I constantly find application for the lessons of Ending Unnecessary Suffering and those of the Increasing Consciousness Group, especially with respect to getting things done. Case in point: I've recently organized an introduction to consciousness workshop, which could be seen as an abject failure. Only a single person showed up. (Though we had a really good time together.) I could have worried before the workshop whether anyone would come. But I knew it to be pointless (at the point where nothing could be done about it anymore.) And I could have felt bad about it afterwards - but what for? It would be just like rubbing salt into the wound. My mind is helpfully suggesting rather unhelpful courses of action, such as not organising a workshop ever again. What would that achieve?! (Aside of protecting my fragile ego, obviously.) I need to be clear on what I want, and why. The intelligent course of action is to learn from the failure and change my approach so that I will be more successful next time. It is kind of fun to watch what the mind (or rather the "small self") is trying to do, and figuring out what I should actually do instead. The two key lessons I am applying here is 1) knowing what thoughts only cause unnecessary suffering and not engaging in them; 2) not allowing emotional turmoil and the fears and desires of the self to take control, instead, staying clear on purpose and seeking an intelligent way towards to goal. As Peter wrote: "Breakdowns or negative thoughts and feelings regarding actions toward a committed goal, are not inconsistent with commitment. In fact, they are likely to arise in contrast to the reality of committed action. What is inconsistent with commitment is remaining with these breakdowns — ineffective behavior, despair, resistance, upset, fear, incapacity, etc. — not whether they come up or not. They would not arise without one taking a stand in the first place. Commitment is what moves us through them, rather than have them stop us."

Continuing my serises on my insights from the spring retreat. Ralston and Shakespear agree that life is fundamentally meaningless. I.e. there is no inherent meaning to find and live by. I've been long looking for meaning so it should be a blow to me, but it is actually very liberating. If there is no meaning then I am free to live my life any way I want. There is no absolute measure of lives, there is no way to live a good or a bad life. There is nothing I must strive for, nothing I "should" achieve. In short, there is no external source of how my life should be. Moreover, all the fretting we do in life, trying to achieve this and that, taking all struggles so seriously - all that can be let go and seen as just a play we put on, instead of according it the seriousness and importance we normally do. Oh, the (self-generated) pressure that dissolves! I can still make my life meaningful for me. If I can spend it any way I want then I can well spend it in a way I find good. Only there will be noone (including myself) to judge how well I've done. (I can resist quoting Ralston and Brandon on "Life is a bitch and then you die." It feels somehow appropriate here 😅.) --- From Macbeth’s “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” speech: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.

I would like to share some insights I've got during the Spring Retreat, to inspire people to participate themselves, and perhaps to spark some insights in others. I want to open with a "haiku" I wrote as a summary of an insight I have got during the Experiencing the Nature of Being (ENB) workshop, even though it relates more to suffering than to anything else: I am I do my best It's enough. Let it sink in. Now, obviously, "my best" is not always "enough" to achieve particular results. I can't fix everything, and especially not all my relationships. Life will do what life does, and it will do things I don't like. At least until I transcend liking and disliking. Yet, it is enough nonetheless. I won't always get my way, and it is fine. I do my best, and I can't do more than that. So it is enough, no matter the outcomes. Do you hear the whispering of the part of your mind that tells you that no, this is not true, that you could have done more if only you tried harder? Kick it in the nuts! This is clearly impossible. No matter what you do, you could always imagine doing it better. It's a trap. Now, I don't want to excuse slacking off. Continue doing your best, growing and developing. But don't try to do more than that (which is impossible) and don't beat yourself over the outcomes that will arise. What will arise will arise. I also try to see others this way. No matter who they are and what they do, they are trying their best. Even if objectively it is not very good. It is just the best they can do, and they have not made themselves. They are just trying to be happy, even of they are trampling over other people and sabotaging the very happiness they aim for by their actions. They haven't chosen to be clueless and to have the personality and beliefs they have, and if they understood and could, they would certainly gladly switch with a more integrated person. I like to think of one man-baby famous politician. He is lying, self-aggrandizing, with little to no honesty and integrity and little care about truth or others. Yet, it seems to me, he's just trying - and failing - to prove (primarily to himself) that he is not a worthless piece of shit, doing the best he can. Sadly, his best is pretty bad. But again, he hasn't chosen to be this pathetic piece of crap.

I think it would be very valuable to get Sam Harris (https://www.wakingup.com/) to interview Peter Ralston. Listeners in Sam's meditation/lectures/conversations app would benefit from it, and more people would discover the potential of this consciousness work. The question is, how? Do you know of any way to reach out to Sam Harris, or do you know someone who might? If so - let me know and let's do this together! 🙏

In this old podcast episode https://open.spotify.com/episode/0TkwcE4s6nDBamzc5PrMlf?si=f-5Lp-tBTpy-9VOLesaXZQ Peter essentially talks about the I.C.G., and its "foundational principle" of moving from self-in(tro)version to self-expansion.