The Backward Step

The teachings of the Buddha— and the lesson inherent in this exercise in non-meditation—is that if we allow ourselves to relax and take a mental step back, we can begin to recognize that all these different thoughts are simply coming and going within the context of an unlimited mind, which, like space, remains fundamentally unperturbed by whatever

PRACTICE: CULTIVATE THE LENS OF A “WISE OBSERVER”

So what’s the way out? How do we avoid becoming lost in our own thoughts, projections, beliefs, and opinions? How do we begin to find our way out of this whole matrix of suffering? To begin with, we have to make a simple, yet very powerful observation: All thoughts—good thoughts, bad thoughts, lovely thoughts, evil thoughts—occur within something.

Although few people realize it, everyone has what I call an “acuity gap.” This is the gap between your perceptions of the world, what you see, and the realization that these perceptions are created via your own thoughts. Liken your acuity gap to your level of consciousness. The narrower your gap, the better you understand that you feel your thinkin

The forced separation from ordinary ambitions temporarily rightsizes one’s life. The Dalai Lama has often reminded me that I am “one of seven billion.” By this, he does not mean that I am insignificant or just like everyone else. Rather, he is encouraging me to zoom out from my narrow, earthbound perspective on my life, my work, my relationships, m