We often look back 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or 100 years and ask, How did humans ever do that? What were they thinking? What was wrong with those people? We call them barbaric or monstrous, whether it was lobotomies on mental patients, denying women their rights, or denying minorities basic human dignity. I always ask: why do we have to wait to look back on other societies? Why can’t…
There was a famous lama I once spoke with in a Buddhist monastery in northern India. He was one of those lamas with the last name “Rinpoche.” I’ll butcher the first name, so I’ll just call him Mr. Rinpoche.He said:A bird needs two wings to fly, and humans need two wings to fly. One is wisdom, and one is experience.Wisdom is the intellectual understanding we develop about ourselves and spirituality…
Our minds are not much more than universe simulators. It is truly a remarkable feat that our minds can create such a perfect, solid internal recreation of the outer world. The fact that our minds can project all of the details of our universe, all of the intricate architecture around us, all the complicated details of a flower, in such high resolution, with such clear sound, is truly astonishing. But the…
Q: After leaving the US and traveling to all these places, why did you return to the US? TODD ANSWERS: For me, a peaceful or happy life, which could be found in a cave or a forest, meditating in solitude, is not the point of life. My purpose is to look back and feel that I built great relationships, built financial stability for my family, and lived a life filled…
You are trapped. Not in a physical cage, but in a mental one. Luckily, this is a cage of our own making, and we each possess the key to freedom.The cage is made of our conditioned likes and dislikes. We think they are not conditioned, that they are natural, innate to us. But they are all conditioned, and they can be changed. I used to hate olives and cilantro. They made…
I was going on this mission with the purpose of helping people through whatever I could learn. It was terrifying, yes — but it was also deeply infused with a sense that this was the right thing to do. This is what my heart was calling me toward. I don’t know where the idea first got planted in my mind — that I should learn about spirituality, that I should…
Most of the time, when people think of spirituality and finances, they tend to focus on how to deal with money worries, how to make more, or how to manifest more. That’s a big theme in the spiritual landscape we see online these days. But today, I want to talk about the opposite issue that a lot of people face. And that is our attachment to, and identification with, our…
I had dreams of people visiting me in the forest and feeling like, "Oh no, I broke the rules," and they were trying to tempt me to come back to society. But it was one of the most beautiful, profound, enlightening experiences of my life that I would never trade for anything.When I was a kid, I remember hearing that Jesus of Nazareth went into the desert for 40 days…
When I was a Creative Director in advertising, I had to travel a lot for work and my companies would always put me up in 5-star hotels. It wasn’t the sheets or marble walls or gold trim that impressed me. It was always something that cost absolutely nothing: the attention and generosity of the staff.I am currently on a family vacation (hence the infrequent newsletters), showing my dear mother-in-law the…
The world we live in is designed by each of us. We are each totally responsible for the world. You are humanity, you are society, you are the universe. Consciousness is the home you live in. You are its creator and caretaker. So, what does all this mumbo jumbo mean? Well, it means that if you see people as enemies, you have created the illusion of enemies. It means that…
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