“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” – Daniel Boorstin
We’re back 🙂
I’m sitting at a coffee shop in San Diego, decompressing from last week’s retreat.
It was a roaring success.
There were more challenges, and the material was levels more advanced than last year.
(if you signed up for the 2023 recordings — buckle up…)
But our group stepped up to the plate, looked it dead in the eye, and smashed it out of the park.
My goofy grin is probably tripping out the barista, but I can’t help myself:
I’m glowing with pride thinking about the leap our group made this week.
And it feels like I made a leap of my own, too.
Here’s the story on that…
One of my personal practices is called:
“Kill the Buddha”
Sounds a little freaky, I know — but all it means is:
“Kill your most cherished beliefs.”
In other words, examine the beliefs you’re most afraid to question, and see if you can prove them false.
Not because you want them to die, but because you want to get to the truth.
(true spirituality is about getting to the Truth — not believing, but knowing)
Here are a few “Buddhas” I’ve battled:
– I am meant to play professional basketball
– Making millions of dollars is important for my life
– God exists / doesn’t exist
– Life has meaning
– ____ is my soul mate / life partner
And, most recently:
– My current life purpose is teaching internal development.
So throughout the retreat, I did everything I could to challenge that belief:
Slashing away at it for ~12 hours per day, in the heat of intensive teaching that stretched my skills to the limit.
But no matter what I threw at it, the belief wouldn’t die.
With every strike, it grew stronger, more powerful, and more true.
And as I sit here, recovering from the battle, my path feels clearer than ever.
Which is the point of the technique, after all:
Light a fire and see what doesn’t burn.
From the ashes of the false, the truth reveals itself.
It’s not comfortable…
(at times it’s downright scary — if this isn’t my purpose, what on earth am I going to do with my life?)
…But for a true practitioner of the internal path, leaning into discomfort is the name of the game.
Anyway, I hope that gives you some material to play with.
If you want to try killing your own Buddhas, start gently.
And hey:
It feels good to be back 🙂
I missed this.
Let the games begin, again…
– T
