I notice that when I feel down, I may begin listing parts of my experience that I genuinely appreciate. As a result, I feel lighter. Would you say Gratitude is a principle? What does it do in your experience?

There is an insight I'd like to discuss with you guys! I've been contemplating Emotion recently. Not individual emotions, but the entire domain: What is Emotion? What is the stuff it is made of? Does it have a connection with the body? I was influenced by this idea from somatic psychology that emotions show up in the body, and so, I took them to be more real than thoughts. I took this idea literally. I thought: "Hmm, the body is an object, and if emotions show up in the body, then they must be as real as the objects. Maybe that's how the movement of the hormones feels!" Suddenly, it occurred to me that emotions are a type of thought! They are nowhere - not in the walls of the room, nor does my stomach suddenly change colour when I get angry or happy. They seem to influence the body, but so do verbal thoughts. Just like verbal thoughts are viewed as happening in the head, emotions are viewed as happening in different areas of the body. That connection is a belief! So, there are different types of thought: inner voice, remembering, staging a scene, creating images, knowing how a door works, and... emotion! I'm curious about your feedback on my contemplation. Is there anything I'm not seeing?

Hello everyone! I've just noticed that Ending Unnecessary Suffering only had 3 reviews at Goodreads, which makes it harder for people to find and pick. Since it was transformational for me, I put in the effort and wrote a review myself, to motivate potential readers. With this I want to challenge you to star and possibly write a review for the books you benefit from, so that others can also benefit! :-)

I am practising honesty. When I'm feeling something, I admit to feeling it. When I'm thinking something, I admit to thinking it. (I used to treat my thoughts and feelings differently in the past. Instead of naming the actual feelings and thoughts, I 'redesigned' them in the way I'd rather have them be and focused on that 'version'.) As a result, I've begun trusting my own word. I no longer have qualms about whether I'm being genuine or if my motives are what I think they are. I think this experience could be called authenticity. I'm curious about other people's experiences around self-trust, if that is something you would like to share.

I'm now able to switch my experience from me having a life, past, and future to one of just being here and now. It is mind-blowing. Peter keeps talking about the importance our life story has for us, but I didn't get it for a long time. Until the spring retreat, where I got how much my experience is shaped by "knowing" who I am (in the ordinary, self-image and life story way), where I am, and why I am there. And that my experience of the very same event becomes radically different when I drop all of them and "don't know" any of that. It sometimes helps me to create contrasts, so I imagined Brandon was an orthodox pastor lecturing us about the inherent sinfulness of humanity and the evils of sex, instead of being the down-to-earth, skilfull facilitator at a Ralston workshop. It is the same physical body being in the same room, only my (past & future based) thoughts about it are different, and the experience is very different. It is then also easier to drop both of them and just be now. When I switch back from me being here and having a particular physical experience to me having a life story, past, and future, it feels like a huge weight descends on my shoulders. All the stuff I have to do, problems to manage, responsibilities to fulfill, and all that crap. Yet I can simply switch out of it again and none of that exists. As the Scottish guy said, it is just a thought! Of course, it isn't practical for me to live this way, but playing with the fundamental difference of experience between the one and the other is insightful in itself. I know there is more to get here, so I'll keep exploring.