musings.
I have found worthwhile teachings and practices in many religions and disciplines, but I cannot bring myself to subscribe personally to one, nor participate in the mix-and-match patchwork pseudo-mysticism prevalent in our age. I will admit to such indulgences as a youth while experimenting, but I can respect that no longer as an adult. As an aside, I've been thinking much the same about the emotional/relational practices of our present age. I think that one does harm to oneself and to those from which one takes, whether that's religions or people, when taking the approach of "A little of what I like from this, a little of what I like from that." As a musical group I like has said: constant shallowness leads to evil.

I also dislike when people say "I'm not religious, but I'm spiritual". I wouldn't call myself religious or spiritual, but I do believe there's more than what we generally perceive or can perceive. Worlds beyond and in worlds. I'm drawn more by the subtle liftings of the veil, however, than seeking for the full frontal.

I strive to be awake and alive and aware as much as I am capable. I strive to find balances between extremes, but not to the point of shunning the extremes - balance does not mean stagnation at a single point, because change is a constant and the centre is always shifting, so movement and adjustment matters. I strive to experience without becoming lost in experience. With others, I personally strive to inspire rather than command or control, and respond best to a similar approach.