Between 1999 and 2003 I wrote over 1.5 million words of personal notes. I have chosen to publish some of this work here because I feel that it may be of some value to others.
At the time these notes were written, it was never my intention to make them public. But now, given the distance I have from them, I no longer feel the need to keep private some of the (less personal) material.
Explore
If I have one exhortation regarding this site, it is this: explore. I only post about once a week, so dig into the archives. There is a lot of material here, and something I posted four months ago might interest you even though you missed it when it was “new.”
See For Yourself
As you will see, the work is what I might call “philosophical in nature,” but I wouldn’t call it “Philosophy,” in the academic sense of that word.
These notes came from trying to understand why we do what we do, wanting to know what happiness, love, reality, freedom, and truth really are—wanting to break out of my conditioned existence; wanting to be free. These are questions/issues none of us can truly escape, even if some (okay, most) people do their utmost to avoid them. The undeniable fact is that until we start truly questioning the illusions (the assumptions, certainties, and beliefs) of our own conditioned existences, we will, ultimately, remain confused and dissatisfied.
This is about seeing things as they really are, and thinking/seeing for yourself. This is anything but pie-in-the-sky, ivory-tower, new age mumbo jumbo. I do not consider this to be a matter of “spirituality.” I am not a “Buddhist,” nor any other type of “-ist.” I do not subscribe to any “belief system,” nor do I advocate doing so. Any and all of those things are, ultimately, incompatible with really seeing things for yourself and being who you really are. Hence my motto: “Strive for truth. Hold the cheese.”
Etc.
Understand that these are excerpts from my notes. So, if, at the bottom of a given note, it says, “From my personal notes, 11/15/99,” that means that the material in the post was excerpted from the note(s) of 11/15/99; it does not mean that what’s in the post is the entire note/entry.
Although these excerpts are necessarily taken out of the larger context of the notes entire, I am presenting them as I wrote them. The words you see are the words I wrote/edited back then. I am not adding or embellishing. The only time changes are made—and they are very minor—are for matters of clarity, and will not affect the spirit of the original material.
As this is not really a “blog,” in the standard sense, I have decided to close comments. You are more than welcome to contact me privately with any questions, concerns, or comments.
Keep in Mind…
In these notes I am not presenting “my beliefs.” Rather, they are thoughts, questions, and ideas I was contemplating/working on at the time they were written. Please keep that in mind when you consider them. This is “food for thought,” not professed dogma.
