Self-Discovery Portal

Site Update Log

Mo/Yr	Page or Section	Update Description
--	PSI Group	Updated with special events.
--	Insightful Quotes	Updated when the homepage "Quote of the Moment" is replaced.
12/2020	entire site	Ha! I got sidetracked after converting 58 if the 190 pages to more mobile-friendly code. It seemed like for a few months. So I was shocked when I looked back and saw it had been almost two years. :-) In the meantime, I kept pages updated but haven't added any new pages that I recall, although I did remove a redundant page on TAT Foundation Press books, directing it to the same material on the TAT Foundation website.
09/2018	entire site	Starting to convert all pages to more-mobile-friendly code. It's a slow process & will take a couple months.
07/2018	Author update	Details of what's been going on with me since my previous update in 2016.
07/2018	Awake at the Wheel	The new book by Stephen Earle, Awake at the Wheel: Norio Kushi's Highway Adventures and the Unmasking of the Phantom Self…how he was born in New York City to Japanese parents…how he grew up and came of age within the eccentric surroundings of the Boston macrobiotic community of the 1960s and 1970s, and how, since then, he has consistently been guided by his intuition.
03/2018	Subtraction	Added info about the new book by Shawn Nevins, Subtraction: The Simple Math of Enlightenment. "This book answers the question of how do you find the answer to who and what you are—ultimately—beyond any shadow of a doubt—beyond the body, and beyond the mind."
08/2016	The Importance of Kensho	Bodhidharma spoke of this in his Essay on the Dharma pulse: "If someone without kensho tries constantly to make his thoughts free and unattached, he commits a great transgression against the Dharma and is a great fool to boot."
07/2016	This Above All	Added info about the new book by Tess Hughes, This Above All: A Journey of Self-Discovery. "I learned that enlightenment isn't just for an exotic person from by-gone eras. This potential is in everyone, and this is what all seekers are seeking."
07/2016	Thoughts on Philosophical Self-Inquiry Discussion	Self-inquiry – asking ourselves questions – is largely a solitary process. But working together with other self-inquirers can accelerate the process.
03/2016	Favorite Video Clips	Impossible Dream: Brian Stokes Mitchell on the "57th Annual Tony Awards" June 8, 2003; I Dreamed a Dream: Susan Boyle on "Britain's Got Talent" 2009 Episode 1.
02/2016	Identity Crisis	"A crisis is a potential turning point in one's life. An identity crisis turns around the question of one's identity."
02/2016	Looking Back	Retreat presentation notes from the opening session of a February 2016 retreat at Horseshoe Lake Park.
11/2015	Remembering Your True Desire	Downloadable/rental version of the April 2012 TAT talks: Swimming in the Inner Ocean: Trips to the Beach, by Bob Fergeson; A Wider and Wilder Vision, by Shawn Nevins; Make Your Whole Life a Prayer, by Heather Saunders; Remembering Your True Desire ... and Acting on It, by Art Ticknor.
08/2015	Favorite Video Clips	Only Boys Aloud: Welsh male choir
08/2015	Giving Up by Shawn Nevins	"When the day comes that you lose hope and give up, the force of your life may lead to a discovery."
08/2015	How Does the Brain Generate Experience?	Does the brain generate experience?
04/2015	Three Questions	For the person seeking self-knowledge, is there certain progression of focus that may help? An excerpt from the author's Beyond Relativity.
11/2014	Direct Looking: Go Right Down the Middle	Response to a question about a comment by Richard Rose, in a talk he gave at Kent State U. in the 1970s: "... You have to go right down the middle."
11/2014	TAT Foundation Press	Added info about a new documentary from Poetry in Motion Films, Mountain High: Touching the Void with Bob Fergeson.
07/2014	Subjective, Subtractive, Immanent, and Immediate	An excerpt from the author's Solid Ground of Being.
05/2014	Doing Nothing vs. Being Nothing	Presentation material from the April 2014 TAT Foundation gathering.
03/2014	TAT Foundation Press	Added info about the latest book from TAT publications, Beyond Relativity: Transcending the Split Between Knower and Known.
01/2013	Poetry Favorites	Added "A Marriage in Yellow Stone" by Paul Schmidt to the page of favorite poems.
12/2013	TAT Foundation Press	Added info about a new documentary from Poetry in Motion Films, Traveling Lighter with Paul Hedderman.
11/2013	"Ars Poetica"	A moving poem about poetry.
11/2013	"Finding" a Teacher	An essay by Tess Hughes. "Teachers are often sought for qualities other than the one thing they can offer…."
08/2013	More Nostalgia: Cowboy Songs	Video clips of Irish rock group Thin Lizzy's "Cowboy Song" and "The Last Cowboy Song" by the Highwaymen (Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson).
06/2013	What Part of Speech Are You?	How do you talk to yourself about your true identity?
04/2013	Humming-Bird	Added a poem by D.H. Lawrence: "I can imagine, in some otherworld / Primeval-dumb, far back...." A poem about "the long telescope of Time."
04/2013	Facing Fear & Depression	An approach to solving emotional entanglements with examples from Tony Blair (former British PM) and Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Love, Pray).
02/2013	TAT Foundation Press	Added info about the latest book from TAT publications, A Handyman's Common Sense Guide to Spiritual Seeking.
01/2013	Nostalgia: The Way Home	Video by Bob Fergeson. Also see Bob's site, NostalgiaWest.com.
01/2013	The Man with No Head	Life and teaching of Douglas Harding video by Richard Lang. Also see Richard's site, Headless.org.
01/2013	John James Audubon	Added a poem by Stephen Vincent Benét: "Some men live for warlike deeds / Some for women's words...." A poem about love.
01/2013	Commitment by Art Ticknor	I wanted to ask you about this commitment thing....
11/2012	Another Way by Art Ticknor	"Could I let the mind find the way, like the amazing true stories Of dogs and cats and aborigine girls finding their ways home? Is there an innate sensor that will find the path if it's my top priority?"
11/2012	The Death of Prince by Louis Bromfield	"At Malabar there are many people and animals of all ages and sizes and kinds which have a deep hold on my affections. And always there is a fear in my heart that, while I am away, something bad might have happened to one of them. It is the penalty, I suppose, for having affections and attachments. Life would be much simpler, I suppose, and the emotions less distressed if a man lived alone in a cave without either affections or attachments of any kind; but life would also be less warm and less rich and infinitely and painfully sterile."
10/2012	Favorite Video Clips	Added a clip of the first 15 minutes of the BBC/HBO pilot of "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" of Botswana, with great photography and wonderful characters.
09/2012	Experiments in Common-Sense Meditation	Updated with the summary results of a new experiment by another small group of people.
09/2012	Movement by Bob Fergeson	"For meditation to help us, to bring about a change in being, we need more than just thought. We need to put our lives on the line."
09/2012	Meditation by Tess Hughes	"Meditation is often presented as a recipe for enlightenment or spiritual growth without explanation of how or why this works."
09/2012	Thoughts on Meditation by Shawn Nevins	"Meditation is observation. Observation requires concentration. Concentration requires energy."
08/2012	Favorite Photos	Added a 19th page of photos by the website author and others. Slideshow on YouTube.com
07/2012	Favorite Video Clips	Added video clips of "Abide with Me" sung by Haley Westenra and by Shirley Bassey. Also Included links to the poignant story of the hymn's development and the connection with the execution of Edith Cavell.
07/2012	TAT Foundation Press	Added a video clip from The Heart of the Matter, a DVD set filmed at the 2011 April TAT conference.
07/2012	What Are You Looking For?	"The truth will set you free." What truth will set you free? What form will it take: Worded thought? Pictorial thought? Feeling? Mood? State of Mind?
04/2012	Interview on Conscious.tv	Video interview by Iain McNay of Conscious.tv.
03/2012	Interview with Art Ticknor	Transcript of an interview of the author by Mario Pallua, a Croatian seeker and friend.
02/2012	Slideshows of Favorite Photos	Added a page with one or more slideshows of the photos on each page of Favorite Photos, set to background music. Each of the 25 shows is a video clip on youtube.com.
02/2012	Favorite Photos	Added an 18th page of photos by the website author and others.
01/2012	Favorite Video Clips	Added 3 slideshows with music soundtracks done by Bob Fergeson: Winter Solstice (Lake Granby, CO); Irish Weekend (Brigit's Garden, Galway); and Zion National Park, UT.
01/2012	Favorite Photos	Added a 17th page of photos by the website author and others.
01/2012	What Longing Feels Like	Added a poem by Corina Bardasuc.
01/2012	The Scent of Longing	Added a poem by Ben Rainey.
12/2011	Western Swing Dance	A video clips of a randomly chose couple competing in an improvisational "Jack & Jill" swing dance contest.
12/2011	Neuroscience of Human Will	A psychology professor at University College of London presents fascinating info on the nature of brain activity preceding conscious intention to perform volitional acts.
12/2011	Robert Anton Wilson	Video clips of Robert Anton Wilson talking about quantum physics and freeing the mind.
12/2011	Look! Look!	"The path is not revealed only after explanation and direction; it is inherently always out in the open." Zen Master Foyan.
12/2011	Sitting Meditation	"You can turn from ordinary mortal to sage in an instant, but no one believes." From Instant Zen: Waking Up in the Present by Foyan.
12/2011	Recovery from Un-Enlightenment	From the author's Solid Ground of Being. "The progression from delusion to essence-realization is, in effect, a recovery process."
11/2011	To Hell with Commonsense	Added this poem by Patrick Kavanagh, one of Ireland's most-loved poets of recent times.
10/2011	A Part of Thee	From the author's presentation at the 2011 Raleigh SIG retreat. The mind-self feels what it wants (i.e., lacks) and is constructed to satisfy the want…. Look for that of you which is eternal.
10/2011	TAT Foundation Press	Added info about the latest book from TAT Press, At Home with the Inner Self, the latest video, The Center Cannot Hold, and a new documentary from Poetry in Motion Films, Meetings with Remarkable Women.
10/2011	About the Author	Added video clip from the 2011 Raleigh Self Inquiry Discussion Group's annual weekend intensive.
10/2011	Favorite Video Clips	Index added to "favorite video clips" page.
10/2011	DECIDE	Added Ambrose Bierce's confrontational poem on choice to the Poetry Favorites page.
09/2011	Play	Commentary on the value of play by Richard Rose. "... The best work is that which is done with pleasure."
09/2011	Photo Index	Index of "favorite photos" pages added.
09/2011	Spiritual Floundering	Most of us exhibit more floundering than disciplined commitment. So we must believe, at some deep or at least obscure emotional level, that floundering is preferable to disciplined commitment.
08/2011	The World Is Your Oyster	... And you're looking into the oyster world from beyond it, which is possible only if the oyster has an opening.
08/2011	Favorite Video Clips	Added clips of presentations and interviews from the April 2011 TAT gathering, "The Heart of the Matter."
08/2011	Favorite Photos	Added a 16th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
07/2011	Meditation Is Simple	Notice what you're seeing....
07/2011	A Direct Path?	The final act in the play of life will be the mind sinking into the Heart of All, its source....
06/2011	Lecture of Questions	A series of questions that Richard Rose added to over the years. Designed to hit your head like a wrecking ball. "Does a man own a house or does the house own him? Does a man have power or is he overpowered?..."
06/2011	Favorite Photos	Added a 15th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
05/2011	Favorite Video Clips	Added a clip of Queen's Who Wants to Live Forever? sung brilliantly by two children for the 1989 British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal.
05/2011	About the site's author	Updated the "about the author" page with links to a NeverNotHere.com interview of the author that's also on YouTube.
04/2011	Pray for Dead Serious	What is the ultimate form of prayer?
03/2011	Poetry Favorites	Added Rumi's "Tavern" to the page of favorite poems.
03/2011	Favorite Photos	Added a 14th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
11/2010	Triangulation	How would we get a view that shows us all things are equally valid in the sense of being true or false?
11/2010	Favorite Photos	Added a 13th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
11/2010	Rabbit-Proof Fence	What can the amazing, true story of an aborigine girl in Australia tell other seekers about how to find their way home when the path they're following becomes invisible?
09/2010	Favorite Photos	Added a 12th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
08/2010	Douglas Harding & Richard Rose	Two paths or two paradigms: Are their very different teachings best pursued separately or can they be mined for joined benefit?
07/2010	Favorite Photos	Added an 11th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
06/2010	Who Are You Trying to Please?	"In the background ... through all the changing circumstances of life, a program was running...."
06/2010	Favorite Photos	Added a 10th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
05/2010	Poetry Favorites	Added to the page of favorite poems.
05/2010	Favorite Photos	Added a 9th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
04/2010	Blindsight & Group Efforts	A group of people coming together forms a temporary organism. An organism has a purpose or objective, which can be explicit or adventitious.
04/2010	Excerpts from The Prophet	Added a page of excerpts from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran to the Poetry Favorites section.
03/2010	Favorite Photos	Added an 8th page of favorite photos taken by the website author and others.
03/2010	Looking & Questioning	Is my life-experience a classroom? If so, what's the lesson it's trying to show me?
03/2010	Looking All the Way Through	"Are you in harmony with truth or not? Here you cannot be mistaken; investigate all the way through."
02/2010	Journal Tending (Wm. Samuel)	A technique to "consciously become the very point where the Ineffable becomes tangible in the world...."
02/2010	TAT Foundation Press	Added info about the latest book from TAT publications, Solid Ground of Being.
02/2010	Poetry Favorites	Added a page of favorite poems, including an essay on The Use and Misuse of Poetry, a link to An Adventure into Poetry by Richard Rose, and The Hound of Heaven, by Francis Thompson.
01/2010	Favorite Video Clips	Added links to clips from a documentary about a remarkable man in South Carolina.
01/2010	TAT Foundation Press	Added info about the latest books from TAT publications, The Celibate Seeker and The Perennial Way.
12/2009	Favorite Video Clips	Added links to two clips from William Samuel's 1993 weekend of inspiring talks in Georgia, filmed by PBS.
12/2009	Liquidity Trap of Self-Ignorance	What can you do to end a recession or depression affecting the going-within desire?
10/2009	Favorite Photos	Added a 7th page of favorite photos taken by the author and others.
09/2009	Deliberate Practice	Everyone's looking for the way. The individual is like a heat-seeking missile, programmed to hit its target, but....
07/2009	Favorite Sites	Added links to the Hvem er jeg? site of a Danish friend – and to the English translation (Who am I?) of it.
07/2009	Aphorisms on Consciousness-Without-an-Object	These aphorisms flowed out of Franklin Merrell-Wolff's Self-Recognition and lead back to the edge of it step by step.
07/2009	Favorite Photos	Added a 6th page of favorite photos taken by the author and others.
06/2009	Favorite Video Clips	Three clips on birth, life, and death.
05/2009	Something for Nothing	An uncomfortable review by Bob Fergeson, in the June 2009 TAT Forum, of what leads to seeker stasis.
04/2009	Magnetoresistance	A phenomenon where resistance decreases by an unusual amount in the presence of a magnetic field ... and how this applies to the search for the authentic self.
03/2009	Favorite Video Clips	Terrific video trailer for Beyond Mind, Beyond Death book.
03/2009	Sources & Links	Beyond Mind, Beyond Death anthology now available at Amazon.com.
01/2009	Douglas Harding video clip	In a 2001 interview by Richard Lang, Douglas describes "what's moving" when you walk or ride in a vehicle.
01/2009	Sangsara and Nirvana	An inspiring "benefits statement" in this pair of Franklin Merrell-Wolff's incredibly beautiful poems.
01/2009	Favorite Photos	Added a 5th page of favorite photos taken by the author and others.
01/2009	Catherine Harding podcast	In the tradition of "On Having No Head": podcast from Urban Guru Cafe (in the Article & Excerpts section)
12/2008	Mirror Therapy	There's a treatment for phantom limb pain that's simple and surprisingly effective. Can a similar technique dispel existential pain?
11/2008	Favorite Video Clips	A video trailer introducing Images of Essence from the TAT Foundation Press.
10/2008	Micromanaged	Added an essay, "The Micromanaged Life?"
10/2008	8x8 Path	Added the matrix of Douglas Harding's "8x8-fold Plebeian Path"
10/2008	Compassion	Added an essay on "Compassion & the Revelation of Negatives"
10/2008	Favorite Video Clips	British author, film producer, and lecturer Peter Russell speaking on the mystery of consciousness.
09/2008	Inspiration	What is inspiration, and where does it come from?
09/2008	Conquest of Illusion	Added a section on Cézanne from Proust Was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer.
09/2008	Favorite Photos	Added a 3rd page of favorite photos taken by the author and others.
08/2008	Common-Sense Meditation Experiment	Updated the Meditation page with the results of a new meditation experiment.
07/2008	Favorite Video Clips	A final farewell: WSJ.com interview with Randy Pausch published on the day of his death.
07/2008	Favorite Video Clips	What do Vincent van Gogh, Don McLean and Roberta Flack have in common?
07/2008	Intuition and the Search for Authenticity	What is intuition ... and how does it apply specifically to the seeker of a true state of being?
07/2008	Favorite Video Clips	Added clips from "A Night to Remember," "Titanic," and Jet Li's "Fearless"
07/2008	Developing Clarity of Mind	What is it that prevents most humans from seeing the truth of what they are as they're experiencing the pangs of separation and plunging to their demise?
06/2008	Favorite Video Clips	Randy Pausch update: CMU commencement address 5/19/08, "Find your passion."
06/2008	Your Strategy	Becoming conscious of the strategy that's working to get what you want out of life.
06/2008	Favorite Video Clips	Nostalgic clips on the theme of going home: Return of the Bison; Gods and Generals; Rabbit-Proof Fence.
05/2008	Common-Sense Meditation	Rest and relaxation are necessary ingredients for a healthy life, but to be a process of self-inquiry, meditation needs to be confrontational not restful. It also needs to be observational.
05/2008	Paean to Group Work	Thoughts on the value of group work in imaginative verse form.
04/2008	Getting to Know Your Own Mind	Why did it take the Buddha so long to vacuum his sofa?
04/2008	Favorite Video Clips	Added clips of Hindu and Sufi music designed for devotional meditation.
03/2008	Why Do Seekers of Truth Fail?	Added a link to an essay by the author published in the April 2008 TAT Forum ezine.
03/2008	Favorite Photos	Added a section of favorite photos taken by the author and others.
03/2008	Favorite Video Clips	Added a great funny scene from the Bollywood movie Paheli.
02/2008	Favorite Video Clips	Added three clips with examples of effective working together.
02/2008	Discovering Your Identify	Added an essay on the Perennial Philosophy.
02/2008	Favorite Video Clips	Added two humorous clips, and the hilarious "Guru Poem" by John Wren-Lewis.
01/2008	Favorite Video Clips	Added Jay Unger playing and commenting on writing the haunting "Ashokan Farewell."
01/2008	Thinking About Thinking	Added an article relating errors in medical diagnosis to self-inquiry.
12/2007	Favorite Videos	Added the new "Closer than Close" film trailer to the other two clips from this film.
11/2007	The Business of Seeking	Added a link to an essay by Shawn Nevins relating the leap From Good to Great.
11/2007	Plain Speaking	Updated Los Niños Héroes article with bio data on Harry Truman.
11/2007	A Self-Effacing Man	"When he entered Westminster Abbey, unannounced ... the entire congregation arose."
10/2007	Favorite Video Clips	Added "O Shenandoah" and "Our Town" clips.
10/2007	Favorite Video Clips	Added "It's Been a Long Time Coming" folksong clips.
10/2007	Conquest of Illusion	Added an excerpt on headless seeing from Douglas Harding's On Having No Head.
09/2007	Favorite Video Clips	Added clips from dying Prof. Randy Pausch's compelling final talk.
09/2007	Look at Awareness	Added an essay on knowing the self.
09/2007	Favorite Video Clips	Added Andrea Bocelli clips.
08/2007	Depression	Added an essay referencing the amazing lifestory of Mike May.
08/2007	Science as a Spiritual Practice	Added an excerpt from a presentation on "The Simplicity of Being."
08/2007	Author's Favorites	Added a page to consolidate links to related pages.
07/2007	Site Update Log	Created a page for visitors to track site changes.
07/2007	True Love	Added an essay about rapport and never-ending love.
07/2007	Song Dynasty Ch'an Revival	Added a page of Ch'an Masters from this later era to the earlier Tang Dynasty masters.
07/2007	Favorite Video Clips	Added Flatland the Film clips
05/2007	Bill Samuel "Induction"	Added the "Induction Talk" excerpt from William Samuel's The Child Within Us Lives!
05/2007	About the Author	Updated with two photos from hiking in the Canyonlands area of southern Utah.
03/2007	Conquest of Illusion	Added synopsis of Rupert Sheldrake talk on recent evidence for "Minds Beyond Brains."
03/2007	Greatest Teachers / Ongoing	Added a page on the "Ongoing Work" of Merrell-Wolff, Harding and Rose students.
01/2007	Path in Pictures	Added a pictorial "essay" on progress toward self-realization.
12/2006	William Samuel page	Added a page on this hitherto unknown to me teacher -- a warrior and gentleman.
10/2006	Burning the Boats	Added an essay on the man who transformed Kimberly-Clark.
10/2006	To Fight You Need an Enemy	Added an essay about fighting to survive.
10/2006	The Stockdale Paradox	Added an essay about surviving in North Vietnamese prisoner camps.