Dolphins are beautiful, playful and intelligent creatures.  People who have had the chance to swim with dolphins often describe it as an experience of spiritual communion.  Some have commented on how harmoniously a pod of dolphins lives together, and wished humans could get along so well.
But dolphins have a dark side.  They don’t exactly follow [...]

In the past, when someone said something to me that I found insulting or disrespectful, I tried to avoid reacting angrily.  I told myself I was probably just being thin-skinned, and that the other person probably didn’t intend to hurt me.
Besides, I said to myself in “spiritual” jargon, the anger I feel comes from my [...]

 
I’m part of a men’s group.  Some people see the value of this, and some don’t.
One guy I know, when I told him about the group, responded “I don’t need anyone to teach me how to be a man.”  Others have more detailed preconceived notions about “men’s work” — one woman reacted by saying “so [...]

(This is Part 2 of my review of Spiritual Bypassing by Robert Augustus Masters.  You can view Part 1 here, and you can also buy it through this pure-as-driven-snow non-affiliate link.)
For a long time, I harbored a belief that came from reading and listening to spiritual teachers.  The belief was that, when I feel upset, [...]

 
If I got my whole picture of the world from reading the news and people’s comments on it, I’d probably see the world as a place where everyone was in a state of perpetual outrage about something.  People even get outraged about a dip in the overall level of public outrage.  “Where is the outrage?” [...]

Like many people, finding happiness used to be my goal in life, and as an avid consumer of personal development products I learned a lot of techniques for getting there.  You’ve probably heard many of these:  think positive thoughts, force yourself to smile, take a warm bath, and so on.
For a while, I diligently used [...]