Integral Awakenings

August 4, 2024

I’m all in for Kamala Harris!

Claire has grown these tiny baby cacti from seed that I gave her for Christmas. There are about 40 of them and they’re about 6 mo old now. They have brought us so much joy as they’ve sprouted and grown!

I expect that this program by Andrew Holecek at Heartwood Center for Body Mind Spirit will be really good! Andrew is bringing in new ways of meditating, including what he calls Reverse Meditation (he's written a book on it), which are really powerful. If you're gotten stuck in a place of meditative quiet and peace but sense that there are still issues under the surface (there are, there always are), then reverse meditation can help you release them as you deepen your realization.

HeartwoodThe Future of Meditation: Dark Retreat, Reverse Meditation, and the Nocturnal Meditations

What a super-interesting article on the neuropsychology of being a manager!

"Completing tasks and reaching goals feels good and makes you feel competent. Most people don't get this feeling from managing people. Management can be demoralizing due to the lack of measurable progress. Contributions are often several levels, and often weeks/months, removed from success events. This is the nature of management work." - summary of article from TLDR

The manager’s unbearable lack of endorphins Musings on management and how to can get that endorphin rush that I’m missing

Chez Panisse blueberry cobbler, gluten free version!

Our relationships with one another are like a chance meeting of two strangers in a parking lot. They look at each other and smile. That is all there is between them. They leave and never see each other again. That is what life is - just a moment, a passing, and then it is gone.
If you understand this, there is no time to fight. There is no time to argue. There is no time to hurt one another. Whether you think about it in terms of humanity, nations, communities, or individuals, there is no time for anything less than truly appreciating the brief interaction we have with one another.
… Time is very precious.
Do not wait until you are dying to understand your spiritual nature.
If you do it now you will discover resources of kindness and compassion you didn’t know you had.

I completed a certificate in Spiritual Direction (now often called spiritual companioning) in 2005. It was a huge step for me as I moved from college teaching to offering spiritual coaching and beginning to share what I've learned more broadly. Looking back on almost 20 years of meeting with people as a spiritual guide I am filled with gratitude to the many amazing people who've shared something of their journey with me. It is such a privilege to be invited into others' lives in this way. I am constantly learning from the people I work with. Their issues stir and provoke my own ongoing growth, sometimes in surprising ways. It's made my life so rich and given me insight after insight into the Great Mystery that is the Source of all life.
If you're curious about Spiritual Direction, I offer no-obligation 30 min initial consultations online and in person. Please check out this link for more.
https://www.sdicompanions.org/sdi-profile/bill-epperly/

"Forgiveness is not reconciliation – that is, it does not necessarily involve the reestablishment of the relationship with the transgressor. Forgiveness also does not mean excusing or explaining away the offense. And “forgive and forget” is a misnomer. It doesn’t work that way.

The most important aspect of forgiveness is that it is something that you do for yourself and not for the person who has wronged you. Empirical research has revealed that forgiving others makes us less likely to be hateful, depressed, hostile, anxious, angry, and neurotic. We are more likely to be happier, healthier, more agreeable, and more serene. We are better able to move on. In empirical studies, people who forgave others felt a greater sense of control over their thoughts, less sadness and anger, and less reactivity in terms of their physiological stress responses (such as lower heart rate, lower blood pressure, and less furrowed brows). In other words, the bodies of participants who practiced empathy and forgiveness experienced less stress, and yours could too."

Write a Forgiveness Letter — Ten Percent Happier Forgiveness isn’t about excusing someone else’s behavior. It’s about letting go of resentment.

Today I met Griffin “the truffle guy” at the booth at , , Chicago.

This intriguing truck showed up on our block recently. I just love the look of it!

I am a big admirer of Tara Brach's work. A solid meditator with deep roots in the vipassana tradition, she also has a keen sensitivity of the importance of working with messy emotional issues. This is an area that many meditators try to use meditation to avoid dealing with! She shows how to bring our meditative awareness and presence into work with our emotional issues. Brilliant!

Three Blessings in Spiritual Life – Part 3: A Mirror - Tara Brach Meditation, Emotional Healing, and Spiritual Awakening from Tara Brach, PhD - Psychologist, Author, and Meditation Teacher

My new substack is out. This week's post starts with a glorious fantasy about easy enlightenment and goes on to explore some of my early days at the Zen Buddhist Temple of Ann Arbor (1989-1992). I had a lot of fun remembering those "good 'ole days" and hope you will enjoy reading it!

I recently sat down with my friend Clint Sabom to discuss my experience with VortexHealing. Clint and I met years ago when he interviewed me for his podcast, . Nowadays, he's into hermeticism and a co-founder of Contemplative Light. In other words, he's an interesting guy! In this far-ranging conversation, he interviewed me as someone who'd never heard of Vortex Healing before. I think you will find it interesting!

Interview with Dr. Bill Epperly On Vortex Healing Bill is now offering intuitive healing sessions with VortexHeali...

What joy to hear the spring warblers outside my home office!

My training in VortexHealing continues today as I begin a 5-day course on genetic-level healing. More specifically, we'll be receiving tools for working with and modifying the epigenome as well as for working with the consciousness associated with our DNA and RNA. Having had a traditional education in molecular genetics in grad school, I'm curious to see how this information integrates with what I already know!

Built from sawmill waste, this could be a good basis for 21st century affordable housing

Is UMaine’s Experimental 3D-Printed Dwelling the Future of Affordable Housing? Down East Magazine

from the article (which is free, w/o paywall): "When the clock struck midnight, the classroom erupted into applause, and the analysis began. First, the group listened through the album once without discussing, just taking it all in.

Certain lines, however, immediately caused a stir, said Samantha Wilhoit, a junior studying government — like a reference to the singer Charlie Puth and the scathing lyrics to the song “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,” Ms. Wilhoit, 21, said.

A line from the song “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” in which Ms. Swift sings, “I cry a lot but I am so productive,” also seemed to resonate, Ms. Wilhoit said, laughing.

A smaller group of students, including Ms. Pankowski, stuck it out until the early hours of the morning waiting to see if Ms. Swift would drop additional music. At 2 a.m., they were rewarded with an additional “volume” of 15 tracks called “The Anthology.” Ms. Pankowski said she didn’t go to sleep until hours later.

Speaking with The New York Times together on a video call Friday morning, several students from the class discussed their thoughts on the 31 new songs and brainstormed their final papers, which are due at the end of the month.

“The song ‘Clara Bow’ reminded me of ‘The Song of the Lark,’” Makenna Walko, 19, said, citing the Willa Cather novel that follows the career of an aspiring opera singer, Thea Kronborg. “She’s talking about a girl trying to make it out of her small town and trying to get to Manhattan, and what it’s like to have these big, musical dreams and try to pursue them,” she continued. “That’s a narrative that has shown up a lot in Taylor’s own life, over the course of her own career. In a lot of ways, it’s Taylor’s story, too.”"

Harvard’s Taylor Swift Scholars Have Thoughts on ‘Tortured Poets’ (Gift Article) The students taking Harvard University’s class on the singer are studying up. Their final papers are due at the end of the month.

I love this!
"Find something you enjoy doing and just do it because you enjoy it. If you have to, make some goals for yourself, but never for your “audience”.

Stop Acting Like You're Famous
Advice for myself around leisure activities.

You aren’t famous. Anything you do or create will probably receive little to no attention, so stop optimizing for a non-existent audience and instead focus on what makes you enjoy the activity.

Want to try a craft or artistic hobby? Focus on mastering the skill and enjoy the variety it can provide. You don’t need to build a personal style. No one will care. Want to do photography and think black and white photos are cool? Great! You don’t need to create an Instagram branded all around your moody black and white photos. Most likely you’ll get bored of it and want to try a different type of photography, and that’s great. You aren’t Ansel Adams, no one will care if your “style” is all over the place.

Do you want to build an app or website but don’t enjoy the process of designing? Then make it ugly. Who cares! Design is for an audience and you don’t have one. Functionality is more important right now. Maybe a designer will notice and want to improve it for you, but until then take pride in your crappy UI.

Blogging is fun and therapeutic. Grammar and editing aren’t. As long as your thoughts are coherent, don’t worry too much about writing mistakes or filtering yourself. Just use Grammarly to fix elementary-level errors and move on. It’s more about the writing process than the final product.

The most egregious thing you can do with any activity is daydream about how you can make money off of it. That’s the quickest way to optimize for the wrong things and suck the fun right out of it. Most likely you will stop doing the activity almost immediately, so save the money-making schemes for work.

In the end, find something you enjoy doing and just do it because you enjoy it. If you have to, make some goals for yourself, but never for your “audience”.

The Jhanas are gaining attention as a tool for creativity and peak performance in Silicon Valley. What a predictable surprise!

Manufacturing Bliss—Asterisk A growing community centered on the Bay Area is rediscovering the jhanas, a meditation technique that practitioners claim could upend how we think about the brain — and transform our lives in the process.

I am now seeing individuals in person on Tuesdays for integral spiritual coaching at Heartwood Center for Body Mind Spirit, 1818 Dempster St., in Evanston, IL. Also on Tuesdays, I'm offering coaching in mindfulness meditation as well as energy healing using VortexHealing Divine Healing Energy. Message me for details!

Heartwood – Integral Spiritual Coaching To Schedule Your Appointment Appointments are made by contacting practitioners directly at the numbers or email addresses listed.

Interested in energy healing? The Chicago area VortexHealing® Divine Energy Healing Meetup Group is hosting a free healing this Sunday, April 21st at 1pm CT. The topic is self-love. All are welcome!

Self-Love, Sun, Apr 21, 2024, 1:00 PM | Meetup We look forward to hosting our April VortexHealers Community Clinic with Christine Bregy, MI level healer, on Sunday, April 21, 2024, from 1 PM to 2:15 PM Central. Please u

Today’s total eclipse was truly awe inspiring! And how great to share it with deer friends from Detroit (and their kids)! Thanks for sharing your photos, some of which I’ve shared here.

We are all set, with 2x Celestron viewers and a pair of nifty 6x Sunoculars!

First eclipse of the day! Here in Greenfield, Indiana!

We had a magical drive to Indy today, where we’ll view the eclipse tomorrow!

Happy Easter!

My new Substack, "Jesus at Home Depot," is out. Longtime friends may remember an earlier version which I posted in 2013. Here's the opening paragraph:
"I was at Home Depot last night and you won't believe this but Jesus was there, shopping for crosses. And I saw him there, looking good for all he's been through, but also showing his age and definitely hurting from the pandemic. Anyway, there he was in the lumber aisle. And I said, “Jesus - man - good to see you!” And, you know, we fist-bumped. We hugged."
https://open.substack.com/pub/billepperly/p/i-saw-jesus-at-home-depot?r=33simo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

https://futurism.com/neoscope/human-brains-larger

Scientists Find Human Brains Are Getting Larger and Larger People’s brains have gotten bigger compared to those born in the 1930s, according to research, and that bigger brains may stave off dementia.