Finding Meaning

Friends, there are some things we so dearly hold onto that we struggle to let go of. Even if they're destructive. We are deeply conditioned to adhere to a false reality.

The truth you seek is within you. The peace we seek is within us. The world we yearn for is within us.

I do not want to do a spirituality versus religion podcast. It's not about competition. It's about being a different places in life. So in this episode, we look at the difference between spirituality and religion. I hope it makes sense. Thanks for listening.

When we become attached to a way of being or a circumstance. That way of being or that circumstance dictates to us who we are. When the Buddha said do not attach yourself, I am convinced he is saying let things flow. Let things go when they need to be let go. That's what this episode is about.

I am convinced that we can create at least 80% of the reality of our life. The question then is from where do we create it from? From ego? Or from authentic self?

What I have been reminded of in the past five days?

If we can be grateful for things, that cultivates within us a deeper happiness than the momentary emotion we often call happiness.

As difficult as it is to understand, the goal of spirituality is to just be the authentic you that you already are. We overcomplicated as humans. The goal is to just be!

In this episode, we look at the fact that spirituality is about understanding and reprogramming the conditioned mind that we are handed. So that the true authentic self can come through and experience a greater awareness.

In this episode, we look at how identity is given to us through praise and external validation. Unfortunately, it's given to us to create a false reality in our life.

Transformation only happens with an ongoing effort on our part to facilitate it.

What does it take to create and Discover our true self? It takes spiritual work, which is repetitive work. What do humans not want to do? Repetitive work!

In this episode, we look at the emotion of anger. If we hang onto things like anger, we begin to give away our identity to the thing that we are angry with.

In this episode, we take a philosophical journey to try to understand that what we have been taught can often hold us from who we truly are.

Today is the fourth anniversary of a podcast finding meaning. And we talk about what lies at the core of what we find when we find meeting.

This is part one of a two-part series celebrating the fourth anniversary of this podcast.

We human beings, confuse, comfort, and complacency! Comfort is actually a gift of the spiritual life. To be comfortable in one's own skin to be comfortable, communicating to be comfortable in life. Complacency is the opposite. It is to accept what it is and believe that to be all that is, and that is not true. Take a listen thanks!

In the spiritual journey, we must be honest about the baggage. We need to get rid of. Things from the ego things from our past that hold us back. Take a lesson thanks

Another way to look at the spiritual life is through the eyes of technology. That is to say, you and I are programmers of our own video game. Not unlike some video games where you construct a reality, life is very much the same way. The question is, how are you programming your life? What kind of programmer are you?

When we practice being our authentic self, when we live out of our authentic self. We then produce a more authentic loving reality. You will see a difference in your life if you change the way in which you see life.

Two things are happening simultaneously in our spiritual journey. As we do the work of kindness, spiritual discipline, compassion, empathy it cultivate the ground for experience. The experience of who we truly are. So we are doing two things at once. We are having experiences of who we truly are and we are working on who we truly are at the same time.

In this episode, we look at the necessity of relationships for spiritual growth. Many times in religions we are taught that we must divest ourselves of relationships. When in actuality, we must engage in a relationship relationships for real spiritual growth.

What are the basic understandings of finding meaning? What am I talking about?

In this episode, we look at the fact that regardless of how noble or good something is in our world, it will always have within it, the false reality that it was born of. We are looking for a new way of being human in that way is found within us.

Love

The spiritual life takes perseverance. It is not an easy path. It is not something that is taken lately. If we persevere with the intent of love, we will succeed. If we persevere with the intent of living out of ego, we will fail.

This it is May 9, 2025 and yesterday a new pope was elected. So I thought I would take the opportunity of that to talk about where religion could fit and how it can't fit on our journey.

In this episode, we look at the necessity to shed our past. To let go of the weight of mistakes of our past and move into a new self.

The spiritual journey is about awakening to one's self, ones authentic self. In order to do that we must admit we don't know what we don't know.

How do we know we're on the right path? How do we know this in our journey that healthy spirituality talks about Is real? Well, the proof that you're on the right path is the fact that there is proof you are on the right path. Miracles happen you and others are transformed love is shared. That's how we know.

On the spiritual journey, there are moments of clarity. There are moments of epiphany. There are moments of self realization that are indeed the reason we keep going on this spiritual journey.

We humans automatically keep things complicated. We want things complicated so that we can find our own special way of thinking or believing. When really spirituality is a very simple concept that we have overcomplicated.

What does it mean to be called to something? We use the language of calling all the time in the human endeavor. But what are we really called to?

In this episode, we explore why people function out of things like jealousy and envy. Why people function out of a sense of low self-worth and why we demonize others.

Quite often we find ourselves living out of a sense of disappointment and a sense of victimhood. Because we have attached ourselves to the expectation that someone is going to behave a certain way, or a certain circumstance will turn out a certain way. Expectations are attachments, attachments create disappointments, disappointments become our reality.

When we judge other people what we are doing is trying to solidify a false notion of self by comparing ourselves to someone else. That's why you hear the admonition in many religions to not judge.

This is the last of a five part series on words and phrases that I use in Finding Meaning. One word that I repeat often is the word ultimately. We look in this episode at why I use that phrase. Thank you.

I use the term matrix a lot. I talk about the matrix and today in this particular episode. I will explain what I mean when I say that.

This is part three of a five part series on the terms and meanings of those terms of Finding Meaning. Today we talk about what it means to become one's true self. Which in my journey means becoming love itself.

This is the second part of a four or five part series on the language of Finding Meaning. Today we look at what I mean when I talk about the false reality, the matrix, the collective or individual ego.

Today we begin a four part series on the terms in the language of Finding Meaning. Today we look at what I mean when I say authentic spirituality.

In this episode, we look at the language of enlightenment. Which is the language of inspiration. It comes in the form of art, music, sermons that contain the message of love, books, photography. That which inspires us to be more loving is the language of enlightenment.

One of the hardest things I attempt to do in finding meaning is explaining non-deistic thinking. Here is my clearest attempt so far.

Today is the Christian holiday of Easter. I am taking this opportunity to talk about what lies at the core of all religions, I believe. What is the singular goal of all of us.

What does the story of Easter really mean? What does the story of Buddha under the Bodie tree really mean?Here is my take. Thanks for listening!

In this episode, we explore the fact that we could never go back to the old paradigm. We can't go back to the old way of thinking once we begin to understand that we are love.

We humans are busy believing ourselves to be something different than the other. When in fact, spirituality brings us to the fact that we are one thing we are singularity of love.

Life is ever changing! We can fight it or we can be a part of it. To fight against the change of life that it offers is futile. Because the change is going to come. The question is, how do we approach it?

In this episode, we look at the fact that the concept of leading spiritual life is an easy concept to understand, but a difficult thing to practice.

In this episode, we look at how the human mind convinces itself that even the wrong things we believe are right.

In this episode, we look at how the mundane and everyday life that we can lead is actually the spiritual life. And how we can live that life in such a way that expands our awareness of self and can give us meaning.