In this article, we’re looking at top five traits of toxic teachers. I’m one of a few who have been both student and teacher in a number of fields, and not in traditional education settings, where often these five traits are championed as necessary and good. I’ve been a private maths tutor for nearly ten years, and have started a local meditation community, as part of which I teach 20+ meditators every week. Apart from doing very well in school and university, I’ve also learned Spanish, Chinese, translation and guitar from experienced educators. As such, I believe I have some unique perspectiv ..read more

In this article, you’ll learn how to do open awareness meditation, a powerful practice that is at the heart of many ancient spiritual traditions and has been passed on into modern-day systems. Though we look deeply at one key practice here, there are many levels at which you can perform open awareness practice. It can be tricky for beginners since there is no localised anchor for our attention, and usually it’s introduced after the fundamentals such as breath meditation, body scanning, observing thought, and so forth. Though once you do progress to the level where open awareness becomes access ..read more

In this article, I debunk the idea that you must “discover your talent” if you wish to have success in your life. Let me be blunt about it: the discover your talent myth can destroy your career, your hobby life, your creativity, and your potential as a human being. I’ve seen it infect so many people’s minds and prevent them from pursuing their passions, and I don’t think they’ll ever cure themselves. I speak from the perspective of someone who has learned multiple subjects to a high degree, has several income streams, and has changed career direction several times. In the vast majority of thes ..read more

In this article, we look at the three P’s of entrepreneurial success. This is a great mnemonic that will remind you how to do good entrepreneurship, especially when you feel doubtful, stressed, fed up, or impatient. I remind myself of these over and over again. The three P’s are simple, but together they make a formidable triad. They work not only for entrepreneurship, but for any endeavour that you’re working on. Write them on your mirror, or a sticky note, or your smartphone to them into your memory. Let’s get to it. The Three P’s #1: Passion I like to think of it as the rocket fuel that pu ..read more

In this article, we discuss a topic that’s very close to my heart: life calling. This isn’t an airy-fairy idealistic talk about how life would be wonderful if we could all live our passions. It’s not an escape so that you can fantastise about your perfect life yet never do anything to create it. Rather, this is a practical, big-picture roadmap and guide to finding your life calling and living it. I want you to eventually make this your full-time career. That is what it means to me. If you dislike your life and feel that there is a well of untapped potential in you, this might be exactly what y ..read more

In this article, I share my seven keys to a purposeful life – the seven things I do that make me feel most alive and that my life is worth living. Though the specifics vary from person to person, I think it’s crucial to work on these seven areas if you want to feel you have a purposeful life and be excited to live it. Keys to a Purposeful Life #1: Have an Overarching Vision It’s crucial for me to have an overarching vision for my life. This is a set of guiding principles and a big-picture view of life’s meaning and my role here. This acts as a strong foundation for all my actions and plans. Y ..read more

Mahamudra is a set of advanced spiritual teachings from the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Its goal is to help practitioners reach the realisation of Mahamudra, which we’ll speak about in detail. It’s one of Buddha’s most advanced doctrines, and is often called the sister practice of Dzogchen. The most elaborate text on this tradition is Mahamudra: The Moonlight by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal. I’ve used that book for this article, along with Lama Thubten Yeshe’s Mahamudra: How to Discover Our True Nature and The Dalai Lama’s Dzogchen: Heart Essence of the Great Perfection. Mahamudra… represents ..read more

In this article, we talk about personality masks. It’s crucial you learn about them if you want to understand your psychology and that of others. Mastering this topic has been a great source of strength and freedom for me. No longer do I take things so personally, I’m able to see people as they are, and the aggressive and obnoxious among us no longer frighten me. It has helped me understand that often our most salient character traits are a facade erected to conceal who we really are behind it. As Robert Greene says, “Your mind tends to circle obsessively around the same subjects. But each per ..read more

Mahamudra is a set of advanced spiritual teachings from the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism. Its goal is to help practitioners reach the realisation of Mahamudra, which we’ll speak about in detail. It’s one of Buddha’s most advanced doctrines, and is often called the sister practice of Dzogchen. The most elaborate text on this tradition is Mahamudra: The Moonlight by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal. I’ve used that book for this article, along with Lama Thubten Yeshe’s Mahamudra: How to Discover Our True Nature and The Dalai Lama’s Dzogchen: Heart Essence of the Great Perfection. Mahamudra… represents ..read more

In this article, we overview what mahamudra is, the stages of mahamudra meditation, and how this approach differs and matches other spiritual systems. By the end, you’ll be able to implement the main practices, which with enough work will give you deep insight into the true nature of your mind, as will all serious meditation practice. Mahamudra meditation practice comes from Tibet Buddhism and is part of the Gelugpa school, one of the four Tibetan Buddhist schools. Its goal is to take practitioners from identification with the ordinary, gross-reflecting, samsaric mind to identification with th ..read more