Elements of Mastery — Thinking: “Conjectures and Refutations.” Imagination, and correcting its errors Knowledge: Useful information Learning: Increasing the rate of iteration Feedback: Nature’s reflexes. Lag in response time = a problem Experience: The frame for this moment’s Question Desire: Ultimate Curiosity Expertise: Comes from an enduring desire to know. This naturally increases the…

Understanding the phenomenon that controls your life — I won’t attempt a definition of “The Mind.” That would get us nowhere since the terms in the definition would themselves need to be defined. Instead I want to clear up some confusion: spiritual teachers speak as though absolute truth can be comprehended once you learn to see beyond theories…

there can be no “balance” in a life dedicated to finding truth. the truth cannot be divided into segments: “i go to work, and find a certain amount of truth; i leave the office at 5pm and go home, put the kettle on, and explore some more truth; i get…

Imagine trying to find the root cause of your unhappiness. You list possible culprits: the economy, social atomisation, your upbringing, the sharp comment you received this morning, your relative unattractiveness, your job, racism, sexism, wokeness, religion or its absence from modern life. Each listed cause spawns a thousand causes. Every…

something cannot be said to be “real” if its existence is dependent on some other temporary factor. imagine a set of circumstances you desire. your mind is kept occupied by the idea of how good it would be if those circumstances became reality, as opposed to a dream. you plot…

Why Ego is the greatest corrupter (while money is just its servant) — “There never was a war that was not inward; I must fight till I have conquered in myself what causes war, but I would not believe it. I inwardly did nothing” — from Marianne Moore’s poem ‘In Distrust of Merits’ How much of history was hurt reputations wanting duels with…

Your search is for what’s in the way — But if you need to be told that, then whatever it is that you “have already” must be in disguise. It must be hidden behind terms and rumours you’ve picked up which mislead like road signs turned in a false direction. What you already possess is natural rhythms which need…

It’s said that right before Siddhartha Gautama banished Maya forever, thus becoming the Buddha, Maya (representing illusion) appeared to him as the most mesmerizing of pictures: a flawless image of himself. The potency of a pliant looking glass, which can make its master believe anything having delivered a few choice…

You were not the architect of being able to walk and speak. These abilities are the result of innate programming meeting the acute need to learn, and of being consistently exposed to evidence that you still had far to go. These ingredients were sufficient. “How to walk” instructions… “Easy methods…