Have nothing

This is a hard sell in a culture where the answer to every problem is more. But consider: Our basic biological needs are few, modest and easily met. If we have more than we need, we have too much. Craving sensory stimulation, we chase more and better experiences—more of what we don’t need. Craving is slaving. Every form of wanting, every anticipation, alienates us from the beauty and power of the inexhaustible now. Jesus to the cultivated rich kid: “Sell everything, give it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.” Which is nowhere other than now.

One foot in heaven

Young children still have one foot in heaven. A nine-year-old girl emerged from a three-day coma to speak of a “tall and nice” lady named Elizabeth and her new friends Andy and Mark.

Unmasked

Heaven is not won, unless dropping the seed-shell of my public face is winning. Tennyson emerged from one of his trances to say that the loss of personality is the only true life.

Rodin’s fist

Pioneering psychiatrist Stanislav Grof says there is overwhelming evidence to support the conclusion that “consciousness is not the product of the human brain.” Thus, we cannot ‘effort’ our way into heaven. Words and books may expand human intelligence, but they won’t make us wise.

Home for the holidays

Home is not a point on a map. It’s a state of being.