THE SADHANA OF BIRTH SUPPLICATION TO THE HUMAN BODY VAJRA JESTER DRAGON REMOVING ALL OBSTACLE TO THE UNIVERSAL WAY Let us begin again… You may have found yourself confused. You may have lost your way. You may have gone surfing with great white sharks in the crystal clear bay. Whatever you say, make sure you stay! AMEN. SADHU. OHA! TALKING RACE The racist mind is quite the conundrum. Our ancestors knew each other by the color of their skin, the pattern of their hair, the color of their eyes, and the white in their beards. You may trip and fall, but remember the beautiful stew that is the Americ ..read more

Carl Jung coined the term synchronicity to describe “meaningful coincidences,” the coming together of inner and outer events that are not themselves causally connected. For Jung, the meaning attributed to these events—the connection of one’s mind to material reality—is a function of the unconscious psyche, which is inextricably united with the phenomenal world. Jung saw these connections present in dreams, symbols, and universal archetypes across all cultures. When the mind forms an abnormal relationship with the material world, the connection can be ascribed to both mysticism and madness. Wh ..read more

I wrote the following letter to the Shades of Awakening community, which supports folks identifying with spiritual emergency. I particularly wanted to address the language around mental illness and spiritual emergency. Check out their work and continued offerings at shadesofawakening.com. Dear SOA Community, On the path toward liberation, we start to see more clearly the complexity of our lives. We realize that we have been neither evil nor saintly, that ideas of good and bad are measures of behavior, not people, and that absolutes are not meant for human consumption. Our mental health, or la ..read more

Let's get a disclaimer out of the way: this piece is not going to feel pleasant for faux Christians who worship flags and Bibles instead of the principles and divinity they represent. This piece is for actual followers of Christ, who recognize in the Life of historical Jesus a potential Love that could save us all. This piece is for those who know a living Christ, within and throughout, and base their lives around coming into closer contact with this infinite grace. I've been getting some heat for drawing a line between anti-racism and the radical Love of Christ, for pointing out how strongly ..read more

Some people get confused about why this mental health advocate is concerned with anti-racism, when there's so much work to be done for anti-stigma. I don't know for sure, but my general pulse is that people think of my story as a hopeful one of recovery with severe mental illness. There's been serious substance use, body dysmorphia, alcohol poisoning, car crashes, psychosis, mania, depression, narcissistic injury, unrequited love; the list goes on and on. When I tell my story, I try to make a point to mention all the opportunity and good fortune I have been privy to in my life and in this bod ..read more

I get asked a good bit, "What do you believe?" The response is usually something like, "I believe religions are mythological, archetypal, symbolic reflections of the human psyche." Sometimes it's more like, "I believe people can believe whatever they want to believe so long as their beliefs are not causing harm to another." Other times, I just say, "I believe in Love." The truth of the matter though, is that I don't believe anything. There's just some stuff I know, and there's other stuff I put in the category of "don't know" or "don't know yet."  In my coaching approach, I have three ma ..read more

The following blog post was first published with Expanded Consciousness. “You are Jesus! You are Buddha!” Master repeatedly shouted into the microphone. His voice bounced around the small, dark room where I was being initiated, or brainwashed, or maybe even becoming enlightened. There were about twelve of us students, but I knew his words were for me. He was affirming something I had already intuitively understood, if only through psychosis. I thought I was Jesus before, back during my first manic episode. My ego had suddenly evaporated. I felt infinitely expansive, incomprehensibly blissful ..read more

If you’ve experienced genuine spiritual insight, whether during a bipolar episode or not, that insight will remain profound during periods of mood fluctuation. It won’t matter if you are sedated, sad, gleeful, manic, full of anxiety, or painfully agitated. The truth is the truth, no matter how it makes us feel. For a lot of us, getting a diagnosis automatically wipes away any spiritual insights, rolling them into a long list of painful symptoms. We had glimpses of spiritual realization perhaps, but we also couldn’t sleep or eat, or we dropped out of school, or we hurt a loved one, or we made ..read more

My stumbling upon Buddhism was a fortunate confluence of events during a time of tremendous hardship. I was in a wilderness rehab program, a young man spiritually confused after battling with bipolar disorder, addiction, and disordered eating. One of my favorite counselors there told me about a small liberal arts school called Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. He said, “If I could go back to school, that’s where I would go.” I didn’t think much of his statement at the time, but it just so happens that my therapist recommended a halfway house in Boulder for me to continue my journey of r ..read more

I had the opportunity to be interviewed for a new podcast, titled "My Secret Symptom," focused on spiritual experiences within bipolar disorder. It turns out I'm not the only Jesus out there!  We had an awesome conversation, and I'm getting more and more inspired to see how much spirituality is getting validated in the arenas of mental health. From twelve step recovery models to up and coming Buddhist and mindfulness-based treatment options to yoga and meditation booms, there seems to be a real shift in consciousness around how these issues overlap. You can listen to the full interview h ..read more