A very common misunderstanding is that suffering is caused by external events. We think we suffer because of our job, our bank account, our relationships, or the state of the world. But if we’re honest: have you ever changed your circumstances, only to find the same anxiety and dissatisfaction creeping back in? I'd argue that suffering is not caused by reality. The real issue is that we live in a world of “𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁.” We layer a massive conceptual world on top of real life. Even when we are safe and sitting in a comfortable room, the following things happen: - We obsess over a future that hasn't happened yet. - We replay a past that is already gone. - We judge ourselves against an imaginary standard of who we "should" be. - We resist the present moment because we think it needs to be different. We are constantly hallucinating a reality that does not exist, and then we react to that hallucination emotionally. That is a structural problem, and there is no way to fix it with positive thinking or stress-management techniques. We need to go deeper: we need to distinguish 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀 from 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁. Next week (Feb 21-22), we're running our 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗨𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗦𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 weekend workshop. It's about identifying the core mechanisms that generate mental and emotional turmoil. When you learn to separate your concepts from reality: - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀: You see that your "problems" are often just thoughts you are having. - 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀:You stop being a slave to your own mental narrative. - 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝘀: You become capable of responding to what is actually happening, rather than what you fear might happen. 𝗔 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Most "spiritual" practices fail because they don't give you a way to bring the insights into daily life. We want this to stick. So, included with the workshop is a complete support package: - 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸: So you don't have to scramble to take notes. - 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻’𝘀 "𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀" 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲: A 6-week deep dive. - 𝟮 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: Led by me, so you have a place to bring your real-world challenges.

Hello, new to the community here and looking forward to getting started! Which book would you recommend reading first? Thanks!

I was looking at what true listening entails. It seems to me that the more I pay attention, the more evident it becomes that I'm not particularly good at it - not so much in the conventional sense, but in a deeper way. Imagine someone is communicating a profound insight to you - whether it relates to consciousness work, transformation, or something else entirely. What do you do with it? Do you immediately accept it, reject it, believe it, disbelieve it? Do you hear the words, filter them through your mind, recall past references to what's being said, and then conclude that the communication is now understood? Perhaps the first sign of poor listening is this very impulse or predisposition to claim that you've already understood the communication. This seems to be common. We don't realize that we may have failed to listen, that we haven't experienced the insight being shared (or at least not as profoundly as we could have). So how can we better "listen," especially in this context? What even is that about?

A warm thank you to @June Parker for the donation and support! It will go toward making this work available to more people. Much appreciated.

In fact, being willing to look stupid means you will be less inhibited in your learning. Sure you might crash and burn and do something stupid, but think of the what's possible with that kind of risk taking. It will open you up to feedback which can help you grow, transform, learn faster. I see many in workshops hold themselves back unnecessarily. (Of course you should balance this with if you are really off the beam with your contributions someone may tell you to stop being an ass, in which case you can use that as more feedback and adjust accordingly. But if you are genuinely curious, go for it.) We have a new category for posting available titled, "Help and questions." If you are new here or experienced let us know you challenges and questions you might have regarding workshops, your own consciousness work, confusions, etc...