Over the years, I have been asked numerous questions by people all over the world. These questions have fallen into three categories: questions related to personal guidance for the person asking, questions related to how I live my life, and questions related to the general nature of life and humanity. In addition to the content that I provide on this website to help inspire, empower, and educate those seeking this kind of information, below are quick answers to some of the most common “big” questions that I have received.
How did you come to be a consciousness expansion teacher?
As many of us know, labels are very limiting and prone to all kinds of misinterpretations. I have tried to define my role in this world over the years using various words, but each time the fit wasn’t quite right. The essence of what I have been educated to do and called to do, both formally and informally since I began my life as an adult, is teaching. That is how the “teacher” part came about. When I started my teaching career, my role was easy to define as I was a “science teacher” who specialized in human biology. However, when I resigned from teaching in “the system” and branched out on my own, I taught about so much more than science and its various major disciplines, including psychology, philosophy, and spirituality. After several years, it became clear that I teach about numerous topics, which cannot be neatly or accurately defined by any one area. However, the point of why I teach is to help people expand their awareness, perspective, and consciousness in any and all of these different areas. Hence, the description consciousness expansion teacher came about.
What is a consciousness expansion teacher?
My role as a consciousness expansion teacher is based on giving you a different and broader perspective and understanding about yourself, your life, the world, and the nature of reality. Most people live within the confines of very narrow and limited perspectives, which create a false sense of reality and make it feel like the things that happen are random, disconnected, and make life a struggle. Consciousness expansion presents you with more information and expands your sense of knowing and understanding why and how things are as they are in your life and the world.
How did you get to know what you share through your teaching?
On a formal level, this has included lots of research and learning via university degrees, independent classes, courses, and reading material, and work experience with thousands of individuals. On an informal level, this has come from lots of introspection to awaken and remember who I am, why I am, and what this life is all about. While I can help guide others to Universal truths, ultimately, what I know for certain is my truth and what is right for me. I do not claim to know what is specifically best for another person, as we all have our own needs on our path of spiritual growth. There are, however, certain general things that are right for us all on our human journey and which lead to greater health and wellbeing on all fronts. Ultimately, the key is for each person to find their own truth, and another person can only point us in the direction we wish to go, but they cannot walk the path for us. If what I share resonates with you, build upon that and create your own truth. Never take the truth of another to make it your own, and always stay flexible with any thoughts, beliefs, or ideas so that they do not limit the infinite potential and possibility of life.
What content and who has most influenced your work?
My approach to my life, work, and others has been predominantly influenced by the wisdom of Buddhism, Taoism, Stoicism, and the Yoga Sutras.
Modern teachers whose work has helped me on my spiritual path of awakening and remembering, include Neale Donald Walsch, Eckhart Tolle, Esther Hicks, Tom Campbell, and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.
Books that have influenced me the most include:
- Conversations with God — The Complete Trilogy by Neale Donald Walsch
- A New Earth — Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
- The Teachings of Abraham by Esther & Jerry Hicks
- Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
- The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
Films that have influenced me the most, include:
- What the Bleep Do We Know!?
- Infinity: The Ultimate Trip
- The Secret
- The Matrix - Complete Trilogy
- Zeitgeist
Health and Wellness Influences
In this area, my personal life and professional work have been most influenced by Dr. Bruce Lipton, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, Dr. Michael Greger, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.
Health and wellness books that have influenced me the most include:
- Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition by Dr. T. Colin Campbell 2.Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman
- The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, & Miracles by Dr. Bruce Lipton
- Your Body’s Telling You: Love Yourself!: The most complete book on metaphysical causes of illnesses & diseases by Lise Bourbeau
Health and wellness films that have influenced me the most include:
There are so many conflicting experts out there today. Why should I trust or believe you?
There has been nothing more important in my life since I became aware of the deeper nature and purpose of this reality than to be authentic to my own truth, values, and priorities and live them accordingly. This is why I teach what I live and live what I teach. I do not do what I do or share what I share to be popular, have a certain status, gain a certain achievement, or rack up a certain number of likes on any given social media platform, the latter of which I do not resonate with using altogether. My journey is about living authentically and helping anyone whom I am capable of helping and who freely seek my help. I feel immensely blessed to be able to know how to navigate through life with relative ease, wellbeing, and minimal suffering, and I feel it would be selfish of me not to share this knowledge with others. Ultimately, I do not wish to impose anything or convince anyone of anything that doesn’t already resonate with them on some level. What I aim to teach and share are simple truths based on Universal Laws, as well as the laws of nature and the human body that are bound by timeless wisdom. It is not about believing me or anything that I say but about feeling out the truth for yourself.
I feel it also important to point out here that the online world, especially social media, is very deceptive and causes its users to create many false ideas and assumptions about other people. Most people will be quick to judge and draw false conclusions without ever taking accountability and responsibility to actually learn something of value about the other person that they are interested in learning from. Then, if their expectations are not met in some way, they think that the person who they listened to was the problem and not their own created illusions of the person. There is a great meme I once read that, which illustrates this perfectly, “There are as many versions of you as there are people who come into contact with you.” Likewise, many so-called “experts” intentionally create a false persona of themselves to manipulate a certain outcome and achieve a certain status. Personally, I find that trying to be someone who we are not is exhausting and way too much work, to say the least. It is much easier and more conducive to our health, happiness, and inner peace to be ourselves. So in this regard, I would hope that my trail on the internet of hundreds of articles, videos, and posts over the last 15 years, speaks for itself where my motivation and reputation are concerned.
Living out of alignment with ourselves ALWAYS costs us, whether physically, mentally, or emotionally, and I am not interested in playing any games with myself or others or decreasing the quality of my life to “fit in” or be perceived a certain way. Life is much too short and beautiful to spend time suffering due to our own self-sabotage. So for my own wellbeing, I am fully committed to this journey to continue learning how to optimize this human experience for the best results. There is no point of perfection and there is still much to discover, but along each step of the way, I am intending and choosing to be the truest expression of who I know myself to be. What you do with that is up to you.
What is the purpose of life?
The way I see it, the purpose of life is to evolve spiritually, given that the physical body is temporary, the mind is limited, while the spirit is eternal. During this evolution, we need to work through our karma - our actions and consequences - to release ourselves from the cycles of suffering and come to a state of knowing ourselves as divine love, divine energy, and divine creators. Normally, this takes innumerable lifetimes. The purpose of life is not to test you, make you suffer, or have you prove yourself to anyone. It is to expand our soul’s potential and remember who it is that we truly are beyond the body, mind, name, possessions, etc. It is to remind us of our oneness with all life. On this journey, through numerous lifetimes, we are raising our vibration, dissolving our separation, and lowering our entropy to come into alignment with the frequency of wholeness.
How do you explain all the good and evil in our world?
The idea of good and evil comes from a dualistic view of the world. When we have a limited view of life, it may appear that there are “bad” or “evil” things and “good” things. However, how we choose to judge something is always based on our personal bias, limited information, and is never objective. The more our view of life expands, the smaller the gap between good and evil becomes. This is not to say that we start to support (in any way) the various actions, mostly by those in any position of power, over other beings, whether an animal, child, or a whole country that intentionally inflicts harm on them. Instead, we simply understand that each person is on their own personal journey of evolution, and it is not up to us to judge or condemn. It is up to us to be the change we wish to see and make peace within ourselves with all the aspects of us that we see outside of us. A so-called villain in this lifetime was most certainly a victim in another lifetime, and vice-versa. We are all one and have been on both sides of the game numerous times. The goal is simply to keep evolving towards love, being accountable for our own creations, and realizing that another being only has as much power over you, as you allow them to have. Condemning another solves nothing. Forgiveness moves us toward love. When we each shift our frequency and raise the vibration of the collective consciousness towards love, we minimize all acts that stem from fear and unconsciousness, such as any kind of violence. Regardless, being loving, kind, and compassionate does not mean being naive, foolish, or putting up with harmful people or practices. Living mindfully means being proactive and taking personal responsibility for our own wellbeing on our life path.
But aren’t some things just right, while others are wrong?
First and foremost, right and wrong are constructs and limitations of the mind, most specifically the Ego mind. From your soul’s perspective, all is energy and some energy has a higher vibration, while another energy has a lower vibration. As mentioned above, we are not here to judge or condemn others, rather to evolve beyond dualistic existence and into a love-based frequency of oneness with all life. The longer we point the finger outside of ourselves, the longer we miss the point. Also, until we grasp a larger view of reality we are not in any position to determine what is right, and what is wrong. These two concepts have proven to change over time, and change based on cultural thinking. And as we evolve we will come to understand that everything is us, is one—the good, the bad, the right, and the wrong, and that anytime we are out of alignment with love, we are always hurting ourselves first and foremost. It is of most value to focus on your personal spiritual evolution.
Why do some people suffer so much, while others seem to have it so easy?
As I have learned to date, all suffering comes from one of three root causes. One, either not understanding the bigger picture of who we are, and why we are. Two, due to lack of accepting what is, and being in a mode of resistance to life. Or three, being out of alignment with our soul’s purpose. Typically, suffering may even include all three. Also, as mentioned above, what may seem like suffering to us when observing another, may be exactly the type of experience the soul came here to have. Our biggest problem therefore is not that some have it easy, while others have it hard. Rather, it is that we judge subjectively what we think another being’s life should be like. Focus on your own spiritual evolution. Each of us creates the experiences we seek or need in each lifetime, and whether consciously or unconsciously lives them out.
But what about physical suffering like getting a disease, being wounded, or killed by another?
One of the biggest reasons why we see death and disease as “bad” or full of “suffering” is that we do not understand them. When we lift the stigma of death and disease, and come to understand the perfection with which all things take place, we get a completely different view of things. For many people getting a disease is the very thing they need to achieve what they came here to experience, or awaken, or come into alignment with their soul purpose. Likewise, death is not a finality, but a transition that one is simply done “playing the game” this time around. I do not believe that anyone dies a moment sooner, than when their soul is ready to transition. The challenge is that none of us know what is best for another, but definitely cause ourselves lots of suffering when we think we do. As we grasp a larger view of reality, we will deepen our understanding of these topics.
If my sickness is part of my soul purpose, does that mean I should not pursue healing?
Not at all. We have to understand that accepting what is, is not equivalent to giving up. If you are called to heal, then absolutely seek healing. But it is wise to find out why the dis-ease came in the first place, what was it trying to teach you, and heal from a space of love, not fear. We simply work against ourselves, and our healing, when we resist what is, calling it bad, negative, etc. Also, the deepest healing that is needed is not on the physical plane, but rather the emotional, mental and energetic plane. So definitely pursue healing, as this is part of what many of us are here for, just be sure to make peace with it and how it fits in with the bigger picture of your purpose in this lifetime.
Why are so many of us surrounded by so many challenging people, or have very challenging relationships?
The main reason we have relationships is to learn how to relate. Relationships are perhaps the best tool we have to learn about ourselves, and evolve spiritually. They provide a mirror for us to see ourselves, or to have someone to reflect off of. So the answer as to why so many seem so difficult is multi-fold. Some of it has to do with soul contracts, and what you see as a challenge is actually part of your evolution and awakening. We simply have to stop fighting against it, or resist it, and make peace with it to see the role that the situation or person came to serve in our life. (This does not mean we should be part of, or put up with abusive relationships.)
Another part of this answer revolves around the fact that everything we see outside of us is in some way a representation of something inside of us, normally something that requires our attention. So if your friend, or sibling, or parent, or spouse is triggering you in various unpleasant emotional ways, take that as a strong signal that something within you needs healing. Others truly reflect to us who we are, so pay attention who is in your life to learn more about yourself and the parts of you that need your attention.
Finally, many of us simply overstay our welcome. Most relationships are for us to learn something and move on. This does not always mean that we should stop interacting with that person, or remove them from our life. It simply means that the relationship has to naturally evolve, or transition to a new form. The reason why so many relationships end badly is because both parties spend years of suppressing their truth and resentment builds this whole time. If we were a spiritually mature race, we would be more in tune with knowing when to remove ourselves from close knit relationships and perhaps transition them into other forms. For example, a husband and wife would come to realize when it is time to part on their journey together in those roles, and perhaps instead switch roles to become friends, rather than eventually becoming enemies by continuing on.
To add to all this, our society is unrealistic in the restraints and expectations it puts on relationships. We think the immediate physical members of our family are it, and we have to stick together no matter what, not realizing that the whole Earth is our family. The particular set up in this lifetime is just one arrangement. There have been, and will be many others. There are many parent-child, friend-friend, spouse-spouse relationships that are actually hazardous to both parties—generating more Karma, than healing—by trying to force them to work. Therefore we have to understand that relationships can, and should be beautiful, enjoyable and some of the best grounds for evolving, but we have to embrace a more spiritually mature attitude, and a less Ego-driven one to make that happen. Remember we are all one, by hurting another, you are only hurting yourself.
You love nature, so what are your thoughts about all the destruction of the environment? Isn’t that evil?
Simply put, we do not understand what we are doing. Just like we wouldn’t call a 3 year old child who picks flowers in a field evil, we cannot call those of us who are unconsciously interacting with the environment evil. They simply do not understand how much by hurting nature, our Earth—Gaia, they are hurting themselves. They are coming back here to be the future generations. Their current actions are affecting them in this lifetime, and all of their lifetimes to come. This is not meant to justify their actions, but it does not serve me to develop any anger externally, as this will only be reflected within me internally. The best advice I can offer is focus on the self, be the change you wish to see, and lovingly raise awareness whenever, and wherever you can to help others understand the consequences of their actions. We are all in this together.
What are your thoughts on consciousness expanding, mind-altering plant or fungi teachers?
I think there is great value in the dimensions that many plant teachers like Ayahuasca can present to us. However, I am personally of the belief that although they can open the doors of perception for us momentarily, we should commit ourselves to opening these doors without any such tools in how we choose to live life on a daily basis. All of nature speaks to us, when we are ready to listen.