By which my friend Eleutherios assures me is the Kabbalistic (and poetic) equivalent of Steve Pavlina’s three principles of personal growth; truth (wisdom), love (beauty) and power (strength). This post has been a long time in coming, and in it I’ll explain why in order for me to move towards truth, love and power, I’ve [...]
Living the Dream Part II
The fantasy soon faded as the viciousness of this crime forced me to recognize the polarities of Dominican Republic. Everyone was talking about this senseless act and adding their own incidences they had either experienced or heard about; robberies at gunpoint, misconduct by the police, medical mistreatment and others. My perspective on my new country [...]
Living the Dream Part I
A memorial was held at my daughter’s school to honor the short life of one of her schoolmates, a fourteen-year-old boy named Marc El Wafi, who was shot in the head while defending his friends. The memorial described a child who sounded like a living angel. Friends and teachers shared their stories about his acts [...]
The Path
Many people have asked me why I’m still a monk after almost 3 years, while initially the plan was to be a monk for just 3 months. In fact, to me monkhood is nothing much, it’s just wearing a different uniform, from Dockers’ pants to saffron robes, or like working in a different firm. What’s [...]
The Simplest Way to Take Back Control of Your Mind
Have you ever found yourself feeling fine one moment, and suddenly lousy the next? Has a rotten memory ever come up for no good reason, and made you feel bad the whole day? Have you ever wondered why you sometimes irrationally imagining how badly the future could turn out – and wish you could stop [...]
Thai Sojourn: Vipassana Part 3
So what did I get from 10 days of keeping absolutely quiet, without any books, TV, internet connection and writing materials, sitting in meditation from morning till night? Without any external inputs and any way to output my thoughts, I was forced to observe. Forced to observe myself, my own thoughts and feelings. I saw [...]
Thai Sojourn: Vipassana Part 2
My Mind Fights Back While the days inside the Vipassana center blurred into each other, I remember that day 3, 5 and 7 were especially difficult for me. While there were days of deep concentration and peacefulness, these were days when my mind’s old habits fought back to re-assert themselves. Doubts, agitation, aggression, my mind [...]