We all have some relationship with toxicity.

Inquiring into right relationship can serve as a barometer for where we need to direct energy and attention in our lives in order to realize greater harmony and balance.

The power of dialectical thinking is that we learn to bring two “true but partial” perspectives into dialogue and it results in a richer, more complex sense of reality.

"When, consciously or unconsciously, we use something to escape from ourselves, we become addicted to it."

Here's a piece on cultivating greater wakefulness in life.

We’re trading in one of the most meaningful parts of our humanity–the capacity to create–for fleeting stimulation and entertainment that typically leaves us feeling unsatisfied.

A sketch of the progression from naive, to cynical, to post-cynical as orientations to reality.

Most of us live inside cultures that mistake appearing and having for being, which is the root of a lot of misery.

More thoughts on discernment and care.

How many generations of men and women have tilted their heads back and gazed in awe at the vastness and mystery of the night sky?

Setbacks and limitations are an inescapable feature of being human.

Thoughts on discernment and care. Plus some resources.

"All things are not shining, but all the shining things are."

While traveling through India, it occurred to me how many people have suffered or died to teach us what we know today.

The process of narrative creation, by which we situate ourselves in time and define various anchor events, is a kind of magical power.

Ambivalence is a useful experience to get to know more intimately.

Learning to transform the subtle ways we resist what is unfolding around us frees up a tremendous amount of personal energy.

Throughout the day, we move around in time. I wonder what a graph would look like that plotted "when you were" at 1-minute intervals throughout the day. What kinds of patterns might we see?

"Civilization is not inherited; it has to be learned and earned by each generation anew."

Without practice in this domain, most of us experience our internal conflicts as a continuous power struggle that plays out just below our conscious awareness, bubbling up in periodic spells of confusion, doubt or difficult emotion.

It takes courage to embrace your own idiosyncratic genius, and be free from image management.

The quality of our thinking is dependent upon the quality of other’s thinking that we absorb.

Efficient cycles of engagement support a satisfying life. Inefficiencies create challenges for us. Too much activation or engagement creates chronic stress, tension, and anxiousness. Too much inhibition or disengagement creates depression, emptiness, and collapse.

How do we stay engaged in our current cultural moment, while also recognizing the deeper forces of time and history?