If there are no mistakes in life because they are just opportunities to learn, what about when we keep making the same mistakes over and over again? Why can't things just go well for a while? Where is the lesson?! In today's podcast, I explore how even if we feel we are making no progress, we are actually improving in subtle ways constantly. I share how buried in what seems…
Because we have clocks everywhere — our phones, microwaves, TVs, cars, etc… — we live in a mindset of time. I’ve seen people in the woods and for the first time in their lives they’ve actually not known the time. At first, they say, “I wonder what time it is.” Then later, “What time is it? Should we eat?”Soon they realize that their body will tell them when they’re hungry…
Our society today values thinking above being. We are encouraged ever since preschool to always be thinking. While human thinking and intellect are the greatest tools for survival on our planet, if that thinking isn't infused with presence, wisdom, and conscious intention, it will lead to every single problem humans have created throughout our history. It's no wonder most people have a deeply ingrained habit of incessant thinking. We don't…
Q: Dear Todd, how can Ukrainians respond with love to their enemies?TODD ANSWERS: Someone recently asked me how I can suggest that even people in Ukraine respond with love when their lives are in danger. The person went on to tell me that they struggle with spirituality because "we have fear for a reason and if a bear is charging at you, it doesn't care if you respond with love…
We humans are striving animals. More than any other species, humans have big goals, dreams and ambitions. Only humans want to change the whole world. That's both why humans are so successful, but it's also why we're never quite satisfied. So how can we be happy with what we have while still striving for more? How can we struggle our way towards success, and yet be happy along the way?…
The present moment is never bad. It just is. Life just happens. Our mind is what is doing all the suffering. It is our negative thoughts, our negative emotions (which we create negative thoughts about), and our desire to escape the present situation that make situations intolerable. When we are present, we are at peace, no matter what is happening around us. When we are thinking, especially when we are…
No life will be free from pain. We will see it in the people we love and we will see it in ourselves. Pain and loss are intricately intertwined in the journey of life. But this pain does not define us unless we let it. In today's podcast, I talk about the difference between pain and suffering. I share how we can start to look at pain without fear. And…
Q: Dear Todd, it's tough knowing that, (at the moment), I am the person bringing the people I love down. I know what living with "toxic negativity" is, but I am trying to forgive who I was and be a better me. I hope others can forgive me, (again), too. TODD ANSWERS: Awareness and good intentions are the first and the most important step of that healing and forgiving journey. Most…
Getting Rid of Your Unhealthy HabitsWhen we turn our attention inward, insights, ideas, wisdom and understanding arise. We allow space for ideas to enter.We also become experts in how our mind works. We no longer fall for the trap of neurosis because we are highly aware of its delusion. We no longer feed negativity because we now notice the patterns and can predict when it will come. We no longer…
Today's question is really about using meditation for insights. Can meditation work to see a problem wholistically? And more importantly, how can we use meditation to gain understanding and wisdom into a particular problem. These are things Todd learned about firsthand when living in a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayan Mountains in India, and he shares the answer to in this episode.
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