A few days ago I quoted this statement by Annamalai Swami: You stumble around in the darkness of your mind, not knowing that you have a torch in your hand. That light is the light of the Self. Switch it on and leave it on and you will never stumble again. (From Annamalai Swami: Final […]
Author: Freddie
The desire for God is God
A couple of days ago I mentioned a conversation with the Goddess, and Focus asked me to say more about it. Before I describe the conversation, let me tell you the background. During the summer of 2015 I began to have many mystical experiences. They were very intense for a few months and then tapered […]
This post takes precedence over all the others
When people ask me for advice, I try to remember what brought about the transformation in my life so I can recommend the same path to them. But even though I remember what I did, and I remember what happened, it’s difficult to know whether one thing caused the other. In my heart of hearts, […]
I will turn the lights on
Somebody wrote to me recently: I am trying to balance receiving guidance with the actual putting it into practice, and I admit that I sometimes fall into intellectual fascination for these discussions and I moreover need to put my ego aside and really listen. I replied: You can always escape from all complexity and from […]
Robots
There is a very popular TV show in the United States called Westworld about conscious robots who are slaves in an amusement park. The robots are programmed to think they are people but as the show goes along, some of them discover what they really are and they rebel. To give the robots personalities, the […]
Words, reality, and fish
One year when I was in high school we had a new teacher in our biology class. He was a very sweet man, and a wise one, but he had just changed careers and didn’t know much biology. Because of his lack of knowledge he had trouble managing the students. I regret to say I […]
Sonnet 19 by John Milton
This used to be one of the most famous poems in the English language. Maybe it still is, I don’t know. The basic idea is that blindness prevents the author from using his talents to serve God. This troubles him but then he remembers that we serve God not only by doing but also by […]
Hot spot! Hot spot!
I’ve been pretty sick lately. Due partly to arthritis, partly to two chronic sleep disorders, partly to who knows what else, I haven’t been in deep sleep in about two months. As a result I have migraines nearly every minute of the day and can barely function. My mind is like a boat in fog. […]
Do It Without Ceasing
Do it without ceasing at 0:37. A quieter version of the same message: Self-inquiry must be done continuously. It doesn’t work if you regard it as a part-time activity. —Annamalai Swami: Final Talks, page 30. Links Free Copy of Annamalai Swami: Final Talks
What is suffering?
This thing we call suffering — what is it, really? We hate it so much that we take it for granted. Taken to extremes it’s a state in which we wish we didn’t exist. But even if that’s true it doesn’t answer the question. Can we use suffering as a gateway? As a target for […]