Pete likes to run -- one of the several things he does that makes no sense to me. He offered to turn his morning jaunts into a charitable cause. As he runs, he is scanning sidewalks and curbs for coins that were dropped overnight. He is donating 1/2 of everything he finds to the NMRF. This allows for him to feel that he is supporting the worthiest of causes and allows me to feel like a real monk by retiring on donated money. So far, the pot stands at $9.44. The plan is to take the collected monies to Reno/Lake Tahoe next February when we will meet for the 32nd consecutive year and place strategic bets that will grow the fund exponentially, enabling us both to retire in the manner to which we wish to become accustomed - or at least to something better than the freeway offramp that otherwise awaits. His job is collecting the money -- my job is writing this blog and choosing how to place the bets using my Noetic Monk insight skills.
The Noetic Monk Retirement Fund (NMRF)
Pete likes to run -- one of the several things he does that makes no sense to me. He offered to turn his morning jaunts into a charitable cause. As he runs, he is scanning sidewalks and curbs for coins that were dropped overnight. He is donating 1/2 of everything he finds to the NMRF. This allows for him to feel that he is supporting the worthiest of causes and allows me to feel like a real monk by retiring on donated money. So far, the pot stands at $9.44. The plan is to take the collected monies to Reno/Lake Tahoe next February when we will meet for the 32nd consecutive year and place strategic bets that will grow the fund exponentially, enabling us both to retire in the manner to which we wish to become accustomed - or at least to something better than the freeway offramp that otherwise awaits. His job is collecting the money -- my job is writing this blog and choosing how to place the bets using my Noetic Monk insight skills.
Sex, Drugs and Lama Chants
"I don't think I have any, " I told her.
We Are Not (Yet) 'One'

Truth Beyond Words
Do not believe in something because it is reported. Do not believe in something because it has been practiced by generations or becomes a tradition or part of a culture. Do not believe in something because a scripture says it is so. Do not believe in something believing a god has inspired it. Do not believe in something a teacher tells you to. Do not believe in something because the authorities say it is so. Do not believe in hearsay, rumor, speculative opinion, public opinion, or mere acceptance to logic and inference alone. Help yourself, accept as completely true only that which you test for yourself and know to be good for yourself and others.
You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can‘t solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside. Knowing yourself is most important.
- Ajahn Chah
The Suttas need to be studied, reflected on, and practiced in order to realize their true meaning. They are not meant to be sacred scriptures‘ which tell us what to believe. One should read them, listen to them, think about them, contemplate them, and investigate the present reality, the present experience with them. Then, and only then, can one insightfully know the Truth beyond words.
-Ajahn Sumedho
The Brain Separates Us
Thinking doesn't seem to help very much. The human brain is too high-powered to have many practical uses in this particular universe.
One of the things that I've been able to realize with confidence is that we humans -- probably all living organisms -- are more than biological matter. I'm not coming at this from a religious perspective -- religions are corrupted and dogmatic. But, I am convinced that a "spirit", "soul", "energy" -- whatever one chooses to call it -- inhabits this carcass of biological tissue for the time that it remains viable. Whether this energy returns to the ocean of cosmic energy when the physical body dies like a raindrop falling back to earth or whether it continues after death is the probably the question that is most important to our ego that strives for survival. Yet, I'm going to put the ego on hold and simply address the interaction of spirit with body for now. This is going to get murky. As I sift through my thoughts, I hear so many words of ancient wisdom recanted to remind me that this is a sorting out process rather than one of original synthesis. It's difficult to not be influenced by what's already been written.
Emptiness
Thus, "living in emptiness" may describe living with the realization of impermanence or lack of absolute identity. My layperson’s practical understanding of emptiness is concerned more with a state of stillness of mind. During meditation, we notice how active and proliferative the mind can be. Thoughts constantly arise and subside like overlapping wiffs of smoke. As we notice the emptiness of our thoughts, the mind settles and the chatter subsides. There is more available energy, it seems, to see things in their true nature. The mind empties its thoughts and delusions and space is created for clarity, insight and awareness to arise. The reactive mind becomes a mind interactive with the true nature of things around it.
11
We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.
We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.
We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space that makes it livable.
We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.
Tao Te Ching
- Lao-tzu
S. Mitchell Adaptation
“The Noble Path & The Red Road”

I’m mindful today of participating yesterday in an Indian Sweat Lodge ceremony with Fred Wahpepah, a 79-year-old Native American elder, some of his friends, and members of the Spirit Rock community.I won’t pretend to understand the custom, so I won’t try to explain the origin or hundreds of years of history -- as I would undoubtedly mislead you. I’ll just reflect on the events of the day, keeping in mind that it is a sacred ritual and I'm sure that I don't have everything correct.
The day began with the usual sitting and walking meditations. After a light lunch, we reconvened around a blazing campfire. There was some drumming, some prayers were said, chants were sung, and some pipes smoked (tree bark, according to Fred - nothing from Mendocino County). Behind the fire sat a “lodge” framed with willow tree branches and covered with heavy blankets – it was probably not more than 4 feet tall at the center. The floor was earth, covered with blankets. Fred explained that the ceremony was a ritualistic re-entering of the womb to commune with the Spirits Guides.
We were bathed in smoke from burning sage as we crawled into the lodge on our hands and knees – 26 souls. It was cramped and claustrophobic by the time we were all squished in. The blanket that served as our door was closed and we sat in complete darkness. There was more drumming, more chanting and more prayers. The door opened and a red-hot stone from the fire carried on a pitchfork was passed through and placed into a pit dug at the center of the lodge. It was sprinkled with pine shavings that flared when they touched the hot stone, releasing a pungent smell. Then several other stones were passed in and sprinkled before the door was closed again. The stones glowed red in the complete darkness and radiated heat in all directions. We all began to sweat – I can say “we” because, though it was not visible, I could feel the sweat from the people on either side of me mix with my own. Water was poured on the hot rocks and the sweat ran off our bodies like rain drops. Then we began a circle prayer – each person in the lodge was to say their own prayer followed by “Ho!”, to which everyone else chanted “HO!!!”. My prayer was for peace and enlightenment between diverse nations, diverse cultures and diverse people – it seemed appropriate and I felt a deep sense of integrity as I spoke the words. Others prayed about difficult situations, sick loved ones, lost friends or peace.
The door opened again halfway through the circle prayer bringing a few rays of sunlight. More importantly, cool fresh air entered -- it felt incredible. A jug of water was passed around from which we all drank – it tasted incredible. Then, the door was closed and we finished the prayer circle. We completed the ceremony with some singing, chanting and more prayer. I felt complete and silently sighed in relief as the door opened again for the final time. I survived -- I wasn’t absolutely certain that I would.
After rinsing off with a garden hose, we setup a feast in the meadow. Fred prepared the first plate – a small sampling of everything that had been brought to eat. A prayer was said and Fred asked that the plate be placed on the ground in the meadow as an invitation for the Spirit Guides to join us.
Last night, as I drifted off to sleep, I was startled to hear the Spirit Guides speaking in their native tongue. I wish I knew what they said.
Ego
The ego is unconscious -- it isn't who you are. Adyashanti said that enlightenment is seeing without ego. Yet, I doubt if it involves the destruction of ego. The collective ego is evolving. The enlightened human experience benefits from a pure and healthy ego until one decides to ulimately release back into the infinite.
The Ultimate Journey
There is no beginning, there is no end,
There is only change.
There is no teacher, there is no student,
There is only remembering.
There is no good, there is no evil,
There is only expression.
There is no union, there is no sharing,
There is only one.
There is no joy, there is no sadness,
There is only love.
There is no greater, there is no lesser,
There is only balance.
There is no stasis, there is no entropy,
There is only motion.
There is no wakefulness, there is no sleep,
There is only being.
There is no limit, there is no chance,
There is only a plan.
OBE and Meta-science
I spent many hours last weekend listening to some fascinating recordings provided by The Monroe Institute (TMI) of "Out-of-body Experience" (OBE) sessions with some of the people they worked with in isolation using their Hemi-Sync technology (the "Explorer Series"). As the subjects reached various "levels", described by Monroe, they often encountered spirits that have lived as humans on earth. In more than one case, the spirits offered details about who they were on earth -- details such as names, city, date of death, where they went to school, where they worked, how they died, etc. Apparently, these were never able to be verified.
I've worked through the entire "Gateway Voyage" series of recordings from TMI that are the basis of a 1-week residential course offered both at the campus in Virgina and at IONS in Petaluma, CA. They utilize the Hemi-Sync binaural beat technology for brainwave entrainment. As the binaural beats slow to the what I presume is the Theta level (it's "patented technology", so we don't really know what they're doing), the mind enters a deep meditative state, from which the moderator, Robert Monroe in most cases, coaches you to experience higher and higher levels of OB awareness. There's definitely some degree of suggestive hypnosis going on. I reached very deep states of meditation, but I don't think I experienced OB -- certainly, not to the extent that subjects recorded in the "Explorer Series" did. It's very eerie, though -- one feels very close to drifting off to another realm. However, what often happens is that you drift off to sleep -- termed "clicking out" in TMI terms. So, one must practice becoming VERY relaxed while staying fully awake. The 1-week course is only intended to be an introduction to the experience.
The hard science approach was done decades ago at SRI and SAIC. Much of the research was funded by the CIA and some of it was "declassified" in 1995. Much has been written by people close to the projects (see: Superpowers of the Human Biomind).
The default scientific position is skepticism. I suspect that most reported OBE's are actually lucid dreams or other illusions of the mind caused by loss of sensory awareness. Yet, I tend to think that this is possible -- perhaps, not in the way we usually think about it.
True Nature
Revealed
Our material world seemed to be constructed of a vast membrane that holds all life in this realm – humans, plants, animals and the even soil from which it grows. I emerged from this physical layer as my spirit emerged from my physical body. It seemed that I was then suspended at a vantage point where I could observe the physical realm in its entirety.
I saw a flurry of spirit beings popping in and out of the membrane. They live in the material world while in the membrane and, for some reason not explained, are not aware of the spirit world until they again pop out of the membrane. Some spirits did not appear to be out for long before they re-entered the membrane -- others seemed to hover for a while in the cloud, but I couldn't track them. The membrane seemed energized by the spirits popping in and out of it.
Entering the physical realm precipitated loss of insight and awareness. I was struck by the dramatic shift to ignorance once inside (or through) the membrane. There was a pathetic quality to this lack of awareness, yet it was not revealed why this occurs. It may simply be a quality that goes with living in the physical world. I could sense beings in the physical realm who know of the truth – the enlightened ones, though they represented an extremely small percentage of the total population.
The laws governing the regions beyond the membrane appeared quite different and amenable to will. Space and time were distorted from what we are accustomed to experiencing in the physical realm. The laws of the physical realm don’t seem to apply. It was lighter and more free. Space and time were easily transversed. Complex concepts could be communicated without language.
Physical laws govern the material world and did not seem to be readily manipulated. Here I felt that one must accept the limitations of physical laws in order to live in the physical realm. Therefore, those residing within the membrane seemed to be best served by working within its restrictions rather than attempting to effect or expect spiritual solutions. Knowledge, understanding and awareness are very important to moving in the material realm freely and they are rare qualities here.
The immediate purpose for entering the physical realm seems to be to create and expand it, but the greater purpose(s) for creating it was not revealed. The material realm is a much newer realm than the spiritual realm(s) and appeared to be under construction -- there is allot of energy being put into creating it. Further, I had the sense that this is one of many realms and that realms exist within realms on a very vast scale.
I saw that we can be creative in this material world and allow what we do to succeed or fail without judgment – essentially, in an evolutionary manner. It’s a living laboratory. We can play here and experiment here, build things and allow them to be torn down – technology, political and social structures. There is no right or wrong – just an evolution of a dynamic spiritual slurry within this environment. Individual accomplishments seemed unimportant -- generations of accomplishment of entire cultures can be wiped out without hardly being noticed. Still, there seemed to be a motivation to create, maintain, expand, and perhaps refine the physical realm. So, while there is no lasting egoic accomplishment to be fulfilled, there was still a perception that our participation contributes to the greater will.
One important theme from both nights was the benefit and necessity in freeing one's self. On the first night, I was aware of a personal membrane that contains me -- each other being also has one. The numerous membranes interact dynamically with and flow past each other. Attachments can form with other membranes like sticky atrophic plaques that inhibit our free movement. I found that I could free myself by letting go and by not clinging to ideas, fears, anger, or material possession. Allowing my own membrane to flow smoothly and without restraint felt far healthier. Relationships could be maintained by dynamic free interaction rather than attachment; unhealthy attachments were simply let go. It was a very freeing experience as if my boat had been cut loose from the weeds it was stuck in.
This theme manifested differently on the second night. I saw that most beings in the material world carry around loads of junk that manifests about their spirit – like dust and mud, it seemed to accumulate with age, weighing the spirit down and preventing it from being healthy and able to move about freely. This was what struck me most about what was revealed – this accumulated junk is so crippling. It creates such an impediment to our progress here – it’s responsible for so much stupidity and unpleasantness. It was simply stunning, pathetic and sad to see how much junk physical beings carry around with them. I could see beings covered in junk trying to instruct others on how to manage in this realm – sincere, but vain attempts to help – the blind attempting to lead the blind. I perceived a great need to be free of this psychic junk and to convey or demonstrate to others ways to do this.
Negativity in the material realm appeared to be mostly due to the ignorance. I noticed many false leaders and teachers, often (but not always) well-intentioned, who were attempting to lead others while lost in their own ignorance.
Finally, I was struck by the sense that I was seeing things as I believe I saw them as a toddler. It took a while for me to understand why this had a very odd but familiar look. It's a very different perception of the world than that of an adult. Perhaps, what we see as adults is a trained illusion painted over truth while the toddler’s mind is undeveloped and unable to see the illusion. It's something I want to try to look at and notice.
This is only my perception of what I saw - it may be looked at and interpreted differently by someone else.