Posted inMindfulness Neuroscience

Cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness

I recently finished writing in a ruled 8 1/2 X 11 pad of paper that I've used for various purposes, turning over a page to start writing on a fresh page without discarding what I'd written before. I was about to throw the pad away, or rather, recycle it, when I decided to look at the first pages and see what was there. Which was... 3 2/3 pages of scribbled notes that I'd taken titled "CBT & Mindfulness -- Waking Up." That made me recall listening to a series on the Waking Up app that featured a subject that interested…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB: The “tell your boss” test

Below is another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current RSSB guru. I like Anon's "tell your boss" test. Every religion is strange, because they almost always have a faith founded on the supernatural, for which there is no demonstrable evidence. So religions can make up all kinds of stuff up, claiming it…
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Posted inConsciousness Delusions

Mind isn’t separate from body, but we sure feel like it is

After being a dualist for about 35 years, when I was a member of an Eastern religion that believed we humans have a mind and soul that are separable from the body, I'm now a contented monist -- as it seems virtually certain that physical matter/energy is all that exists, the mind is just the brain in action, and soul doesn't exist. But I readily admit that this isn't the way how mind and body relate feels to me. Or to other people. For it seems that right now my bodily fingers are typing away on a keyboard, with the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB and critical thinking

Below is another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking. Anon asks 30 good questions about the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, and the RSSB teachings. Some of them have answers in the RSSB literature, but they aren't convincing answers, as the answers raise even more questions. As Anon says, critical thinking is discouraged by RSSB, along with every other religion.…
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Posted inMindfulness

Thinking is good. Overthinking, not so good. Ruminating, pretty bad.

Sometimes people attached to a certain kind of spirituality (or pseudo-spirituality) say that thinking should be avoided, that somehow we should live in an intuitive la-la land where actions occur spontaneously and naturally, no thinking required. Aside from being totally unrealistic, I've wondered how it is that these people express their distaste of thinking in words that sure seem like thoughts. After all, what is saying or writing "thinking should be avoided" but an expressed thought, thinking should be avoided. Mindfulness practice, in my experience, doesn't view thinking as a problem any more than emotions are a problem. Both are…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB engages in weaponized recalibration

Here’s another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current RSSB guru. RSSB CONSTANTLY recalibrates its positions on its own beliefs and positions. It makes it hard to know where you stand. They're often subtly done and vague about it and it's never announced. The script just changes. It can also create a situation where you YOURSELF are just trying to get onto solid ground. RSSB also weaponises hypocrisy for…
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Posted inMeaning of life Personal/Stories

We are all living the dream life

A few days ago I was using one of the machines in my athletic club's circuit weight room, when I heard a guy at a nearby machine say, "Brian?" I said, yes, and the guy said “I’m Bob. Bob Jones.” [Not his real name, as I want to respect his privacy.] I hadn’t seen Bob for about 36 years or so. We used to play tennis together back when I was into the sport that I'd played since high school. Bob asked if I was still playing tennis. I said, no, not for many years. How about you? He said,…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Dating in RSSB (Radha Soami Satsang Beas) is a toxic cesspool

Here's another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current RSSB guru. I found it really interesting. Anon breaks new ground, so far as I know, by discussing how dating occurs among members of RSSB who are part of the Indian community in the Western world. In short, not well, especially for women. Enjoy... RSSB: DATING CESSPOOL TOXIC Anon here. As someone who spent a lot of time in Western…
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Posted inDelusions Politics

Last night’s State of the Union address provided more evidence of the Cult of Trump

Unfortunately, Donald Trump has inflicted himself on the national landscape for enough years to allow me to write several posts about how he acts like a cult leader, and his followers show him the devotion given to cult leaders. See: Trump acts like a cult leader in his coronavirus briefings Inside the cult of Trump, his rallies are church and he is the Gospel Cult of Trump shows how delusion is linked to blind devotion Cults can be political as well as religious Last night I showed my dedication to studying the behavior of political cult leaders, along with the…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Facebook post uses Deepak Chopra’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein to caution against spiritual bypassing

Someone recently sent me a Facebook post by Rosemary Holistic Therapy that has some interesting things to say about spiritual teachers acting badly and the danger of spiritual bypassing -- defined as "tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks." I've shared the post below because I agree with most of it. It's a bit New Age'y for my taste, and indulges in some psychological talk that doesn't resonate with me. I also have no idea what the "life-force center" of the body is. But I agree…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

A thoughtful critique of the RSSB meditation practice

Obviously there's no one right way to meditate. There's lots of ways, and whether one seems "right" or "wrong" is entirely subjective. It depends on what sort of meditative experience someone wants. So if some religion, sect, spiritual path, or mystical practice claims This is the highest and best form of meditation, don't believe this. Because that sort of claim is complete dogmatic B.S. I'm confident in saying that because for many years I wrongly believed that the meditation practiced by Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a guru-centered religion based in India, was #1. It took me quite a while…
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Posted inFree will Meaning of life

Forget God, forget prayer, forget magical thinking. There’s no path in life other than the steps already taken.

Back when I was a member of an Eastern guru-centered religion, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), there was a lot of talk among RSSB initiates about being on the Path. That word, path, came with capital letters because this was a very special spiritual path, one that supposedly led from the illusion of this dark material world to the ultimate reality of God and heaven, a.k.a. Sat Purush and Sach Khand. Now, thankfully, I've grown out of that magical thinking. I'm happy seeing things as they are, not as how I fantasized them to be. I realize that the only…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Long-time initiate explains why they lost faith in Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru

Here's another religious de-conversion story from someone who gave me permission to share their story of how they lost faith in the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD). It always warms my heart to hear from people who came to realize that a supposed spiritual leader actually wasn't acting in a moral or upstanding fashion, so no longer deserved their loyalty. Hi Brian, I hope you are well! I have for years, checked in on your website for updates on all things RSSB - from a different perspective to that of the active sangat. I…
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Posted inAlan Watts Taoism/Tai Chi

Winter Olympics has a lesson for us: trying hard to succeed often leads to less success

Yesterday I wrote a post for my HinesSight blog about how an American ice skater fared in what was expected to be a gold medal performance. Here's some excerpts from "Ilia Malinin lost an Olympic ice skating medal, but he won the heart of people who also have screwed-up big time." For me the most tragic moment in this year’s Winter Olympics was Ilia Malinin, a hugely talented American figure skater, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory when he bungled a seemingly certain gold medal by falling twice in a performance where Malinin was so far ahead of his…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) now says the guru is just a guide, not a savior

Here's another guest blog post from the person who used to belong to Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a religious organization based in India headed up by a guru, until they realized the downside of RSSB and became a thoughtful critic. I'll share my thoughts about what they said after the post. RSSB has updated information on their website. See below. RSSB literature (containing RSSB beliefs) states: Guru is perfect living master, param sant (perfect saint) or Satguru (the true guru) Guru is one with God Guru takes responsibility for your karmas Guru reduces karmic burdens to a pinprick Guru…
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Posted inScience Universe

Evolution could be even more fundamental than physics

Religious dogmatists don't like evolution because it undercuts their fantasy that God brought into being the world and everything in it via a single act of divine creation. Of course, that goes against all the evidence of a big bang setting off a 14 billion year process in which the universe changed from a subatomic speck to the tremendous size it is now, with that size continuing to expand at a speed greater than that of light. I've finished a book by Mark Vellend that views evolution as being at the root of much more than biology, Everything Evolves: Why…
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Posted inAlan Watts Spiritual practice/meditation

This is It, by Alan Watts, is a compelling essay about how unordinary our ordinary life is

In my previous blog post, I shared a quotation from Anne Watts, one of Alan Watts' children, that included an excerpt from one of his books, This is It. Liking the excerpt, I turned to my collection of Alan Watts books so I could take another look at This is It. I was surprised to see that I'd never bought This is It. No problem, Amazon delivered a copy yesterday. I read the short 11 page essay this morning. The book also includes five other essays about Zen and how Watts views spirituality. Wikipedia says This is It was published…
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Posted inAlan Watts Spiritual practice/meditation

Why it doesn’t make sense to take the advice of spiritual gurus

"Guru" often is used in a way that goes against the original meaning of the word, a religious or spiritual guide. The literal translation apparently is dispeller of darkness. So I guess a lighthouse keeper would definitely be a guru. More broadly, guru can mean a skilled instructor. If a golfer benefits from some putting tips provided by the club pro, they might say "That guy is a real golf guru." We all need that sort of advice from someone knowledgeable about a particular area. When I contact my doctor's office about a health problem that has popped up, I…
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Posted inHappiness

Rather than trying to be happy, work on making other people happy (then you’ll be happier)

Sort of like a bank shot in pool/billiards, there's reason to believe that the best way to become happy isn't to try to make yourself happy, but other people. Then happiness likely will circle around and visit you through a back door. This fits with something I failed to mention in my recent post, "After prostate surgery, I try to get some philosophical implications from the experience." Even though I wanted to have the surgery, as the date for it grew closer I had increasing worries about what could go wrong with it, including the prospect that it could make…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) and human dignity

Here's another guest blog post from "Anon," an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, is a religious organization based in India that's headed up by a guru. I belonged to RSSB for 35 years before, like Anon, finding meaning in life elsewhere. Anon makes some cogent points about the lack of human dignity in RSSB that unfortunately also is the case in many other religious organizations. RSSB and human dignity "Human dignity" means that every human being should have dignity and respect. Human dignity is the worth and special value every person possesses simply by being human. We all deserve equality,…
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