12 SEP 2018 · Everything You Know Is Wrong Just for a moment, I want you to suspend your disbelief. But remember where you left it, so you can have it back, in case you need it, later, when you feel afraid. Seriously. You need to know your default setting, so you can return to it, after I blow your mind. Write down a few things about how you see the world, the way you feel about family, friends, politics, government, religion. Make a list that defines your worldview. And when you're done, join me in a thought experiment. Speaking hypothetically, what if everything you know is wrong? And, by that, I mean all your fundamental, underlying assumptions about life, the world, the universe, and even your basic reality? Does that sound crazy? Of course it does, because it is, because society defines for you what is sane or insane. The people around you, the bubble you live in determines how you feel, what you think, where you go, and why you make the choices you call your own. Like it or not, you are one of the sheeple, part of the flock. You are following the other animals, but you can't see where you're going. To know yourself, you have to be alone, all alone, for miles, and preferably out in nature, and at the highest elevation that is safe enough, if not too comfortable. Let's call this our mountaintop. We will go there, now, together, in the mind's eye, visualizing, with imagination. First thing, before leaving, we need to cultivate the desire for something more than this, whatever it is, the life we've been living, our environment, job, career, family, habits, routines, the culture and lifestyle we identify with. We must dream of something better, feeding hope, deliberately, so it can grow. Second, we have to leave our comfortable rut and go and climb, if only in the mind. This journey to the mountain top takes courage and great care. Many have tried and failed. Make no mistakes. Falling is not an option. As much as we can, we stick to the middle way. Third, we reach the top, look around, and sit down to stay until we get what we came for, no matter how long it takes. For one reason or another, we may never climb this particular mountain again, or any other. But we are here now. We came because we heard there was a guru living here, an ancient master, at the peak, sitting day and night; a guide, people said, who could answer all your questions, and tell you how to live your life. Of course, we did not really believe it, but we had to see it for ourselves. We arrive at the top and find no one, so now we sit and wait for him, or her, or it. We sit in the lotus posture, so the guru will find us ready, and we meditate on the chosen ideal, our Buddha, Krishna, or Christ. After forty days and forty nights of struggle and surrender, we come to know the ideal within. We are the guru on the mountaintop. The joke is on us. And we laugh, and laugh. The guru is the voice within your body-mind, the one who answers all your questions, not in words, but in the sing-song feeling of emotion. This is the source of conscience and intuition, gut feeling, and e.s.p. To know what you feel, and hear what you think, you have to escape, to break free, to leave society behind, if only temporarily. What you require is stillness, quiet, silence. For one shinning moment, you need everything in your life to stop, so you can look around, reevaluate, and take stock. People band together out of fear, for comfort and companionship, to make life easier. But you pay a price to live in society, to have family and friends, to call people and things your very own. You are become slave to whatever you hold onto, because it defines you. All those concepts are just abstractions, desires and aversions, living only in the mind. Kill them all, or let them die, from neglect. Nothing is yours and you do not belong to anyone. There are no answers out there, in books, wise men, not in the world, nor even in the stars. There is, however, something by which knowing, all things are known. Understand this, and you can skip college, career, family, old age and even death. This is the thing called self, or God. You did not know it was this you were looking for, because you had forgotten its existence. But because you dared to be dissatisfied with your life, you went looking for something you could not define, just out of reach, and when you reached for it, it came to you. Liberation. The mystery was you. Now you know. There was only ever one thing you needed to remember, to feel, do, see or be. It was...happy. Thank you for participating in this simple thought experiment. You may now breathe a sigh of relief. Everything you know is not wrong but right. All is well, exactly as it should be. We now return you to your regularly scheduled routine. Work, play, talk, think, eat, sleep. Repeat. Work, play, talk, think, eat, sleep. Repeat. Work, play, talk, think, eat, sleep. Repeat. Work, play, talk, think, eat, sleep. Repeat. Work, play, talk, think, eat, sleep. Repeat. Work, play, talk, think, eat, sleep. Repeat.

12 SEP 2018 · Are you at the end of your rope? Down on your luck? Wolf at the door? Don't panic. There's an easy way out. Guaranteed, the one thing you haven't really tried is suicide.