Articles, quotes, poetry, essays and other writings by jeff foster
Read more: How to Meet Heartbreak
Read more: Divine Suicide
on meetings and retreats
What happens during a meeting or retreat? – a few words about what to expect
on living in deep acceptance
You Are Perfect Exactly As You Are – discovering radical self-acceptance in each and every moment
The Deepest Acceptance – a very short introduction to Jeff’s core teaching
Deep Acceptance of Life… And Saying “No”! – the cosmic YES that holds the worldly yes and no
On Trying To Allow This Moment – life allows us, we don’t need to allow life
An Invitation to Rest Deeply in Present Experience – right now, it’s okay not to have all the answers
Sitting in the Unresolved – The True Meditation – on welcoming the present moment as a dear friend
The Peace That Cannot be Destroyed – on recognising yourself as peace itself
The Inseparability of Wisdom and Love – awareness and contents of awareness are not-two
How Deeply Can We Meet? – the final teacher is life itself
This Living Day – embracing a new day full of possibilities
The Ocean is Waving! – the mystery of the ocean and the waves…
The Divine Mess of Your Life – why your life isn’t supposed to ‘work’
on healing, therapy, depression and the end of suffering
Divine Suicide – the story of a woman’s depressive breakdown and her call to awakening
Be Passionately Alive – on the common question “What should I do with my life?”
On Grief, Loss, Death and Awakening from Dreams – the deeper meaning of our grief
Grief’s Hidden Secrets – an invitation to stay with the pain
The Roots of Addiction – exploring addiction from a ‘nondual’ perspective
Addiction: The Search for Unconditional Love – another view on addiction
On Dis-Illusionment – the joy and pain of losing our illusions
On Insomnia – the deep surrender of sleep
Depression: The Open Secret – what depression is trying to tell us
On Feeling Misunderstood – on waiting for understanding
We Do Not Suffer Alone – suffering does not belong to ‘you’
Why Life Is Never As Bad As You Think – we only ever have to deal with a moment…
Fear Of Death Is Fear Of Life – why they are one and the same
How to Meet Heartbreak – the broken heart does not want easy answers
The True Worth in Feeling Worthless – the deeper secrets contained in everything we call ‘negative’
Therapy Without a Therapist – how does nonduality relate to healing and therapy?
A Healing Conversation – awareness and sadness have a little chat
The Purging of Guilt – on the stagnated life-energy known as ‘guilt’
Our Longing For Home – on what all beings truly long for
on relationships, compassion, listening, and the end of human conflict
Taking Sides – remembering that we are only fighting ourselves
Awakening To Great Compassion – the illusory barriers between each other…
Dirty Love – love is not what you think
The End Of Conflict – waking up from violence
The Nature Of Evil – nobody is good or evil
On Receiving Criticism – how can we listen without prejudice?
On Forgiveness – how do we forgive each other our trespasses?
On Discernment – the difference between judgement and discernment
On Judgement and Judging Judgement – the ins and outs of judgement
Listening To Each Other – coming out of conclusions
The Masculine and Feminine ‘Principles’ – we are all masculine and feminine
The Miracle of “Hello” – making the ordinary extraordinary
a bit of fun
A Secret Love Affair with Life – jeff’s adventures at home, and in a supermarket…
Imagine a game… – the greatest game ever devised!
From Womb to Womb (via Tomb) – do we long to return to the womb?
The Advaita Trap – a funny look at how even ‘nonduality’ can be turned into a religion!
The Balloon – nonduality in a nutshell
“Sometimes you will doubt what you are doing, and you may romanticise the old days when things were easier and more predictable, but then you will suddenly remember that the old way was false and never worked for you and that’s why everything had to change. Yes, it’s a risk to donate your life to what you love and what moves you and brings you joy, but having a comfortable and predictable life pales in comparison to feeling deeply, passionately alive and meeting each new day with fresh eyes and an open heart…”
Read more: Be Passionately Alive
“There is a locked vault containing everything you’ve ever longed for – all the riches of the universe. You spend your life trying to open the vault – through struggling, striving, meditating, transcending, guru-worshipping,believing, rejecting, accepting, praying, self-enquiring, yoga-ing, and so on and so on. Finally, exhausted, you give up trying to open the vault….. and that’s when the vault opens by itself. It was never locked in the first place. What’s inside the vault? This moment, exactly as it is.”
Read more: Quotes
“In this presence beyond presence,
In this place that is no place at all,
In this warm embrace I call myself,
Even a ‘no’ is a secret yes,
Even resistance is deeply allowed,
Even doubt is a celebration of life… “
– from ‘The Promise’
on the pathless path of spiritual awakening
Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow, Follow The Yellow Brick Road – we are all Dorothy…
The Journey After Awakening – nobody just “awakens” one day, and never suffers again…
Sitting with Discomfort – the deepest part of self-realisation
A Challenge For The Awakened – is our understanding reflected in our behaviour?
The Furnace of Awakening – ordinary life and the embodiment of awakening
“Am I Bovvered?” – mistaking detachment for awakening
Forgetting Who You Are – is awakening a goal, a path, or the journey itself? can it be lost?
Living Nonduality – not just playing with concepts, but actually living this teaching
This Living Teaching – advaita, nonduality, and holding father’s hand as he crosses the road
Realising “There Is No Me” – On intellectual understanding versus living realisation
In A Time of Crisis – the true meaning of ‘crisis’
Thought Cannot Buy Happiness – losing faith in mind
You Will Lose Everything – facing the reality of life
Alone With Life – the difference between loneliness and aloneness
jeff foster’s poetry and prose poetry
> More Poetry…
the jeff foster museum (older writings)
“Being Open To Life… No Matter What Happens”
Life As It Is, Seen With Brand New Eyes
The Myth Of Enlightenment – do you need ‘enlightenment’ or an ‘energetic shift’ to be free?
What are ‘You’ Waiting For? – is freedom to be found in time?
A Short Note On Suffering – what do we mean by the word ‘suffering’?
Nonduality And Nihilsm – why “no person, no past, no path, no me, no you” is only half the story
What are you Defending? – how spiritual concepts can simply be food for the ego
Death – what is death, and can it ‘happen’ to ‘you’?
Nonduality And Compassion – what does nonduality have to say about feeding the hungry?
Nonduality: Expressing The Inexpressible
What Is A Guru? – perhaps the greatest guru is life itself…