⚡️ Enlightening Bolts

🌳 What is Wisdom: Bonnitta Roy defines wisdom as a deep, intuitive understanding of the universe's natural intelligence, achieved through long-term, intimate engagement with life and its mysteries. She highlights the importance of balancing a realistic grasp of the world with the recognition of endless choices, leading to wise and spontaneous action. Watch here.

🚨 Podcast on The Hidden Risks of Meditation: Dr. Willoughby Britton’s clinical neuroscience research investigates the effects of contemplative practices (meditation) on the brain and body in the treatment of mood disorders, trauma, and other conditions. She is especially interested in which practices are best- or worst-suited for which types of people or conditions and why. She is probably best known for her research on adverse effects—why they happen and how to mitigate them. Listen here.

🧘 Brief message from the HighExistence co-founder Martijn: After my departure of HighExistence I realized we never spoke about the value of being on a path, a complete path to spiritual liberation. While most of have interests in meditation, consciousness, yoga, philosophy, and the like, it is rare to find an actual, well-trodden, supported and guided path to full awakening. Here is a teacher I think worth pointing to for a high-value, low-cost, yearlong program to deepen your realization in the highest form of Buddhist Tantra, Atiyoga, or Dzogchen. May it be of benefit. Learn more.

🎇 Image of The Week

This photo depicts the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption in 1980. A friend of the man who captured the moment had the following to say about this fateful day:

“...That Pinto and dirt bike belonged to a good friend of mine and when he stopped to turn around, he took this picture. He told me that there was lightning bolts shooting out of the smoke but he didn’t have the right filter on his camera to capture them at that moment. The picture could have been even more amazing. It was used on the TV news and used to be on the cover of Mount St. Helens brochure at the Johnston Observatory / visitor center. He gave me an original 8×10 copy of it although it looked like he was a good distance away from the blast, he barely made it out of there alive. Had the blast come more in his direction he would have died in seconds. Sometime later he returned and photographed a burned-out pickup with a horse trailer attached to it. He told me he had talked to them that day and said they never made it out.”

🙏 The Miniscule Gratitude

A disposition I find that deeply nourishes and fortifies us against the harsh winds of life is one that entrains the attention to focus on the almost microscopic aspects of our experience that are deserving of gratitude.

What are some examples of these moments?

The next inhale. The sun on your face. The smile of a passing stranger. The first sip of coffee in the morning. The warmth of shelter after being outside in the snow. The wag of a dog’s tail. A vivid moon in a night’s sky. An erupting laugh with a close friend. The whimsical skittering of a fallen leaf. The flicker of a candle flame. The next exhale.

There are so many things that are a joy to drink in through the senses if we can get out of our heads above the torrents of thought enough to truly appreciate them.

It’s so easy to be fixated on finding something more or something else that we completely miss the little details that can fill up an ordinary day with otherwise invisible treasure.

🏠 The Shelter of Memory

Enjoy this passage from “Waking in Wonder” by John O’Donohue:

“So is there a place where our vanished days secretly gather? I think there is, and I believe the name of that place is memory. Memory to me is one of the great sources, one of the great treasure houses, of wonder. You look at humans walking around on streets, in houses, in churches, out in fields, and you realize that each one of these creatures is carrying within herself or himself a whole harvest of lived experience. You can actually go back within yourself to great things that have happened to you and enjoy them and allow them to shelter and bless you again. One of the negative aspects of contemporary life is that there is such disrespect for memory. Memory is now attributed to computers, but computers do not have memory-they have hijacked the notion. Memory now seems to be focused almost exclusively on past woundedness and hurt, some of it induced, some of it real. It's sad that people don't use their good memories and revisit again and again the harvest of memory that is within them, and live out of the riches of that harvest, rather than out of the poverty of their woundedness.”

🤓 Learn This Word

Levensgenieter: A dutch word that refers to someone who loves life deeply; is devoted

⏳ From The Archives

A hand-picked classic HighExistence article.

How Jonathan Haidt’s 6 Moral Tastebuds Can Heal a Divided World

It’s no secret that we live in a divided world.

For millennia, we humans have been splitting up into groups, distrusting groups we’re not part of, and fighting amongst ourselves. Our groups used to be nothing more than the tribes into which we were born, but nowadays, our groups are based on many things: politics, religion, class, race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, etc.

This tendency to split up into groups—sometimes called “tribalism”—is often harmless, but it can also become catastrophic if it gets out of hand. The 2016 US election and its aftermath is a recent example of extreme tribalism resulting in nasty consequences. People have become hyper-polarized, combative, distrustful, and violent toward one another. Close friends, family members, and neighbors are at each other’s throats. “We the people” are now thoroughly caught up in a seemingly unending, toxic game of “Us vs. Them.”

And the situation in the US is not isolated. It’s mirrored throughout the world in different ways. Tribalism is alive and well, and in many places, it’s leading to disaster. Given this situation, I find myself asking:

Is there a way out?

Perhaps. Perhaps—if I may be so audacious as to suggest—the way out of this mess has something to do with understanding and humility. Perhaps the answer to this riddle has something to do with admitting our own fallibility and probing deeper into the reasons why others see the world differently.

If this is indeed a promising course of action, there’s one man in particular who I think can be of tremendous assistance. His name is Jonathan Haidt.

​[Continue Reading]

🎬 Endnote

I hope you enjoyed this issue of Down The Rabbit Hole. Feel free to reply and tell me what you think.

Want to help spread the word?

I love sharing these gems of wisdom and wonder with you each week. If you love receiving them and want to help me spread the word, here is one quick way you can do that:

Forward this email to one friend.

That's it. It will take 5 seconds and will help us spread the good vibes and reach more people. I appreciate you.

With Wonder,

Mike Slavin