Methods of Awakening

I've published two free ebooks on meditation and mindfulness , aimed at beginners. These have both been based on reworkings of some of the content on this blog, but both have been updated quite a bit. Please help yourselves to your free copy by clicking the links below! If you enjoy my content, please let me know in the comments or via e-mail. I'd love to hear from you and hear more about what you'd like me to talk about. Stay tuned for much, much more activity from your friendly neighbourhood agnostic mystic! The Urban Yogi's Handbook Vol. 1: Concentration The Urban Yogi's Handbook Vol. 2: Mindfulness/Attentiveness Audiobook Version Open Skies: 60 Minutes of Meditation Music

I've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes on Methods of Awakening. My freelance work has taken me away from posting as much as I had intended. I know I was away from this whole thing for about eight years, so a few months seems like nothing. That said, I had intended to be producing more content, more regularly after re-doing the older posts as podcasts. The current situation regarding COVID obviously played a part in things, but the lack of content really just comes down to me. Having been away from writing about meditation for so long, it's taking me a while to find my feet again. My own practice has changed a lot and I haven't been involved in the spiritual community online for a long time. Due to this, I think I lost my direction to some extent. As someone who'll write ten words instead of two, I often have the tendency to overcomplicate things. This is partly due to the way my mind works and the tendency to think everyone needs the same level of ...

Spiritual bypassing is something that many don't discuss, but is likely far more common than you'd imagine. In short, it involves using the world of spirituality to avoid dealing with real world problems. People will basically bury their heads in the sand, deny reality and live in a fantasy world of spiritual perfection and bliss. The reasons for this can be many, but it all really comes down to trying to avoid dealing with your real-life problems. This is something I'm very familiar with, because it's something I've done myself. I didn't even realize it until after the fact, but I can confirm that it does happen. My own experience of spiritual bypassing came during a very difficult and painful time in my life. My long-term relationship with the mother of my daughter was falling apart, so I threw myself into hardcore meditation practice and study. I had been actively meditating and studying spirituality for 10 years by this point, so it wasn't j...

I see a lot of people within the dharma community who have become quite vocal in their judgement of others. Typically it comes down to politics, which seems to have poisoned the minds of many. These are people I once had a lot of respect for, but whose authenticity I now question. It pains me, to be honest with you. One of the reasons why I found myself resonating with the Buddhadharma, was its focus on the individual. Only through investigating our own experience will we find answers. We apply what we learn to daily life, and in a way that benefits not only ourselves, but our communities as a whole. In benefiting our community, we can begin to benefit the world at large. Seeing self-proclaimed teachers spewing bile on social media really gives me, as the kids say, that big think. Don't get me wrong, I am all for people being able to voice their opinions. Especially when I completely disagree with them. That's what free speech is all about. What I object to i...