See how the deep wisdom of a self-inquiry master unfolds false beliefs into oblivion — A good friend into mystic philosophy called me recently. He’s been counseling his ex-wife and it’s a tough time. He and I are both very into nonduality: Sri Ramana Maharshi, A Course in Miracles, Zen, Nisargadatta… all of the most earth-shattering veil-breakers… And yet here we are, having challenges in…

Its Beauty and Its Issues — Excerpt from Original Sin Is A Lie: How Spirituality Defies Dogma and Reveals Our True Self by Bob Peck. Available now. In the Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke), Jesus mostly talks about the “kingdom of God”. In both the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Thomas, he…

The Buddha on The Only Thing That Matters — Back in 2015, I hosted a monthly philosophy group called Think & Drink. I got bored of endless small talk, so I started an intentional meetup around substantial topics that took place at a local bar in Austin, Texas. And at this gathering, I would tell a parable so often…

Burgers, Comanches, and the Inevitability of Change — Dirty’s might finally have to close their doors. The iconic hamburger joint in Austin, Texas, which has been the source of countless greasy, delicious patties since 1926, is under threat of shutting down thanks to a new city bus lane proposal. My dad (Bob Peck III) is a thoroughly entertaining…

A brief tribute to Thích Nhất Hạnh — I was lucky enough to have open-minded parents in Texas. Not only did my mom & dad not disapprove of my early interfaith inquiries, they both encouraged me to learn about spiritual traditions outside of American Christianity, the religion of their parents. So thankfully yes, I was that teenager reading…

Fleeting thoughts on the practicality of stillness — When the Buddha was asked, “Sir, what do you and your monks practice?” he replied, “We sit, we walk, and we eat.” The questioner continued, “But sir, everyone sits, walks, and eats.” And the Buddha told him, “When we sit, we know we are sitting. When we walk, we know…

My grandfather’s legacy is kindness — My grandfather, Tommy Rochelle, served in WWII. Like most able-bodied young men of his generation, he went overseas to fight Hitler’s fascist threat to the world. In the 1930s and 40s, Grandpa Tommy worked in the radio business as a DJ, so his army commanders put him in the communications…

A brief point on the literal vs. the symbolic — “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” — Jesus, Gospel of Matthew 10:34 When I was around eight years old, accompanying my Baptist best friend to his Christian summer camp, I remember how surprised…

Grappling with Nonduality and “the Illusion” — This place is a dream. Only a sleeper considers it real. Then death comes like dawn, and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief. — Jalaluddin Rumi Towards the end of a lovely family dinner, after hours of wine, funny stories and entertaining yet relatively trivial…