We are social creatures. It’s an evolutionary advantage to live in close communities that look out for each other.Relationships nourish us and provide tremendous meaning in our lives. There’s no substitute for them.But, some people are natural loners. Some people choose to be alone, and others find solitude forced upon them. There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to whether we live as a hermit meditating in a…
There is a cosmic irony to this law of the universe: the more we try, the more likely we are to fail. This law is true in sports, art, dating, earning money and just about everything else. The more we force effort, the more we repel the thing we want. The more pressure we put on ourselves, the more nervous we get and the more mistakes we make.Forced effort isn't…
After meeting his shaman in Chile who told him to follow his heart, Todd returned to his NYC life. He was a highly awarded Creative Director at the world's largest ad agency, all by the age of 31. Hear what possessed him to leave it all behind in search of meaning and purpose. On this podcast, we'll be sharing stories and spiritual lessons from throughout his 9 year journey. So…
Q: Dear Todd, is the sense of self true nature? Or just an inevitable delusion of perspectivized consciousness?Todd Answers: I would say that our sense of self is merely the turning of our consciousness back onto itself so that it can experience itself. This is how we can know ourselves — our true selves, our essence.When we look for ourselves and we peer through the thoughts, the sense-objects, and the…
Q: Dear Todd, “All suffering exists in the mind” leaves out the heart and the intuition part. Any thoughts?TODD ANSWERS: The heart and the gut (intuition) are essential to empathy and healthy emotions. From my experience, suffering most often starts in the mind and then our heart begins to ache. Emotions are where we feel our thoughts. Occasionally, like as in physical pain, our brain receives the pain signals and…
Q: Dear Todd, the more awareness I have, the more I see the resistance towards the situation, the people, the work, and the place. I meditated and changed my attitude case by case, bit by bit. Recently my depression is coming back, and I can't even sit still to meditate. Just started the medication. Any advice?TODD ANSWERS: First off, that's incredible that you were able to do that and see…
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”On trial for corrupting the minds of his students, for which he was sentenced to death, Socrates defended himself by saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”While many scholars may see this phrase as evidence that he meant we should sit around lost in thought, I believe Socrates was pointing to something much deeper. To examine, we must observe. To observe, we must…
Without knowing hardly anything about Buddhism, Todd Perelmuter decided to jump in with both feet by going to live at a Buddhist monastery as a monk in the Himalayan mountains in India.After months of living in complete silence, without technology or a phone, and even without books except for Buddhist texts, Todd discovered a wisdom and philosophy that would totally change his life as it had for countless Buddhists for…
On a vacation in Chile, Todd hoped to meet with a shaman to learn about the spirituality of the indigenous people of South America. Unfortunately, the shaman had left his home for the winter. However, just one day before Todd was scheduled to leave Chile, his travel companion, who was Chilean, received an unexpected phone call: the shaman would see him now.In this podcast, I share the beautiful beliefs the…
After quitting his high-paying advertising job, giving away all his belongings, moving out of his New York City apartment and buying a one-way ticket to India, he finally arrives in spiritual capital of the world.Hear what he finds, what he does, and how he got fleeced twice in two days. See how everything he had been searching for miraculously presented itself to him. Learn the lessons that India taught him…
“I thought my biggest fear was growing old and dying in prison. In truth, my biggest fear was growing old and not knowing myself.”
- Rick Smith, Albama inmate
Path to Peace - A newsletter not just for your mental health but also for your spiritual health.
