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The PRISON of STUPIDITY Stupidity is a force of nature. A scion of the fundamental chaos underlying the universe - it channels energy from an infinite source, overcoming any imaginable barrier or safeguard. Few prisons are so vast, deep, or dire. We discuss. . .

The PRISON of HABITS Habits are spirits. They posses you. They can shape your life and the lives of those around you. They have the power to animate your body. They enable EGO and energize the PAIN Body. Habits can be a prison - easy to get into - difficult to escape. We discuss. . .

Prison Series Part 5 The Prison of Anxiety Continued: Escaping the Prison The Prison of Anxiety is dark and deep. Those trapped inside often need guidance to escape. We discuss. . .

Part five in the PRISON Series: The PRISON of ANXIETY Anxiety, Worry, Stress, Tension. . . All come from living in the unknown FUTURE instead of the present moment of NOW. Your focus is on that which ‘could be’ or ‘might be’ – stealing enjoyment from your present life. Worry is toxic to the soul – a prison made of imagined fear. We discuss. . .

Sacrifice is the key to MEANING What is meaningful in your life? Relationships, Conversations, Goals. All require SACRIFICE to achieve, and all have meaning in direct proportion to how much you sacrificed for them. A meaningful experience requires sacrifice. An EASY life is also a MEANINGLESS one. We discuss. .

Prison Series Part Four: The PRISON of GUILT Atonement or At-One-Ment is the sense that you must reunite with one that you have separated yourself from. Our actions separate us from our loved ones. ATONEMENT brings us back into alignment with them. The sense of Guilt, Shame for one's actions, Realization that you have wronged another, Action to admit your transgression, and finally to make Restitution. These are all phases of ATONEMENT. It is, as Dostoyevsky says, “. . .what we must do. . .” We discuss

Can you AFFORD your EGO? The cost of the unobserved EGO, in experience, relationships, somatic illness, and wasted energy can be enormous. Few realize how much of their limited and precious lives are spent feeding this insatiable monster. The solution lies within, but it requires the WILL to choose it. We discuss. . .

Prison Series Part Three: The PRISON of NARCISSISM The Prison of the Mind is built from more than Dogma and Rules. It is also walled with the mirrors of Self-Love and Self Hate. The Obsession with Self and the endless Critical Voice of judgment are both manifestations of Ego. The relationship of Narcissus with his Reflection is an analogy for this internal Duality. The Ego seeks the imperfect Other, gratifying itself in finding Fault and Lack that can never be assuaged. The KEY to this PRISON is in our grasp – if we can tear our eyes away from our reflection long enough to use it. We discuss. . .

Prison Series - Part 2: The Prison of Unforgiveness Just as the Prison of the Mind is Dogma, the Prison of the Soul is Unforgiveness. Unforgiveness traps Consciousness behind bars of Regret and Bitterness. All present experiences are ignored; all future pursuits are blunted as the parasitic Ego fixates upon the Pain Body and the grievances of the immutable Past. Forgiveness is the key to this prison, that and the Will to use it. We discuss. . .

The Prison of the Mind: The mind is a dogmatic animal. It craves order. It needs rules and restrictions, exceptions and concepts, surety and abstractions. The Being needs nothing - only to BE. The Prison of the Mind is self-created. You are Judge, Jury, and Jailor. The only one who can set you FREE - is YOU.

God is Dead Nietzsche's often quoted plosive aphorism, the meaning of which has been lost in a postmodernist world. We explore the philosopher's kernel of meaning - God is the absolute, the SOURCE from which we all spring. If God is dead so is meaning, and consciousness itself. The death of God is the conceit of the EGO. We discuss. . .

The Dark Night of the Soul Common to all Human experience - the dark night symbolizes spiritual destruction. The Ego comes to its end, and all that it depends upon suddenly seems meaningless. All heroic journeys contain the Dark Night, the moment when all is lost. For it is only in Darkness that we can see the Light. We discuss. . .

The Origin of Freedom - questions. . . We have Free Will. But, why are we free? What allowed us to internalize, conceptualize, and be free? We discuss. . .

The religion of SOLITUDE. Isolation is both a shield and a weapon. Brilliance and originality can attract accolades, or inspire vicious rejection. The degree of rigidity in a society is often a measure of its danger to free thought. Solitude is tolerable, and the Original and Brilliant may choose it for safety as much as their comfort. We discuss. . .

The Soul of the Everyman meaning the unique incarnate portion of the eternal Spirit that is you, needs three things: To be SEEN, To be KNOWN, and to understand its PURPOSE. We discuss. . .

Unconscious Resentment: There is a phrase that goes - "We're not happy until you're not happy." It's meant as a joke, but all too often it rings true. Unacknowledged resentment of others can become poison, robbing you of joy, and leading to bitterness and envy. Recognizing this feeling is the first important step towards releasing negativity from your life. We discuss. . .

LIFE Nobody gets off this coaster alive, and nobody gets to decide where the cars take them, how steep the drops are, or when the ride ends. The Ego wants to control all these things and it feels helpless when it cannot. The Being knows it has the ultimate choice - to take what life gives and enjoy it, or not. We discuss. . .

As Yamamoto Tsunetomo said: "(If) one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way." The death of the body, the mind, or the Ego, is not a true death. It is death in concept, in fear only. People fear death because they see it through the false eyes of the Ego. But, as Yamamoto says, in living as though one were already dead, a death of the Ego rather than a physical death, one is in the moment of NOW, and there is no death. We discuss. . .

One person's trash is another's treasure. Things, in and of themselves, are valueless. No thing or situation is intrinsically good or bad. It is all a matter of PERSPECTIVE. Thoughts, and their associated emotions, are tied to JUDGEMENT. Happiness, on the other hand, resides in the BEING of the BEHOLDER. We discuss. . .

Heroic Transformation The way of the Hero is a frightening one. He or she is not a super-being, but rather an ordinary person, thrust unwillingly into extraordinary circumstances. The Hero journeys outside of ordinary reality, with no clear sight of the challenges they may be required to face. To survive, they must not find identity in the struggle, but rather in the transformative path that exists within themselves. It is in Trusting their choice that they will find that they are equal to, or greater than, the task set before them. We discuss. . .

It's POETRY NIGHT! And the topic is Marriage. . . You are in for a Wild Ride. We discuss. . .

Peace: Peace is not something that you get, or that can be given to you. Peace is something that you can have at any time, yet it often seems unobtainable. The root of PEACE is acceptance, the embracing of the Is-ness of NOW. NOW IS - that is all. NOW is not here for you to change, or to like or dislike. NOW is here for you to BE, and, in BEING - experience fully. With this realization comes peace, and the ability to act freely in the NOW. We discuss. . .

Form: All of our senses tell us that form is real, and it is. Our Ego tells us that Form is ALL, and it is not. The Ego dwells in endless forms, and is terrified when it thinks of form changing or ending. Consciousness, our BEING, is beyond FORM. Our true nature is formless, infinite, and timeless. We discuss. . .

Our Reality is a boundless, infinite continuum. Our form is an infinitesimal speck within it. Reality is completely and totally real, but it is not what we perceive. Our words are abstractions, concepts through which our limited thoughts and ego-persona attempt to bind our experience. All this is TRUE, yet still, our beings are vast enough to hold the Universe within. We discuss. . .

Responsibility: it's the only thing that gives life meaning. In a free society, you are free to live with no responsibility whatsoever. The price of that choice is - nothing matters. In reality, Life - every moment - is a precious gift. EVERYTHING matters - but - you have to take responsibility. We discuss. . .