John Astin

John Astin offers inquiry sessions, talks and retreats built around a simple question: what is the waking dream we call life actually made of? His approach starts from the observation that our ability to hold on to pleasant experiences and keep difficult ones away is quite limited. He suggests that, alongside living as skillfully as we can, we can take moments to let experience be as it is.

In those moments he invites people to explore, in a lighthearted and curious way, what he sometimes calls the texture or felt sense of experience. Looking closely, he says, the labels we use for feelings, sensations and thoughts fall short. Even states we consider negative and in need of fixing turn out to be a vast, open-ended field of energy and intelligence.

His invitation is to enter this inquiry and discover the freedom and well-being at the heart of every moment. His site also includes recorded talks and retreats, audio and video, a blog, academic writings, books and music.