What do I mean by "Narrow Way"?

We humans tend to drift about with every thought, feeling, and impulse, tossed about like boats or ships often without secure moorings or anchors. And, strangely enough, our moorings and anchors can sometimes be too firm keeping us stuck when we need to move. Regardless, we usually are lost in our heads in either the past or the future and definitely lost in stories which are designed to create a sense of self and some kind of clarity about life.

Often, the result is to be dragged around by these often confusing and conflicting impulses leaving us as victims of unavoidable and unnecessary distress in a world full of difficulty and often catastrophe.  Or we may stubbornly remain entrenched behind our defenses refusing to even admit that some of our thoughts, feelings, and impulses do not fit our ideal or that of our chosen group.  We create enemies of our own experiences and are in conflict with ourselves. Then we often project our inner conflicts on others and create unnecessary conflicts with them.

Most often we try to steer a clear path by means of some ideology, philosophy, or religion we have learned from some external authority and we put on the trappings of the group. But while this may give some sort of relief from conflicting impulses for a time it does not necessarily resolve them. Often it merely suppresses them creating more conflict and distress. Movement from place to place, group to group, temple to temple, authority to authority mirrors the internal life of conflicting thoughts, feelings, impulses. This is the broad way in my opinion and we all are subject to it.

We cannot avoid that the major work in the cause of stability has to be inside of us. The way to navigate this inner sea and find stability inside and out is the "narrow way" and regardless of belief system or lack of one, mindfulness can provide a firm and real place to stand. We may find then that our beliefs begin to really make some practical sense.

These writings and various links that will be added are meant to explore this path. And lest you think this will be just another helping of some weird ethereal soup let me assure you that my foundation is in science. I do not plan to include anything which does not square with that. If I do then free to call me on it.

Join me in the adventure.