In August, I went on a solo road trip through Washington, Oregon & California. It was awesome & I had never done something like that - fully of my own volition before. It was part of the recent trend of engaging in adventurous, healthy activities that don’t have to do with self improvement. On the trip I was also spending the mornings attending a Dzogchen retreat live. The teaching revolved around a Dzogchen root text & clarified very technical, precise, scholarly aspects of understanding right view & the basis in Dzogchen. It helped me see how one’s beliefs about the way reality actually works can not be separated from the effects of meditation techniques. For me, this was a useful divergence from the pragmatic but inaccurate mindset I had previously cultivated which focused more on the idea of a core set of techniques wrapped up in various layers of culture & ritual. After the road trip, I started an online tummo retreat which ...
At the intersection of deep meditation, growing up, and mood disorder.