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Nov 18, 2024 | 
davidgerken.medium.com | David Gerken
It’s time for us to take this spiritual thing up a notch. David Gerken·Follow4 min read·--Photo by Simon Berger on UnsplashDearest loyal Medium readers. It’s been a while. Why? I’ve been writing for the past few months on Substack.com. After four years writing on Medium, I simply saw that Substack was a better fit for me. No hard feelings at all toward Medium. If you enjoyed my writings and want to continue on the path with me, I humbly ask you to read on and learn the full story of what I’m up to.
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May 23, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken
By David Gerken It's about flowing with life. Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash Let me start by saying that I'm the least flexible human being alive. Not only can I not lean over and touch my toes. I can barely go past my knees. But that's physical flexibility.
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May 15, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken
By David Gerken The Author with Michael Singer - Photo by Author After two uneventful flights across America, I got in my tiny Kia something-or-other rental car in Jacksonville, Florida, and headed to Michael Singer's Temple of the Universe for my third visit. (You can read about trip numbers one and two here and here.)
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Apr 30, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken |Mehmet Yildiz
Ram Dass’s Helpful Observation About Trees and PeopleIt’s about acceptancePhotograph by authorThe tree in the photo stands right outside my room here at Michael Singer’s Temple of the Universe in Alachua, Florida. I’m back for my third visit, something I’ll write about later in the week. But today’s piece is yet another from the man, the myth, the legend, Ram Dass who, not so incidentally, visited Mickey’s temple a…
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Apr 27, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken
Michael Singer’s Go-to Spiritual Tool to Help Us Chill Out on Life: AstronomyGaining perspective from the cosmos. Photo Taken by Voyager 1 on February 14, 1990 (NASA)I have listened to hundreds of hours of Michael Singer’s talks, and I’d guesstimate that in at least half of them, he talks about astronomy. Why? First, because he’s interested in astronomy. He’s a science buff who loves to explain how and why we…
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Apr 25, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken
It’s about sponges and watering cans. Every now and then, while listening to one of his talks on Ramdass.org, Ram Dass will say something that makes my ears prick up. Then something dings in my head, and I say, “That’s an article.”Such was the case yesterday.
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Apr 19, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken |Mehmet Yildiz
Hint: It had nothing to do with money. When I think of Henry David Thoreau I think of Walden, his classic memoir recounting his two years living alone in a cabin on Walden Pond. It’s an American classic. The poet Robert Frost once said of it:“In one book … he surpasses everything we have had in America.”But today’s piece isn’t about Walden. It’s about something else Thoreau wrote. Something that is equally wise and eloquent. Only this work is just one sentence. Nine words.
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Apr 6, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken
It’s about repetition. Leave it to Ram Dass to cut through all the BS and tell it like it is. This is what he had to say about why people like you and me read articles like this and listen to talks, day after day, month after month, year after year. “Why do we keep listening to spiritual lectures and reading spiritual books? It seems we need to keep saying it to ourselves, over and over again, until we finally hear.”Isn’t that the truth? I know it is for me. How?
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Mar 30, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken |Mehmet Yildiz
It’s about the nature of suffering. I’m usually reluctant to write about Buddhism. It’s not that I have anything against it (I don’t). My reluctance stems from my lesser familiarity with it compared to many readers out there (I’m thinking of you, Sandra Pawula!). Mostly this is about common misunderstandings of what the Buddha had in mind when teaching about suffering. It’s a misunderstanding I had up until recently.
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Mar 26, 2024 | 
medium.com | David Gerken
It’s reality-shattering, in a good way. Other than my old friend Ima Genius, no one was given a better name than Dr. Larry Brilliant. And since I made up the name Ima Genius, that makes Larry’s name numero uno. So, who is this Larry Brilliant? Lucky for him, he’s a brilliant guy. Known mainly for taking the lead in eradicating smallpox, Brilliant also ran Google’s foundation and then the Skoll Foundation. He was also a close friend of Apple founder Steve Jobs for several decades.
