I've posted this as a series of articles on Medium. In summary, this four-part model is as follows: EARTH: It begins with an understanding that as humans, we are composed of matter and occupy a physical form in a world of energy, physical forces, phenomena and change. This place we occupy in the material world is symbolized by the Earth Element and it is our first task to achieve at least a basic level of mastery of this element. Most of us do that naturally via our growth through adolescence but somewhere along the line we get stuck or become confused. AIR: Once we have mastered the Earth E ..read more

In part one of this series on what makes us happy, I looked at the stories of two successful entrepreneurs and their versions of the secret to the good life. And in that first post I proceeded to unpack some of the problems with their perspectives. In the second post on this subject, I looked at what some of the great sages from Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism had to say on the subject. I suspect that many people will read about these lofty claims and find them totally unconvincing and unbelievable. So in this post, I take a brief look at what the latest in science has to say about ..read more

In part one of this exploration of what makes us happy I examined the approaches taken by two very successful people. In the first case, happiness and meaning in life were to be found in achievement, hard work, and success. The second person thought that investing in relationships was the way to achieve lasting peace. To me, neither of these approaches is satisfactory because for the reasons I laid out, they won’t achieve the stated goal. In this post, I ask whether there is a better way? Is there a method to have a happier, more sustainably peaceful and loving day to day experience of life ..read more

Over a period of just a few hours during the course of my normal business day last week, I had two interactions that surfaced two different versions of what it means to be happy and what life’s purpose is. These sound like weighty matters not normally discussed in social contexts let alone business ones, and they are, but whether we talk about them or not, all of us have assumptions about what is important in life. Whether we are aware of them or not, these sorts of assumptions undergird the choices we make about how we spend our time, who we spend it with and how we treat ourselves. The two ..read more

As Christians around the world celebrate Easter, it is worth pausing for a moment to consider the true meaning of the events that are being commemorated. In this post, I argue that the traditional church version of things largely misses the point that Jesus was making in his ministry and in his life. Fortunately, we have many texts, church sanctioned and otherwise, that we can use to help us understand what Jesus was really trying to teach us. I find the Gospel of Mary as particularly useful in this endeavor. (Before moving on, I wanted to parenthetically address a notion which is continually ..read more

See Saw Films recently released a new movie, “Mary Magdalene,” about a disciple of Jesus who has been largely underestimated by history. It tells the story of Mary Magdalene from just before she meets Jesus, through his death and “resurrection.” The movie delivers an authentic, engrossing and deft view into one of the most significant stories of all time. Normally a line ending in “of all time” would be an obvious overstatement, but the life and teachings of Jesus I think lives up to that hyperbole. In addition to being a well-known story, the topic happens to be a controversial one. To make ..read more

#6 Reduced addiction We all naturally lean towards pleasure. This was a highly adaptive trait. High fat and high sugar foods, for example, were in scarce supply over the eons that humans evolved, so gorging on them in those rare moments when they were available was advantageous. Sex feels great. Being part of a community and being liked and admired by them feels even better. All these experiences generate brain states that we all like. So not surprisingly we are all programmed to pursue those pleasures. In today's world, we have easy access to drugs that stimulate these pleasurable brain stat ..read more

When you read the words spoken by the wisdom teachers of old, one of the ideas they repeatedly emphasize is that this reality of ours isn’t what we think it is. It is in fact something completely different from what we all think. And it is the “thinking” that is getting in the way of us comprehending the truth. Once we get this fundamental, ‘big truth’ wrong, the confusion about all the little elements of our life is unavoidable. And the happiness, peace, ongoing contentedness and health we all seek will keep evading us. So in the following paragraphs I am going to endeavor to explain what th ..read more

#5 More youthful and healthy body & brain There is a large and growing body of research that supports the idea that meditation helps create a healthier body. Whether it is inflammation, oxidative stress, or insulin resistance, time and again, meditation has been shown to improve measures of health in the meditator group as compared to the non-meditators. And whether it is hypertension, lower back pain, kidney pain, asthma, fibromyalgia, skin conditions, and the list goes on, meditation has been shown to improve people's physical condition. Books have been written on the subject so you can ..read more

I became fascinated by meditation and Buddhism when I was in high school. I felt my way around, chasing one idea or tradition or teacher after another until I had the good fortune to encounter my 11th grade creative writing teacher, who happened also to be a Buddhist monk. Thanks to him I began studying Thich Nhat Hanh's work and was able to join Thầy on a meditation retreat in the mountains outside of Santa Barbara that same year. (Thầy is how Vietnamese buddhist teachers are often addressed.) As much as I was (and still am) enamored with Thầy and the teachings generally of Buddhism, I just ..read more