John's blog

Yesterday I was driving through the mountains of Central Oregon—with a sick wife and incessantly trilling dog. My dog doesn’t whine, she trills. Finally, exasperatedly, I turned off the highway where there was a bridge crossing a creek, drove up an old, deserted road, pulled up, and found a trail leading into the woods. I let Lucy (the triller) out of the car, and she ran down the trail with me in hot pursuit.

Lucy and I entered into a very magical and lovely deeply wooded area and found a beautiful river in which Lucy swam. The feeling at this place was amazing; there was a profound, seemingly holy presence in these woods. After some time of ecstasy and communion, we returned to the car, where Pam was fast asleep. Lucy and I were glowing.  Read more »

Transcribed from iAwake's weekly, free teleconference call on July 25, 2012.

I was recently in the Bay Area to teach a class on Addiction Studies. When my class and I did our first meditation together, we sank into a very deep meditative state, one which we could all really feel. When you meditate in a group, there is a definite field of energy, a palpable coming together, especially when you have been doing the Profound Meditation Program for a number of years. It is a very interesting and very powerful experience.  Read more »

For the last few months, our meditation group, which has been meeting together on Sundays for the last 13 years, has been reading through the Gospel of Thomas, following our 40-minute meditation. Initially, we were reading five verses at a time, but we found that the verses were so deep, and often challenging, that now we simply reread last week’s verse and read one new one each week. As many of you probably know, the Gospel of Thomas was rediscovered buried in the Egyptian desert near the village of Nag Hammadi in 1945, along with a number of other ancient Christian texts. Initially, the Gospel of Thomas was dismissed by many scholars as being too “gnostic.” But over the years since its discovery, more and more biblical scholars have begun to realize the importance and legitimacy of Thomas. Many scholars believe that it comes from an earlier time than the Canonical Gospels in the New Testament that most of us are familiar with, namely Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Read more »

Dear Integral Friends and Family,

I hesitated a few days before posting this. I felt that the tone was too preachy and righteous and didn't take into account Genpo's suffering and the responsibility of the other adults involved. And, when I chuck rocks, I am well aware of Jesus' injunction, "He that is without sin..." Nevertheless, I feel there is enough in the article below that merits reading and deserves to be a part of this ongoing conversation. We are all One, your sin is mine, and mine is yours, as well as your glory and beauty. My request is that we hold this deep knowledge and compassion as we skillfully and courageously sort out this relative fur ball. I feel there is a great gift through and beyond all this hurt, anger, and pain. God bless us, One and All.

Love,
John  Read more »

About five months ago, I was at a friend’s house in Salt Lake City, who had started a business buying and selling vintage guitars. I started playing guitar when I was thirteen years old, so I have had a 40-year relationship with the instrument. Somewhere early on, for various reasons that I won’t get into, I became a rhythm acoustic guitar player, singer, and eventually songwriter. So, there I was, in a room full of old guitars, and I picked up a Fender Telecaster and began to play it. It was love at first touch. The action on the neck felt as if it had been brushed by the wings of angels and I remembered my first love and my first guitar—a Gibson SG Standard, which I bought when I was thirteen with money I made painting a house during the summer. All those feelings of wonder with an electric guitar came flooding back and somehow I knew that this guitar was meant for me. The guitar was a ’72 Fender Telecaster custom. I told my friend, “I gotta have it.” And bought the guitar.  Read more »