words meet these tests, to open your mouth now presents a grand opportunity.
For the transcript: Express Yourself A Beautiful Thought
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We might think that most dysfunctions of the mind stem from disorder. However, in Michael Pollan’s book How To Change Your Mind he presents the evidence that neurosis normally comes from an excess of order.
The classic example is “obsessive compulsive disorder”. A person finishes washing his hands and decides he needs to wash them again, and again, until he has washed them 17 times. The mind has so much order that he finds it difficult to escape from this routine.
In your own travels you might have noticed in countries where everything runs on time, people tend to be more neurotic. In countries where things are chaotic, where you can’t rely on the systems, people tend to be more easy-going.
Likewise, if you imagine a person living in the chaos of the jungle, he is likely to be mentally stable, and able to adapt to many situations that arise.
When things go wrong, we might become irritated or angry. Really, these things serve to bring us into the random or unknowable nature of the universe. By welcoming chaos, we are welcoming life.
For the transcript: Welcome Chaos A Beautiful Thought
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When we practice introspection, or go to a therapist or a coach, we might begin to notice certain patterns in our lives. We might even identify clearly that there is an unhelpful cycle, analyze its parts, and know what is coming next at each stage.
However, knowing the cycle isn’t really enough for us to improve our behavior. We might actually watch the cycle continue, knowing exactly what is going to happen, but still not knowing how to prevent it. We pick up another cigarette or continue to binge on sugary foods, even knowing the consequences.
If we try forcefully to break the cycle, that might serve to affirm its power, and again continue it, though in a modified form.
What will really help us is transcending the cycle, moving into some new pattern of behavior previously unseen. When we do that, sometimes all of our previous problems fade into the background.
Note: In the episode Kurt says Nick Hinton was the creator of the Fatum/Randonaut project. Actually Nick was an early member of the community, but not the creator.
For the transcript: Transcend the Cycle A Beautiful Thought
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In Frank Sinatra’s interpretation of a famous song, he told us how valuable it was “To say the things he truly feels/And not the words of one who kneels.”
It’s not always easy to deliver the truth. The words sometimes get caught on our tongues. The longer they stay there, the more bitter they taste.
The words might be difficult to say because they are beautiful. To say the sweetest things to a friend or lover means we must be vulnerable, and that takes courage.
They also can be hard to say because they are challenging. We don’t want to hurt the people we care about; we don’t want to be seen as a critic. Yet the wisest among us place great value on a critical friend.
What wonderful things might happen, what change might be inspired… When we say the things we truly feel?
For the transcript: Say the Things You Truly Feel A Beautiful Thought
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Nathan Fallou is known for his work as a healer, using methods such as sound healing bowls and rapé to evoke changes in the bodies and spirits of himself and those around him.
In this first part of an interview with Nathan, he describes how he felt called to move to Senegal, recognizing that dance classes with other foreigners weren't necessarily getting to the heart of the culture. He learnt the native language of Wolof, finding out that the interactions in Wolof were very rhythmic, and sometimes a vibe or feeling was more important than the literal words he was saying.
Nathan describes his experiences learning to understand the percussion and dance tradition of Sabar, how the dance improvisations were very much like a conversation, even to the extent that it is used for dispute resolution between families. He also learnt how the dance and the culture might awaken or transform his sexual energies.
In later sections of this interview, Nathan will explain what it was like working with acclaimed musician, teacher and saint, Doudou N'Diaye Rose.
Content warning: discussions of sex
For the podcast: The Call of Senegal with Nathan Fallou A Beautiful Thought
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Perhaps in this moment, there is some feeling within you which you have tried to ignore. Some feeling that is just on the edge of your awareness, that perhaps you’ve just accepted as part of the background noise of your soul.
You might have accepted it as part of who you are, not questioning it, and not being fully aware of it.
What happens when you bring it clearly into focus, allowing it to come into view, without forcing it?
For the transcript: Just Below the Surface A Beautiful Thought
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In the song by Mexican band Elefante, we are told that life is capricious, sometimes light and sometimes dark, it takes from us, gives to us, brings us up and lets us down. And occasionally it gives us exactly what we need.
Reflecting on our lives, we might notice when life has been like this to us. We can probably think of examples of each one.
If we know this in advance, we can be better prepared emotionally, to remain cool-headed even when we receive trials or unearned successes.
For the podcast: Life is Like That A Beautiful Thought
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When we notice an emotion such as envy or anger, we might identify with it, attempt to deny it or resist it, or we might simply acknowledge it.
If we notice it without judging it, we might find very quickly that it passes.
Then we can take it one step further and ask, “What is the assumption that caused me to feel that emotion?”
In the case of envy, the assumption might be something like “Everything must be about me!” which we can start to see is not true.
In the case of anger or frustration, it might be “The world should not be like this!”
We might punish ourselves, believing that we have some problem for thinking or feeling this way. In fact, it is normally a positive thing when we notice these emotions, because it means we can begin to change.
For the transcript: Becoming Aware A Beautiful Thought
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If you look back at documentaries about the punk rock movement from the 70s and 80s, you can hear that there was a lot of frustration in the youth. On some level they knew that the system was broken, but they didn’t necessarily know what to do about it, so they stayed silent.
Then a song came or some bold speaker stood up and said “I don’t believe in this; there must be something better!” Very quickly all of those silent people came to life, inspired by the uncommon words.
Perhaps many people are waiting for you to stand up and speak your truth, to say what’s truly in your heart, your vision for something new.
What will happen if you speak?
For the podcast: Waiting for You to Lead A Beautiful Thought
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In August 2019, Kurt Robinson wrote this article entitled “Humanity’s Singularity: A New Age for Mankind”, describing how several trends were converging in a way that may spell a new spiritual era for humanity.
The article describes trends such as: how the synthesis of information is accelerating, with so many people having access to the Internet, and so much more potential for putting together ideas from various disciplines; how violent crime has been reducing over the last century, referring to the work of Steven Pinker; how unusual ideas such as the Mandela Effect are now given a voice, when previously they would have been dismissed on their face; the technological and economic predictions of Davidson and Lord Rees Mogg in The Sovereign Individual and; other unusual data, such as the prophecies of Brazilian mystic Chico Xavier.
In one form or another, these trends have been advancing over the last two years. What wisdom do recent developments hold for us? Where is this all going?
For the transcript: Humanity's Singularity A New Age for Mankind A Beautiful Thought
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Reality testing and gaslighting are two sides of the same coin. Gaslighting is applying pressure to someone’s concept of reality in order to limit them or manipulate them, and reality testing is applying similar pressure in order to help them form a concept of the word that is more accurate, and more empowering.
Gaslighting is normally phrased as a statement, such as “No, I arrived at 6. You’re imagining things.” Reality testing is normally phrased as a question, such as “Is this thought objectively true? What is the evidence for it?”
We might have the concept that doubting ourselves means we have a weak sense of reality. Sometimes this is true, however when we observe our thoughts and question their validity and their effects, we are actually strengthening our reality.
A strong sense of reality must also mean a flexible sense of reality - an ability to adapt to new information.
For the transcript: Reality Testing A Beautiful Thought
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In the short film Popeye The Pizza Man, Popeye delivers a pizza to a fellow obviously in need of comfort, and tries to show him that maybe life is worth living.
Later, Popeye wonders about the value of his actions. He finds himself in these situations, and tries to help, but often it seems futile - people are going to do what they want to do anyway.
Popeye was trying to do something quite difficult, so in a sense if he has one success, that can justify all of his previous efforts.
If you are aiming for something big, perhaps you will find that one success is enough.
Content warning: suicide
For the website: One Success A Beautiful Thought
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Awe is an extremely powerful emotion, and we can feel its power in the very experience - standing before a vast canyon, watching golden autumn leaves tumble to the ground, or even seeing someone stand up to injustice.
As it turns out, this feeling doesn’t just affect us in the moment, but also has lasting effects.
In studies at Berkeley lab, scientists discovered that when people felt awe, for example, by standing in front of the replica of a T-Rex skeleton, or by gazing at the tallest eucalypts in North America, their identity would be affected - identifying more with something greater than themselves, with societal responsibility for example.
They would also be more willing to help a stranger in need after feeling awe, and more likely to feel greater well-being in the weeks afterwards.
Awe is awesome.
For the transcript head to the website at: In Awe A Beautiful Thought
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If you go to a hip-hop show, you might hear the MC tell the audience to “put their hands up”. Almost like magic, they go ahead and do it. People don’t need a lot of encouragement to do something that they already want to do - to be a part of the show and to have fun.
Perhaps there are others who would willingly cooperate with us, if we were to ask.
Often a master of a craft is excited to share his knowledge with an eager student. For many years, he has worked diligently to discover new techniques and reveal the fundamentals of his art and science. For that reason, he is delighted when someone asks for his help, that they might learn easily what he has learnt with toil.
Who could you ask for help, and what would you ask for?
For the transcript: Go Ahead and Ask A Beautiful Thought
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Andrew Howard is the Chief Business Development Officer of the Bitcoin Reserve, a former Marine, host of The Exit Plan podcast, and expatriate living in Mexico.
Not so long ago, Andrew was living in his hometown of Los Angeles, California, looking around and seeing the social problems, caused in large part by an interfering government. Young people could see the high property prices and realize that it would not be easy to get ahead, so many decided to prolong their youth, drinking and partying for many years.
Andrew looked inside and discovered an intuition, a sensation of a desire for movement seated in his heart. He could see that things weren’t likely to get better, and his liberty would only be diminished if he stayed in California. So he decided to act on what he felt inside, and move to Mexico.
It wasn’t clear how things would work out, but soon enough Andrew found a job working on his passion in the Bitcoin space - a fine example of what can happen when one follows his heart.
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Sometimes we can be tempted to start the day by picking up our phone and scrolling mindlessly through social media. That’s likely not going to set us on a path for hitting goals for the rest of the day.
Starting the day with a good habit can point us in a very good direction. We might start by drinking a glass of water, doing 10 pushups, writing our nocturnal dreams, reviewing our mission statement, or writing a few goals for the day.
Then when we finish the day, we can prepare to start the next day well by writing that first habit in our night journal. “Upon waking, I drink a liter of water.” The simple act of writing down that goal will make us so much more likely to complete it when morning comes.
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People experiencing depression can find themselves feeling more and more disconnected, from others, from their own feelings. In an extreme case, a person can look at a beautiful landscape, know intellectually that it is beautiful, and have no sensation of beauty.
When we begin to negate our own emotions, hiding more and more from them, we step a path that might lead us further and further from self-knowledge.
In some studies by Dr. Rosalind Watts and others, scientists and subjects explored the role of psilocybin in facilitating connection, to the point where people started chatting to strangers about the most profound aspects of their lives, or they experience being a part of nature, rather than seeing it as an object to look at.
For the transcript: Get Connected A Beautiful Thought
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If we listen to certain notes or phrases of a powerful symphony, we might hear parts that seem very discordant, even offensive to the ears. Listening to the entire piece, we can put it into context and understand how those notes serve the beauty of the entire composition.
It is similar with our emotions. If we do have an emotion that is adverse, there may be some other feeling which can complement it - surrounding our sadness in love, or noticing the tenderness in our pain, for example.
What are the ways we can give another context to our feelings - either by using other feelings, new thoughts and interpretations, or even higher levels of consciousness to expose some beauty that we had previously ignored?
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In the “Science of Well-Being” course, Yale Professor Laurie Santos says that one of the most effective and long-lasting practices we can do for our happiness is to write letters of gratitude. This practice is so effective, it tends to improve the general levels of happiness for the writer and the recipient for months after the fact.
When we begin to write such a letter, we might pause and ask, is this really going to express the depths of what I feel? Of course, it is better to express ourselves imperfectly than not at all, especially in this situation.
We might find when we write the letter and read it out for our friend, we are both extremely moved by the gesture, even if we are not great poets or writers. Writing honestly and sincerely what we feel, writing our heart, will be enough.
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Carlos Peña is a geneticist and entrepreneur, living sometimes in Mexico and sometimes in Texas.
In this interview, Carlos tells the story of deciding to escape the monotony of the jobs he was doing, and apply to work for the United Nations in Rome, Italy. He obtained a position in the Food and Agriculture Organization, learnt a little Italian, and jumped on a flight.
Quickly he realized that he was in a role that expected a high standard of professionality, in contrast to the university roles he’d previously worked. He found many opportunities to increase his communication skills, by learning Italian and by participating more actively in meetings, and by meeting his colleagues over lunch in a more informal setting.
In Food and Agriculture, Carlos could research the policies of many different countries, and see how they were innovating solutions to problems of wastage or food distribution.
Listen to this episode and you will find out what life lessons Carlos learnt in Rome.
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Perhaps nobody has ever told you that the secret to happiness is understanding unhappiness. It sounds paradoxical, and it is almost always true. If we know our way through unhappy states, we can find our way back to being happy.
Some people try to shut down their emotions, blocking them out or denying them, because they can’t stand or don’t know how to face them. In extreme cases, this leads a person to numbness, or perhaps even the ability to experience the pleasure of eating, as anhedonia.
Others will paper over their feelings, saying “Good vibes only!” as spiritual bypassing. Naturally if you try to hide from some part of yourself, it will always be expressed in one way or another.
The adventurers of the spirit look inwardly to feel deeply, though at times it may be uncomfortable. When they know the secrets hidden in the places they last wanted to look, they find the way out.
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Comedian Buddy Hackett once said “I've had a few arguments with people, but I never carry a grudge. You know why? While you're carrying a grudge, they're out dancing.” When we hold a grudge, we spend mental energy, making our thoughts pay rent on something that makes us unhappy and rarely serves to make us any wiser.
Likewise if we have the habit of “shoulding”, having beliefs and thought patterns about how the world “should” be. The world is as it is, and no amount of mere demands from us can change it. In fact, if we really want to change it, it’s best to see it accurately.
Then once we can see it accurately, we can choose to also see it in a way that empowers us, or helps us to see the beauty in the world.
One way or another, we carry our thoughts around. If we choose our beliefs well, they will help us on our journey.
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Sometimes when we’re working on a problem, we can become fixed in a particular way of seeing things. We might be so stuck in that form of thinking, that we might not even realize there is a difference between the facts and our perspective.
This is part of the reason traveling is so valuable. It allows us to encounter a certain amount of chaos, and share the perspectives of others. Soon we see our lives in a new light, and what seemed like problems might no longer be.
We might not be able to travel every day or every month, but many of us are in a position to take a walk outside, to notice our surroundings, be present with the environment, and expose ourselves to the small amount of illuminating chaos that exists in our neighborhoods.
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There’s nothing quite like the thrill of getting up on stage and singing a song with passion. When we go to karaoke or any type of performance and the audience hears that we believe or relate to the lyrics, they will be moved.
The caveat is that it’s very important to be aware of which songs we identify with. If we listen closely to a break-up song, if we analyze it, we might notice that it poeticizes or justifies some sort of unhealthy mentality.
When we sing happy songs, we allow happiness to enter our hearts.
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Meeting Will Etchison in person, you might be impressed by his enthusiasm, his individuality and his confidence. Hanging out with him can be an adventure, whether he’s borrowing a mic from a street performer, breakdancing at karaoke or inviting you to a go-karting track.
Of course, he wasn’t always quite like that. Growing up, even though his parents did their best to teach him that his value could be found within, he felt the social pressure in school to believe that his value could only be found in the opinions of others.
He started changing his appearance to try to impress other people, change his behavior or hide things about himself, and even change his taste in women. As you might imagine, none of this helped him find happiness for more than a fleeting moment.
Then when he told a therapist that he was so concerned about being perceived as weird. She responded simply “Why don’t you embrace your weirdness?” Suddenly things started to click for Will - realizing he didn’t have to pretend to be someone else in order to be accepted. Perhaps whoever or whatever he was, was enough.
For the blog: Embrace Your Weirdness with Will Echtison A Beautiful Thought
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In the saying sometimes attributed to Bob Marley or Bob Dylan, “Some folks feel the rain, others just get wet.”
When we get caught in the rain, we might stay precious and try to maintain the delusion that our shoes, socks and feet aren’t going to get wet. Eventually it happens, and you suffer.
However, when you decide in advance that there is a real and high chance that you will get wet, when it happens it is not painful.
Likewise, if we perform the Stoic exercise of reminding ourselves that things might go wrong, that we might have troubles, that people might be rude to us, that we might be delayed by some unforeseen event, we can embrace the circumstances much more rapidly.
In fact, we might even start to enjoy them.
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Marsha Linehan, creator of dialectical behavioral therapy, assembled many different mental exercises to help guide people to greater emotional clarity. These are techniques that people can use even if they can’t stand meditation.
One exercise involves simply looking at an object, for example an egg. We observe the egg for five minutes, noticing the light and shade, the textures, wondering about its internal form, how a yolk might grow into a chick or any other aspect of the object we can imagine.
When we use this technique, we might find it interesting how objective or dispassionate we can be. Or to put it another way, we can be very curious about the egg, exploring its form, without judging it at all.
Perhaps we can see ourselves with that same light, the light of curiosity.
For the transcript: Curious About Oneself A Beautiful Thought
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When people reach the end of their lives, sometimes they do not go willingly. Having spent their lives chasing material possessions, forgetting to enjoy the moments with their loved ones, they regret.
Others speak their hearts and then go peacefully. Having lived their lives with presence, they had prepared for their transition for years.
In these unusual times, we might wish to hide from the changes that are coming. We might distract ourselves, or deny the situation, doing anything we can to avoid presence.
In the days or weeks leading up to a journey, it normally benefits us to make sure everything is in order, that our bills will be paid and important relations maintained even when we’re away.
When we do begin a journey having prepared diligently, we might still be scared, but we can step into it with faith.
For the transcript: Prepare to Perform A Beautiful Thought
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You are dreaming you’re in a forest, fertile and dense, thick deep green grass yielding under your feet as you walk.
To your left, you see a circular passage, formed by trees, perhaps guided into that shape over decades by a patient gardener. You can see the end of the tunnel, except for a profound darkness.
You think of turning away, but you decide to enter to see exactly what curiosities hide within. Suddenly, you feel your skin crawl and a rising sense of dread. Even so, you are calm and present in the moment.
In that moment, you make a decision. You either leave, and go where things are more comfortable, sweet and beautiful… Or you stay, and help those in this place who don’t yet know how to leave.
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Michael Clarke is a prize winning competitive bodybuilder in Perth, Western Australia, now renowned for his impeccable physique.
But it wasn’t always like this. Once Michael was known as a skinny kid in school, and even after dedicating himself to going to the gym for years, he still had an unbalanced body - big chest, big arms, and the legs of a small child.
After his divorce a few years ago, he decided that he was going to make some major changes in his life. He hired a personal trainer and nutritionist, and started preparing for a bodybuilding competition 9 weeks away - even though the normal timeline for an experienced athlete is 12 weeks.
In this interview we find out what Clarkey learnt about himself, about what it means to have self-esteem, and find the important balance with making a priority of one’s own goals and taking care of your loved ones at the same time.
Content warning: strong language
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When we decide to make a grand change in our lives, or we notice others doing the same, we can congratulate them and ask “Why did you decide to do that?”
Often people will tell us that the situation forced their hand, but if we look a little closer we might find that’s not the case. Normally something changed within them - they decided it was time to draw a line with themselves or others.
Discovering our motivations and the motivations of others in these situations can be a source of great wisdom. When there is transformation, there is also a change in consciousness.
For the transcript: Notice the Transformation A Beautiful Thought
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Trying to move past a bad habit, we might find now and then we have a lapse, smoking a cigarette or drinking a beer - the exact thing we were trying to avoid.
If we do lapse, we don’t have to relapse. That is, we don’t have to turn our smoking or drinking into a daily habit.
And if we do relapse, we don’t have to punish ourselves emotionally. Just as in meditation, when our attention wavers, all we need to do is bring it back to the point of focus. We return to the practice.
If we do find ourselves wandering the wayward path, that is fine. The spiritual path is patient, and it will always be there when we return. No mortal can say exactly where it leads, but it is likely somewhere glorious.
It’s fine to go back, to slip into old habits, to think that our distractions might give us satisfaction… But oh, is it wonderful to continue.
For the podcast: It's Fine to Go Back: Episode 305
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In a single day, many things can happen to us, good, bad, or up to our interpretation. We might get caught in the rain, find out our yoga class was canceled, miss a bus, calm down two people about to fight, have a spontaneous spiritual experience during meditation, get offended at something someone said, and perhaps even consciously process these experiences.
All of these things are merely experiences, and it is almost certain that one day we will look on them dispassionately, seeing them as a curious sequence of events, just another part of the story that is our lives.
Perhaps we can see these things like that today, welcoming them like new plot points, or like steps in a dance, just more elements in the Play of Consciousness.
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In some cultures, it’s common to meet people who are very closed-minded. Sometimes it’s even more common among intelligent people and academics, because they’ve been taught for many years “the correct way” to think about things.
Unfortunately, this habit can have grave effects for some, going further and further into their way of thinking, finding themselves depressed or anxious, and unable to try new things.
When we stumble on a new idea, we might react with enthusiasm, or simply say “that’s interesting”, or we might have a knee-jerk reaction saying “That’s absurd! I can’t believe it!” Most of us have all of these reactions at certain times.
A truly open-minded person will go deeper, regardless of the initial reaction, trying to see what is really going on with this idea. That person might return to their initial reaction after learning more, but they are still willing to explore.
When this person gets old, they maintain a type of childish nature, still looking at the world with open eyes. Getting to 70 years of age, people say to them “I could have sworn you were 15 years younger!” Their mind is still flexible, still willing to consider.
Content warning: suicide
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Sergio Duarte is a passionate public speaker and entrepreneur. To meet him, you might have the impression of a polite, educated and professional young man… But this wasn’t always the case.
Growing up in a marginalized neighborhood in Mexico, being surrounded by drug abuse and violent crime, a household sometimes lacking in stability, Sergio struggled to find his way.
Looking around, there were few role models available, and even though he wanted to be a good person, he found himself getting involved with the wrong kind of people, committing acts of vandalism and trying to make money by selling pirated material.
His life took a turn for the better when he got a lucky break. A rich family friend asked him to take care of their son with special needs. Sergio was astounded by this family which was willing to take a chance on him, and willing to give freely without expecting anything in return. He said to himself “I want to be like them,” and set out to achieve it.
For the blog: The Boy from the Hood with Sergio Duarte A Beautiful Thought
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A lot of the actions we take don’t bear fruit. Perhaps 1% or less of the changes we try to effect actually manifest themselves in this world.
In the short term, it might seem like our actions are futile, like throwing dust in the wind. However, just like a seed buried in the earth, sprouting its first sprout, a lot of the impact begins below the surface.
We might go to the gym for a few months, not closely monitoring our progress. Then we happen to run into an old friend and they say “Wow! It looks like you’re taking care of yourself; your posture looks much better!”
Or we begin a personal development journey in another area, and another friend tells us “You seem so much more confident!”
No matter what happens with a project, whatever changes occur in the world… When we take action, we do succeed in making changes in ourselves.
For the transcript: Your Efforts Count A Beautiful Thought
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We might have many habits that we don’t even think about - parts of ourselves that we take for granted. Perhaps if someone thanks us or compliments us on these actions, we say “No, it’s nothing,” because these things are so important to our identity that we assume them. These are the things that keep the world running smoothly and peacefully, maintaining relationships and building good will towards our fellow human.
For example, you might have once had a drug problem, and now you have been sober for months or years. Or perhaps, despite the pressure of your life, you never succumbed to drugs. Congratulations.
Perhaps you notice your loved ones, making a point of buying them gifts, giving them compliments, or just washing the dishes. Congratulations.
You take a moment to appreciate the sunshine, smell the flowers, or hear the sweet rhythm of the rain pattering on the roof. Congratulations.
All of these things improve the quality of life for yourself and others.
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Our souls are our laboratories. Applying discernment to our own feelings, we can learn to understand ourselves, and rapidly increase our understanding of others.
Picking up our journals, we can examine our own motivations, asking “what was the belief that caused me to feel this emotion?” We close our eyes, and put ourselves back in a tender moment, reliving an experience and discovering more deeply our own internal processes.
We bring our feelings to the surface, and begin to learn their lessons, absorbing the wisdom that is hidden within.
As we continue in this process, we might surprise ourselves with how deeply we understand the feelings and motivations of others. Then we can truly help them.
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Identity and passion are closely linked, because we identify with things that we desire to be.
We might be passionate about being kind, diligent, hardworking. Those things are important to us, so we try to see those qualities in ourselves.
Likewise, when we read a poem or hear a song that inspires us, it gives us an indication of what we might be like. The resonance in our souls lets us know that we have the potential to embody that idea.
In the case that we find we identify with something that we’re not passionate about - in the extreme, identifying with being rude or insensitive - then perhaps it’s time to rethink our identity.
We can begin to wonder what we are enthusiastic about being; what are the highest qualities that we would like to embody.
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Doug Barbieri found himself in liberal California, in a 22 year old loveless marriage with a woman who didn’t respect him, struggling to maintain himself as the head of the household. The more he tried to be the man he wanted to be, the more he found himself giving away his personal power to his wife and others.
He tried many times to end the relationship, knowing that something wasn’t right. Finally, things came to a head when his wife confessed that she was cheating on him with another woman.
After that, Doug went on a journey to discover what it meant to be a man, going through a ceremonial sweat lodge, coming into contact with the deep emotional parts of himself, howling with tears on a beach in Acapulco.
In a therapy session, Doug imagined walking into a cabin in the woods, finding a mirror and seeing the man he wanted to be - strong, powerful and independent. So that is what he set out to be, on his journey to regain his man card.
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In recent months and years, some people have become very anxious for a variety of reasons. Others have learnt to see that perhaps there isn’t such a reason to be anxious - and on top of that, have even learnt to feel peace even when people around them suggest they should feel otherwise.
If you are in the second group, life might present you with many grand opportunities to grant that peace to others.
Generally in communication, the people will focus first on our body language, then our voice, and finally the words that are said. It does help to have clear and thorough knowledge of a subject to express our viewpoint clearly. However, sometimes it is more important to communicate peace through our bodies and vocal tone.
For this reason, the best way to calm people down is in person, followed by video call or video message, then voice message, then perhaps by written letter, and lastly by text message.
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In the West, the tradition of guru worship is seen as contrary to the ideal of individualism - so much so, that when people use the term, it is in derision. Perhaps it is in part a difference of values, and in part a misunderstanding of the nature of worship.
In Play of Consciousness by Swami Muktananda, the Guru tells us about his experiences meditating on his guru, Baba Nityananda. Muktananda would rise early, wash himself, and sit contemplating the essence of Nityananda - attempting to identify with the divine essence of his guru.
We might assume that by worshipping the guru, we are diminishing something about ourselves. In fact, an important aspect is to discover the perfect aspect that is apparent in the guru, within ourselves.
For the transcript: Being Baba Muktananda A Beautiful Thought
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We might find ourselves in a situation where someone is arguing with us, on the Internet or in person. Perhaps we perceive that they’re trying to diminish our wisdom, capabilities or experience in some way. Many people get angry in that case, and it’s understandable.
However, imagine for a moment that you have a different reaction - your ideal reaction. It might be calm, joy, amusement, or delight, or something else. Put yourself in the position of having that feeling, and see what your thoughts might be like.
It’s something special about humans that we can imagine a state of being, and then begin to transform ourselves to achieve it. With time and practice, we might become very much like that being which we previously only imagined.
Likewise, we might currently believe that certain concepts are opposed - for example, that it’s impossible to be both productive and happy - the key assumption of autoexigence.
When we start looking for ways to be both happy and productive, we might well find them. It’s not likely that we will find them before we start looking.
We begin to imagine more, and we soon begin to receive more, to see more and even live more.
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If you are reaching to help people, to make a difference in this world, you might sometimes find yourself in unenviable positions.
For example, a woman in the business of looking for missing persons might find a dead body, an apparent victim of a drug overdose.
She contacts the elderly father and asks if he can go to a medical lab, to do a DNA test. The man is savvy enough to suspect the reason for the test, but too old to know exactly how to arrive.
She offers to give him a ride to the lab. The man is very grateful for her assistance, and the quiet compassion she gives him.
As always, our friend has the choice of how she will look at what happened. She can focus on the tragedy of a wasted life, or focus on the fact that she had the chance to make someone’s life a little easier in a difficult moment, playing a special part in her own unique way.
So often people might ask us how we can possibly see something wonderful in this world, when there is tragedy and suffering. Perhaps beauty is where we look for it.
Content warning: descriptions of death, drug abuse
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Leandrew Dixon is known as a hip hop producer and MC, and producer of the Thrive Freedom Portal, a show where Foster Gamble and others discuss solutions for a world that is changing in bizarre ways.
In this interview, LD goes back into his past to explore the moments when he first started waking up to the nature of the world, and all the ways the systems we have relied on, such as central banks and states, have been designed to impede our growth.
LD tells us the story of being in high school, retreating into his shell after starting again at his 17th school, how he decided to blossom, entering college as a staunch straight-edge atheist and eventually having his mind blown when he took psychedelics for the first time. Kurt and L talk about synchronicities, about being disillusioned by the world, being re-enchanted, and discovering the value of uncertainty.
Content warning: strong language, use of psychedelic substances
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When leaving a hotel, we might look around to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. Then if we do forget something, we realize that we had literally been staring at it in the hotel room. We’d become accustomed to it in those days, so it appeared as part of the background.
Every waking moment, and many dreaming moments, we have the opportunity to look around ourselves with presence and awareness, drinking in the environment - perhaps even allowing things to surprise us.
This practice has great benefits beyond collecting our belongings in hotel rooms. Being aware of our surroundings alerts us to potential dangers, increasing our intuition and our discernment.
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When we do our regular chores such as hanging out laundry, putting our clothes away, or washing the dishes, there can be a temptation to rush through it. We hurry, and try to get to the next thing.
It’s true that these things are to serve a purpose, but perhaps everything that acts as a means is also an end in itself.
By taking our time with every little thing that needs doing, we might find within moments that there is some seed of joy, and with patience we can nourish it.
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Throughout our day, our attention might wander thousands of times, and sometimes it will start to get wrapped up in an emotion - be it pleasurable or painful. In those moments, we can calmly bring our awareness back to our center, noticing what is in our solar plexus and sacrum.
These distractions may come in many forms - anger, irritation, frustration, sexual desire or even romantic love. It is important to emphasise that pleasure and pain can equally serve to draw us away from our center.
When we pay close attention, we might even notice the feeling of imbalance that occurs when our mind tips over into an emotion or idea.
Are you balanced right now?
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Every day we walk a treacherous path, attempting to use several devices without allowing them to enslave us. We call them “computers” and “smartphones”, but their true name is “robot boxes”.
Big tech companies seek to increase their profits, which means they want more attention spent on their app, which leads them to spend millions or billions of dollars on research on how to capture human minds. If we are going to live our lives consciously, we must be aware of these risks, and prepare accordingly.
How can we maintain sovereignty over our own minds, and avoid becoming robots?
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Ramiro Romani is a software developer and advocate for personal liberty, Internet security and privacy. His current project is Take Back Our Tech, a site which shows people the practical steps for that security and privacy. Ramiro helps maintain the website for Freedom Cells, which is a site where people can get together and build survival skills, agricultural skills and communities. He also was working behind the scenes at the two Greater Reset events, which were full of presentations to help people find solutions to create more liberty in their own lives.
In this interview, Ramiro tells us the story of how, years ago, he faced a difficult challenge in software development and decided to walk away. Then he tells the story of facing a similarly difficult challenge working on The Greater Reset, with what seemed to be Chinese hackers infiltrating the site and changing it to show advertisements.
That time, Ramiro decided to take the challenge head-on, working well into the night in order to improve the security of the site to make sure the conference was broadcast around the world. We find out the factors in his mentality that made the difference - why Ramiro was so determined to live up to the hopes and expectations of his friends and colleagues, and the kind of grit it takes to make such a commitment.
For the transcript: Backstage at the Greater Reset with Ramiro Romani A Beautiful Thought
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One way to look at identity is that we have a certain number of stories we can tell about ourselves. At points in our lives, we might spend a lot of time telling stories which, if we were more aware, we might choose not to identity with.
You might have heard people say “I will never do that; it’s just not who I am.” This kind of fixed idea of identity normally limits our personal growth.
Conversely, you might hear people say very similar things when they undergo a great ordeal - for example, being falsely imprisoned. “After all this, I still know who I am.” they tell us.
These statements sound very similar, but they may be very different concepts of self. One speaks largely about habits and skills, and the other may hint at something deeper, perhaps at a person’s values.
When we identify with our actions, personality traits or even beliefs, it sometimes means that to transform, we must face a personality crisis. However, if we identify with something more fundamental such as values, that allows us more flexibility in how we act and think.
What are the stories that you tell yourself?
For the podcast: Six Stories of Identity A Beautiful Thought
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In Darwin Grajales’ song Échale el miedo al fuego, he tells us that “Our grandparents have told us that they’ve given us an instrument - that your body is so sacred, just like water, just like fire. They’ve urged us to let it vibrate, that love gives us the power to do it, to open more our hearts and never forget to sing.”
In a session of yoga, or while hiking, or while lifting weights in the gym, we might remember those words.
We stretch our bodies, perhaps into positions that they haven’t found since we were children. We become aware of different muscles and tendons, breathing life into them. We might even push ourselves to the limit, overcoming our limiting beliefs about what our bodies are capable of… Showing the highest level of gratitude for what has been given to us.
That is how we exercise our sacred instruments, our bodies.
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Many people have the dream of creating a great work of art, a breathtaking painting, an incisive novel that captures the zeitgeist, a song that touches the hearts of millions. Often we will stop ourselves before we even form the first stroke, as if our right hand grabbed the left hand before it had a chance to bring the pen to the parchment.
In some form we are scared. We have such high aspirations for what we might be able to create, we are worried that the first lines we write may be so horrible that we won’t want to continue. Nevertheless, that is exactly where we must start - imperfectly, and perhaps far from our ambitions.
Charles Bukowski wrote that he had a rule about judging his own work. One of his characters asks “Are they good, the ten pages you wrote today?” Chuck would respond “I don’t know; I never know until 30 days afterwards.”
So he would withhold his judgement until he had sufficient distance from it to see it a little more objectively. That would give him the space to create without worrying about the quality. Write first, critique later - in this case, much later.
Another trap is not just comparing ourselves to our own aspirations, but to the works of the masters. We can attempt to imitate styles and processes of great artists in order to improve our own talents, and we learn a lot from that. However, the one thing that we can give that no one else can, is our own voice. More often than we think, that is more than enough.
So, today, we can set aside our judgements and inhibitions. Take up the quill or brush in private, to externalise the most intimate. Create today.
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We might not often stop to marvel at the pen and paper, except if we’ve ever been deprived of them. With these humble tools that we might often take for granted, we have the power to explore our own motivations and goals, perhaps even ones previously hidden from us.
When we begin to journal, we enter the potential of our own minds, acting as cartographers to map out the areas which we have already visited, but not understood. If we have suffered, we can reveal the internal causes of that suffering, discovering the reasons for interpreting an even the way we did, and how they caused our emotional reactions.
Within our own experience, we have access to a grand wealth of information, greater than the most extensive encyclopaedia, perhaps even than the Internet. By picking up a pen, we can, over the course of a few simple pages, quickly clarify whatever has been a problem, and transmute it into wisdom that will last for our lives and become part of our legacy.
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Phra Jeremy is a Buddhist monk in the Thai temple of Tham Krabok, an experienced student of meditation, an acupuncturist, martial artist and a deep thinker.
In this episode, Phra Jeremy talks with Kurt to ask a question about many aspects of our lives: “Are you listening?”
When we sit and use our phones, or even in the gym, are we listening to our bodies? When we engage in a spiritual practice, can we notice the subtle feedback that we might get from our own souls, to know that we’re moving in the right direction? When we receive criticism from a friend, can we interpret it in a way that is useful?
There is information coming through all of our senses constantly, from our loved ones and from the world around us. When we pay attention and exercise discernment, we can discover all sorts of fascinating facts and principles, applying them in personal experiments and finding out what things are really like.
Everything around us is a key to wisdom and the best kinds of knowledge, when we just listen.
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If someone wakes you up early in the morning, you might feel angry and be rude to them. The fact that you woke early is a justification for your anger, and your anger might justify your rudeness. Many people would forgive you in that situation, but it doesn’t have to be so.
We have the choice of assuming that circumstances determine our behaviour… Or we can choose something else.
If we know there is a situation arising that might be difficult - for example if we know the plumber is coming early in the morning - we can remind ourselves to expect an abnormal event, perhaps avoiding some ire.
Then we can choose to regulate our emotions regardless of the situation.
Then we can choose to treat people well regardless of what happens with our emotions.
Content warning: Drugs
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If you’re in high school, universit, you might have to do a few speaking presentations every year for your class. You might get very nervous about it, wondering what other people will think. But it’s likely that other people aren’t judging you too harshly - they’re too busy worrying what other people will think of their presentation.
Likewise, if you go to a bar alone, you might think something bad might happen. Normally the worst thing is that you might not get into a conversation. In most parts of the world, it’s rare that you’ll get into a fight or that people will even notice you without reason. It’s much more common to have someone ask you to join their group.
If you spend a lot of time thinking what people think, it might be more energy than the amount they spend judging you.
The fact that people don’t care what you do can be seen as indifference, or it can be seen as freedom of expression. It all depends how you interpret it.
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In the business world, the concept of “kaizen” is well-known. It refers to the process of constant improvement, finding ways to reduce waste and improve productivity.
We can take some of the practices of kaizen and apply it in our own lives, asking the questions: how can I reduce friction and increase goodwill?
For example, we might find ourselves referring to a stranger as a “man”, “guy” or “woman”. We can decide in the future to refer to a “gentleman” or a “lady”, or if appropriate, ask for their name to speak to them more personably.
If someone offers us a compliment, sometimes we might seek to dismiss it. Instead, we can express our gratitude, and perhaps even return the compliment.
When we look, we can find opportunities to be a little kinder. Then one day in the near future, people will say about us that we are exceptionally pleasant, a delight to be around, an ever valuable companion.
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In the Disney movie Coco, we can see a beautiful depiction of Mexican culture, telling us about the Day of the Dead, portraying the hypercolored “alebrijes” or animal spirits that might guide us after death.
Likewise, in the Bond movie Spectre, in the opening scene we can see the extravagant parades of the same holiday, marching through the streets of Mexico City.
The only problem is, these things were a little different before those movies. There were no parades in the streets of Mexico City, and people had a very different conception of alebrijes, if they were aware of them.
Now these things are indeed part of Mexican culture. They do hold parades in the Zócalo, and vendors in night markets proudly display fluorescent statuettes of chimeras as shown in Coco.
On one level it might seem that this is an odd way for corporations to influence culture. If we look a little deeper we might say, this is not cultural manipulation, but cultural dialogue. The things that are displayed in the movie become part of the culture, because they resonate with the people. The people recognise some beauty and truth in them - some curious portrait of the magic that exists in Mexico.
When we do feel resonance, when we are moved, we can ask ourselves, what is true about this? What is truth, what is poetry, and what is both of those?
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Many times we might describe people as “being hard on themselves”. It’s not always just a temporary state; it can be a character trait called “autoexigence”.
Putting so many standards on ourselves, and punishing ourselves for not reaching them - even believing that we must reach every single rule before we can be happy - places near insurmountable barriers between us and the joy we seek.
The first step to recovery is to notice that you are putting pressure on yourself, and to notice the thought patterns that surround it. Many times the assumptions will have the words “should” or “must”. e.g. “I should be a better singer!” or “Everyone must have nothing but praise for me all the time!”
When we begin to notice these thoughts, we can start to see how unrealistic they are. Then we can even actively question them to see how well they stand up. For example, we can ask if the thought is objectively true, if it’s producing feelings we want to have, and what the benefits and costs of holding that belief are.
Another important note is that, in many cases, people maintain unhappy, self-punishing thought patterns because they believe it helps them be more successful. In some sense this is true - they do produce more than a lazy person. But they generally don’t produce as much as an even-minded and happy person.
The question is, what are the thoughts of a person who is both happy and productive?
For notes and resources: Autoexigence Solutions A Beautiful Thought
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In a personal letter to his friend Pearl, Bruce Lee describes in detail the pure motivations, and selfish motivations of his desire to teach gung fu on a national scale.
It is a letter written by a 21 year old man, but it’s clear that he has some wisdom beyond his years, having deeply understood the principles behind his art, extending into Taoist and Zen philosophy, and to integrating those perspectives with the entrepreneurial attitude of the United States of America.
Lee describes a “great force, this untapped power, this dynamic something within me”. Perhaps there is such a power within all of us.
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Many of us have had trauma in the past - or perhaps all of us. We each formed a story around those tragic events, and some of us continue to repeat those stories even today.
We only have a limited amount of stories that forms our identity, so it makes sense to be careful with which ones we choose, and which ones we let go.
It’s not always comfortable to step into the idea that we don’t know who we are, to let go of some sense of self that we might have held for many years. Yet, that is what our souls were made for. When we shed that naïve skin, we step into the wonderful unknown.
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Imagine you’re a door-to-door salesperson in a multicultural city. It’s very easy for people to say they don’t speak English, and it’s very easy for you to believe them, and miss a potential customer.
However, if you observe a little bit, you can start to guess where people are from, and even learn a few phrases in their native language. When you do, it turns out they really do speak English, and you make more sales.
Beyond that, you start having fascinating conversations with these clients, seeing and hearing more about their culture, and finding a way to connect with a real person - and having them see you as a real person.
Many wonderful things start happening when you begin to take an interest.
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Harvey is a movie from 1950 starring James Stewart as Elwood P. Dowd, an unusual man who claims to have an ancient rabbit spirit as a best friend. His family starts to believe he is crazy, but perhaps Elwood is wiser than they know.
Similar to Don Quijote de la Mancha, Harvey is a story about how it can be wonderful to be different, to see things from an uncommon perspective. It’s also about the importance of being nice - even being exceptionally nice.
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If you see a loved one die early, what would it mean to you? Perhaps you would suddenly realize the fragility of life, maybe you would become scared of death. Or maybe you would become aware of the value of life and family, as our guest did.
In this interview, Alice tells the story of seeing her father die from cancer at 62, watching how his face changed when he saw her and her brother, and having it dawn on her that being a parent was something very powerful for the spirit.
Of course, it’s one thing to decide to become a parent, and it’s another thing to achieve that status. Alice was to face many challenges along the way - physical and spiritual. She had to prepare her body to be ready to carry a child, improve her health, and journey to South America to meet Grandmother Ayahuasca, and learn what it really meant to lose a loved one, in order to bring her child to term.
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In some offices around the world, people don’t bother to say “good morning”. If you work in one of these places, you might not notice the absence of it.
It seems to slip away slowly, and we start to forget that greeting others was something we used to do. It can be so subtle that we don’t even realize why we’re not quite as happy as we once were.
For some of us, that just will not do. We decide to draw a boundary with ourselves, and be polite no matter the circumstances, even if the people around us have long since forgotten. We are “the good morning folks”.
Yes, we are “good morning” folks, “please and thank you” folks, “how are you doing” folks, “it’s nice to see you” folks. We make kind words a priority.
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There are certain strategies that people use to handle emotions, and some of them lead to more happiness than others.
We might try to resist the emotion, which in many cases results in the emotion continuing. As many have said, “What we resist, persists.”
Another approach is to suppress the emotion, pushing it down so we don’t feel it. Naturally the feeling will emerge in other ways.
A related approach is to “spiritually bypass”, putting our focus on positive things, evading the adverse feelings by putting a veneer of happiness over it. The emotions don’t get processed, and can fester within us.
When we feel certain emotions, we might judge them positively. For example, we might feel angry and encourage the feeling, thinking about the situation that inspired anger within us. The result is that we feel more anger.
Another strategy is “paradoxical intention”, deliberately feeling the emotion, perhaps even pushing ourselves to feel it a little more - without justifying it intellectually. In this case, we normally feel it fully, and it quickly leaves us.
Similarly, we can embrace the emotions, using patient love, similar to the love of a grandmother, to observe the emotions, surround them in love, giving them sufficient space to transform or dissipate.
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If you work in customer service, you might serve 100 people a day. You might have 98 customers who are nice enough, 1 who is difficult, and if you’re lucky, 1 who is exceptionally pleasant. Many times it seems that it will be that tricky customer who sticks in our mind.
We might forget the kind fellow who slows down to allow us to pass in traffic when we’re in a hurry, but we recall with vigor the one who cut us off.
When we do notice something wrong with another’s behavior, we also have the chance to commit to being more aware of it in ourselves. Every perceived annoyance is an opportunity to be more patient, and more conscious.
We always have the option to think about the people who were nice, who helped us, or even just didn’t get in our way. Let’s be grateful for those people.
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Many men on the Internet have been asking some questions for years now: why do I feel depleted? How can I quit my addiction to pornography? What are the “superpowers” that a man attains by retaining his seed?
While this is firstly an issue for men, many women begin to wonder: Why does my partner want to wait before having sex? Or why does he choose not to ejaculate during sex?
When men started discussing pornography addiction on Reddit forums, they started to find out that the sexual energy holds power, and that using it flippantly might be costing them a lot. Many of them found that they became more attractive to women after a few weeks of not letting go of that energy, and started to enjoy those benefits.
Soon after, other men looked deeper, looking into Chinese medicine and other traditions. They found that by going even further they would become more confident, stronger, have more empathy, and see life more clearly.
How might this be a pathway to spiritual attainment for the layman?
Content warning: sexual content
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Steve Lopez is a man determined to live life on his own terms. While he is humble about his knowledge and his ambitions, he is well-read and has a clear vision for his life - living far from civilization, and especially far from sources of electromagnetic radiation.
In this interview, Steve tells Kurt the story of how he developed his intellectual honesty, learning how to understand his own motivations and emotions, express himself and take action.
Later, those skills came in handy when he started to realize that he was facing some serious health problems, experiencing headaches, a burning sensation in his eyes, and pains in his legs. Through personal experimentation, he learnt that the source was EM frequencies emitted from his phone, wifi router, and other electrical equipment in his home.
Learn how Steve figured out how to handle his EM problem, and gain self-knowledge along the way.
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The law of the instrument is a bias towards the tools which are available, or the ones we are trained in. In Maslow’s famous formulation, he states “if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”
This is also a lesson about what to expect as a buyer. If we ask the butcher what is good to eat, he will surely tell us that meat is good. If we ask a dentist how to solve our toothache, she looks to her drill. If we go to a psychiatrist with some mental unease, we may walk away with some drugs.
The converse of the rule is that it is wise to use the correct tool for a certain job.
Among new school poker players, it’s very common to hear them talk about maths, probability, or card ranges. Among old school cardplayers, it can be more common to hear them talk about intuition and gut feelings, or sensing the strength of a player’s hand. It’s very rare to find a player who uses both the technical and the intuitive sides of the game. If someone does, they might well become an excellent player.
Likewise, in our lives we can be discerning about when it is best to think things through with logic, and when it is best to go with our feelings.
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In the famous Bible verse, we are encouraged to ask, seek and knock, to have our prayers answered. Sometimes it is enough to ask, and sometimes we need to seek and knock.
In another now obsolete expression, it was said that “An ounce of pluck is worth a tonne of luck,” which is to say, dogged determination will get us far more than good fortune alone.
If we find ourselves in a situation where it seems like we will not get what we’re looking for, we might give up. Or we might move forward, and quickly find that any obstacles were only illusions.
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Once Kurt found himself in a Thai immigration office, about 30km outside of Saraburi, looking for a place to get a passport photo, with no taxis or tuk tuks around.
It wasn’t clear which way would get to a photoshop quicker, but there were only two directions on the highway.
After some minutes of indecision, he thought “If I go in one direction, and it turns out to be wrong, I can simply change direction.”
So he followed the road, found a bus stop, went into Saraburi city and found the place to take a photo.
Sometimes, all it takes to get past our suffering is to make a decision.
For the transcript: Inbetween Spaces Episode 264
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Before beginning a journey, we might pray that we stay safe throughout, and that the purpose of the trip is fulfilled. Then we can go one step beyond, and pray that we will learn a great spiritual lesson in the process.
In that initial prayer, we might feel that we have been heard, that there is nothing to worry about, that we will be successful. We are as sure as we could be.
Later, when we confront all of the challenges of the journey, perhaps faith escapes our hearts. We doubt our intuition, and think that maybe we were mistaken. Maybe our prayers were never heard, and maybe we were deluded.
Finally, in one form or another our venture is a success, and we wonder why we ever doubted. How much suffering we can save when we surrender to faith.
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The world has changed so rapidly over the last couple of years, nobody can be certain where it will be in the next two years.
Some people hold onto the hope that it will return to the way things were. Some groups tell us to prepare for the “new normal”, and that this is our chance to “build back better”, being very vague about what that means. And some of us imagine that our lives will be different in a way that large global groups cannot expect, living off the grid autonomously.
Likewise, people’s opinions about powerful figures such as Klaus Schwab and Bill Gates vary. In the mainstream, they are portrayed as heroes and visionaries. In the alternative media, they are shown to be villains, planning to reduce freedoms and sell products that ruin public health.
Perhaps they are neither of these things, but simply agents of fate. They create a challenge, putting other humans in a unique position where people must adapt and create in order to survive.
When we see things this way, we know that there is nothing to fear, only an opportunity to become more conscious, more discerning, and take more action.
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In the Catholic tradition, there are three types of prayer: praise, gratitude and petition. When we put ourselves to prayer for petition, we might ask for something specific, or something a little more vague.
The truth is, we don’t always know what we want, or what is best for us, but some deeper part of us often does. If we ask for something unspecified and good, we might receive something better than what we could have imagined.
When we pray for greater spiritual development, we might receive more faith, more humility, more wisdom, more insight, or a kinder heart.
Perhaps we will start to see more clearly the good that is in others, and be inspired by it. Perhaps the good within us will shine so brightly that it inspires others. That might seem a lofty goal, but when we set our sights high we just might achieve it.
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In our meditation, or in our daily lives, when we exercise presence we might quickly become aware that our mind produces thought after thought, a never ending train of thoughts. They seem to demand our attention, and we might get wrapped up in them, so the cycle continues.
When we look closely, we might find we have assumed something like “Everything must be resolved now,” as if every thought presents part of our life that is like a puzzle. If we do solve it, another puzzle will appear.
Not everything needs to be solved now. The world continues whether we think it through or not, though this thinking part of our minds tries so hard to justify itself.
We have the choice to say to that part of ourselves: “Yes, you are valued, but for now this process is not necessary.” What will happen if we allow our minds to be at rest, right now?
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Many times when people pay us a compliment, we might stop and add conditions, or say “I’m not that great.” We might even forget to say “thank you” before we dismiss the nice thing that was said.
Likewise, if someone expresses love for us, we might reject it, wondering exactly what is wrong that someone would give an over-the-top demonstration of affection. Perhaps what they say is true, perhaps they really do care for us, and we can embrace it.
On the other hand, sometimes affection can be used by skilled manipulators, a technique known as “love bombing”, sometimes used by cults to welcome new members, and by potential partners. If your intuition is that someone is insincere in their affection, maybe you’re right.
It is up to the discernment of each individual how to treat these situations.
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In the famous song by Kansas, we hear “All we are is dust in the wind” and “Everything is dust in the wind.”
The lyrics are evocative of Solomon’s words in the book of Ecclesiastes:
“All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
**there they return again.
All things are wearisome,**
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.”
Solomon reminds us many times in the book that everything, even the pursuit of wisdom, is meaningless - “chasing after the wind”. The only concessions are that one may find solace in good company, to eat, drink and find satisfaction in one’s work.
When most come to terms with these lessons, they are disheartened. If everything is meaningless, why continue?
The answer is one that is very liberating, and very simple. We can decide what meaning we give things, what is meaningful to us, and what is our purpose.
For the transcript: Dust in the Wind A Beautiful Thought
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Many people who know Roy Duarte aren’t entirely sure what to make of him. Entrepreneur, hustler, don Juan, studious Buddhist and all-round enigma.
In this interview, Kurt asks Roy about some important formative experiences - when he was a child and he was treated with love but also protected from some more negative truths, when he was in high school and seeking wisdom or deeper understanding of the world, the pressure from his family to be conventionally successful, his decision to drop out of university, his challenges as a budding entrepreneur.
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In one chapter of You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay invites us to imagine a grand buffet of all kinds of thoughts. Just like with food, some thoughts will cause us pain, and some thoughts will provide nourishment, enabling us greater health and joy.
In the Buddhist tradition, it is said that we have only three tools on Earth: our internal processes being thoughts and feelings, our speech, and our actions. Our thoughts, just like speech and action, can be a source of future karma. The way we think guides our speech and action, and, according to some, our very thoughts affect the universe.
We always have the choice to be clean and clear with our mental processes, just as we can be with our house. Practicing mental hygiene, being careful with what we allow in our heads, encouraging ourselves and loving ourselves, we can live our best lives.
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In Toward A Psychology of Being, our Teacher Abraham Maslow writes:
“He who belies his talent, the born painter who sells stockings instead, the intelligent man who lives a stupid life, the man who sees the truth and keeps his mouth shut, the coward who gives up his manliness, all these people perceive in a deep way that they have done wrong to themselves and despise themselves for it. Out of this self-punishment may come only neurosis, but there may equally well come renewed courage, righteous indignation, increased self-respect, because of thereafter doing the right thing; in a word, growth and improvement can come through pain and conflict.”
We might deny our own potential for many years, perhaps becoming bitter and resentful to even think of the question.
At any moment of awareness, we have a chance to return to that pursuit which truly fulfills us, to say that thing that the world has been waiting to hear, that we have been waiting to hear.
We can yet give life to our dreams.
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When Freud founded psychoanalysis, he talked to a lot of people, wondering what was within them. He thought that humans might have a bestial nature, that the appearance of humanity is something like a veneer on top of animal desires.
Later psychologists such as Maslow and Rogers went a little deeper. They said yes, Freud is correct, but he did not dig deep enough.
On the surface, we find the niceties of human beings, below that some impure desires, and deeper still we find that human nature is inherently good, positive and even sweet.
It seems like so many people are afraid to look within, scared that they might find something truly awful. Yet all they need do is go a little further, and find that positive part of themselves.
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Every day we exercise our habits, some good and some bad. Some bring us closer to our preferred state, and some remove us further
Right now, and every day, we have the choice of bringing more presence into which habits we keep and which we let go. Taking up our journal, we can reflect on our vision for life, and how to move towards it.
As Annie Dillard once wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
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Swami Gyanmitra Prem Prasad is a co-founder of Souls Enterprise, an organization which seeks to encourage insight, growth and ever-expanding awareness.
Prasad has been called a cosmic cowboy, a master life coach, a guide, a devotee, a friend, an enemy, a teacher, a student. He prefers to be called a journeyman.
In this interview, Prasad tells his story about questioning the religion he was born into, losing his faith, and somehow beginning to pursue a spiritual journey even without any faith that was apparent to him - looking inside to understand his own fear of death.
Working as an actor in Los Angeles, he got in touch with his own suffering. Having the opportunity to work as an assistant therapist, he started to wonder about the unusual circumstances of his birth - not knowing who his biological father was. Through psychotherapy and spiritual practices such as self-inquiry, he started to find some answers about what was really within him.
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At many points of our lives, perhaps many times a day, we put our trust in other people, perhaps even complete strangers.
We cross the street, expecting that we won’t be run over. We drive our cars expecting that the brakes will still function. We trust the bus or taxi driver to get us where we’re going. We might not even stop to think about the high level of faith that we are showing.
Then when it comes to more personal aspects of our lives, we doubt and worry. We are concerned that our new job won’t work out, or we regret that we left our old job. We might even let these doubts consume us.
Can we manage to extend that faith from our impersonal lives, into our personal lives? Can we expect, without being complacent, that things will work out okay?
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So many times in our lives, we might be enjoying the company of friends or family, chatting excitedly, eating or drinking. But we might not have the presence of mind to look around and notice those moments in which we are happy.
It doesn’t take a lot of effort, though it might take some presence of mind, to notice that we’re having a good time and even mention it to our companies, so they too can mark a happy moment in their memories.
Enjoy the good times.
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It’s wonderful to be grateful for the blessings that you have - the friendships, family, possessions, nice food. It’s also wonderful to be grateful for the things that you might yet receive.
Every one of us has the capacity to dream bigger, to imagine strange and marvellous things coming into our lives… More abundance, more joy, more faith, more meaning.
Every day is a chance to set an intention to receive more wealth - physically and spiritually.
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There is a story repeated in the Zen tradition, perhaps originating from the works of Chuang-Tzu.
An emperor finds a rooster to send it to fight, and finds the best trainer in all of China. After months, the rooster is finally ready to fight, and it is so strong and so patient that no other cock can bear to stand in the same ring. The rooster never has to fight.
One famous saying from the New Testament states “The meek shall inherit the earth.” We might think that it means that the world will belong to passive people, but that is not the case.
A better translation might be “The merciful will inherit the earth.” One must be strong in order to be merciful - to control great power and at once great restraint, and even compassion.
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Jessica Green is co-host of The Mad Ones podcast, known as an absurdist comedy duo and a show where all sorts of liberty-minded and unusual characters go to get interviewed.
The other day Jessica sat down with Kurt to talk about a personal challenge that she faced with her health. Years after giving up her job as a waitress and becoming a housewife, she was catering a barbeque for a friend and suddenly noticed that she was out of energy.
Jessica became depressed for many months, coming to terms with the sad truth that she had let her health go by the wayside, until one day she made a decision to change her life for the better. She started looking at how to introduce positivity into her life, changing her exercise and her diet, changing the way she thought about things and the kinds of influences she allowed in her life.
In this interview we explore how to move forward from depression, how to create a positive environment, how to let go of toxic friendships, and how to increase our empathy for others.
For the podcast: The Fire of Motivation with Jessica Green A Beautiful Thought
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The unconventional psychologist Thomas Szasz pointed out the strange contradiction in the cultural standard of what we consider sane in this quote: “If you talk to God, you are praying;
If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.”
In societies with a negative association around hearing voices, people normally have negative experiences when they hear voices. In places with a positive cultural association, people will have a positive experience, believing that people who hear such things are somehow gifted, they are shamans or healers.
Sometimes what people refer to as “the voice of God” is something that we all have access to, the voice of our intuition, our deepest internal wisdom. When we listen to it and heed it, wonderful things just might happen.
For the transcript: Talk to God A Beautiful Thought
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When we have a shiver down our spines out of nowhere, we might be alarmed, resist, and not enjoy it. We shake and quiver, and our friend will say to us “Did someone just walk over your grave?”
Then we’re watching a movie, and there’s an intense moment that inspires awe. Again we feel a shiver down our spines, and this time it occurs as a pleasurable experience.
The physical sensation is almost identical, but because of the way we conceive of it, we either enjoy it or resist it. How much of our lives might we be resisting, when we could be welcoming it?
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So many times in our lives, we might find ourselves in a position to doubt. We don’t know how to get out of a situation, and perhaps we believe that all is lost.
Yet in our moment of need we gather the courage, or receive a helping hand, or learn that thing which we firmly believed we would never be able to do.
When we can trace back a few of these events, we start to realize: even though we don’t know how we can resolve a particular conflict, we can do it, and we assume a rational faith.
For the transcript: Rational Faith A Beautiful Thought
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If you live in the developed world, it’s likely you often expect a high level of service with any product that you purchase. However, if you live in the developing world, it’s likely that whenever you buy something, there is a certain phrase or mentality that is never far from your mind: “Buyer beware.”
It can be difficult to find people who are at once competent, honest, and agreeable. When the stars do align, when we can do business in a way that benefits both parties, and we can enjoy the other’s company when we do it, that is both practical and pleasurable.
Then we can say with enthusiasm “It is a pleasure doing business with you.”
For the transcript: A Pleasure Doing Business With You A Beautiful Thought
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A lot of people have an unproductive habit of arguing with people on the Internet. In extreme cases, they continue with a Facebook thread for months or years, unsuccessfully trying to get their point across.
Two people can call names and get angry at each other, just getting more and more fixed in their positions. Neither benefit from the interaction. So perhaps there are other ways to communicate.
In this presentation from Anarchapulco 2021, Kurt explains how he decided to change his mind from someone inteannt on being analytical and argumentative, to a person who thought a bit more about compassion.
In the meantime, he was deported from Mexico and found himself being accompanied back to Australia by two officials. Would he get into arguments with them, or make friends with them?
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In the Robbie Williams song, the persona prays “Lord, make me pure - but not yet”. It’s such a powerful refrain for a pop song, because it’s so relatable. So many of us have wished to be better people, but we don’t always want to give up those things we know might be bad for us.
We might spend many years in the pursuit of our own vices, even though we suspect on some level that these things are incomplete, and therefore can never bring us to fulfillment. We can stay there as long as we wish. Everything is permitted, but not everything is beneficial.
One day we might wake up and place our hands in prayer. For that moment, we hold nothing back. We ask, “please make me pure”, and there is no “but”.
What will become of us, letting go of that baggage we held onto for so long? What might we realize? What might we already be?
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If you take a moment to observe what is going on right now, you might notice a lot of things - the sounds of the street, birds singing, dogs barking. The colors, shades and shapes presented to your eyes. The sensations of touch, cold or heat in your body.
All of these events are occurring within your mind, as fluctuations in your consciousness.
Now if you attempt to observe your own awareness, what might you notice?
In lucid dreaming sometimes we sense that the dream is slipping away, and so we hold onto a rail or doorway, clinging tight so we can maintain presence as one dream leaves and the next dream begins.
Instead in those moments we might try to stay aware of our own awareness. The dream passes, and we are left in silence, in a moment of pure consciousness.
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Walking around a neighborhood in a developing nation, you might notice that many stores have recently gone out of business, and many more shops have recently opened. Some of the new stores might be ordinary things that you’ve seen many times before, and some of them might be unusual items that you’d never thought of purchasing before that day.
If you’re used to living in a developed country, you might believe that stability is the primary indicator of a healthy economy. In some sense, that is an illusion. A real healthy economy will have people experimenting, feeling free to take risks on new ideas - after all, that is how progress is made.
Similarly, in educated societies we are accustomed to having certain ideas be accepted - for example, the concept that the earth is a spheroid, and orbits around the sun. It seems a reasonable idea, and it’s so ingrained within us that when someone presents an alternate view, we might even be offended. We might even think that the idea is dangerous and should be silenced.
As much as we might believe an idea can hurt us, it cannot. Having access to more concepts, and the respectful discussion of them, can only enrich us, just as we are enriched by peaceful and innovative entrepreneurs.
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All of us have some pain from the past, some more than others. And we all have interpretations and beliefs about the world and ourselves that we’ve formed based on those experiences.
It is tempting to think that we cannot heal these things right now, that it might take years of therapy to overcome them, or that we just can never heal and we will always be as we are.
We might attempt to pull on a thread of our past, seeing where it leads, tracing back and attempting to find the true cause of the pain. Many times when we reach the end of a thread, it is tied to another thread which we follow - or the mere end of the thread gives us no greater understanding.
Past events happened to us, and they were very real. But now what might be present with us is the pain, our thoughts and beliefs. Being present with the pain, we can heal it and let it go. Being conscious with our thoughts and beliefs, we can replace them, or simply allow our mind to be clear.
For the transcript: Heal Now A Beautiful Thought
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People have been realizing for many years that mainstream media and states are not wholly reliable. Things that we’ve learnt in public schools turn out to be false, or at least one-sided when we scratch the surface with our own research.
People turn to independent media, or decide to put some facts together for themselves, trying to take educated guesses on which facts might line up with other facts.
If you’ve been schooled for many years, you might believe that it’s somehow risky to explore diverse ideas, and it can be. Some get lost, coming up with theories and seeing links where there just aren’t any. But many emerge from this process and learn to be truly independently-minded.
In this episode, James tells us the story of how he noticed a smart, successful friend using cannabis, and as he looked into the subject, he found that much of what he had been told was a lie. That led him to a humbling realization - that perhaps most of the data he had was incorrect.
James also tells the story of researching the law, coming to the conclusion that perhaps police and statutes were not what he thought they were - in some sense they are a scam. Then his own experience even confirmed the bizarre concept that the police need your consent to enforce a statute.
Content warning: Drug use
For more information: Do Your Own Research A Beautiful Thought
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Many people have a certain impulse of restraint - “Do not take action until you are sure,” or even “Do not take action until things are perfect.” Of course, wait as we will, the perfect moment never comes.
There is no perfect moment for a first kiss, nor a perfect moment for a break-up, no right moment to step on stage for your first open mic, no right moment to publish your first blog.
The world is a swirling mass of unknown variables, too complex for us to ever calculate. If we did calculate them, they would surely change by the time we took action.
The fool’s card in the tarot has a message for us… It is a symbol of innocence, the fool walking dandily with a swag, his puppy nipping at his heels. So carefree, he might be about to stumble over a precipice. Of course it is wise to look before we leap, but if we are to make any progress, we must have a little faith, and leap.
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In many social situations, if we pause a moment to notice our thoughts, we might find that there are many impulses to change something. Perhaps we feel the need to impress the people around us, or please them, or even advance a romantic encounter in some way.
We might even feel these impulses when we’re alone, thinking about all the things we must do in order to be satisfied, in order to allow ourselves to be happy. Of course, that list will never be exhausted. We can always demand more.
When we become a little more conscious of this moment and of our thoughts, we have a bit more power over what we choose to notice. Watch those desires, and you might find that they slip away quickly, like water through our hands.
Now we are free, free of desire.
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When Paul McCartney was in The Beatles, he went through at least one period of his life where he was drinking and partying, taking a lot of drugs. For one reason or another, he had a dream where his mother appeared to him, giving him some simple words of advice: “Let it be”.
So often we might struggle with what is going on in the world, or what is going on inside of us. The situation might not be our preferred one, but if we wish to change it, we must first let go of resistance. When we resist, often that serves to prolong that very thing we wish to avoid. Allowing something to exist gives it the space to transform.
Is there some emotion within you that you prefer to hide from, some struggle against it, some resistance against the struggle? Let it be.
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In some parts of the world, and not long ago in most of the world, the norm was to cast out anyone who was a little strange. In many places, the standard was to treat those people cruelly, as wicked, or as witches, accused of heinous crimes such as conversing with the Devil.
Now in many parts, we have the expression “It takes all kinds to make a world,” which is in many ways a reflection of the finest parts of the legacy of Christ, of Our Great Teacher’s message to treat all people with kindness. Even if we notice that someone is different, and we might not really understand their ways, we embrace the idea that they have a right to life as much of any of us.
This somewhat recent change in worldview is, in part, the cause of so much progress in recent decades. Looking at a man like Nikola Tesla, coming to the US as a foreigner, and a man with peculiar personal habits, he was accepted to an extent that enabled him to share some of his many gifts.
It does indeed take all kinds to make a world, and it is a much more interesting world because of it.
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Many people suffer because of the unbroken cycles of their parents, learning patterns of behavior that may be repeated throughout their lives. When a girl grows up receiving abuse from the hand of her father, and seeing her mother support it or passively accept it, that girl might learn that this is normal.
Later in life, that same woman seeks out partners who are emotionally manipulative, because that is the vision of love that has been impressed on them.
Fortunately, many people manage to break the cycle of abuse, to step out of the previous pattern, even though it might be scary to venture into the unknown.
In this episode, Natasha Charlton tells Kurt a story about childhood trauma, about repeating patterns, and finding freedom from those patterns, freedom to be oneself.
For notes and links: First Taste of Freedom A Beautiful Thought
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In one popular understanding of events and our emotional reactions, something bad will happen and as a direct result, we react. For example, someone cuts us off in traffic, calls us a bad name, and we can’t help but feel angry or upset, and our day is ruined.
In cognitive behavioral therapy, we learn there’s an extra step in this process. Our beliefs, assumptions and interpretations about the event lead us to the emotional reaction and our subsequent actions. We probably have some belief with the words “should” or “must”, for example “People must be polite to me.”
In a sense, this type of belief is making a demand on reality, and often reality is very resistant to our demands.
We might ask ourselves, what information are we lacking? Perhaps the man in traffic is under a lot of pressure at work; perhaps he has recently lost his wife; perhaps he’s just not a nice person. If any of these are the case, it’s quite clear that the event is quite impersonal.
Then we can think of a new way to see the event. For example, “People express themselves in different ways.” “We can view the way people express themselves as information. This man is feeling frustrated.” “Life is more interesting when something unexpected happens.” “An angry person might have something to teach us about ourselves.”
For the transcript Your Interpretation A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes our emotions can be difficult to release from our bodies, and it helps to move physically. If you’re angry, it can help to punch a punching bag or even a pillow, to do some jumping jacks or run on the spot.
Doing unusual movements such as in hatha yoga or ecstatic dance, we might even find that some emotions that have been dormant for a long time are suddenly let out, and we might feel pure.
If we anticipate an argument, or there’s some gripe we want to express to someone, we can first get it out physically. Then when we feel calm, we can say what we have to say without the baggage of that anger or frustration, delivering a high quality “no”.
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If you go to a psychiatrist claiming some mental distress, they might tell you that you have a chemical imbalance. They might say “A diabetic needs insulin to bring their body into balance, and likewise these drugs will bring your brain into balance.” Or they might be more honest and say something like “Nobody knows exactly how these drugs work. Psychotropic drugs are the sledgehammer of psychiatry.”
In the book “Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good”, it presents various statistics showing that, generally, the people who search for other paths to mental hygiene are the ones who find it. The people who take antidepressants or antipsychotics are much more likely to have recurring episodes.
We might find ourselves in a moment of our lives where the external factors appear satisfactory. We might have a good job, earning good money, have a great partner… And yet we still feel dissatisfied. Perhaps those are the moments when we’re most likely to turn to psychotropic drugs. Those are the precious moments when we might find the most insight into what it really means to be happy.
In those situations, somehow life has tricked us or trapped us. We might lose the ability to feel pleasure or joy, and all we have left is our pain, our suffering. Within that suffering lies wisdom, insight, perhaps even the possibility of freedom. Don’t let them take that possibility from you.
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Many times we might meet a person and assume that they were always the way they are today - confident, outgoing, kind. We might not notice the tics and scars that betray the difficulties of their past.
Likewise, if someone has obvious flaws, we might not take a moment to think of all the challenges they faced in order to be as good as they are. Then if we look at ourselves, we might judge harshly, even though we know our own story so intimately.
A person can grow so much, and while they might outgrow their past in many ways, it can serve as a reminder of what wonderful things come from humble beginnings, just like the Rose that grew from the Concrete.
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Monty Jones is a licenced sailor and world traveler who is always looking for a new challenge.
In this interview, Monty relates the tale of how he got his captain’s license, convincing a company in Thailand to compress 3 months of courses into 3 weeks.
Then to get more sailing experience, he decided to take the adventure of a lifetime as a crewmember on a catamaran going from the Seychelles to Alexandria, Egypt. The only problem was, those waters were infested with heavily-armed pirates.
Hear how Monty escaped with his crew, what he learnt and how he discovered a curious connection with his own spirituality.
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In this moment, we can begin to notice things that were previously unconscious, using all of our senses. We can expand our awareness to become aware of shapes and colors in our peripheral vision, pushing awareness to vision’s boundaries.
Listening carefully, we might begin to hear sounds that we missed - cars passing, the howl of the wind, a distant clock tower striking the hour, birds chirping, and even the sound of our central nervous system.
We continue moving through the senses, smelling and tasting, bringing consciousness to where we are seated or other tactile sensations. Even the secondary senses such as balance, cold or heat are available to us.
How much can you sense right now?
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If you ask yourself how you give to others, you might not even remember the last time you gave, trying to think back to the gifts that you bought last Christmas, Hanukkah or Eid. But giving has a much wider scope than buying presents.
In your customer service role, you might go the extra mile for a customer when you had the opportunity to give an excuse. You might produce content on the Internet, making videos or writing songs and giving them for free, to see the enjoyment of others. You might hear out your friend when they need it, and give them a hug.
How have you given today? How might you continue to give? And how does it feel to give?
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On William DeVaughn’s record he reminds us to “give the little man a great big hand” - to notice, respect and congratulate the people in service roles, waiting on tables, cleaning our streets, making food for us.
People might work so hard for us, and often they are so humble or professional, we might have no idea the level of dedication that they apply, working behind the scenes to find a solution for us.
We can all find ways to recognize those people who make the world go around, referring to them kindly, perhaps even by name, or complimenting them for the things they do that make our lives easier.
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Thousands of men have tried in the past to make a notable impression on a woman by reading techniques or even scripts from the Internet, memorizing them and reciting them in the plaza or nightclub. They’re under the impression that the words are what’s important, but that is only ever the surface level of what is happening in an interaction.
The words might be great, but if the suitor doesn’t make them his own, doesn’t add some spontaneity or personality, they will always fall flat.
Likewise, we might find a very powerful technique for meditation or healing, such as metta, or Ho’oponopono. We might think, “Hm… I have heard of this before; I know what this is; it’s nothing new.” With that attitude, we will bring nothing new, and the technique again will fail.
However, if we enter with the attitude of: “I am putting my heart into this; I am seeing how deep this can go,” naturally we have a profound emotional experience, and we may even find ourselves transformed.
Make the magic.
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Cat Bonandin is known as the founder of The Homestead Guru website, where Lily Forester and others share articles about how to grow and cook food, and take more control over one’s own sovereignty. Cat is also recognized for her work as the organizer of Anarchapulco 2021, and likely future years as well.
In this interview, Cat tells us the story of coming to the realization that she has a toxic environment in her marriage, her business, and personal boundaries. She had a health crisis in the form of a brown recluse spider bite, and with the change in the family dynamic, she started to see that, perhaps she had been trying to be a mother to everyone.
Eventually a friend perceived the situation and offered to lend Cat the money to go to Peru and meet Grandmother Ayahuasca. Seeing herself as a child with an unusual health condition, treated by a barbaric medical practice - bound with a bar to correct her pigeon feet - she noted that, perhaps being bound at a young age had led her to seek freedom in all kinds of external ways. Finally she decided to look inside for freedom.
Content warning: shamanic substances
For notes and links: Choosing Freedom With Catherine Bonadin A Beautiful Thought
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In Keith Johnstone’s Impro, he tells us that every story begins with a break in routine. A cliché example is when a man discovers his wife is cheating on him. So when something unexpected or “bad” happens to us, is it the end of the world, or merely the beginning of a story?
In the movie Mr. Nobody, Jared Leto’s character tells us many conflicting versions of his life, leaving the interviewer confused about which path he took. Mr. Nobody tells us that whichever path he took, life would have had just as much meaning.
We can worry so much about the things that happen to us, and about which path to take. Whatever our circumstances, and whatever our decisions, it will surely make a great story.
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Abraham Hicks told us: “All is well. You did not come here to fix a broken world. The world is not broken. You came here to live a wonderful life.”
Many times we might get caught in the trap of trying to convince others, getting into arguments over the Internet - which will surely lead us to frustration. We might even protest on parliament steps in order to get some recognition for an important issue.
These efforts may be noble in that we are trying to change the world for the better, but often we might find they are futile. We are merely giving attention to the things we despise.
Perhaps instead we can dedicate ourselves to creation and expression. With your unique life and your unique experiences, you have something to offer that nobody else does.
All you need do is speak, with that clear voice that comes from deep within, saying those things that you might even tremble to say. You might find that people have been waiting to hear it.
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Setting a boundary is an important expression of love for oneself. To mark that a line will not be crossed is to affirm one’s own autonomy, one’s own value.
It’s also a powerful message to the person who is overstepping the boundaries. Occasionally you’ll find that when you do it, the habitual line-stepper will be astounded, saying “Nobody has ever spoken to me like that before,” giving them pause.
By setting a boundary, you are holding up a mirror to the world, allowing someone to see the consequences of their behaviour which they might not have previously considered. You are setting a model, so others can see that it is alright to have a sense of self, to be what you truly are.
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Looking around you, you might see your desk, your laptop; you might see trees or a park, perhaps some objects which have been in your room for months and now you don’t even notice them.
If you look with the eyes of an artist, you might see things differently. You might hear with new ears the sound of wind in the trees, and with new eyes look at your old possessions, recalling memories and emotions that you had forgotten.
Everything around you can be a source of inspiration, to feel differently, to be reborn in this instant. All one need do is look.
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Becoming an adolescent isn’t easy. It’s a time of your life when a lot of people will put pressure on you - pressure from school, from your parents and siblings, perhaps even from your job. Sometimes it seems like everyone has an idea of who you should be, and you might not have a firm idea of who you want to be, for yourself.
In this interview, Kurt talks to Cabra Cuerno, known for his skills as a musician, actor, and martial artist. Cabra tells the story of growing up in the cities and towns of Mexico, experiencing different schools and different ways of being, the pressure from his family focused on music and the theatre, the strict academic tutelage of his brother, the atheistic and Marxist philosophy of his father, the Christian ideals of his classmates.
At a young age, Cabra decided to ask a lot of key questions about his own identity. Which parts of me should I hold onto? Of which parts shall I now let go? And which parts will transform into some new expression?
For the podcast: Sense of Self with Cabra Cuerno A Beautiful Thought
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Facing some moral challenge in life, we have the choice of how we see it. Perhaps we see ourselves as a victim, asking why the universe confronts us with such bizarre and unique difficulties. Or perhaps we say, this is an opportunity, these struggles are what makes life interesting.
A performing artist preparing his songs practices again and again, wondering if he’ll ever break the backs of these pieces, perhaps making a mistake at exactly the same parts. The novice and the expert might throw their hands up in desperation in almost the same way. However, the expert knows that his exasperation is a signal that he is close to a breakthrough.
Many remember the famous phrase from painter Bob Ross: “We don’t make mistakes; we make happy little accidents.” Of course we know he’s not just talking about painting. Interesting things happen, and we move forward boldly, deciding to turn those things to our advantage, understanding that they are part of the whole picture.
We are always expressing ourselves, always showing outside what is contained within. That is enough to always be a success.
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Taking a moment to reflect on a daily activity that is pleasurable for you, you can start to feel different things in your body. When you imagine diving into the ocean, feeling the sun on your body, or stepping inside a sauna, you might notice various things.
Perhaps there is a feeling of warmth, some emotion in your body, a feeling of health in your shoulders, your chest or your belly.
When you get into contact with that feeling, you are always free to return there, at any moment of your day.
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There are certain forces in this world that would love to have you be stagnant... To stay the same, to not grow, to live out your life predictably so they can predictably get money from you
You are so much more than the expectations of you, of whatever person or whatever system. You're not a cog in a machine... You are an organic form constantly changing, undefined and perhaps indefinable.
How many times has it happened... You thought for sure you would never be able to learn a skill, you put limits on yourself. A few years later, you find yourself doing that very thing you believed you never could
When will you put it together? There are no limits for you.
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Now, and for a long time, there has been a prevailing idea in scientific and academic circles that we mostly understand the world - perhaps that any remaining discoveries are to be found in the fifth decimal place and smaller.
While this idea almost has a consensus, there are many dissenters, independent thinkers and crackpots in the scientific community who think otherwise - that perhaps much of science is based on false assumptions, or even upon dogma.
In Rupert Sheldrake’s book The Science Delusion or Science Set Free, he analyzes ten of the most common ideas in modern science which regularly go unchallenged. He found many of them to be lacking, or at least open to question.
On Eric Weinstein’s podcast The Portal, he often talks about the “distributed idea suppression complex” - the proposition that there are various interests in the media, academic institutions and corporations that would prefer new ideas to remain unspoken. He frequently cites the case of his brother Bret Weinstein, never getting credit or an entirely fair hearing of his hypothesis that lab rats are genetically different to wild rats - implying that thousands of rat experiments may be flawed.
Perhaps the world is a little more puzzling, a little more enigmatic than we’d often like to believe. Using the scientific method and other tools to pursue truth, with our own observation and discernment, maybe we can gain some insight into The Great Mystery.
For the transcript: Scientific Openness A Beautiful Thought
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What does it take to be a true leader? A commanding presence, discipline, a firm hand? Or humility, compassion, and empathy? Perhaps it takes all of these things.
In this interview, returning guest Luis Fernando Mises tells us a story about his early career, going from a construction yard, to becoming an interpreter, a teacher, and then a business consultant and coach.
Along the way he had to learn many lessons, and many of them came from a trusted mentor and boss. Seeing the humility, analysis, and using systems to build up any personal weak points.
For links and notes: A True Leader with Luis Fernando Mises A Beautiful Thought
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As Owen Cook once said, as many problems with the world as there might be, it says something great about our society that we can go to a store and find a book which may have taken years of preparation, dedication, drafts and editing… and buy it for $6.
When you read a book to which someone has dedicated their energy, you start to tap into it. Reading The Fountainhead, you can feel the dogged determination of Ayn Rand and of her character Howard Roarke, the kind of persistence that would pass any challenge in order to manifest a vision of the world as he imagines it.
Picking up Baba Muktananda’s Play of Consciousness, you sense the devotion of a great yogi and teacher who spent many years meditating on the purity of his guru. Reading it, you might well feel their blessings.
Books can open doors to different perspectives, different experiences, and even different states of being, laid out simply on those pages, awaiting your new eyes.
For the transcript Read Beautiful A Beautiful Thought
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In the digestive process, we eat the food, we absorb the nutrients, and then we let it pass. If we retain the food after our bodies process it, that is surely a sign that we are heading for ill health.
Likewise, with our experiences, we can enjoy them, absorb the wisdom or lessons or anything else of value, and then we can let them pass. Just as there is no need to find our excrement once it has been released, there is no need to rehash our experiences once we have processed them.
We learn what we can, and then we let go.
For the transcript: The Metaphysical Meaning of Poop A Beautiful Thought
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It’s nice to go to sleep alone, to wake up alone, to go through your morning routine as you planned it, without need of any thought of how it will affect someone else. There you are alone in your ideas, feeling your own presence.
Sitting with a journal, you can write what is on your mind, whether it be mundane or profound. If anyone were to find it and judge you for what you had written, their condemnation would be irrelevant. What you wrote was for you, and you alone.
Even soldiers were once taught to retreat within their own minds, to see a home of their own construction in the event that they were captured as prisoners of war. With practice, they would clearly visualize their doors, their library, their desk, stepping inside to gain that precious gift of solitude.
For the transcript: Its Wonderful to Be Alone A Beautiful Thought
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In Duncan Trussell’s celebrated cartoon The Midnight Gospel, Duncan’s character “Clancy” finds himself on a strange bus ride, unsure if he is dead or alive, or if he might be going to heaven or hell. Clancy turns to the passenger next to him with a mouthful of confused questions. The passenger happens to be Ram Dass, who utters his famous phrase “just be here now”.
We can find very quickly that so many of life’s problems are insubstantial when we allow the future and the past to be in their place, and simply focus on the task at hand, whether it be working or resting.
What do you need to do? All you need to do is be here now.
For the transcript Be Here Now A Beautiful Thought
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In 2017, Jeff Berwick interviewed Kurt Robinson for his podcast and YouTube channel, Anarchast. As you might guess from the name, the show is primarily about politics, with a focus on personal liberty and anarchism.
However, the conversation quickly shifted to spirituality and emotional health, with Jeff saying at one point “I didn’t realize this interview was going to be a psychological therapy session.”
Join us for this classic interview where Kurt and Jeff talk about seeing the world as if it’s the first time, about emotional blockages and happiness.
Content warning: Shamanic substances
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If you get to thinking, you might realize you have a lot of concerns about the past and the future. Perhaps you’re not sure if you made the right decision in ending a relationship, or changing careers, or staying with a career.
Naturally, it can be quite stressful to think about all of the things that you might have done wrong, or still might do wrong. If you start to tabulate them, you’ll probably find that there’s no end to the list.
Now we bring our attention to the present moment, noticing the sensations in our bellies, in our hearts, in our minds. We can realize directly, and intellectually, that we are not complete, that our actions might not be perfect, that we are ongoing processes that need never be complete.
You don’t need to fear being; you are being. You are alright.
Content warning: shamanic substances
For the transcript: Fear of Being A Beautiful Thought
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"The root of violence is the belief that others are responsible for our pain and therefore deserve to be punished." Marshall Rosenberg, author of Nonviolent Communication
So what is the root of peace? Perhaps it's the belief that we are responsible for our own emotions, and that we deserve praise when we exercise it.
By using the techniques that Marshall Rosenberg explains in his book, we can learn to express our emotions in a way that doesn’t blame others, taking responsibility for our pain, our emotions and our experience of life.
Many times when we express our emotions in a descriptive way, explain our needs and make a reasonable request of others, they will be happy to do so, and they’ll even feel more comfortable expressing their own emotions in a healthy way, creating frictionless communication and more peace in the world.
For the transcript: The Root of Peace A Beautiful Thought
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Walking down the street you might see an elderly person who has fallen over. There are already two people helping her up, so you think it’s okay, you don’t need to offer help. “It might be embarrassing to offer, when there are already people helping,” you think.
Then you see a man on the corner, running enthusiastically to offer some more assistance. Suddenly you realize there is nothing embarrassing at all about what he’s doing. If his hand is superfluous it is still clear to the world that his heart was in the right place.
Professor Laurie Santos, known for her course on “The Science of Well-Being” says that one key thing we can all do to improve our happiness is to perform random acts of kindness, especially for strangers, especially with no expectation of reward.
Can you help someone today?
For the transcript: Looking to Help A Beautiful Thought
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Sitting and watching the leaves on the trees moving in the wind, you might try to observe patterns or guess which way the wind is moving. You might think about the trees of your youth and be overcome by nostalgia, feeling deep emotions merely by noticing something which is open and public, and there for you to enjoy almost every day of your life.
If you observe the local fauna with new eyes, you might be fascinated. You might see hummingbirds hovering mid-air, or leaf-cutter ants taking a journey of ten metres to find the leaves with the most sap, or a monarch butterfly which happens to cross your path.
What interesting movements are around you, ready to be explored by an inquiring mind, ripe to provoke inspiration in those who dare to wonder?
For the transcript: What's Good to Watch A Beautiful Thought
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Victoria Abdelnur began her healing career studying medicine, but at a certain point she began to realize that the teachings were incomplete, with too much emphasis on giving pills rather than discovering the true cause of the problem. She sought many alternative methods, most notably the Isha System of healing and meditation, and Teal Swan’s Completion Process.
Victoria’s personal journey mirrors her professional journey, getting hooked on prescription medicine as a student, using amphetamines and other drugs to control her weight, eventually concluding that she would have to dig deeper inside in order to cure herself.
In this interview, Victoria tells us about that path of acknowledge and understand her own emotions and recognize them in others, about why she was skeptical of the medical establishment even while being its student, how the Isha System helped her learn meditation when every other method had failed, how to explore one’s emotions using the physical form, and how our emotional health affects our bodies.
For notes and links: Feel Through Addiction with Victoria Abdelnur A Beautiful Thought
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We might think of maturity or self-actualization as having three phases.
The first phase is where a person mostly believes a model of the world as it has been presented to him by his elders, his teachers, the media. He can’t escape the feeling that something is not quite right, and deep down he knows there is something wrong, but he will not bring himself to face it.
In the second stage he realizes more fully that there is something wrong, that the world is hopeless - even inherently meaningless. He becomes depressed or anxious, and might turn more heavily to pharmaceutical or recreational drugs.
In the third stage he realizes that he has the opportunity of bringing meaning to the world, filling it with his own heart, creating something. He also develops a healthy relationship with his own emotions, exploring them rather than being conquered by him. We might call this person an “insightful neurotic”.
For the transcript The Insightful Neurotic A Beautiful Thought
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Say you’re sitting in a café and you ask for the bill. You notice they haven’t added on your second latte. In that moment you have the option of being actively honest and letting them know their error, or letting it slide, saving $3 and likely not ever facing any consequences for it. What do you do?
In a very real sense, communities are maintained by this class of decision. Many people choose not to vandalize or steal even though they have many opportunities to do so.
People might even have an excuse to be violent, but choose not to. They might have the option of using hurtful words or passive-aggressive, but instead they choose to be graceful, or at least step away from the situation so they can calm down.
You might well have made many of these decisions to be calm, peaceful and respectful even just this week. So thank you, for being good.
For the transcript : Thank you for Being Good A Beautiful Thought
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Many musicians, artists, comedians and other creative types will tell you they hold onto their emotional pain, that it’s necessary to keep their edge. Perhaps they’re overlooking the vastness of their sources of inspiration.
Being in pain or great suffering can cause us to withdraw from the world, to be alone with whatever is inside of us, and as a result we might emerge with great art. Then we conclude that it was the pain that caused us to create, rather than the other magic that was within our souls all along.
Likewise, many of us tell stories about our pain. We might say that we are somehow honouring the love that we once felt by continuing with heartbreak. Or that we are comfortable in pain. Or that we must maintain our bitterness to avoid being hurt again.
All of these stories can turn to a new chapter, today, when we make the decision.
For the transcript: Stories of Pain A Beautiful Thought
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In the movie Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Natalie Portman’s character Mahoney accuses Jason Bateman’s character of being a “just guy”.
“I knew it as soon as I saw that suit… You’re a just guy. A guy just like you, same hair, same suit, same shoes. Walks around, no matter what, he thinks ‘It's just a store, it's just a bench, it's just a tree. It's just what it is, nothing more!’
Mahoney is pointing out that when you reduce things to the sum of their parts, when you stop wondering what they might be, you shut off your imagination. When you are open to the idea that things are more than they appear, you might just see their magic.
For the transcript: Mysterious and Puzzling A Beautiful Thought
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Mike Nimetz is sometimes known for his wild parties in Acapulco, having acts like the Freenauts performing by his pool in La Cima, fireworks and dancing girls. But Mike’s real passion is developing a moral foundation for a new generation of leaders with his “Ethical Emergence” course, helping to implement the habits that enable you to be the person you aspire to be.
Here Mike tells the story of working in the construction industry in the USA and realizing that it wasn’t always about building, but was often about trying to extract money from government contracts while providing the least value possible. He left the industry and started a radio show and tried to influence local politics, only to find that it was also corrupt and very difficult to make any real progress.
Many times life is likely to disappoint us when we find out that things are not what we thought they were. In this episode we ask the question, how can we maintain our passion when life lets us down?
For more information: A Moral Foundation with Michael Nimetz A Beautiful Thought
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If you have never meditated, then you might think the idea of sitting and observing your own thoughts for 10 minutes is extremely difficult - perhaps even insurmountable. We are so used to struggling, that to set some time aside to be free of struggle seems impossible.
The time spent seated isn’t all that different for an experienced meditator or a novice. Perhaps the one with more practice maintains his focus for a few more seconds, or even minutes, but once again he loses focus and is lost in thought. The experience is very similar, but the story around the experience can be quite different.
The novice tells himself that his thoughts are intolerable, that if he loses focus that is a failure, that if he is a failure that is an existential problem. The experienced meditator is aware that thoughts will pass, that losing focus is a part of the process, that if one falls all one need do is stand once more.
All we must do, all we can ever do and all we ever need to do, is bring our attention to the present moment and act accordingly.
For the transcript: Nothing is Hard, Nothing is Easy A Beautiful Thought
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In many cultures, we have the attitude that our worth is only measured by doing or achieving. We demand so much of ourselves that we think that by allowing ourselves to be at peace, we are wasting time.
In fact, often it is our retreat from the world which serves us and the world the most. We might leave a situation, however difficult, and retire to contemplate. Not merely turning things over to justify our egos, but genuinely seeking insight. Finding the new and creative way to see the situation so that when it comes we can face it, with open countenance and open heart.
Or perhaps to simply allow ourselves to take a break, to experience peace as fully as possible, to cherish our own souls without expectation that it will serve anything but that moment. In the end we might find that our enjoyment of peace is what serves the world the most.
For the transcript: Your Peace Serves the World A Beautiful Thought
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In Toward A Psychology Of Being, Abraham Maslow includes this quote from the poet Samuel Coleridge:
“If a man could pass through Paradise in a dream, and have a flower presented to him as a pledge that his soul had really been there, and if he found that flower in his hand when he awoke - Ay! And what then?”
Maslow’s case is that peak experiences - in the form of mystic, creative, aesthetic, love and insight experiences - can affect a person so profoundly as to make a lasting change. Just as with Coleridge’s adventure into Paradise, our finest experiences grant us proof that life can be more beautiful and more meaningful.
Then we decide to realize our vision.
For the transcript: Peak Experience A Beautiful Thought
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In religious circles, it’s often said that acts will not get you into heaven. There must be something more than acts, some faith or devotion, or perhaps some transformation.
To a god, acts are like pieces on a chessboard, easily rearranged, stood up or cast down. Of course acts can come from many motivations, and they can only ever be an expression of what is inside.
In the great myths, we find ourselves in limbo or purgatory, jumping across the abyss and the inferno. Finally we reach the weighing place. It is not our acts that are placed on the scale to be weighed against a feather - it is our heart.
So… what are you?
For the transcript: What Are You A Beautiful Thought
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Jason Anthony Fair is a former member of the US air force, libertarian and cryptocurrency enthusiast. In this episode, Anthony talks about his relationship with fear at different stages of his life.
As a child he had the experience of being afraid, not necessarily knowing whether it was something to be avoided, reacting in order to get better grades or please the adults in his life.
As an adult, he played poker and observed the dynamic of the room, the likely path or karma of other players. Later when he learnt about boxing and other forms of self-defense, that would serve to allay the fear generated by his ego. Understanding his place in the world, knowing that he wasn’t a sitting duck, helped him realize that the world isn’t something to be afraid of.
At another stage of his life, he decided to go to the Bolivian Amazon and take ayahuasca with a shaman, facing dark parts of himself, extreme discomfort or suffering, and learning to accept even those situations, embracing his own divinity.
Content warning: strong language, shamanic substances
For links and more: Facing Fear with Jason Anthony A Beautiful Thought
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When we look for opportunities to help people, we might find that they complain about their struggle. Then we go out of our way to find some information or contact for them, only to find that they didn’t really want help. We might find that if we offer advice in that situation, they will actually get angry - they didn’t want to change anything about their actions, they merely wanted to express something about the situation they are in.
That is why many self-actualized people do not offer advice unless you ask for it, and even then they may be tentative, attempting to discern whether you really want to hear what they have to say.
You might imagine an angel or otherwise spiritually developed being, patiently waiting. Perhaps they have many things to do, but when someone prays to them in earnest, ready to receive their blessing… They will fly and run to assist.
Yes, the gurus, mentors and angels have all been waiting to help you. All you ever had to do was ask.
For the transcript: Waiting for You to Ask A Beautiful Thought
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In Abraham Maslow’s Toward a Psychology of Being, he writes:
“The lover perceives in his beloved what no one else can, and again, there is no question about the intrinsic value of his inner experience, and of the many good consequences for him, for his beloved, and for the world. If we take as an example the mother loving her baby, the case is even more obvious - not only does love perceive potentialities, but it also actualizes them.”
Our belief in others, our support and encouragement, the space we allow them so that they can explore the world and themselves… All of these things give a person a chance to grow healthfully, just as fertile soil, sun and water give a plant a chance to blossom.
For the episode: Love Actualizes A Beautiful Thought
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Many people are moving through the world, thinking about their performance review, their grades, their taxes, trying not to crash in traffic, worrying about the future or feeling shameful about their past.
Maybe you are not doing that. Maybe you are focused on the moment with relaxed attention, gently allowing whatever is in your awareness to simply exist. When a disturbance arises, you might feel it, perhaps feeling annoyed for a second, or allowing the interruption to simply pass right through you.
Just being in the world with presence allows you to transform it. When people are around someone who is truly present, they will also experience presence, and their discomfort will be eased.
For the transcript: Your Presence is A Blessing A Beautiful Thought
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In Orson Welles’ famous movie Citizen Kane, Kane gets to the end of his life having created media empires, built lavish estates, married a beautiful woman, and so many other things. Then at the end of the film it’s revealed that his last words referred to his dear toboggan “Rosebud”, that he kept as a child - the simple memories of playing in the snow.
Every day we might be creating pleasant memories, enjoying moments with a friend or times of solitude, seeing a sunset or with others. If we set the intention, we can fully embrace those moments, savour them, and save that simple feeling in our hearts.
For the transcript: Rosebud A Beautiful Thought
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Speaking in public can inspire fear and overpowering nerves in many of us. However, as with most things, it depends how you think about it.
In March 2021, Kurt had the experience of speaking at Anarchapulco, an event for peaceful anarchists in Acapulco, Guerrero. He analyzed his own thought patterns and tried out advice from trusted friends to see what helped reduce the nerves and feel confident.
Firstly, there is this formula “Thoughts plus feelings equal emotions”. Our internal experiences aren’t fully formed until we start to interpret them. “Nerves” are almost identical to “excitement” - perhaps a little shaking, sweaty palms, increased heart rate, butterflies in the stomach. When we think “I am very excited right now,” we suddenly see our internal events very differently.
There is the idea of eustress or positive stress. We might feel nervous about an event, sending us a message about our lack of preparation. One key mistake is to not prepare, to avoid the subject, because we don’t even want to think about it… When we are more prepared, we are naturally calme.
Another idea is about faith - in oneself or one’s unconscious mind, in God, in the Universe, or whatever it is that helps you feel surrender, to acknowledge that some elements of the experience are out of your control and that might even be a good thing. If you look through your personal history you’ll probably notice that most or all of the time, you have gotten through things, either by facing them alone, or with friends, or whatever other resources come up. So, you probably will again.
We might try imagining speaking to a large audience of thousands of people, or perhaps speaking to a bunch of empty seats, to confront the fear “What if nobody shows up?” Either way we find that these concerns aren’t much of a problem. Speaking to a large crowd, we notice that the experience is less intimate and therefore less intimidating. Speaking to an empty room, there’s nobody there to worry about, so we can simply enjoy ourselves.
Finally, we might consider, what is the alternative here? If we’ve already agreed to speak or perform, are we going to run and hide, disappoint our friends and colleagues and leave them with a blank spot where we should be speaking? Of course we don’t want to do that to our friends. So we make the decision to face the crowd, first with boldness, and then with confidence.
For notes: Stage Fright A Beautiful Thought
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The movie “Moneyball” is a story about a couple of visionary men who have the determination and courage to change the sport of baseball in the US. From another perspective, it’s a story about Billy Beane trying to let go of his autoexigence, and embrace the idea that he is enough.
In a couple of scenes, Beane is with his daughter buying her a guitar and asking her to sing. The song teases her dad, but also has a key message for him: “Just enjoy the show.”
Sometimes life can move quickly, sometimes there is a lot of stimulation, even confusion. We might not know where we’re heading in a taxi, and we don’t even want to think about where we’re going in life. In those moments we might relax, sink into ourselves, take Ms. Beane’s advice, and simply enjoy the show.
For the transcript: Just Enjoy the Show A Beautiful Thought
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Mexicans, Indians, Thais all love chilli so much. Mexicans will pick up a whole grilled chilli at the taco stand and bite into it. According to our friend Mr. Battle, the reason is that chilli will pull you into the present moment, an instantaneous meditation.
The sensation of heat or burning from a chilli, the spiciness, isn’t literally a flavour. We only have 5 types of tastebuds - sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Spicy isn’t among them, because the sensation of tasting a hot chilli is actually a form of pain. As we feel the pain, we also feel the release of endorphins that help us handle the pain. Soon enough, we start to associate the pain of a chilli with pleasure, and we enjoy it.
Likewise, if we meditate on a physical pain or an adverse emotion, we might quickly find that there is nothing “wrong” with it. Without being attached to it, or seeking it, even so we might enjoy it.
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You’re on a bus about to get off at the market. A passenger blocks your exit, and suddenly you notice that there is a man on your right attempting to put his hand into your pocket.
“What’s this? What is going on? Are you trying to rob me?” you shout, stunned.
In that moment, you have the opportunity to give that man a chance to change. What might you say that would give him the best chance to reflect on his life decisions? Perhaps you could shout at him, berate him. Perhaps you could invoke the disappointment of his mother, having had such high hopes for him when he was born… Now she would see him reduced to a common thief.
Of course, it’s unlikely that any one interaction can change the course of a person’s life. The momentum is generally too strong. Then again, if you give a thousand chances to people, without sacrificing any of yourself, it would only take one to accept, to make it worthwhile.
For the transcipt: A Chance to Change A Beautiful Thoughts
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It’s wonderful to take the time to introspect to discover what our own hidden beliefs and expectations are. Sometimes when we improve our beliefs, there is still another simple step we can take in order to polish them further.
For example, many people spend countless hours arguing with others on the Internet. Their unspoken belief is “It is my responsibility to make sure people are correct!” or “It’s my duty to make sure people understand my point of view and see things my way!”
While we can take responsibility for our communication, ultimately we do not have control over how people see the world. So a more realistic belief is to say “It is not my responsibility to correct strangers on the Internet.” Naturally, as the belief is more realistic, it causes a lot less frustration.
However, in a sense that belief is diminishing our own power. Taking it one step further, we can say “I trust the Divinity and intelligence of others to figure things out.” With beliefs like these, we can at once affirm respect for others and for ourselves.
For the transcript:Phrase It Positively A Beautiful Thought
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During the pandemic and even beforehand, many people around have been feeling an increase in their anxiety, and may not even know the cause. If you’re nervous, your mind can run away trying to find justifications, and that can lead to a downward spiral – nerves leading to fear, combining into anxiety, imagining awkward situations, and so on.
You don’t always need to know the causes to feel anxiety, and as it turns out, many times you don’t need to know the causes to solve it either. In this episode, Kurt goes through some perspectives and techniques to help you address, overcome and start to transmute your anxiety and other emotional problems into something beneficial.
Topics discussed include:
- Pranayama or breathing exercises
- The importance of being open-minded
- Dropping anxiety like a weight
- Coping mechanisms and thriving strategies
- Tech detox
- Meditation – mindfulness, seated, walking
- The way you think
- The power of language over your state of mind
- Black and white thinking
- How to stick with a habit
- How resistance to anxiety causes you to become more anxious; and
- Having a little faith
For links and notes: Anxiety Mastery A Beautiful Thought
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Moving through the world without paying attention, we might accidentally close a door too hard, or bring our feet down against the pavement with too much force. Some of these events are subtler than others, and can easily be missed.
When we do notice our own bodies and notice our surroundings, we will start to adjust, finding ways to interact with the world more gently.
Taking a walk, we might make the effort to be aware of our feet, taking care to place the balls of our feet first. In the long term, this might even have a large impact on the health of our bones and joints.
Being present in the world, we disturb less ourselves and others; we are gentle in our presence.
For the transcript Gentleness is Presence A Beautiful Thought
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We might have the will to change our lives, to get into shape or to purify our minds and spirit through meditation. Yet when we think about going to the gym and looking awkward on a Smith machine, we get uncomfortable. Looking at the meditation cushion or yoga mat, suddenly taking that first step seems so daunting.
Also important is the concept of self. If we don't see ourselves as fit, healthy people, as relaxed, focused individuals, we may prefer inaction.
Perhaps we don't have to do it all at once. In Atomic Habits, James Clear recommends starting small, even with the absolute smallest action we can take. One single pushup, one line in the journal, one minute or even one second of seated meditation could begin us on a journey, starting to see ourselves and the world differently. Piece by piece, transforming our identity, by starting small.
For the transcript: Start Small A Beautiful Thought
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You might have heard the expression "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." Sometimes it's attributed to the Buddha, but it's much more likely that it originated from an unknown source, coming from some member of Alcoholics Anonymous.
However, the phrase is consistent with the Buddha's teachings, as we see in this quote from the Sallatha Sutta:
“When touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental. Just as if they were to shoot a man with an arrow and, right afterward, were to shoot him with another one, so that he would feel the pains of two arrows; in the same way, when touched with a feeling of pain, the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person sorrows, grieves, & laments, beats his breast, becomes distraught. So he feels two pains, physical & mental.”
How can we avoid telling ourselves stories about our pain? How can we experience the pain alone? How can we avoid piercing ourselves with that second arrow?
For the transcript: One Arrow A Beautiful Thought
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Most of us know what it's like to receive inspiration, to have an idea, perhaps one that seems to come out of nowhere, and think "that would be nice". Some people have the uncommon habit of writing down those ideas, bringing them into the second dimension - a little closer to being fully real.
Having them on the page, it's much easier to take action, embodying the idea in the third dimension. Then to form a habit across time, the fourth dimension.
Having transformed through the process, it's natural that someone will say "Wow, what you've done is so inspiring!" Then they might even write down their thoughts, take action, and create a habit. That is when our thoughts enter the fifth dimension - changing the personal universe of another.
When you receive inspiration, where will you take it?
For the transcript: Dimensions of Being A Beautiful Thought
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Eze Sánchez is a life coach and expert in non-violent communication living in Gainesville, Florida.
Here he tells us the story of how he first conceived the idea of being a life coach, even before he knew there was a name for it. Practicing reiki and massage therapy, he found that many times the important thing for the client was being heard in a space free of judgement. Being so ready to listen carefully to people, he found that often they would open up to him in a way they wouldn't even open up to their closest friends.
Being very afraid of having a lack of security or stability, he learnt to be honest with himself about the message behind the fear, and so he planned carefully to make the transition as smooth as possible.
In the interview, Eze and Kurt discuss how the principles of nonviolent communication can help people to find the messages behind their emotions, about how to make a significant and sustainable life transition, and how a person's nature can be expressed in limitless ways in their search for fulfillment.
For notes and links: A New Life WIth Eze Sanchez A Beautiful Thought
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When speaking to someone, we might find that our mind suddenly goes blank. This can be a source of frustration, or a spontaneous meditation. For a moment we find ourselves free from any thought, and, circumstances providing, we can simply relax into that space.
During seated meditation, one might find that the situation is reversed. Now one seeks an absence of thought, and it is a busy mind that is a source of frustration.
The great thing about meditation is, there is no rush. If the mind relaxes during your first session, that is wonderful. If your mind relaxes when you reach the hundredth session, that is just as valuable.
For the transcript: Gap Between Our Thoughts A Beautiful Thought
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In one fable from business, a Chinese man and a man from the United States meet to discuss a potential deal. The American man presents his case with great enthusiasm, explaining all the elements and trying to sell the Chinese fellow on the benefits. The Chinese simply waits patiently, listens and says “Yes.”
By the end of the meeting, the American has the impression that he was in control the whole time. Yet the Chinese is the one who leaves with a lot more understanding and knowledge.
Many things are revealed to us, when we exercise observation and discernment, as in this story from a Monk Friend:
A monk walks in a little late to the evening chant. Due to where he stands and sits in the hall, he can’t easily see the page number of the prayer books of his brothers and sisters, yet after a few moments he has opened his book to the correct page and is chanting along.
After the chanting, a brother approaches the monk, astounded. He says “You couldn’t possibly have seen the page number from where you stood. This is incredible. You must have used the Eye of the Buddha to know the correct page.”
Our monk says no, actually what he did was quite simple. He observed that they were about one third of the way through the chant book, and while he couldn’t read the text, he could clearly see its shape. He found the page with the correct outline, listened to the chanting, and joined in from that spot.
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It’s often said that the path to hell is laid with good intentions. Good intentions are a necessary, but not sufficient condition for a good life.
Good intentions enable us to know what ends might be desirable, but they don’t help us to know how to attain them.
Fine discrimination allows us to determine the correct means to carry out our plans, to see clearly the obstacles that might prevent us and how to work around them, or even turn them to our advantage. In combination with good intentions, we can answer the question “What is worth doing?”
Right action enables us to move in the correct direction, to bring our plans to life, and to fruition, to enact a vision with precision.
Any one or two of these qualities is not sufficient for a good life. But all three are disproportionately powerful, and someone who strengthens the heart, mind and hand will defy many limitations.
For the transcript: Three Qualities for a Good Life A Beautiful Thought
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In our romantic relationships, sometimes our best sides are revealed, and sometimes our worst sides. Dating someone can expose our insecurities. Breaking up can expose our resentment.
Those are some of the times when it is most difficult to be present, to be conscious of our emotions, and not blame others for them.
That means those moments are also a great measure of our practice, carefully keeping the mind still.
Every time we have someone in our arms, every time someone holds us in their hearts, that is a chance to be gentle.
For the transcript: Please Be Gentle A Beautiful Thought
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Ana Gaeta found herself in a marriage that might seem more like a kidnapping, unable to leave her home and closely monitored by her husband at all times. Trapped in a situation with no support, being told constantly by her partner that nobody would believe her and seeing that the church and police really didn’t believe her, she started to question her faith.
However, she continued to pray and eventually regained a connection with the Divine. Finding the voice of intuition inside, she began to find a way to improve her life despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles. She regained her freedom physically, and then spiritually, through forgiveness and gratitude.
Content warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual violence.
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When observing our own thoughts, we can, as an exercise, ask how the thoughts relate to our identity.
With some thoughts, it will be obvious as soon as we look - with a memory of an argument, thinking about the perfect comeback we could have said, about something we’re proud of or some reward we look forward to receiving. Just by scratching the surface we can see some association with the ego.
We might find that, even though we recognize these thoughts are based in ego, we want to persist with them. In that case, we can simply notice that impulse. Perhaps there is even a subtler desire to continue with the impulse. Again, we notice the desire.
Often in meditation, and in life, it is not necessary to seek to change things. By becoming aware of our own tendencies, we plant the seed of transformation.
Note: In the episode Kurt attributes a quote to Lao-Tzu - “When I let go of who I am, I become what I might be.” The quote is from a translation of Chapter 22 of the Tao Te Ching, but the translation is not faithful.
For the transcript Where is the Ego Here A Beautiful Thought
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In the history of psychology, we might find a certain model of human beings which has a thin veneer of polite conduct, barely covering a raw, animal, bestial nature - a calm face covering a bundle of nerves or even evil desires.
Psychologists such as Abraham Maslow claimed that this model is incomplete - that below that bundle of nerves lies a deeper nature, and it is beautiful.
In the introduction to Toward A Psychology of Being, Maslow writes that “this inner nature” seems to be positively good, and evil behavior is normally a reaction to situations where the inner nature is stifled.
And it is stifled in the normal person, by habit and cultural pressure. To the extent it is suppressed, the individual becomes sick. To the extent it is liberated, a person becomes healthy, fruitful and happy.
According to Maslow, even adverse experiences such as frustration, pain and tragedy can serve to reveal this inner nature.
What is your intrinsic nature? What is at your core?
For the transcript: What is Essentially You A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes when Australians come to Mexico, they become extremely enthusiastic about avocados, perhaps eating several a day. Of course in Australia, a single avocado can cost $2 or $3, and in Mexico you might find much fresher avocados for $1 or $2 per kilo.
Because of the perceived scarcity, they’re valued more. And of course, when something is seen as common, it is valued less. So often we see things in context, in comparison to other things, and not complete of themselves.
In Abraham Maslow’s “Toward A Psychology Of Being”, he describes the idea of “B-cognition”, or “being cognition”. Maslow writes:
“In B-cognition, the experience or the object tends to be seen as a whole, as a complete unit, detached from relations, from possible usefulness, and from purpose. It is seen as if it were all there was in the universe, as if it were all of Being, synonymous with the universe.”
What might happen to us, and what might change in our experience, if we for a moment cease categorizing objects, and see them just as they are?
For the transcript: Noticing Being A Beautiful Thought
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In the song “A Boy Named Sue”, Johnny Cash tells a story of a man with a name which invites derision and bullying. Finally, he finds his estranged father, who explains to Sue that he believed the boy had to be tough, in order to face a tough world. Then in the epilogue, Sue states that if he has a son, he will name him “anything but Sue!”
Many people have similar ideas, that the cruelty of the world somehow justifies cruelty to others, especially to children, even to the point of raising their hands to a child, or teaching them lessons in ways that disappoint, like taking taxes from their allowance.
Perhaps if the world is so cruel, filled with death, violence and taxes, it is our grand opportunity not to succumb to cruelty, but instead to be as kind as possible.
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Imagine finding yourself as an adolescent woman in your country of birth, years after living abroad, still young and innocent. You experience culture shock, even within your family and trying to communicate with members of your church. Your very traditional grandparents try to convince you to marry, young as you are, though you can’t help but feel something is not right…
That is the story our guest Ana Gaeta tells in this first half of the interview, a story of innocence and innocence lost, deception and intuition.
For resources: Prisoner in Your Own Home Ana Gaeta A Beautiful Thought
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If you have friends from Colombia, you might notice that nothing gets them angrier than when others have a stereotyped conception of the Republic which involves cocaine, Pablo Escobar, and plastic surgery.
Of course, a Colombian friend knows very well that this stereotype exists, yet they still get very bothered by it every time it surfaces. In many cases, Colombians are so sensitive that they will see the stereotype and take offense, imagining that someone is a sex or drug tourist when they’re not.
In a sense it’s reasonable to expect that people will know the nice things about the country we identify with, just as it’s reasonable to expect that our colleagues will arrive on time, or that people will always be polite to us. Realistically, people will sometimes have these unpleasant ideas and behaviors.
The moment we form more realistic expectations, we will cease to find our unrealistic expectations thwarted, and find greater peace.
For the transcript: Go Ahead and Be Angry A Beautiful Thought
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In this episode, Kurt recounts an unusual dream.
He is seated in a circle of nuns, monks and other practitioners on the grass in the grounds of a temple. To his left there is a young woman of Malaysian appearance, around 20 years old. She is overflowing with joy, laughing and joking. Kurt knows that she is the head of the temple and also an arahat, an enlightened being.
Everything is covered in the warm purple, lavender and orange hues of a sunset. One feels so intensely peaceful and content.
The group starts to walk to the hall for the evening chant. A cloud floats by overhead, tinted with these same sunset colours. The cloud is symmetrical, and in the middle it has the face of the Buddha. “Surely this must be a good omen,” one thinks.
Reaching the temple and sitting down to pray, one picks up an unusual lotus flower. It has long indigo petals, something like that of a thistle, and they are again formed into the shape of the Buddha’s face, another good omen.
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At times in our lives we might find ourselves in negative feedback loops, or vicious cycles. Our emotions run wild, and then we interpret them, and our interpretations lead us to more adverse emotions.
At any point in this process, we can become conscious of the emotions, the interpretations, or the impulse to continue the loop. Often just becoming aware of what is going on within us is sufficient to initiate positive, powerful transformation.
Just as with a tensed muscle, bringing consciousness to it might cause it to relax. Of course, some muscles are so tight that we must clench them in order to release them, and that too has an analogue with our emotions - “paradoxical intention” as described by Viktor Frankl i.e. when we try hard to feel an affect strongly, we will often feel calm afterwards.
For a moment we might find ourselves free from the haunting of emotions and interpretations. Then we can ask the golden question… Who do I want to be today?
For the transcript, follow this link
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Colombian singer-songwriter Darwin Grajales penned this lyric: “Cuando hay música en tu alma, la oye todo el universo.” When there is music in your soul, the whole universe hears it.
Many spiritual people, and even some scientifically minded, talk about the ideas of a fractal universe or a holographic universe. The idea is if you look at any individual part of the universe, you will find a kind of blueprint for the whole universe. The part contains the whole, and the whole contains every part.
Kary Mullis, inventor of the PCR process, said that by using the process, one could find “just about anything in just about anyone”, saying that it made him partial to the Buddhist idea that everything contains everything else.
If that is the case, even making a small change within ourselves might echo through all that exists. Doing whatever work or joyful growth to create music in our souls, perhaps it really will be heard by the universe.
For the transcript: Music In Your Soul A Beautiful Thought
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Kenny Palurintano is known as “Conscious Kenny”, the traveler, plant-based chef and all-round nice guy. Kenny is known to spend his time going to Rainbow Gatherings and other festivals where freedom is enjoyed and celebrated.
Last week in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico, Kenny joined Kurt to tell some of his life story. Once he was young and depressed, starting his marriage after high school, then ending his marriage, and finding himself in a very dark place, abusing alcohol and other drugs, and deliberately getting into fights. He considered himself intelligent because of what he learned in books, and that led him to distrust his own experience.
In some moment, Kenny started to realize that he could experiment with life for himself, discovering techniques such as NLP and speakers such as Abraham Hicks, which would increase his personal power, lifting himself out of depression and becoming the positive person he is today.
For notes and more: Hopelessness to Wonder with Kenny Palurintano A Beautiful Thought
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As you sit in meditation, you might find that your mind starts wandering to some fantasy or some topic of the day. Perhaps you try to bring your mind back to the object, but find that your desire to fantasize is just too strong.
Then the temptation later is to scold yourself for not being focused enough, for not being able to set aside fantasies.
In many cases, and especially in the case of our own minds, we don’t need to struggle to change. Just as fertile soil, air, water and sun are sufficient to allow a seed to grow, being aware of ourselves is enough to create the conditions for change.
At first we notice the thought or whim that engages us. Then we notice the desire to continue with that whim. Then we might notice an impulse to create such a desire, becoming more and more conscious of subtle motivations which were previously hidden.
How deep might it go?
For the transcript: Remember to Recognize A Beautiful Thought
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Getting caught up with life, we might go months without making the effort to feel what’s going on inside ourselves. When we do, it might even seem something foreign. We will likely find some kind of unease sitting in the background.
Now, you are invited to look within. Do you find some residue of past emotions, some grudge of which you haven’t quite let go? Some discomfort waiting, making a subtle noise like radio static?
We can begin to observe the feeling and texture of these emotions, perhaps giving them names in order to better understand them.
Then we check in on them from time to time, eventually finding that they have dissolved, and in their wake there is nothing but clear space.
For the transcript: Explore Your Emotions A Beautiful Thought
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When a political figure dies, people sometimes celebrate. In the case of Thatcher, they ever took to the streets and sang “Ding dong, the witch is dead!”. They ask, “Why shouldn’t we speak ill of the dead? Why shouldn’t we criticize those who have passed?” These are posed as rhetorical questions, but as with so many rhetorical questions they are excellent lines of intellectual inquiry.
These questions are an opportunity for the application of “Chesterton’s fence”, the rule that we should not destroy something well-established unless we know first what its purpose was.
The rule to not speak of the dead is corollary of the old-fashioned standard of etiquette - that we ought not to speak ill of someone who isn’t present. To speak ill of someone who is not present gives them no chance to defend themselves, and also no chance to resolve the conflict. Without such a chance, the target of our gossip is clearly at a disadvantage.
We can also see the effects of this personally in ourselves and in others who have this habit. When we gossip about others living or not, we can begin to ask “Right now, am I feeling light, calm, joyful? Or am I feeling bitter?”
Our Great Teacher Lord Buddha and many sages before Him told us that we only have three tools with which to interact with the world - our thoughts, speech and action. We may find that applying awareness and restraint to one of these often aligns the other two. In this case, if we control our negative speech, we may find that our unfavorable thoughts and actions are also subdued. Then perhaps we have a chance to think, speak and act in a way that is delightful.
For the transcript: Speak of the Dead A Beautiful Thought
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Psychologist R.D. Laing used to tell a story of a prisoner who was sitting in his cell. One day the guards come and open the gate and say “Your time is up. You’re free to go.”
Unusually, the prisoner says “No, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving this place until I understand the exact circumstances which lead to my being here.”
It might sound strange, but many of us take a similar course of action when we find ourselves in depression, anxiety, or other unfavourable mental states.
We might not know how we got there… But we have the power to walk out.
For the transcript: Walk Out A Beautiful Thought
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In the age of information, fake news, real news and every other kind of news inbetween, it’s important to be media savvy. With so many people wanting us to believe their ideas, combined with a highly emotional topic such as a contagious disease, it’s vital to know how to examine what is being presented.
Learning how to discern what is said, what is unsaid and what is true is difficult. We can begin by asking these three key questions:
- What is the agenda?
Many have heard the expression “If it bleeds, it leads”, meaning that if a story is sensational or horrific, media organizations are much more likely to make it a front page or leading story.
Some say humans have an evolutionary bias towards bad news, as part of the reason humans have survived so long is by being very risk-averse and avoiding threats. That is what makes news organizations focus on the bad stuff.
If our friends become infected with fear or hysteria from the news, they will also want us to feel afraid, as misery loves company.
Governments sometimes also like us to feel fear, as that can make us easier to control.
Knowing that a source has bad intentions doesn’t mean that they’re wrong, just as knowing someone has good intentions doesn’t mean that they’re correct. Even so, it is useful to be aware of those biases so we can treat the information accordingly.
- What is the context?Let’s say someone tells you about a disease which is going to kill 100,000s of people in the next year. It’s causing people heart damage, lung damage, loss of smell, taste and hair.
If I tell you it’s a new disease, you might be very alarmed. However, if I tell you that these are all facts about influenza - which they are - you might simply say “oh, so it’s fine.”
In many cases, when the news is reported, it lacks key context. That can often, deliberately, make the facts seem more sensational than they are.
So it is important to ask, what information doesn’t this article tell me? Does it tell me what the situation looks like normally, and how the current situation compares?
- What is the content?When we read an article, sometimes the wording can be phrased as to mislead - inciting fear in the audience by allowing them to fill in the blanks.
Headlines are often not representative of the article, and when we read the body closely, we might find that it tells a very different story. Sometimes the headline is an oversimplification, and sometimes it even contradicts the main text.
News organizations are aware that people tune out after the headline and will take advantage of this fact. That’s why it’s important to be aware of what is literally stated.
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In sales, people talk about the idea of “going first”, meaning that if you want someone to feel a certain emotion, you can feel it yourself. If you want someone to be happy, you can set an example by being happy. If you’d like people to forgive you, or themselves, you can be a model for that behavior.
On the flipside, if I feel sorry for myself or feel guilty for things I’ve done, others might follow my lead and blame me. And even if they don’t, it might color my perception so much that I believe they do.
The biologist Rupert Sheldrake proposed the idea of “morphic fields”. He believes that the universe is a creature of habit. When something happens once, it is more likely to happen again. And when it happens many times, it is much more likely.
When we assume the sweet responsibility of forgiving ourselves and others, could it be that we set a precedent for the universe, with our forgiveness echoing in every soul, ready to forgive more and more?
For the transcript: Set A Precedent A Beautiful Thought
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In many situations, we might find ourselves with a level of healthy stress - practicing yoga, in the gym, in our professional lives and even in our hobbies. The stress is good for us; it will help us grow. But if we only have stress, the growth can be more difficult than it needs to be.
The stress is the yang, the masculine energy. When we find a yin, or feminine energy, that can aid the growth. The yin can be the “spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down”, so to speak.
In yoga, we do a stretch and focus our breath and blood-flow into the tendons, relaxing as we are tensing. Or some of our muscles might be very tight in the moment, and the surrounding muscles are completely still.
In a pool hall, we might take the same shot over and over, hundreds of times, just like Minnesota Fats in Walter Tevis’s The Hustler. Our relaxed, welcoming attitude to the outcome provides a soft cushion for our successes and failures.
There, we find comfort in the uncomfortable.
For the transcript: Comfort in the Uncomfortable A Beautiful Thought
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As we go about our days, we might find ourselves lost in thought. We worry about whether we turned off the oven or the water heater, whether we will meet the deadline, whether people will like us.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that at some point during our day, suddenly there’s a burst of adrenaline from the sides of our spine, and we start to feel a little anxiety or even panic, wondering if there’s something urgent left to do.
In those moments, we can take a deep breath and remember… Maybe we will find the strength to face whatever arises, maybe we have that inner peace to handle all situations in the moment we require it. Maybe, in fact, there’s nothing to worry about at all, ever.
Maybe it’s nothing.
For the transcript: Maybe It's Nothing A Beautiful Thought
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If you reflect on your life, you can probably remember many times when you said something you thought was rather innocent, and someone got very offended. Perhaps in the context there was a connotation which you were unaware of, or you just made a slip-up.
Likewise, you might remember many times you were offended, reacting quickly, assuming that you knew exactly what was intended.
Many times we react without knowing what a person meant - as we can’t know what is going on in someone’s mind before asking. It’s very likely that their comment was more innocent than we realized, as people are often involved in their own worlds, and can’t know ahead of time how their comment might be interpreted.
In fact, even when someone sets out to offend us, in a way they have a positive intention. To seek to offend you is to affirm that your opinion and your mind is worthy of attention.
For transcript: I Didn't Mean to Offend A Beautiful Thought
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Not many people choose a monastic lifestyle, especially today. Many prefer to live in the world; most seek pleasure expecting that it will somehow lead them to satisfaction. Naturally, the pleasure is often short-lived.
Through renouncing most earthly pleasures, living a simple life, eating one meal a day and spending hours in quiet contemplation, perhaps one might learn more about the nature of the body, mind and spirit. Such a person might teach us how to distinguish pain from suffering, to live a life without suffering.
In this interview, Kurt talks with a monk who has practiced meditation and the lessons of Buddhism and yoga tradition for many years. Listen and learn, and you will gain the perspective of our Monk Friend.
For links and notes: Life Without Suffering A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes people say there are many more negative emotions than there are positive emotions. Perhaps it’s just because we haven’t yet charted our internal universes, discovering exactly what it is to feel, what colors are available for our emotional paintbrushes.
In Latin America, you might show someone a picture of your pet and they say “que lindo” - “how lovely”, or you ask about their favorite town and they say “es un pueblo muy bonito” - “it’s a very pretty town”. When they say it, you can easily hear in their voice that they are emotional about it.
Perhaps we might call this emotion “enchantment”, just as we sometimes say in English “It’s enchanting to meet you.”
What does it feel like to be enchanted? What enchants you? And can you be more open to being enchanted?
For transcript go to: Enchanted to Meet You A Beautiful Thought
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When we begin some discipline, eventually, we might stop the practice. Our schedule gets too busy, or we feel too lazy, and we forget how important our meditation, exercise or reading was to us.
The act of returning to practice is so important that some even say, that is the practice. Perhaps the practice is not when things are going well for us, when we follow our schedule carefully. Perhaps the practice is when things become difficult and we lose our way.
With a little presence, we make our decision, and again we begin to sit and contemplate, to go to the gym, or crack open our books. We return to practice.
For the transcript: Return to Practice A Beautiful Thought
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In an extract from his journal, lucid dreamer Robert Waggoner writes:
‘At this point, I truly become overwhelmed by the beauty and love in this lucid dream. I stand up and everyone looks my way. I say, ‘When I awake in physical reality as Robert Waggoner born on January 28 in Kansas, sometimes the snow and cold of physical reality can get me down. But when I am here in this reality’ — my voice starts to get emotional — ‘ I am overwhelmed by the Enormous Beauty of this World.’”
Most of us can relate to the idea of the snow and cold of physical reality getting us down. Can you relate to the idea of being overwhelmed by the Enormous Beauty of this World?
For the transcript: Overwhelmed by the Beauty of this World A Beautiful Thought
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A prince lives in his palace for many years, enjoying fine wine, fine food and the company of beautiful, charismatic women. “I love life,” he says. “Life is so kind to me and offers me so many wonderful things.”
One day he decides he would like to see what the rest of the world looks like. He leaves with his faithful servant to explore the city. There he sees many forms of suffering - sickness, old age, poverty.
Now that the prince has seen that life is not perfect, that there are flaws and even tragedies, will he still have the courage to embrace the world, to love it? And would you?
For the transcript: Beautiful Medellin A Beautiful Thought
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Alistair Hart is a meditation teacher, showing students to learn how to be free of thoughts using knowledge from yoga.
In this episode, Alistair tells his story about facing various health difficulties - problems with his hip and shoulder joints, with his eyes, among others. Eventually he realized that the solution was to be found inside, using techniques such as yoga, astrology and applied kinesiology.
For notes and more: Healing Journey with Alistair Hart
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Deep in sleep, you might gently enter a dream, finding yourself in a foreign land with no familiar surroundings. Nobody speaks your language, and you’re not sure how to get where you want to go.
If you desire to control your experience, this might be a nightmare. Not knowing where you are and where to go can induce anxiety.
However, when you relax into such a dream, without preconception, ready to go wherever the path takes you, this dream will be an exploration and a blessing.
How is life like that dream?
For the transcript: Lost in the Mystery A Beautiful Thought
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If you’re a good person, you might do things for other people without thinking about what you’ll get in return. If you’re committed, you might even do things for people you don’t particularly like, just because you are in a position to help people.
Of course, the good karma is inevitable. If you do things for people, they will want to help you, speak well of you and recommend your business.
Then one day you will surely find yourself in a situation where you make an error, big or small. Perhaps it’s a small mistake, but because of the context it might have drastic consequences. But maybe, just maybe, people will see the kindness in your heart and be gracious enough to ignore your error.
For the transcript: A Little Merit A Beautiful Thought
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Watching a Hollywood movie with an orchestral soundtrack and lines carefully crafted to make us feel emotions, it’s only natural that we do feel emotions.
However, having that kind of awe, joy or elation in everyday life can be a little more subtle. We might have to listen carefully to pick it up.
Then, when we listen to someone and we do feel it, deeply, we can affirm that what they’re saying is special, with the simple and sweet phrase “you move me with your words.”
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“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” - Napoleon Hill
From a certain perspective, life is a series of disappointments and disillusionments. Reality rarely lives up to our expectations. Even when we get what we want, it seems that it’s not as sweet as we thought it might be.
When we examine our life more closely, when we embrace those failures, we might find that they contain wisdom for us… At first, simple things like “I won’t say that and embarrass myself again.” Then later, we see that our setbacks enable us a greater depth of understanding of ourselves, of the beauty of the world.
Using the correct eye, we might turn everything to gold.
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Super Ego is a hip hop producer and MC coming out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In this interview, Super Ego explains the story of when his girlfriend took legal action against him, putting a restraining order and stealing almost all of his music equipment. As a result, he felt fear and created a belief system to try to avoid feeling like that ever again.
Many people seem to develop similar beliefs and identities to avoid negative feelings, and Super Ego explains how someone can process those feelings through being aware of who you’re spending your time with, by exercising, and by taking the time to sit and process the emotions.
For transcript and Notes: Feel the Fear A Beautiful Thought
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Some people might tell you that if you have to try to be happy, maybe you’re not really happy. Perhaps this is a romantic idea of happiness, much like the romantic, Hollywood idea of love - that it doesn’t take effort, that it will happen of its own accord, that we don’t have to work on it.
Yet, when we look inside ourselves, directing our attention to the sacrum and the solar plexus, we might find that we observe a little light within us, a simple happiness connecting our body through the vagus nerve.
If we apply a little extra pressure, a little squeeze, we might feel even better, as if we’re tickling ourselves from the inside. Can we will ourselves to be happy?
For the transcript and notes: Squeeze A Little Happiness A Beautiful Thought
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At many moments in our lives, we will feel that someone has wronged us. We can choose to express our feelings, demand an apology, or we can choose to let it go. The worst thing we can do is what so many of us do - hold on to the grudge, without acting.
As humorist Buddy Hackett once quipped “I never hold a grudge … While you hold a grudge, they’re out dancing.” Holding onto negative emotions does not serve us; it embittens us. The more we hold on, the more they poison us; the more we forget the nice things that people have done for us.
In every moment some fixed feeling of being wronged emerges in our belly, we have the choice. We can allow that feeling to rot our insides, or we can shine the divine light of consciousness on it, making a decision to never feel it again.
For transcript and notes: Let Go of Grudges A Beautiful Thought
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In some ways, the shower is a cultural symbol, representing a period of the day that we have to ourselves, with few other responsibilities.
Some people know the shower as the “argument simulator”. We get into the shower and start imagining all of those arguments we could have one, all those zingers we’d lay down against our colleagues or family members to leave them so speechless that they had to admit we were right.
Or we know it as the time for “shower thoughts”, the times when our minds are most creative, looking at the world from a different perspective.
It is also a time when we can simply enjoy the moment. A hot shower or even a cold shower is a chance to enjoy bodily awareness, feeling the sensations of various parts of our bodies which we don’t always use, allowing the blood to flow into them and come alive.
There we feel presence, feeling every drop on our bodies. One moment of presence in a day makes all the difference.
For transcript and notes: Take a Shower A Beautiful Thought
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So many of us have the character trait of being self-demanding or autoexigent, criticizing and judging ourselves harshly for making mistakes, not moving forward fast enough, not fulfilling our dreams.
Many times, the antidote to autoexigence is self-congratulation. For the smallest things that we do right, we can praise ourselves, being kind and patient to ourselves, celebrating whatever tiny successes we have.
For example, if a person has little direction in life, he might praise himself just for doing a few tasks a day - exercising for 20 minutes and writing a few lines. By moving forward in whatever small way, he can call his day a success.
For transcript and notes: Praise Yourself A Beautiful Thought
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We might look back at our pasts, wondering how we could have done such stupid things, made such big mistakes and faux pas.
Of course, when we did those things, we didn't necessarily have the wisdom or composure that we do now.
In fact, a whole life is a process of calibration. We might go a little too far, or not far enough. Every step of the way, we learn a little more about what counts as a perfect balance for us.
For the transcript, follow this link: Calibrate Ourselves A Beautiful Thought
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When we're depressed, we might spend a lot of time thinking about it. We might ruminate on our flaws, analyse our mistakes, try to figure out what is wrong with us.
Then, when we're happy, we don't necessarily think about those things. We might even be afraid to ask why we're happy - because sometimes becoming analytical in those moments can cause an end to that precious joy.
However, if we ask with a little gentleness and presence, we can start to find some answers for ourselves. Gently, softly, we discover the keys to our own happiness.
For the transcript: Why Am I Happy? A Beautiful Thought
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On this podcast, we talk about so many interesting techniques to calm the emotions or feel good about ourselves. For example, practicing mindfulness, savoring the moment, wrapping our cringey memories in love, thanking them and sending them to source.
Practicing any of these techniques consistently reveals the greater truth behind them. Integrating the lessons, making them a part of our beings, will make us great.
For transcript and notes: Integrate the Lessons A Beautiful Thought
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You're in the gym. You get to the last rep in your last set of bench press. The weight feels heavy in your hands, and you're tempted to just put it down, and mark it as a failure.
But something inside you says let's continue. You wrestle with the bar, suspending it in the air, pushing it to a point of possibility. You grunt and finally push the bar up, extending your arms and placing it back in the rack.
Moments like these, you really feel alive. But they're not always quite as dramatic.
As a novice meditator, you might sit still just for five minutes. When the timer sounds, you can get up. Of course, nobody is watching or holding you accountable. You could even get up before the timer sounds, and nobody would know.
But you persist, and when the alarm goes off you decide to sit a little longer, just for 30 more seconds to enjoy whatever is happening in your mind and body.
In those moments, you begin to let go of your idea of the person you thought you were. It's that little bit extra that makes all the difference.
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In these unusual times, we might find ourselves feeling intense extremes of emotions. Perhaps we've found a way to feel really good most of the time, but when something goes against our expectations, we begin to feel really, really bad.
It might seem like a tightrope walk, trying to monitor and modulate our emotions so we can stay in that space of relaxed contentment or excitement.
But a tightrope walk isn't the best analogy... that would mean that the stakes were very high - perhaps even life and death.
A better analogy comes from Swami Muktananda, describing the world as a "play of consciousness". We are free to be at ease, to play and explore in the world, and with our emotions.
For the transcript and notes: A Delicate Balance A Beautiful Thought
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We do many things in our day, but we might not really notice them.
Some things we even do almost entirely for our own pleasure, for example eating an ice cream. But we might not be present while doing it.
If we are present, if we do observe the different tastes and textures, feelings of temperature, and all the associated sensations, we quickly find that we can intentionally enjoy an experience.
We might even find that things we perform out of duty or practicality, such as washing the dishes, can suddenly become enjoyable - just by savouring the moment.
For the transcript, follow this link: Savor the Moment A Beautiful Thought
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Most of us have the ability, in one form or another, to pick up on other people’s emotions, or to put ourselves in their shoes and imagine what life might be like, seeing the world as they do. These are two key components of empathy - emotional and intellectual.
Having this ability allows us to help others to heal, and perhaps more importantly, to enable our own healing.
In many new age and hippie circles, people like to use the phrase “hold space”. It sounds like a vague term, but as it turns out, there is a kind of science to it. In humanist psychologist Carl Rogers’ book “On Becoming A Person”, he outlines three key components: empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard.
By embodying these three characteristics or habits, we can provide a positive model for those around us, to show them how to process their emotions especially in hard times.
Perhaps the calling of an empath is this:
To understand ourselves, our own emotions. As in the quote attributed to Albert Ellis, “We can only understand others to the extent and the manner in which we understand ourselves.”
Thereby, we can understand others.
By understanding others, we allow them to understand themselves.
This episode first appeared as a guest episode on Erika Harris’s podcast, “The Work of The Empath”.
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When we begin to feel infatuated with someone, there is normally an associated feeling of lack. We have given up our own power, somehow believing that the object of our affections is somehow in control of or responsible for our emotions.
In analyzing our beliefs about the situation, we might find beliefs such as:
“I need someone to love me romantically to feel complete.”
“This person in particular must be my partner.”
“This feeling of love means this person must fulfill a particular role in my life.”
When we ask ourselves if these things are true, we quickly find that they’re not accurate. There are times in our lives when we have felt complete without a romantic partner, and when we have a particular feeling that does not mean that a certain person will ultimately be a part of our life in the way we expect.
Having examined the beliefs, we can choose beliefs that are more realistic, that result in less frustration and more contentment. For example:
“I am complete now, of myself. I can feel a broad range of emotions, including love and happiness, on my own.”
“I am responsible for my own happiness and love. My emotions are my responsibility. I don’t need to depend on any other person to generate these.”
“Interpretations of emotions can be treated as separate from the emotions.”
For transcript and notes: Get Over A Crush Part 2 A Beautiful Thought
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There are many factors which cause and maintain an unhealthy crush or infatuation.
Your mind might be trying to repeat ideas in order to prolong the suffering... It feels good to feel bad. Being aware of the thoughts can help us leave them behind.
We might stack our emotions, making it so much more difficult to disentangle them. We might feel embarrassed that we have a crush, or blame ourselves or the object of our affections for making us feel this way. Of course, it's a lot easier to deal with just one emotion rather than three on top of each other.
Ultimately, these things are not personal. If someone acts in a way that you think is incorrect, they're probably not doing it to spite your eternal soul. They're merely playing out their own dramas, just as you are.
For the transcript: Get Over A Crush A Beautiful Thought
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The word "amen" goes back to Hebrew roots, literally meaning "truth", and even further to the Semitic root a-m-n "to be trustworthy, confirm, support."
When we say "amen" at the end of a prayer, it doesn't need to be just a ritual. It can be an affirmation that everything we said is pure, right, and true.
For transcript and notes: Amen A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes we focus so much on what's going on around us... we forget to have a look at what's going on inside us.
Maybe there's a lot going on, feelings of energy, electricity, warmth... Some kind of subtle happiness that stays with us.
By directing our attention inwards, we can become more directly aware of our emotions, being conscious in our disturbed moments, and going deep into our peaceful moments. Whatever we find, by going inside, we are almost certain to find a different aspect of it - something softer and sweeter.
What’s inside you, right now?
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Sterlin Lujan is known as the “Psychologic Anarchist”, known for his ideas of compassionate or relational anarchy - creating a better world by treating people better. Sterlin is very close to releasing his first book, “Dignity and Decency: Rhapsodic musings of a modern anarchist”.
In the previous interview with Sterlin, he explained how he took MDMA for the first time and started to open his heart, experiencing greater empathy and compassion for himself and others, and trying to share that experience. In this episode, Sterlin explains how he quickly became enamoured with the life of a drug dealer, enjoying the money and power associated with that role.
Eventually his ego or his lack of caution led to him being caught by authorities, storming his home to break open a safe, charging him with possession, intent to distribute, manufacture of illicit substances, and even organized crime.
Join us as Sterlin explains the trauma of being locked in a cage, the injustice of the system, and how he processed his trauma by resolving to make the world a better place.
Content warning: drugs
For links and notes go to Unorganized Criminal Sterlin Lujan
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In The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruíz says we don’t have to take anything personally:
“Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.”
When we drop a fork in the kitchen and it falls to the ground, it’s not doing that to spite us. It’s merely playing out its nature, in alignment with the forces acting on it.
Likewise, when someone does something to us, out of indifference or even out of malice, it has little to do with us. They are merely playing out their actions, their drama, or their understanding of the world.
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Many of us try to see life and life’s situations as puzzles, trying to solve them, put every piece in its place… Trying to arrange every part as if it were a machine.
When we get very deep into that mindset, we might start to feel like machines too, not the creative, living, breathing beings that we are.
Perhaps there’s another way to look at life, where we’re not striving or struggling. We may work hard, not in a way that reduces us, but a way that brings us life. We allow life to come to us.
For Notes and transcript go to: Let Go of Fighting A Beautiful Thought
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Some emotions stick with us longer than we’d like. Resisting them, we become uncomfortable with their presence. We might deny them, but they persist. How do you deal with such emotions?
One strategy is Viktor Frankl’s concept of paradoxical intention. By attempting to feel the emotion as intensely as possible, we might find that our experience of it is instantly transformed. In some way, the quality of the emotion is the same, but now we can see that it’s not entirely unpleasant. Having felt it, acknowledge it entirely, we might find that it simply leaves.
We also might try observing it, giving it space, and an intellectual eye. Ask little questions about it, such as, where is it in the body? What is its texture - rough, smooth, something else? Is it bright or dark? What colour is it? What flavour is it? By observing it patiently, with affection, we might start to understand what this emotion has brought for us.
Similarly, if we give a little loving space to the emotion, being calm with it and allowing it to be exactly what it is, offering it care and support, as one might give an upset child… We may find that it is quickly pacified, and our self-knowledge increased.
For transcript and notes go to: Lean into Your Emotions A Beautiful Thought
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The state of Chiapas, Mexico is known for its natural beauty, green pastures, tamales with local herbs, and also for its border with Guatemala where many travelers have crossed seeking adventure.
In this episode, Kurt explains how he went to Talismán, Chiapas to renew his stay in Mexico, praying for an adventure that went beyond pragmatic into the sublime, facing the challenges and finally discovering the goodness of the people of Chiapas - even those who might be in a position to make life difficult.
As they say in Latin America, “Somos más los buenos” - there are more of us good folks.
For the transcript and notes go to: A Trip To Chiapas - A Beautiful Thought
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As Hugo Chávez’ dictatorship was getting into full swing in Venezuela, many expatriates were unsure of what to do. Many had invested in property and businesses around the country, including on the beautiful island of Margarita.
Tom Ravey was dealing with this situation, when a friend asked for his help, travelling to Trinidad and Tobago to recover a boat stolen by her estranged husband.
However, it wasn’t as easy as it first seemed, with Tom and his crew lost power, gas, and even faced troubles with the Venezuelan coast guard.
What can we learn from Tom’s adventure on the high seas, an adventure of accidental piracy?
For more info: High Seas Adventure with Tom Ravey A Beautiful Thought
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There aren’t too many people, even among the rich and famous, who can live life so big, with such personality that they divide and fascinate the masses. Kanye West is one of those people.
When you hear him speak, you can feel the passion, the belief in himself. Throughout his career, in one form or another, his belief in himself was supported by his belief in God.
For transcript and notes: God Bless Kanye West A Beautiful Thought
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It’s hard to know exactly what makes someone successful. Of course many people get lucky with contacts, inheritance and other factors.
But it’s never all about luck. Many are more determined, they have more grit… And maybe they’re willing to think bigger, to imagine more.
One day you might wake up and write your goals and decide you won’t place any limits on yourself… You might write down the most outlandish thing you’ve thought of, and start dreaming about how to achieve it.
In fact, your goals might become so big, that when you’re at a party and explain them to someone, they say “I don’t know man… That’s a bit of a stretch of the imagination.”
And you say “Yes, exactly. My dreams are so big, if you want to think about them, you must stretch your imagination.”
For the transcript and notes go to: Stretch of the Imagination A Beautiful Thought
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At the end of your meditation, you might find yourself saying a little prayer to conclude, expressing your gratitude for the myriad of things that occurs to you - however you might judge them in the moment.
Thank you for the good times, thank you for the bad times. Thank you for the pleasure, the enjoyment, the happiness, the experience. Thank you for the sadness, the sorrow, the melancholy, the pain, the suffering.
Thank you for everything.
For transcript and notes follow this link: Thank You For Everything A Beautiful Thought
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"The only thing I know is that I know nothing." - Socrates.
Leaving behind our pride, some of our ego, our feelings of superiority, we can begin to explore the world. We no longer have such a strong desire to see it as we wish it were. Instead, we can dive into the mystery.
When we admit that we know so little, we are free to find out that life can be so much better.
For transcript and notes go to: How Wonderful to Know Nothing A Beautiful Thought
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Francisco Valencia is an engineer, lawyer, writer of short fiction and a defender of animal rights, living in Guadalajara, Mexico.
In this interview, Francisco explains the process that he went through in discovering his compassion for animals, then finding out that his friends and family weren’t always receptive to his message in the way he presented it, and how he could learn to be more patient with them.
For notes and links go to: Animal Brothers with Francisco Valencia A Beautiful Thought
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Wim Hof learnt to tolerate cold temperatures and figured out some breathing techniques, which he later used in a laboratory context to remove e-coli from his body. Hof claims he can activate adrenaline and other hormones in his body.
We might not get to that level, but by taking cold showers, we can become more resistant to cold, change the structure of our body fat, and also learn that there's a big difference between the pain of the thought, and the pain of a thing.
For transcript and notes go to: Cold Showers A Beautiful Thought
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Sitting in a café and looking around, watching people out of the window, feeling the chair under your seat... You might just feel what is happening, just for a moment. There's nothing special about this moment, there's no thrill of victory or agony of defeat. It's just a little simple moment to enjoy.
You notice the cars pass, feel the coolness or warmth of the air, touch the table and acknowledge its solidity. Nothing of consequence is happening, nothing particularly good and nothing bad. This is a moment to savour the peace, to be happy.
For transcript and notes go to: A Moment Just to Feel A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes you might do things, just going through the motions. We eat our food just to eat it, We say hello and goodbye just to say them. We might even phone it in when we pray.
Going to a fast food restaurant, we order a burger, fries and a sundae. Sitting down, we eat the fries quickly, thinking we still have the burger. Then chomp down the fries, thinking we still have the sundae. Then we demolish the sundae, and realise we’ve rushed through the whole meal. What a shame it would be… to treat life the same way.
What if we were to do these things with presence, feeling them, doing them anew, now, with gravity?
For transcript and notes go to: Now with Gravity A Beautiful Thought
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Once you make the decision to improve yourself continually, in whatever small way, you can know that soon enough, there will be no limit to your growth. There is no limit to how wonderful things can become.
We might even call it "karma"... the natural cause and effect over the long term.
Following the instruction of a true guru, at first you might be skeptical. The things she is telling you seem unbelievable... But then you follow her direction, and learn that yes, she was correct. Eventually, you might wonder why you're even spending the energy to question, when your guru has been right so many times.
Finally, we know... All we have to do is continue on the path, and we will achieve liberation.
For transcript and notes go to: What's In Store A Beautiful Thought
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On June 4th, 2020, hundreds of young people took to the streets of Guadalajara to protest the death of Giovanni López. López was arrested by police in the town of Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos, about an hour outside of Guadalajara. When his family finally found him, he was dead in hospital, with a bullet in his foot.
The reason given for his arrest was the fact that he wasn’t wearing a face mask. However, with many things in Mexico, sometimes there is more below the surface.
At the protests, people burned police cars, put graffiti on government offices, and set fire to a police officer.
While some of that was happening, Kurt Robinson was there taking photos and trying to talk to protesters and police.
In this episode, Kurt discusses the events, the surprising compassion of the police, and the reasons we might want to have empathy for even those who might oppress us.
For notes go to: Our Common Humanity A Beautiful Thought
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We might have habits that we’ve carried with us for many years and not even noticed. The moment we become conscious of them, we have an opportunity to change them, and transform ourselves.
Many times, being conscious of our habits is sufficient to transform them. The fact that we are present gives our actions a little space to be different than they were in the past.
Sometimes, that is not enough, and we must go a little deeper. For example, when we’re going to enter a situation that puts us at risk, we can mentally prepare ourselves. We can keep a journal of what we try, and our results.
Another important thing for transformation is patience. You don’t have to let go of the habit completely today. Give it time.
For transcript and notes go to: Letting Go of Old Habits A Beautiful Thought
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Parents look upon their children bursting with pride. A new artist looks upon his first creation with enthusiasm, glad to have created something. It’s an interesting emotion.
Maybe there’s a way that we can look upon the world this way, looking with the eyes of the Creator, looking upon everything that exists as if we are glad to have made it, or at least glad to have it enter our consciousness.
We can look at the world this way; we can also look at ourselves this way.
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In the online Yale course “The Science of Well-Being”, Professor Laurie Santos presents the scientific data, interpretations and practical exercises about what is likely to make us happy. One key point is the amount of social interaction, with friends, family, or even casual conversations with strangers.
In many cases, there is an established protocol about how we interact with others. Depending on where you live, perhaps you never ask the clerk who scans your groceries how they’re doing. In Starbucks, they ask for your name to write it on the cup, but you might have never asked their name in return.
The moment we set the intention to interact more personably with strangers, and the moment we break that protocol, we just might find that we open the door to all kinds of possibilities.
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In Atomic Habits by James Clear, one important technique for forming habits is pairing a habit - taking something that you already do and enjoy, and adding an extra habit to it.
For example, we already have the habit of eating every day, so we might take that opportunity to say grace before we eat, thinking how grateful we are to have food and other things in our lives.
Or when we relax into bed after a long day, we might start to review our day and think about how it might have been even more wonderful - a habit recommended by Neville Goddard.
In Practicing the Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle suggests certain times when you might deliberately notice what’s going on around you. Of course, you can do it any time, but particularly you might be mindful when you’re going up or down a staircase, when you’re doing the dishes, or when you’re standing in line.
To what other moments in your life can you add a beautiful habit?
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Sterlin Lujan is known for his work as a public speaker, for his work promoting cryptocurrency. He calls himself the “Psychologic Anarchist”, an advocate for personal liberty - especially the liberty to explore one’s own consciousness.
In this interview, Sterlin describes his experience the first time he took MDMA, finding that his own beauty and the beauty of the world was revealed to him, receiving the insight that he had so much more potential than anyone had every said to him - or even that he’d ever dared to think of.
In his own words, he underwent a “quantum personality shift”, changing into a different person overnight - researching philosophy, going to the library to read Nietzsche, and other things that he didn’t expect as the consequences of a drug.
Sterlin went on to use the substance to attempt to provoke similar transformations in other people. In some cases he found that people weren’t ready or weren’t looking for transformation. In others, they were indeed transformed in his relaxed, improvised therapeutic environment. Perhaps stranger still, in other cases he found that people would have literally no effect from the drug.
Join us as Sterlin and Kurt discuss the conditions necessary for personal transformation.
Content warning: drug use
For transcript and notes go to: Ecstatic Revelations with Sterlin Lujan A Beautiful Thought
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We might stumble upon moments of clarity in our lives, finding insight, seeing things in a different way - perhaps even so differently that they change our lives.
However, we do not have to subject ourselves to chance when it comes to insight. We can find it, with frequency, by following a few guidelines.
- Set the intention. It turns out when we intend to find something, we are much more likely to find it. Be deliberate, and move forward.
- A lack of an agenda. When we have an ego about something, coming in with an agenda other than exploration and seeing what’s there, we can be too focused on the wrong things. An ego is something very pointed, and what we are looking for might be round, blurry, fuzzy or otherwise nebulous.
- Surrender to the mystery. Trying to find insight means letting go of past conceptions, and exploring the unknown.
When a skilled and humble coach or therapist facilitates an environment with these conditions, and asks questions to provoke a new way of thinking, often the doer or client will say “Ah! I see what you did there!” ascribing the insight to the therapist. However, these moments can not be rightly attributed to the helper.
In some form, they came from the doer, and in a manner of speaking, they came from the mystery.
For transcript and notes go to: Insight on Insight A Beautiful Thought
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Many people who come to Latin America from English speaking countries are puzzled at first at the level of personal warmth. They wonder “Why is this person being so kind to me? Perhaps he has an agenda.”
After spending a few days or a few weeks in a Latin country, they start to realize that there is no hidden agenda. There is simply hospitality - the desire to help someone feel welcome and comfortable.
Of course, not everyone is so kind, and we must exercise discernment to see who is really trustworthy, and to what extent. However, as they say here: “Somos más los buenos,” - “there are more of us good folks.”
Not everyone can travel to Latin America, and not everyone wants to move here. However, we all have the opportunity to express a little more of that kindness, to offer that warmth.
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Many times in life, we find ourselves in situations that can fill us with regret or despair, or any number of challenging emotions. It seems like things just get worse. It might even seem like there’s no way out.
Kurt found himself in a couple of those situations.
Once, in 2013 feeling intense regret over not buying more bitcoin as the price surged towards $1,100 - wondering “Why didn’t I buy more?” - a question now familiar to millions of people.
Lying in meditation, Kurt attempted to shift his perspective, or step into another universe where he had bought more. When he stood up from the meditation, he realised, in fact, the amount he had bought had doubled his net worth.
Then in 2017 in a detention center in Mexico City, waiting to be deported, he again performed the meditation - “stepping into another room”. When he arose, he realized that he was being presented with one of the best deals of his life - 72 more hours of remaining peaceful in exchange for freedom that might well last a lifetime. Freedom to travel, have adventures, drink hot chocolate and fall in love… All one had to do was wait a little.
Did the situation change? Or was it just the perspective? Sometimes, the perspective changes everything.
Note: This episode was recorded back in July 2020. Since then, the bitcoin price has indeed exploded again.
For transcript and notes go to: Depends on How You Look At It A Beautiful Thought
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In the movie “Moneyball”, baseball manager Billy Beane and his assistant economist Peter Brand set out to create a winning baseball team on a limited budget. By analysing statistics in a new way, they’re able to get fine players who are undervalued by the market.
In one scene, Brand, played by Jonah Hill, explains how one pitcher is excellent, but nobody wants him - because he throws funny.
As a famous entrepreneur said: “You don’t go into a gold mine looking for dirt - you go looking for gold.”
When we look for value, we might well find our way to financial success - seeing opportunity with the eyes of an entrepreneur. We might also find happiness. Where others see chaos, we may see beauty.
For transcript and notes go to: See the Magic A Beautiful Thought
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Alfredo Romero is a traveler, activist known for his work in the “Yo Soy 132” campaign in Guadalajara, and an entrepreneur.
In this interview, Alfredo tells us how he left the United States and returned to Guadalajara, to find the city very different to when he left many years before.
He explains how he found a new business partner, transforming a restaurant into something that far exceeded local standards in gastronomy and customer service, and eventually was betrayed by his business partner.
The key challenge for Alfredo was learning how to keep an open heart despite seeing that ugly side of humanity - leading him to put his efforts into a cause far greater than himself in the protests against Mexican president Peña Nieto.
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In ‘On Becoming A Person’, humanist psychologist Carl Rogers writes: “I should like to point out one final characteristic of these individuals as they strive to discover and become themselves. It is that the individual seems to become more content to be a process, rather than a product.
“When he enters the therapeutic relationship, the client is likely to wish to achieve some fixed state. He wants to reach the point where his problems are solved, or where he is effective in his work, or where his marriage is satisfactory. He tends, in the freedom of the therapeutic relationship, to drop such fixed goals, and to accept the more satisfying realization that he is not a fixed entity - but a process of becoming.”
If we can let go of the desire to be something other than we are, and embrace the idea that we are constantly changing, perhaps we can accept ourselves. Perhaps we can be happy.
For transcript and notes go to: Be Who You Are A Beautiful Thought
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Before eating, or at any time of day, we might say a little prayer. “Thank you for the good times, because they reveal our abundance. Thank you for the hard times, because they reveal our strength. Thank you for uncertain times, because they reveal the mystery.”
In a story now thousands of years old, a farmer meets many strange twists of fate - his horses running away, only to return with wild horses - one of which bucks and breaks his son’s leg, causing him to be given a pardon from fighting in a war. At each stage the farmer says, good or bad, who can say?
We might be tempted to think that an event is good or bad. Or perhaps, more accurately, we see that the events of life are too complex and strange for us to give one meaning.
The moral of the story is that we can be unmoved by life’s events, taking them as they come. Maybe we can go one step further - we can enjoy the uncertainty… enjoy the mystery.
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In Tony Robbins’ books, he describes how many people have very high standards for happiness. Everything has to be in line before they will allow themselves to be happy - their work, their love life, their family life.
Of course, the higher the standards we set for happiness, the less likely we are to achieve it. As Robbins points out, there is nothing stopping us from deciding to have low standards for happiness - for deciding that being with friends, dancing, eating, breathing or anything else are the only conditions we require to be happy.
In “On Becoming A Person”, humanist psychologist Carl Rogers describes the case of a client named “Mrs. Oak”. Mrs. Oak describes her revelation, noticing that it never seems quite right when parents tell a child not to be sad, not to cry. If the child wants to cry, says Oak, just let him cry.
Likewise, if a child feels like being happy, being pleased with himself - not in an egotistical or vain way - we can let him be happy. Equally, we can let ourselves be happy.
For transcript and notes go to: Conditions for Happiness A Beautiful Thought
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Maharishi Ramana gave us a description of his process of self-inquiry, looking at each part of what we might normally call “I”, and observing it to see if our assumptions about identity are valid.
We might go through each part of our body, realising or affirming that our limbs, our torso, our heads, are really not the core of our being.
Then our organs, our perceptions - perhaps even our sense of self - are not really what we are, at our essence.
What might we find, if we let go of all the preconceptions of self?
For transcript and notes go to: Who Am I A Beautiful Thought
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Giorgia Catt is an English teacher and world traveler, having lived in Thailand, Vietnam, France and Mexico, among other places.
In this interview, Giorgia explains the story of being 19 years old in Melbourne, studying a double degree of psychology and law, plus a diploma, in addition to managing a café... finally to realise that she was putting so much pressure on herself that she had developed an eating disorder.
Giorgia explains how she found a way out of her problems, by moving to Bangkok and realising that, to survive in that environment, she must relax her standards around what she considered appropriate conditions of when to eat.
Giorgia describes her meditation technique of sitting with an emotion, realising that the anxiety and thoughts she had around food were only temporary, eventually finding a path to greater happiness and playing in the world.
For links and notes go to: Eating Well with Giorgia Catt A Beautiful Thought
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If you have a bad habit or even a compulsion, and you’re trying to leave it behind, many times the inclination is to scold yourself when you have the thought.
Instead, what if you affirm to yourself that you are free to do it if you so choose? Say to yourself that you have the free will to do it or not do it, remind yourself every time that it is a choice.
You might find that allowing yourself the space to have those feelings, the permission to do the thing that you don’t want to do, gives you an opportunity to make a high-quality decision.
For transcript and notes go to: Free to Choose Good Things A Beautiful Thought
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Listening to a musician repeating the same 4 bars over and over, you get into a meditative trance, trying to hear the subtlety of every note and the texture.
The moment you notice what the texture is, it has already changed. There is no way to pin it down or define it precisely.
Observing yourself and your surroundings, you might notice something similar. You are not a static object, but an ongoing process.
Watching your thoughts and your habits, you might start to notice that there are gaps between them, moments where you do not have to go with what came before. You might be able to choose something new.
For transcript and notes go to: Changes are Permanent A Beautiful Thought
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When saying a prayer or writing our goals, thinking about what is important in our lives, we can take those moments to feel a little more about what we’re doing.
Saying grace, we can think about all of the blessings that are in our lives, until we really feel the gratitude that we’re trying to express.
Writing our goals, we can take a moment to think about the purpose of them - why they really are important to us, why they move us physically and emotionally.
In the moment that we feel it… we know it’s real.
For transcript and notes go to: Till You Feel It A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes it’s difficult to let go of memories that bother us, or even ones that please us but aren’t necessarily healthy to continue thinking about.
There is a technique you can use to gain some closure, to let go of the memories that no longer serve you. It’s not a complicated process. It goes like this:
Hold the memory in your mind, and do your best to surround it in love.
Say “thank you” to the memory - thanking it for being a part of your life, for imparting its lessons, for aiding in your development.
Then, allow the memory to return to Source, to wherever it originated.
When you practice this technique, you may even find afterwards that it would take effort to recall what was once hard to get out of your mind.
For transcript and notes go to: Surrender Your Memories to Source A Beautiful Thought
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Kosh Eek is a world adventurer, cryptocurrency trader and former host of the Decentralized podcast.
In this episode, Kosh tells us a tale of hubris - believing that he could outsmart the market and keep going with a short position which ended up costing him 35% of his portfolio, losing thousands and thousands of dollars.
How do you recover after you experience a loss like that - especially knowing that it’s your own fault and responsibility? As Kosh says, you are the only one to blame in that situation, and so blame yourself is exactly what you do.
Kosh describes how to feel grateful for loss, learning the lessons, putting things into perspective and seeing how remaining bitter was a price that he wouldn’t continue to pay.
For links and notes go to The Big Loss A Beautiful Thought
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If you have a few hours free, you might get a chance to walk or ride around your town. There’s no pressure to get anywhere, there’s no hurry. There’s no place to get to and there’s nobody in particular that you have to be.
Take a look around you and notice the people. Some of them might even take a moment to smile. If they don’t smile, maybe you might take a moment to smile to yourself.
Stop in the plaza and eat a tamal, drink a tepache, run into an old friend.
If you can’t do that, perhaps you can just look outside your window for a while, and watch the world pass by.
For transcript and notes go to: A Moment of Gratitude A Beautiful Thought
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Sitting in meditation, you might get to the ten minute mark and suddenly get the impulse to stand up, to do something else - anything else! The impulse feels like a compulsion, and it feels very real and very imminent.
When you observe it a little more closely, you’ll notice that it’s just an idea. It has no more control over you than any other idea.
As we continue to watch our thoughts, we find some that have a relation with the ego, and we notice that they have certain components. Perhaps it’s a demand of ourselves “I must be a better meditator”, or a comparison “I must be a better meditator than my colleague”, or some kind of unusual boast “Now that I’m such a good meditator, I will be more attractive.”
It seems like these thoughts come from a sense of lack, a sense that we need to justify our own existence, that we need to be more in order to earn respect. What would life be like if we could accept in this moment, that we are acknowledged, we are loved, we are respected?
For transcript and notes go to: Just an Idea A Beautiful Thought
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All of us can think of times when we did something embarrassing, perhaps even moments of shame because we hurt or discomfited another person. When these memories surface, we can’t help but cringe as a reflex, trying to get into a fetal position to soothe ourselves.
It’s said that trauma is unprocessed information, and when we examine these memories, we might find that to be true. We resist the shameful recollections because we are unable to admit that “yes, that is a part of me.”
All one needs to do is embrace them, saying “I am that - even when I am at my worst.”
For notes and transcript go to: Cringeworthy Memories A Beautiful Thought
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Many people have different conceptions of karma. A popular one is the “Santa Claus” idea that the universe keeps a list of good and bad actions, and returns them equally to you. Another conception is just of cause and effect - when you do bad things and hang around bad people, it’s natural the it will end up coming back to you.
Another idea is that karma exists in the moment. Whoever you are in this moment is likely to receive good or bad effects, just because of the way you’re being, the form guiding your actions in those moments.
If that is true, then perhaps a person could change in a moment, suddenly becoming good, letting go of whatever ill will they once held and now being pure. Now, it would be unfair to punish them for their past deeds, because they are no longer the person they once were.
For transcript and notes go to: Transformation Counts A Beautiful Thought
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In 2016, Kurt Robinson wrote and produced a hip hop song for his friend Juan Galt's documentary about expatriates moving to Acapulco. It ended up becoming the promotional song for many videos for the 2016 Anarchapulco conference, gathering many freedom lovers from around the world to discuss how to change things for the better, and Kurt performed at the conference.
In 2017, Kurt again performed at Anarchapulco, with a lot more focus, discipline, and stage presence - presenting ideas with the purpose of creating an environment conducive to positive transformation.
But to get there, he first went to a temazcal, the traditional American ritual steam bath, to reach deep inside himself, and decided to put on a show that moved the hearts of many.
For links and more go to: Magic In Acapulco A Beautiful thought
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"The hero's journey" is story structure that is repeated in many myths and folk tales around the world. The hero gets interrupted from his normal life, called to adventure into the unknown, battles the beast and emerges with the elixir.
The story is an allegory for most of our life's struggles. We all relate to stories like Homer's "Odyssey" and "Star Wars" because we recognise parts of our own lifes reflected in them.
The elixir represents the knowledge or wisdom gained from undergoing and overcoming the struggle - wisdom that not only aids the hero himself, but also the society to which he belongs.
When we reflect on our own challenges, we can discover our own elixirs. What wisdom might be reflected in your personal journey?
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Taking a shower in the morning, many of us find ourselves thinking about an argument we've had with a family member or colleague... imagining saying the perfect zinger that would stop them in their tracks, unable to respond.
Then we exit the shower, pick up a towel, and start the day worked up, agitated or even angry - looking for an argument with our spouse or housemate.
We have so many of these arguments, and opinions, going around our heads, constantly looking for justification, and even seeking to antagonise others, so we have a chance to justify ourselves.
Perhaps there's another way. Perhaps we can leave our opinions behind and just respond to whatever is happening in the moment, with joy.
For transcript and notes go to: What Good Are Opinions A Beautiful Thought
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In this world of consumerism, it seems like we desire so, so many things. But if you ask an individual what they want from their life, they might suddenly become stumped.
They might say they want less stress, less anxiety, to feel less depressed. In other words, they start listing the things they don't want.
When we exercise a little imagination, we can begin to bring into focus our vision.
We might see ourselves on one of the Greek Islands, looking out across the bay, looking at a boat which we will use the next day to reach the next island... Feeling the fading sunset, and noticing the tranquility in our soul.
And we might very well live out that vision, but first we must ask that magical question: What do I want?
For transcript and notes go to: What do You Want A Beautiful Thought
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Adorning the churches and temples of the world are images and writings of great saints. We are reminded of their works, their holiness, their way of being. But we're rarely told exactly what it takes to become a saint.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed "Blessed are they who thirst and hunger for righteousness, for they will be satiated." Perhaps if a person desires strongly enough to be righteous, they will find a path to become a saint, regardless of the obstacles in their way.
Most of us have urges to do good things - exceptionally good things, such as take a minute to help a stranger across the road, run to help someone who has fallen, or even offer to feed someone who is without food. What if a saint is merely someone who has the courage to consistently act on those urges?
For Transcript and notes go to: A Simple Sainthood A Beautiful Thought
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It’s okay to be afraid.
If you’re afraid, it doesn’t mean that you’re broken, or that you can’t put up with things, that you can’t handle the situation.
In some ways, fear is a gift from the soul - it’s a way to see our own beings, experiencing ourselves in a more profound way.
It’s not always comfortable, but if we remain calm while feeling our fear, it might even be something beautiful.
Whatever emotion you’re experiencing, it’s okay, it’s normal. Maybe it’s even wonderful.
Take care.
For transcript and notes go to: It's Okay to Be Afraid A Beautiful Thought
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A door-to-door salesman may go for hours, days or weeks without making a sale. With every door he knocks, he knows that factually, it’s very unlikely for him to close a deal - perhaps less than 1%.
However, the best salespeople will knock, believing in their hearts that this customer will indeed benefit from and desire the product, and they will buy. So that salesperson walks and talks with confidence. It only takes a small percentage of customers to buy to justify the belief.
A woman of faith spends her whole life believing in miracles, and out of thousands of days lived, she only sees a miracle on one day. That is enough to justify the belief.
A man meditates every day for a year, and every day but one his mind is noisy. On that one exceptional day, he sees some glimpse of peace, seeing something that might transform him forever, that will surely justify a year of trying.
For transcript and notes to go: A Chance for a Miracle A Beautiful Thought
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If something gets in your way, it might seem like it’s a barrier to happiness or fulfillment. Perhaps what you’re seeing isn’t really an obstacle, but a gift. Perhaps by better understanding what confronts you, you can learn much more about your own happiness.
In this episode, Kurt explains some common pitfalls in meditation, and many other disciplines. This is a way to interpret problems so you can see that they’re a part of life - a part of your own improvement.
For transcript and notes: The Obstacle is the Practice A Beautiful Thought
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In English we have the words “perfectionism” and the phrase “don’t be hard on yourself”. There is a wider range of self-demanding behaviour not covered by those terms. Perhaps it’s appropriate to borrow the word “autoexigente” from Spanish, rendering it with English cognates as “autoexigent”.
Autoexigent behaviour and thought patterns are made explicit in some of Albert Ellis’s self-defeating beliefs, for example: “To feel happy and be worthwhile I must achieve, succeed at whatever I do, and make no mistakes.”
In a sense, it’s natural to want things to be better than they are right now. However, this also inhibits us from seeing how wonderful things are right now.
Likewise, if a person wants herself to be better, sometimes she will overlook her own kindness, compassion, and good humour.
To start to get over our autoexigence, one important step is simply to notice when we are behaving or thinking in that way. For example, if we say to ourselves “I shouldn’t be in the park right now walking the dogs. I should be at home studying”, then we can notice the demands we are making of ourselves. Often, awareness of our own tendencies is enough to begin the process of transformation.
For transcript and notes: Auto Exigent or Self demanding A Beautiful Thought
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Most of us have the experience of thinking about something we have done, and cringing, wondering how we could have embarrassed ourselves so much. Often when we think about these things from the past, it means there is a lesson yet to be learned.
Sometimes the lesson is simply that we’re still hiding away or denying part of ourselves. We’d like to pretend that those cringey moments weren’t a reflection of who we are.
To address this, we might start affirming to ourselves that we are loved. We might say “I love myself despite my flaws.”
But that means we are still denying love to that part of ourselves - the part which perhaps needs it the most. So we might say “I love myself including my flaws.”
Then that means that we’re still thinking of aspects of ourselves as flawed, rather than being steps in a process, or ‘happy accidents’ which form part of the complete picture. So perhaps we will say “I love myself, including those parts of myself I want to deny.”
Still, why are we affirming that there are parts of ourselves that we want to deny - establishing that we continue to deny those parts? We might simply say the words “I love myself,” with no conditions or caveats.
Finally, we no longer need to affirm, because what is known is not spoken.
For transcript go to: Love Yourself More Every Day A Beautiful Thought
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Flo Perlin is a singer-songwriter from London who has been playing music since she was 4 years old, and writing music since she was 10. If you listen to her hauntingly beautiful songs might evoke a tear of sweet sadness or joy.
In this interview, Flo talks about how she found her voice as a woman, going through counselling and therapy from a young age due to an illness in the family, entering the conservatory as a cellist and dealing with the environment of machismo and intense competitiveness, leaving to travel the world as a busker, seeking a healthy balance of boundaries in her romantic relationships, and finding a sacred space of vulnerability in her friendships.
Kurt asks what advice she would give to her 20 year old self. Flo says assertively, “You don’t have to shout to be heard.”
For links and more go to: A Woman's Voice A Beautiful Thought
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Many types of therapy focus purely on insight, and many focus more on action. Action tends to be the more effective form of therapy, but as a famous Mexican said, “Why not both?”
Seated meditation can be similar. We might receive some kind of insight during meditation - even something simple as a feeling of peace or relaxation. Yet when we continue with our regular life, we might forget to practice and integrate that insight.
At any moment in our days, we are free to find a moment of peace, similar to those we found during seated meditation, making it a part of our lives, and feeling good.
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It’s natural to feel frustrations when our expectations aren’t met. However, continuing to feel frustration rarely helps us, and may cause unnecessary suffering for us and those around us.
The thing is, we don’t necessarily know consciously what our expectations are, until we find that they’re not fulfilled. Now that we are frustrated, we can begin to ask, what was I expecting, and was it realistic?
We might expect that people will understand us the first time we explain a concept. On the surface, that seems reasonable.
Looking a little deeper, we can find out that people normally will not understand a new concept the first time it’s explained, because they’re not used to thinking that way. In fact, that is the challenge of the good communicator - to say things in a way that others understand them.
We started with the belief and expectation that “People should understand me whenever I explain things,” and it led to frustration. Now we can hold onto the more realistic belief: “People will not always grasp a concept the first time I explain it,” and it leads to greater patience.
For Transcript and notes go to: Why Do We Get Frustrated A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes, many times, our greatest gifts do not appear as gifts. They come to us in brown paper, crinkled, dirty and ugly. We mistake them for garbage.
When someone gives us a gift like this, we might prefer to reject it… But try as we might, that gift paper is sticky, and it stays with us.
When we look a little closer, and accept that gift humbly, we might realise it is something so fine that not even our closest friends would think to give to us. In that brown paper package is a little mirror.
In that mirror, we see ourselves.
For transcript and links go to: Thank You for Being My Mirror A Beautiful Thought
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We only have a limited time on this earth. We could choose to plod along, doing okay, being satisfied with what we’re doing.
Or we could choose something else… To not merely be satisfied, but also happy, joyful, delighted, ecstatic and elated.
We can choose to be happiness rockstars.
For transcript and notes go to: Happiness Rockstar A Beautiful Thought
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Juan S. Galt is a bitcoin enthusiast, cryptocurrency expert, journalist and consultant, world traveller and man of the future.
In this interview, Juan explains his personal development formula for how he let go of the habit of smoking tobacco.
The formula goes something like this:
- Write a cost/benefit analysis for continuing the habit and quitting the habit, being honest with yourself about what you’re really getting from it and what you stand to gain
- Find information about the negatives of continuing, including watching documentaries that show graphic depictions of the problems of smoking
- Performing a ritual that is symbolic, that impacts the senses and is memorable
- Keeping track of success using a calendar and congratulating yourself for every day that you succeed, at least for 40 days
- Be strict with the habit - don’t make excuses. If you do smoke again, examine if you did it for a good reason or if you were just making an excuse
- Pick a specific date, and put your plan into action.
For links and notes go to: Quit Smoking with Juan Galt A Beautiful Thought
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When many people attempt meditation, they might sit for a few minutes, or even just a few seconds. Suddenly, they’re confronted with the inner workings of their own mind, which they might have tried to avoid for years or decades.
They jump up, startled, and run to do something that will distract from their own thoughts. “It’s just not for me,” they conclude.
What they might not realise is that almost every master meditator began the same way, with trepidation, impatience and uncertainty. And of course if you feel discomforted, alarmed, unsettled during meditation… That is the meditation. That is the practice.
Of course, perhaps people would be more determined to face those parts if they were aware of how much they had to gain. Many articles will tell you that meditation has benefits such as “reducing stress” and “lowers anxiety”.
It “reduces stress.” Great. It’s factually correct, but you may as well say that going to an art gallery or hiking in the mountains reduces stress. It does, but that is just one small aspect of the finest ways we can experience natural and human-made wonders.
As you move along in meditation, you might find self-love, faith, a connection to the Divine, the perception that there is no large difference between when “good” and “bad” things happen, happiness even in tough situations - or situations which you previously saw as tough.
For transcript and notes go to: Meditation for Beginners A Beautiful Thought
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According to humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers, there are three conditions necessary for transformation in therapy - empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard. When a therapist offers these three gifts, it’s likely that a client will start to see the world differently, eventually in a way that is more beneficial for them.
So often we do not allow ourselves these three gifts. We do not give ourselves a break when we’re not feeling 100%, we do not express what we are feeling, and we don’t exactly love ourselves when we’re in a difficult situation.
We never need to be in a hurry to change, to be better. In fact, when we allow ourselves that space to be exactly as we are, that is paradoxically what allows us to change.
Every day of our lives, we can give ourselves space… With a little luck and a little love, we might well transform.
For transcript and links go to: Give Yourself Space to Transform A Beautiful Thought
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A smile is something we can give people, normally with very little effort, to make their day a little better.
But it can be hard to give a genuine smile, a giving smile. If we feel a sense of lack within, it’s going to seem unnatural to others. They won’t necessarily know why, but there will be something about that smile that keeps others away.
However, if we can be a little more centred within ourselves, having that spark which says to us that we have everything to gain and everything to give, people will notice, and many times they will even smile back.
A smile is free… so how free can your smile be?
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Around the world, in many cultures, people know that a home is special - even sacred. When a guest enters your house, you want them to know everything a home can be.
There are many people in this world who have seen dark things… War, murder, the death of their loved ones. Often these people become humble warriors. The small things no longer bother them, and they are willing to offer their hospitality freely, to help people feel at home.
Can you help someone else feel at home in the world? Can you even extend that feeling to yourself?
For transcript and notes go to: At Home In the world A Beautiful Thought
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The world is changing, with more restrictions, perhaps more fear than ever… People worrying or taking precautions against an invisible enemy.
Everyone seems to have their own take on novel coronavirus, and with so much misinformation and disinformation it seems like it might even be deliberate, as a form of strange propaganda.
Without knowing who or what to believe, people all over the world are wrapped up in confusion, and uncertainty about their lives, and how these factors will continue to affect them in coming years.
In this episode, Kurt explains a couple of mental tools that you can use to distance yourself from events, looking at current events more as historical facts, and seeing how they might take shape in the future.
Kurt talks about the Hegelian Dialect, a formula which describes the changes in ideas over time in societies in three stages - thesis, antithesis and synthesis. He also describes how there are different ways to look at what is happening - perhaps it’s good, perhaps it’s bad, perhaps it’s neither good nor bad, just a necessary part in a story.
Then he discusses how strange things are happening more than ever, in terms of personal spiritual experiences - increased synchronicities, a case of a man observing his own ego as separate to him, psychedelic panic attacks, and unusual dreams. Could this be an important turning point in history, predicted by astrology as the Age of Aquarius, the clicking over of the Mayan calendar, or the works of Brazilian mystic Chico Xavier?
For notes and links go to: The Grand Confusion A Beautiful Thought
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A beginning photographer has very strong tastes about what they like and don’t like in photos. A seasoned photographer is passionate about all kinds of photos. How does an expert in consciousness think about different kinds of thoughts?
Seeing a master meditator, we might wonder - will his skill hold up if he walks into a busy place? Will he still be able to keep his cool, when he is far from the temple, and everything around him is chaotic?
If we could take the mind of a meditator, and put it into a busy brain, what might happen? Perhaps that mind would enjoy it, simply because he is passionate about consciousness.
Content warning: shamanic “drug” use
For transcript and notes go to: Passion for Conciousness A Beautiful Thought
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The Yoga Sutras tell us that there are 7 ways to attain union. One way is dream yoga, contemplating the knowledge derived from nocturnal dreams.
In "Lucid Dreaming: Plain and Simple", Robert Waggoner tells us many methods to attain a higher level of consciousness in dreams, what to do when you do become aware in dreams, and how dreams might be a spiritual path.
In this episode, Kurt tells the successes he has had so far in attempting to meditate in dreams, including some of the pitfalls and ways to overcome them - using the phrase “Greater clarity now!” to make a dream clearer, not being too forceful or too sudden, being aware of your emotions, and deciding to begin your task in the dream regardless of where you are.
For transcript and notes go to: Knowledge Derived from Nocturnal Dreams A Beautiful Thought
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In certain religious traditions, people will pause for prayer four or five times a day. If you're not a part of that tradition, it might seem like a cumbersome tradition. However, for the faithful, it is a pleasure to take some time to express their gratitude for everything they enjoy, all the grace they receive.
Perhaps you've heard that it's important to meditate, that it's good for your health or well-being... but you haven't quite brought yourself to ask the question: "Why do I want to do this?" or perhaps "What is the best experience or state of mind that I could attain from this?"
Perhaps meditation will give you peace, connection with the Divine, a sense of calm, happiness, joy, satisfaction, gratitude, elation, insight, among other things. But first, you must begin, and beginning is much easier if you know why.
For Transcript and notes go to: Your Purpose for Meditation A Beautiful Thought
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A lot of people get caught up, being unable to separate an event from its meaning. In fact, an event can have many meanings, about as many as you can think up.
Once you realise meanings are more fluid than events, you can begin to choose meanings that are empowering, that help you be happy, and help you bring happiness to others. That is a power that human beings have.
You might have read the book, "Man's Search for Meaning". In the book, psychologist Viktor Frankl keeps wondering about the events as he watches them with his own eyes as a prisoner in a concentration camp. Many fellow prisoners have the perspective that they must survive to see freedom in order for life to have meaning. Frankl drew the opposite conclusion - that life must have meaning now, in the heart of suffering, in order to survive. So Frankl kept asking, "What might this mean?"
Even in our everyday lives, we find ourselves assigning meaning. We go to the park to take a break from work and think "Here I am wasting time when I should be working." Instead, we might ask the question, and say "Here I am, relaxing, recharging, enjoying the moment, simply to experience it," or come up with any answer that helps us see the positive purpose of our actions.
For transcript and notes go to: What Could This Mean A Beautiful Thought
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Arran Rogerson is one of the hosts of the Golden Shadow podcast, a show that illustrates how psychology can be applicable in our lives, using the work of Jung. He's also the host of The Torch, a YouTube series exploring evolutionary psychology and the history of humanity.
Arran tells us a story from his past, starting when he was about 10 years old, in middle school and depressed, unsure of his own social standing and of the changes that seem to be happening to his peer group.
Soon he is in high school and discovers running as a competitive pastime, with enough of a social element to form friendships, but with enough of a solitary element to be a worthwhile nerdy pursuit.
In this interview we find out how someone's life can change by starting small, by taking action in faith, trying new things, and keeping a mindset of playfulness.
For notes and links go to: Run to Play in the world with Arran Rogerson A Beautiful Thought
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If people will not take the time to understand you, you have no obligation to make efforts to please them. In fact, it may be impossible to please such a person.
Your energy is limited. Make the effort to please people who take the time to understand you.
Take the time to understand yourself, and make the effort to have a good time within. Spend time and energy on people who matter.
For transcript and notes: Put your Love in It's Correct Place A Beautiful Thought
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A lot of writers and artists are familiar with “blank page syndrome”. You’d like to start a new project, poem or painting, and at the same time, you are hesitant to even put the pen to the paper.
It seems like we have two modes when writing - the creator and the editor. The editor, being critical, prevents us from expressing ourselves freely. When we can let go of that critical part and just enjoy the process of creation.
Similarly, beginning meditation, we might be harsh on ourselves, seeing the thoughts that we tried to hide from and even becoming afraid of what our own mind offers us. In this case, the obstacle is the practice. Noticing that our minds are critical is part of the process of getting to know our own minds.
Our skills aren’t perfect; our minds aren’t perfect. We must begin where we are; we can begin nowhere else.
For transcript and notes go to: Money Doesn't Hurt A Beautiful Thought
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There's a very simple formula for goal-setting that comes from Tony Robbins - Outcome, Purpose, Action. That is, knowing what you want to achieve, why, and how.
Robbins gives an example, setting the goal of going to lunch with his son. Writing the goal as most people do, he might just tick it off as soon as they sit down to eat.
However, Robbins' purpose was to spend quality time with his son, to enjoy each others' presence, to give his son time, patience, wisdom - if necessary. Being clear about the purpose means he can fulfill his goal in a much deeper and satisfying way.
When you are aware of the purpose of your actions, it can increase your fulfillment and effectiveness.
For transcript and notes go to: Ask Yourself How and Why: Episode 59 A Beautiful Thought
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At some point in your life, you might make a decision, to continual improvement. Perhaps the improvements are small at first, starting by just doing a little exercise every day, or building confidence by looking people in the eye more often.
In the months after you make that decision, you will have a simple realization, which is "All I have to do is continue to get better, and there is no limit to how great my life can be."
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Derrick Broze is an independent journalist, founder of The Conscious Resistance network. Derrick is known for his work investigating the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein, finding out whether 5G is safe, and looking for 9/11 truth.
But his life wasn’t always like this. He grew up mostly fatherless, raised by his mother as the son of a serial convict. He struggled with self-esteem and acceptance, becoming a drug dealer and drug addict.
In this episode, Derrick tells the story of how he eventually went to prison for drug charges, and made his decision to change his life, to meditate and introspect, and to become “a man of his word”.
Content warning: heavy drug use
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William DeVaughn’s beautiful funk album reminds us to “Be Thankful For What You Got”, letting us know that even if we don’t have a lot of material possessions, we can enjoy all of the gifts that nature and Divinity have for us.
Gratitude is one of the higher emotions which is easiest to conjure, using some imagination techniques. We can think of times when we didn’t have things that which aided our happiness - perhaps eating just staple foods, being without money in the bank account, perhaps being even without friends.
Then we turn our attention to the present and notice the nice things that are in our lives. Suddenly it is so much easier to appreciate them, and we might even feel that subtle glow in our bellies… Gratitude… Being thankful for what we’ve got.
For transcript and notes go to: Be Thankful for What You've Got A Beautiful Thought
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Meditating in a cottage in rural Portugal, sitting on the balcony and basking in the sun... A formula for achieving happiness arrived quite suddenly.
The three steps are:
1. Cultivate a strong desire for happiness
2. Create the conditions conducive to happiness
3. Let go of the desire for happiness
Each step raises questions. How do you cultivate desire, how do you let go of a desire, and what are the conditions conducive to happiness?
For transcript and links go to: 3 Steps to Happiness A Beautiful Thought
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The 33rd Yoga Sutra states: By cultivating friendliness towards happiness and compassion towards misery, gladness towards virtue and indifference towards vice, the mind becomes pure.
What might this sutra imply about the attainment of happiness, and about compassion for ourselves?
If we attained those four virtues, even though each one individually appears something quite humble, we might become close to sainthood.
For transcript and notes go to: A Clear Mind A Beautiful Thought
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Kurt has a friend who is deaf. Sometimes people say to him "I'm so sorry you're deaf." He told me once that he loves to go to the casino and play poker. There, nobody will give him pity; nobody cares. They only want to take his money; they only see him as a competitor. How interesting that being seen as a potential source of profit is more humanising than being seen as an object of pity.
Sometimes people who exercise pity are doing it with good intentions. Other times, they are putting a thin veil on their egotism, comparing themselves and thinking how they are better.
However, happiness does not need comparison. Happiness is its own reward and its own speaker. If we do exercise pity, likewise, we do not need to see ourselves as better or worse than anyone else.
For transcript and notes go to: Smart Pity A Beautiful Thought
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Anam Paiseanta has been a real estate investor since 2001, since he had to find a new way to sell his house that didn’t just involve selling it himself or passing the job to a realtor.
Through discussing that process in this interview, we discover Anam’s views on his own emotions, how he separates feelings and logic when it’s necessary, how he developed confidence by having a view that he was there to offer value, and how to view fear even in a potentially life-threatening situation such as jumping off a cliff.
We discover how Anam is precise in his beliefs, clear about his values, and about his identity.
Join us in this journey of becoming a person of self-confidence and self-control.
For transcript and notes go to: Keeping it Real in Real Estate with Anam Paiseanta A Beautiful Thought
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On the final page of the book of love, there are written these words: "Let go."
Sometimes, we might get attached to certain people, and think that they must be a part of our lives. But everything in this world is temporary, and that even includes friendships, in one form or another.
In some cases, it may even be that our set ideas about another person prevents us from seeing things how they really are, and even prevents us from having an authentic friendship with them.
It can hurt to let go, and sometimes we must let go.
For transcript and notes go to :Letting Go A Beautiful Thought
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You might want to be in many places, resisting what is going on right now.
The desire to be somewhere else can motivate us, but it can also cause resistance. Even the desire to be happy can cause us unhappiness, because we're trying to be with something that isn't with us.
Sometimes the desire to have what isn't, can even cause anxiety.
And if we want to be where we are... what will happen?
For transcript and notes go to: Want to Be Where You Are A Beautiful Thought
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Let’s say you have a dream where you’re sitting in a dining hall, about to enjoy your food. The unusual thing is, there is no food on the plate.
According to the custom, you begin to say a prayer before you eat. As you’re praying silently, fresh salad and proteins begin to appear on your plate.
If you go to a Hare Krishna restaurant, you might notice how calm and slow they are when serving the food. Of course they also take the same care in preparing the food - literally preparing food fit for a god, Lord Krishna.
When you put the curry in your mouth, you notice there is something special about it - something the Hare Krishnas call “The Higher Taste”, the spiritual element of food, the elation of eating something that has been blessed, that has been made with the intention of blessing.
Is it the food that sustains us, or the grace that we say before we eat?
For transcript and notes go to: Grace Sustains Us A Beautiful Thought
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If happiness doesn’t come easy to you, then you may assume that some people are just naturally happy, that they were always that way, that they never had to work for it.
For some people, that’s true; they won the happiness lottery. But for many, it is not like that.
In the worst case scenario, you might struggle with depression or existential dread, believing that those who do experience joy just never saw things the way you do. In many cases, the opposite is true.
Many people who are very happy have gone to the depths of despair, and come back with a greater understanding. They have learnt to put into context the darkest questions of life, integrating the lessons of meaning or lack of meaning, and letting go those aspects which didn’t serve them.
Perhaps it’s hard to be happy… Perhaps it’s the easiest thing you’ve ever done.
For transcript and notes go to: Happiness is a Skill A Beautiful Thought
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Lily Forester continues recounting her intense and tragic story of drug accusations in the United States, meeting an old woman mystic who heralds the hero’s journey ahead, fleeing to Mexico, attempting to face the problem of her toxic relationship with her long-term partner John Galton, and finally becoming free of it in his death.
In a sense, that is when the story begins - when Lily learns to be alone, to understand herself, and figure out what a diagnosis of autism might mean for her personality and development.
Join us on the continuation of this tale that many say deserves its own movie.
Content warning: violence, abusive relationships, suicide, death, dead people
For episode notes go to: Escape from the USA with Lily Forester Part 2 A Beautiful Thought
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When something bad happens, you have the choice of what to focus on, how to frame it, and how quickly you forget it.
In this episode, Kurt tells the story of how he was detained by police in Asunción for the atrocious crime of waiting for a bus. Then he had the option of dwelling on it, being angry about it, or choosing to look at the positive of the situation.
For transcript and notes go to: Is Happiness Your Priority? A Beautiful Thought
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Walking downtown in your city, you might see someone on the footpath playing a guitar and singing a Bob Marley song. You walk past a piece of graffiti, the culmination of years of learning to use spray paint to create fine detail.
Often these artists do this work for little or no reward… Merely for the desire to create something, or to make the world more beautiful.
What beauty might you notice, if you pay attention?
For transcript and notes go to: Grateful For Beauty A Beautiful Thought
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One day a student asked the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi what would be the most important quality for a human being to develop.
The Maharishi answered, to the student’s surprise, the most important quality is discernment. If you do not have discernment, you cannot determine what is important and what is not.
Compassion is seen as a virtue, but if we exercise compassion without discrimination, many times we will end up wasting our energies, doing favours for people who do not appreciate it, or do not return our energy. After all, you cannot help people who do not want to help themselves.
When we use compassion as well as discernment, we can use our energies in a way that multiplies them.
For transcription and more go to: Dumb Compassion A Beautiful Thought
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If you're a city dweller and you walk into the forest, you might enjoy the fresh air, the serenity, the beauty of the plants. Even so, you might be somewhat detached from them. Being from a modern civilisation, you might be so removed from what's around you, that you see the trees as objects, rather than living things.
Of course, when a monkey, a shaman or hunter-gatherer walks in the woods, she has a very different experience. She can't help but notice the life around her, acknowledge and respect it.
A friend used to say, trees are a genuine public service - providing oxygen, regulating the temperature, and increasing rainfall to promote more life. Plants and trees are a part of a system... our system - the system to which we belong.
When we walk around and notice trees, we can consciously respect their presence, and life.
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Lily Forester lives in an undisclosed location in Mexico, peacefully tending a garden, crafting and taking care of her dog. How she got there is a wild story some people say deserves to have a movie.
Even before she was born, the situation was surreal, with her parents’ ex partners conspiring to kill them. A story with everything from adventures living in a haunted house as a child to midnight escape from a Hells Angels Motorcycle Gang drug den in the middle of the night, due to a mother making a living selling hard drugs. This is a tale about growing up, dropping out of college to deliberately become an outlaw, an anarchist and agorist evading authority on principle.
This is the first part of the story of how Lily escaped the United States and moved to Mexico as a fugitive. It’s a crazy ride; the good news is, it has a happy ending.
Content warning: death, drugs, child abuse
For links and notes go to: Escape from the USA with Lily Forester Episode 42 A Beautiful Thought
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A lot of writers and artists are familiar with “blank page syndrome”. You’d like to start a new project, poem or painting, and at the same time, you are hesitant to even put the pen to the paper.
It seems like we have two modes when writing - the creator and the editor. The editor, being critical, prevents us from expressing ourselves freely. When we can let go of that critical part and just enjoy the process of creation.
Similarly, beginning meditation, we might be harsh on ourselves, seeing the thoughts that we tried to hide from and even becoming afraid of what our own mind offers us. In this case, the obstacle is the practice. Noticing that our minds are critical is part of the process of getting to know our own minds.
Our skills aren’t perfect; our minds aren’t perfect. We must begin where we are; we can begin nowhere else.
For transcript notes and links go to: Begin Where You Are Episode 41 A Beautiful Thought
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“One kind word can warm three winter months” says the Japanese proverb.
Almost every day of our lives we have the opportunity to say words like “please” and “thank you”, “take care”, “stay safe”, “I hope you have a great time”, or even blessings like “Peace be with you” or “may you go with God”.
To some people, they might seem like mere formalities. However, every time we say them with presence, we have the chance to affirm the humanity of those around us, showing through our actions that others are worthy of respect and acknowledgement.
For transcript and other important notes go to: Some Moods Are Sticky Episode 40 A Beautiful Thought
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“One kind word can warm three winter months” says the Japanese proverb.
Almost every day of our lives we have the opportunity to say words like “please” and “thank you”, “take care”, “stay safe”, “I hope you have a great time”, or even blessings like “Peace be with you” or “may you go with God”.
To some people, they might seem like mere formalities. However, every time we say them with presence, we have the chance to affirm the humanity of those around us, showing through our actions that others are worthy of respect and acknowledgement.
For transcript and other important notes go to:A kind Word: A Beautiful Thought
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“Aum Namah Shivaya” is one of the oldest recorded mantras, written in the Yajurveda and sometimes known as “the five syllable mantra”.
Breaking down the mantra, it begins with “Aum”, the primordial sound, a formula for the creation, sustenance and destruction of the universe. Then the remaining five syllables present salutations to Lord Shiva. To many, Shiva represents divine consciousness, the root of observation, awareness and mindfulness that exists in all of us.
What might it mean, to bow down to our own purest consciousness, and the consciousness of others?
For transcript, links and more go to: Aum Namah Shivaya Episode 38 A Beautiful Thought
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Super Ego is an MC and hip hop producer out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but this interview is less about his role as a musician and more about his role as a person.
Super Ego has been doing personal development for many years, and has recently made many breakthroughs by exploring his own uncomfortable emotions, using microdosing as a tool, and CBT sessions with Kurt.
However, in the last week, Super Ego had an unusual experience, a sensation of supreme love, and the impression of seeing his ego as a separate entity to himself.
Topics discussed in this interview include: learning to be vulnerable, the power of presence, the value of setting an intention before microdosing, leaning into difficult emotions, being grateful for adversity, the utility of the ego, spiritual bypassing, how poverty affects your mentality, and expanding your comfort zone.
Content warning: drug use, coarse language
For important links and notes go to: Transcend Ego with Super Ego Episode 37 A Beautiful Thought
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Going back through your life, you might find you have many regrets. Perhaps your biggest regrets were about not spending time with your friends and family. Perhaps they were about not being kind enough. Maybe they were about not telling people how much you care.
In this episode, Kurt tells a story about trying to date a woman, then playing games to make her jealous under the impression that it would keep her interested, and sending her a message years later to tell her that he always cared for her and wished her well. Maybe we can’t change the past, but we can go back and show people that the world is kinder than they believed it was.
For transcript and other important notes go to : To Rewrite the Past Episode 36 A Beautiful Thought
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In the fun movie “School of Rock”, Jack Black tells his students that there are more important things than hitting every note. Rock ‘n’ roll ain’t about being perfect. Sometimes the important thing is the feeling, the passion, perhaps even the chaos.
“Perfect” is an abstraction, and if it ever really exists in this world, it must be fleeting. It’s an ideal, and while we might strive for it, measuring ourselves against it is a recipe for misery.
Instead, we can embrace ourselves, our practice, and the world as they are, with all their strangeness and uniqueness, in their state of being imperfect and incomplete, giving them our enthusiasm and our passion.
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There are so many things to worry about, if you choose to worry about them.
You can worry about a lack of money, or that you don't know how to protect the money that you have. Worry that you are sick, or worry that you might be sick in the future. You can be concerned that things are going poorly... or even scared that things are going to well.
Some people see meditation as a chore, and if they do it, they might do it grudgingly, thinking they're "supposed to". The cool thing is, meditation is a time of day when you can set aside a few minutes, and you are completely free from any pressure from the world.
When you sit down to meditation, you can intend to leave behind your worldly worries. In a few minutes when you stand again, perhaps you don't need to pick them up.
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In the movie "Leon: The Professional", Mathilda comes to Leon saying that all her life she'd had a knot in her stomach, and now after knowing Leon for some months, she no longer has that knot. She interprets it as romantic love, but perhaps it was merely the patient acceptance of Mathilda as she was.
A large part of being happy is learning to be unhappy. Knowing to deal with unhappiness, we can explore it, understand it, and eventually leave it behind to become more joyful. By patiently accepting our emotions, just as Leon did for Mathilda, we can undergo this process.
When you do have a knot in your stomach or some other uncomfortable emotion, perhaps the suffering comes more from your interpretation than from the emotion itself. When we explore emotions with relaxed detachment, cradling the emotions, we might find there are other interpretations, or even that interpretations are unnecessary to simply observe things as they are.
We might even find that it's possible to experience more than one emotion at once, a state of "harmonious multivalence", enjoying a certain happiness that gives context to whatever discomfort we feel... untying the knot in our stomachs.
For transcript and other important notes go to: A Knot in Your Stomach Episode 33- A Beautiful Thought
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Imagine waking up one day to find that the entire left side of your body is numb. You don’t know what is wrong, and maybe your family and doctors don’t take you seriously. Even your phone’s touchscreen doesn’t respond when you touch it with that hand.
Eventually the doctors do a brain scan and find that you have an immune system that you’ve barely even heard of - multiple sclerosis. With what most doctors know about MS, you might feel hopeless, lying in bed for months at a time.
Or you might start looking for solutions in any place that offers a little hope, adjust your diet, exercise routine and other things, in order to gain control over your life.
That is what our guest, Raquel Vivanco did, learning about stem cell therapy, discovering her personal power, then later becoming an entrepreneur, and even going on to seek greater meaning through meditation and other spiritual practices, including the Kryon School of Consciousness.
For important links go to: Getting Over Multiple Sclerosis with Raquel Vivanco Episode 31 -A Beautiful Thought
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Emperor Norton I was the Emperor of the United States and protector of Mexico - his title only recognised within the bounds of San Francisco. Restaurants would welcome him, not charging him, but instead putting up plaques that said "upon request of his majesty".
One day, his majesty saw two gangs staring off, with tension mounting. It was clear there was about to be a fight. Emperor Norton calmly walked in between the two crowds, knelt, and began to say the Lord's Prayer. The crowds dispersed, unwilling to make any aggressive move, when royalty was there between them.
It's not clear why the gangs gave up at that moment. Perhaps because they respected his majesty, perhaps because they witnessed his great faith, or perhaps because it was nothing short of absurd. Now we might call this a "state break", a technique from neuro-linguistic programming - doing something so unexpected that people forget what their intentions were.
When we see fights break out in the street, it's easy to stand by, and it makes a lot of sense to stand by, not putting oneself at risk for the sake of strangers. When we do intervene, we might get injured... or we might actually help.
In this episode, Kurt tells some stories about times he stood by, and times that he did intervene. After all, Planet Earth is our home, and we can take responsibility for what happens in it.
For transcript and other important notes: This is Our Home Episode 31 A Beautiful Thought
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Sometimes when we have negative experiences, it’s actually a reflection of what is happening in our own souls. By taking the time to heal ourselves, we can learn to expect and have new experiences.
In this episode, Kurt tells the story of how he came to Guadalajara and began to have strange experiences with ghosts, the challenges he faced, and how he learned that the key to handling them was to heal his own heart.
Content warning: in this episode I mention the shamanic medicine, ayahuasca
For transcription notes and more: Love is More Powerful than Hate Episode 30- A Beautiful Thought
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In Eddie Murphy’s “Raw”, he tells the story about wanting to get hamburgers from McDonalds, but instead getting his mother’s homemade burgers - a big ball of greasy fried meat with peppers poking out at every angle. As a child, he’s disappointed, but as an adult he loves to get mama’s burgers at every opportunity.
Sometimes there are many things around us to which we might feel indifferent, or even annoyed. Months or years later when we reflect, we might miss those things, feeling nostalgia or yearning.
Instead, we can notice the little magical things around us now, and appreciate them now.
For the transcript and important links go to: What is Magical Now: Episode 29 - A Beautiful Thought
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If you’re in a home where you’re not welcome, that can be exquisitely uncomfortable. You can sit in a lounge room, not really knowing if you should leave or stay, if people are wanting you there or if they’re just trying to be civil.
When you know you are welcome in a home, that is something to cherish. Someone says “Welcome” and shows you in, leading you to a seat and offering you food or a drink.
We are all capable of giving that hospitality and letting people feel like that.
For the transcript and links go to: Welcome to You: Episode 28 - A Beautiful Thought
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Arielle Friedman is one of the hosts of the Multiversity Project podcast. Over the years, she has explored and bought into many ideologies, being a liberal, a radical leftist, an anarchist, Jordan Peterson follower, and just a seeker in general.
In this interview, Arielle explains the challenges she had in navigating these different philosophies, and what she learnt from each of them. Arielle and Kurt discuss ideas from Nietzsche, Taoism, Aristotle, Karl Jung, among others. With Kurt’s help, she gains insight about how to find a balance, combining chaos and order, happiness and meaning.
Find important links on the site: Journey Through Order and Chaos with Arielle Friedman: Episode 27 - A Beautiful Thought
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In learning to be happy, one of the most important skills is learning how to be unhappy. When you learn to navigate unhappiness, addressing what is bothering you, resolving the emotion or transmuting it into something new, in many cases you can once again be happy.
In this episode, Kurt describes some steps he took when he was overcome with loneliness: practicing breathing exercises, asking friends for help, going out and meeting people, and taking action in general to regain a sense of control.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: How to Be Lonely: Episode 26 - A Beautiful Thought
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One night, Kurt was returning home from a café in a taxi. As is common in Latin America, the driver started signing a cross with one hand, praying silently in the Catholic tradition. In fact, he did it every block for three blocks in a row.
Kurt thought, this must be a man of great devotion - or perhaps he just really wants to get home safely tonight. Inspired by the gesture, Kurt also started silenting praying, wishing that they would both arrive safely, happier and more grateful than when they began the journey.
Arriving at the house safely, he did feel grateful and happy. Sometimes, if you want to be happy, all you need to do is ask. Let’s explore that in this episode.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: Pray For Happiness: Episode 25 - A Beautiful Thought
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Let’s say you’re doing something normal, something you might do every day or every week. Maybe you’re in the kitchen making pancakes.
There are so many aspects of this process that you’ve done thousands of times… pouring the milk, stirring the batter in the bowl, turning on the stove. You’re so familiar with them that you do them unconsciously.
What if, for a moment, your “autopilot mode” didn’t work, and you had to pay attention to every element of the task before you? By performing each step with care, you might notice that there is something inherently enjoyable about each movement. You might find a little portal to happiness.
Content warning: drug references
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: Presence is a Portal Episode 24
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Sometimes it seems like there’s so much that can go wrong in this world. It almost makes sense to worry, considering we have so many potential negative outcomes. Then when we try to stop ourselves from worry, it seems that only makes it worse - like a ball full of air jumping up after being held under water.
But being anxious about something rarely helps us. Thinking about all the things that can go wrong doesn’t prepare us for those situations, either because they never happen, or because we can’t think about them clearly.
With practice, we can learn a little more about worry and have a little more control over our emotions. By noticing that we have the freedom to be anxious, and allowing ourselves that freedom, we can begin to find our freedom to be calm.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: You Are Free to Worry Episode 23
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Finding the right partner can be difficult. Even knowing the qualities to look for in a partner is difficult. Then, once you’ve thought about what you want in a partner, you might apply the standards too tightly or too loosely.
In this episode, Kurt conducts a cognitive behavioral session with his friend Antonio - going through the four key questions from Gerard Egan’s “The Skilled Helper”:
- What’s on your mind?
- What is the real challenge?
- What do you want?
- How might you achieve it?
Antonio opens up about the current issues he has in his life, with Kurt attempting to gently lead him to insight. They end up talking about Antonio’s romantic life, what he expects in a partner, and how clarifying his expectations might help make his dream relationship a reality.
Note: Kurt doesn’t normally record CBT sessions. In this case, Kurt asked Antonio’s permission to record, and then later confirmed that he was comfortable with it being published.
Find important links on the site: Search For A Perfect Woman Episode 22
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A lot of people in English-speaking societies are focused on results, being better, being the best, or they have a conception of themselves that they strive to live up to.
Of course, you can never quite live up to a concept of yourself, as a concept is an abstraction. Try as we might to be spiritual beings, we live in a material realm, and nothing will ever be exactly as we imagine it.
We are always free to strive, to challenge and improve ourselves. At the same time, we are free to be accepting of ourselves. We acknowledge that our highest ideals are standards to move towards, but not benchmarks with which to judge or condemn ourselves. We will never be perfect, and we certainly don’t have to be perfect today.
Read the transcription and find important links on the site: You Don't Have to Be Perfect: Episode 21 - A Beautiful Thought
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In the famous Beatles song, the character tells us that “love was such an easy game to play”, but then he “said something wrong” and “yesterday came suddenly”.
On the surface, it seems like just a simple story about losing the person you care about. With a closer look, we find out that this song is almost a manual to unhappiness, with every line indicating a key error one can make if he wishes to be happy.
Let’s have a closer listen to the song, and find out what wisdom is contained within.
Read the transcription and find important links on the site: Yesterday Came Suddenly Episode 20
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Life is full of problems, troubles and inconveniences, and any one of them can get us down and even ruin our entire day.
The good news is, we have the perfect tool to handle it. As soon as we notice that a problem is invasive in our thoughts, and apply our awareness to it, we can be free of its influence - much like how our body’s immune system recognizes threats and instantly starts working to neutralize them.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: Spiritual Immune System
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Some of us can get very fixed ideas from romantic love, picked up from Hollywood movies, soap operas, pop songs or noticing our parents’ relationship.
In this episode, Kurt tells three stories of romantic love that didn’t work out like in the movies, with someone offering love in a different way than someone else was expecting.
If the love you get isn’t what you hoped for, is it possible to be happy with it?
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: Embrace Love in All It's Forms
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Katy Kelly of the Multiversity Project joins Kurt to tell a tale of getting converted to a radical political position, getting swept off her feet by her future ex-husband, and dropping out of college to go on adventures.
Katy explains how she changed her political beliefs from liberal to anarcho-capitalist, became radicalized listening to Stefan Molyneux explain the righteousness of anarchism, moved to a completely new city and severed ties to her family and all of her friends from her hometown.
What can a person learn from cutting off their identity, and eventually regaining it?
Find important links on the site: Losing My Identity Katy Kelly: Episode 17 - A Beautiful Thought
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You might find yourself in the audience of a play, gently polishing the lens of your camera to take some photos. Maybe you came to see one of the actors in the play, hoping that you might start a relationship with her. Maybe you’ll never see her again after that night. Whatever will happen, in that moment you feel content.
In another realm, after your life is over, you might sit with the spirits of the galaxy, watching a slideshow of the simple moments of your life. On Earth, those moments were nothing special, but outside of this world, every moment reveals vast amounts of mind-boggling information about the universe, Earth, and humankind. Can you, for a moment, look upon an instant of your life with the same wonder that it would inspire in your spirit friends?
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: Happy Little Things
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They say you can’t change the past, but maybe that’s not always true. By imagining ourselves in past situations, seeing things from others’ perspectives, and visualizing what we could have done or said in those trying moments, we can heal the past.
Perhaps your family was cruel to you, spanking or scolding, but you know now that they had good intentions, even though they expressed it poorly. What would those situations look like if they had expressed themselves perfectly? How might you have responded?
By using the ABCD model from cognitive behavioural therapy, we can look at the beliefs that cause our emotional reactions, and begin to change our beliefs. Then we can imagine ourselves in the same situation, perhaps with a completely different reaction - changing our view of the past and the direction of our futures.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: Heal the Past
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If you’re in the company of friends, if you’re eating, or just in a peaceful place, it’s nice to stop and notice what’s going on - putting value on the little things that happen, being grateful for what life offers you.
In 2016, Kurt was in a bus crash and ended up getting 16 stitches for a wound on his head. It might not seem like a good time, but so many people were looking to help - the paramedics, the surgeon, fellow passengers, strangers in the hospital, and even the Mexican federal police.
Looking back on a difficult experience, you may be grateful you had it. Maybe every day is a good day.
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: Notice the Good Times: Episode 14 - A Beautiful Thought
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In the movie “Bridge of Spies”, Tom Hanks portrays James Donovan, a lawyer given the duty of defending an accused Soviet spy. Donovan receives pressure from judges, law enforcement and the public to give only a token defense. But Donovan decides not to yield, instead upholding the rights and life of a man accused of being an enemy.
It is because of men and women like these, who have the courage of their convictions, who stand up for ideals even when it might mean being a social outcast, that humanity advances.
What is worth standing for?
Read the transcript and find important links on the site: What is Worth Standing For
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With so many people working in offices, sitting down for 8 or 9 hours a day in front of a screen, it can have drastic effects on people’s health, especially for their back. Chris Guida, co-host of the Multiversity Project found he had these issues, and decided to take his health into his own hands.
Chris went to various medical professionals, general practitioners, spine specialists and physio-therapists, slowly piecing together methods that would allow him to avoid back pain and become healthier than ever. He also applied similar methods to his own mental health, discovering the keys to his own motivation.
In this episode, Chris explains the struggles he faced and the wisdom he gained on the journey, taking responsibility for his health, life, and desires.
Content warning: sex, drugs, some coarse language
See important links on the site here: Chris Guida Health Hacker - A Beautiful Thought podcast
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In recent years, many people have been accused of abuses of power. One case that stands out is Harvey Weinstein, the movie producer who had the power to affect the course of people's careers - leaving them as movie stars, or as nobodies.
It's easy for many people to point a finger and judge, even calling him names. Of course, most people have never had that kind of power, power over the course of someone's life, the power to destroy or edify on a whim. It's easy to judge a person having never walked in their shoes, and easier still if one has not examined his own character.
When I look inside, looking at my own thoughts and behaviours, I can't say for certain what I would do when given that kind of power. If someone is certain that they wouldn't abuse their power, perhaps they're a saint, or perhaps they just don't know themselves or know the nature of power.
It might seem like a great task, to let go of judgement of others. When you manage to do it, you might find the opposite. It is liberating to have fewer opinions, to compare oneself to others less often, to have the freedom to focus more on one's own thoughts, speech and action.
Read the transcript and important notes here: Let Go of Judgement
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If you sit down to meditate thinking about why you can't relax, you probably won't relax. If you sit down with the intention to allow whatever happens, you might just find yourself relaxing.
Some people come to meditation as if it is a task to "do" or even to "complete", perhaps a product of a competitive culture. Of course these people find meditation more difficult. Here, alone with your thoughts, there is nothing to do; here nothing will ever be complete.
Seated in meditation, you are free from any demand. You do not have to achieve anything, do anything, or be anything. You are free to enjoy the process.
Read the transcript and important notes here: Enjoy the Process
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Since "The Secret" came out, and "Think and Grow Rich" before it, people have been wondering if they can influence the world by using their minds. From what I've personally experienced, the answer is a simple "yes".
In the Synchronicity Podcast, Noah Lampert describes a technique. You're about to go to sleep, in the "twilight" state between wakefulness and sleep. You imagine a scene, trying to engage all your senses. See, hear, feel, smell, taste the scene that shows a time when what you want has already happened.
You experience the emotion of it - the relief and satisfaction that comes after achievement, or the delight of having your best friend congratulate you. In that scene you think to yourself "How funny - I remember imagining this" - binding the future scene to the present.
Can you create the future with imagination and intention? Find out for yourself.
Read the transcript and important notes here: Prayers are Answered
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If someone offers you a compliment, do you play it down, saying "It's really nothing"? Or do you accept it graciously with a thank-you?
Often other people are offering us kind words and we get shy or don't know how to take the compliment. Perhaps life itself is even offering us blessings that we don't accept. Perhaps even our own minds present gifts that we refuse.
There are many of life's gifts that we can enjoy right now, if we simply look for them, and embrace them.
Read the transcript and important notes here: Accept Life's Gifts
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Luis Fernando Mises is known as a consultant of “servant leadership”, helping bosses to better serve their staff, leading to greater productivity and fulfillment. Luis is also a spiritual guide, facilitating personal growth through the use of entheogens. Besides that, he’s just a genuine, kind, positive man.
Of course, Luis has had to go through some challenges in order to emerge as positive and well-rounded as he is. 20 years ago, he witnessed the death of his young father, the loss of his family’s wealth, and then had to change countries - going from a nice upper-class area of Mexico City to a humble new beginning in Texas.
Luis is a man who has gone from scrubbing toilets for Starbucks, to being mentored by the president of Starbucks. How did he overcome his personal challenges, and what can we learn from his journey? Let’s find out in the first interview of A Beautiful Thought.
Find more resources on the site: Mexico Sent Their Best - Luis Fernando Mises: Episode 7 - A Beautiful Thought
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In this modern age, it’s common for people to listen to music, watch a documentary on Netflix at the same time, and check their phone for notifications every few minutes or seconds. It’s so easy to distract ourselves from our thoughts, many of us are even literally afraid of turning our attention within, even just for a few minutes. Being physically still, even for just five minutes, we might come face to face with our own thoughts. If for a moment our thoughts are still, we might find a certain inner stillness, a firm base on which to know ourselves.
Read the transcript and important notes here: Delight in Stillness
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Finding your way to starting a podcast to show the world how wonderful it is, the path doesn’t always go in a straight line. In this episode, Kurt explains his past beginning in personal development, building confidence by talking to women in nightclubs, and taking ayahuasca to open his heart.
An adventure must come with challenges, with many companions along the way, and with success must come the elixir - the lessons which can transform the hero’s life and the society to which he belongs.
Content warnings: adult themes, shamanic “drug” use
Read the transcript and important notes here: Why Think Beautifully?
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There are so many things in this world, sometimes we don’t stop to wonder about what they are or what they mean. We might even sing a song hundreds of times without pausing to think about the lyrics.
For example, the song “For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow”, sung at birthday parties through English and Spanish speaking countries, and probably many others. But what does it mean to be a jolly good fellow? And if people sing that about you, what does that say about you?
Read the transcript and important notes here: A Jolly Good Fellow
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Joni Mitchell told us that “we don’t know what we got till it’s gone.” But it doesn’t have to be like that - we do have the power to appreciate the things we have and the things others do for us today, even while they’re staring us in the face.
In this episode, Kurt tells the story of being locked up in an airport for 2 days asking what he could be grateful for in that moment - grateful that he could breathe, grateful that he had food… grateful just for the sake of being grateful.
For the transcript and other important links, follow this link to the website: https://beautifulpodcast.com/wake-up-to-gratitude-episode-3/
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Living and working in a modern world can fill our bodies with stress. We might even feel like we’re under threat, as if we were cave people responding to some tiger or bear waiting to attack us.
Our cortisol levels might be rising, but there is no beast waiting for us. Our bodies do have a system for relaxing, the parasympathetic system. When it’s activated, the body knows it doesn’t need to outrun a lion, so it focuses on more subtle things, like the immune system or just feeling happy.
We can activate it at any time simply by sitting, and listening to what’s around us.
For the transcript and other important links, follow this link to the website: https://beautifulpodcast.com/meditation-is-a-lovely-thing-episode-2/
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Welcome to the introductory episode of A Beautiful Thought with your host Kurt! A Beautiful Thought is a project where Kurt intends to help others to increase happiness within their lives. This is done both mainly through the means of sharing personal experiences. Who is Kurt? Why is he of all people qualified to talk about happiness? What’s the true goal of this podcast? What should you expect? Join us on this first episode to find out the answers to these questions and more!
For the transcript and other important links, follow this link to the website: https://beautifulpodcast.com/welcome-to-a-beautiful-thought-episode-1/
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