April 23, 2025
The Pull Away From Here
El alejamiento de aquí
A meditation on the attachment to thought and the subtle ways attention is pulled away from direct sensation, followed by dialogues exploring helping roles, family caregiving, boundaries with estranged relatives, and the refinement of awareness practice. Themes include the yin-yang of doing and not-doing, humility in the face of what cannot be controlled, and the fictional separation between thought and awareness.
meditation
The Pull Away From Here
An invitation to notice how attention pulls toward thought, and to gently turn back and feel what you've been avoiding.
dialogue
The Yin and Yang of Helping
A therapist asks about the painful pull into "doing" when sitting with distressed clients, and how to hold the role of helper without becoming identified with it.
dialogue
When Fixing Everything Isn't Yours to Do
A student shares the experience of caring for an elderly parent after a serious injury, and the tension between compulsive problem-solving and surrendering to a larger unfolding.
dialogue
Gratitude for Being Guided Toward What Is Difficult
A student expresses heartfelt gratitude for the teacher's willingness to accompany them through painful and confusing territory, and for the clarity that guidance has brought.
dialogue
When Boundaries Become Unnecessary
A student describes reconnecting with estranged family members after years of distance, and asks how to navigate boundaries with people who haven't done inner work.
dialogue
Awareness Watching Awareness
A question about the practice of resting attention in awareness itself, and whether this effortful self-remembering differs from simply observing thoughts and sensations.
dialogue
The Knowing That Cannot Stop
A reflection on the nature of awareness, how it is never truly separate from what appears within it, and the subtle mental maps that create a false distinction between thought and consciousness.
dialogue
When the Waves Are the Ocean
A student explores the distinction between awareness and thought, and the teacher questions whether that distinction is as real as it seems.
dialogue
Where Thoughts Come From, and What the Ocean Really Is
A question about noticing that thoughts don't seem to originate from any personal location, and whether the inquiry "Who am I?" remains a valid practice.
dialogue
Ponderability and Substantiality
A question about the relationship between form and emptiness, and whether Franklin Merrell-Wolff's teaching on ponderability and substantiality maps onto the recognition that form is emptiness and emptiness is form.