Understandably, I’m often bombarded with a barrage of questions each week, during my live sessions, in video comments, and through emails on rickquestionsthings.com, about why I left the ministry and Christianity. While I’ve written about this topic before, it seems fitting to share yet another post explaining the core reasons for why I am no […]
In this post I’m continuing the journey through the Zen poem, Hsin Hsin Ming (click here to purchase your copy). You can read part 1 here. The Hsin Hsin Ming is such a beautiful piece of art. As with any work of art, it is subject to many interpretations. However, in reality, no interpretation is […]
Written by Seng-t’san, the Third Chinese Zen Patriarch, around 600CE, the Hsin Hsin Ming is a beautiful Zen poem considered to be one of the very first, if not the first, Chinese Zen documents written. I hope to walk through some, if not all, of this profound Zen poem in this series I’ll call “A […]
On a walk yesterday, I was thinking about and jotted down (typed really) a few quick notes about labels and the pressure from all around to label oneself this or that. I’m sure you relate to this pressure in one way or another. For example, in my own experience theists desperately want me to be […]
We often hear so many people state the need of living in the present. “You’ve got to let go of the past, forget about the future, and live in the present. Keep yourself in the present.” As a result, many people find themselves desperately trying to live in the present by constantly keeping watch over […]
Hello again everyone. If you keep up with my content, you’ll have surely noticed that I’ve been on a hiatus for the last 6 or 7 months. I’ve taken a break entirely from writing, creating videos, doing live talks, Q&A’s, and interviews. From this side looking back, the break was a natural one. In other […]
Mindfulness has become somewhat of a buzzword in recent times. “Be mindful” is the popular mantra of many. In this post, The Myth of Mindfulness, I want to shed light on what mindfulness is not (hyperfixation on “things” or “actions”, nor a quick fix for all of life’s supposed problems) and consider what it truly […]
As I write this article, it is currently around Easter and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are hot topics on the minds of Christians right now. I’ve been asked my thoughts on the topic of the resurrection as an ex-pastor and ex-Christian. In this post I’ll share a few of my thoughts on the […]
In this post we’ll take a look at what I consider to be one of the clearest passages on the topic of the return of Jesus. We’ll discover what the coming of Jesus actually means, and why it is certain that Jesus will never return. The World Waits Generation after generation waits for the immanent […]
Monday, I had the absolute privilege of being a guest on Farhan Qureshi’s (ex-Muslim) podcast along with David Avedon (ex-Christian pastor)! What a great experience and opportunity to have an insightful and thought-provoking conversation with others who have found themselves on a path of self-realization. Coming from such different, but also in many ways similar […]