The effort to listen in two directions at once, inwardly and outwardly, and suddenly realizing that, in a very real sense, there is no inward and outward; there is only the vast, silent spaciousness of Presence that welcomes everything into … Continue reading
Author Archives: Dennis Lewis
The Concept of Enlightenment
The concept of enlightenment, marketed today by a vast spiritual-media industry, is suspect. For me, anyone who believes or pretends that they understand the final meaning of life (other than living it as consciously and lovingly as possible) is deluded. … Continue reading
Listening to the Human Voice: Impressions for an Inner and Outer Study
The human voice is composed of a fundamental tone and various harmonics, depending on who is speaking and the various existing physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual conditions. The voice rides on the waves of the breath, which is also … Continue reading
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New Podcasts On Breathing & Presence From Author Dennis Lewis
I am now doing weekly (or so) free short podcasts on breathing, presence, and much more. Still developing my approach and working out the kinks (for example, I just recently worked with a musician in Italy to create 30 seconds … Continue reading
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Spiritual Suggestibility
The word “spiritual,” imbued with so much potential meaning and promise, is one of those words behind which many people hide and about which there is much confusion and obfuscation. On the social media, people readily bandy this word about. … Continue reading
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Some Thoughts On Blaming and Responsibility
Blaming assumes that people and things and situations should be different from what they actually are. You can argue with reality all you want, but you can never win. What you can do is stop wasting your time and energy … Continue reading
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The Arizona Desert
I never much liked the Arizona desert during my first visits as a young adult visiting my family. I liked the ocean, mountains, and redwoods of Northern California where I spent so many of my adult years, and I loved … Continue reading
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Breathe Into Being Retreat
For a description of this weekend retreat with Dennis Lewis and Master Yu, click here. For a retreat registration form, click here. Once you’ve filled out the form, pay the full retreat amount by … Continue reading
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Stop Trying to Erase What You Don’t Like
I was in a weekend art class with Mrs Nyland, Willem Nyland’s wife, at the San Francisco Gurdjieff Foundation many years ago. As I was drawing, not very well in my estimation, she came over to me and strongly suggested … Continue reading
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“The Unstruck Sounds”: Don’t Let Yourself Become Breathless When You Speak
Many of us when we speak try to say too much too quickly. Sometimes we try to say as much as we can before we are interrupted. At other times we just get carried away in expressing our thoughts or … Continue reading
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The Words We Use
The words we use–and how we use them–have consequences, whether for better or for worse. I see and hear people (we’ve all done it, haven’t we?) begin a conversation about a particular issue with bitter or provocative words (in the … Continue reading
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Observing Our Self-Importance
“The famous Tibetan meditator Geshe Ben said that his only practice was to watch his self-importance bloat up and then crumble down again and again. Seeing how it made his mind freer and freer every time it crumbled brought meaning … Continue reading
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Thanksgiving
I wish you a wonderful, gratitude-filled Thanksgiving. Whether or not you celebrate this popular American holiday, you have much to be thankful for, beginning with your very existence. However difficult your life, I suggest you take a few minutes today, … Continue reading
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Do You Create a Negative Atmosphere Around Yourself?
Some people create a negative atmosphere around them by frequently expressing their anger and other negative thoughts and emotions. This atmosphere, this energy field, affects them and everyone near them and, like a magnet, attracts even more negativity into their … Continue reading
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The Three-Fold Impetus of Being
Ah, nostalgia. All through history people have looked back to the good old days. I myself spent my teenage days and nights on a lake surrounded by woods and wandered freely with my dog, a boxer. I hunted, fished, swam, … Continue reading
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