We just returned from a few days in New York City — more on that soon.

Throughout the trip, and for about a month beforehand, I had been struggling with a difficult skin issue on my finger.

I had a pretty intense and infected rash on the tip of my middle finger. The slightest touch or friction against it would send intense pain.

I tried various lotions, creams, medicines, a trip to the dermatologist, AI advice, and nothing would heal it.

Finally, I tried something very different.

I did absolutely nothing.

Within a matter of days the area was completely healed.

The same is true with my bout with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in my early twenties.

No amount of doctors, medicines, or prescriptions helped.

It was not until I decided to do nothing except commit to living an optimally healthy lifestyle (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually) that slowly, but surely I was healed.

I know of a man who had a motorcycle accident. His right forearm was horrifically gashed open. Dripping with blood, and filled with pebbles, dirt and mud.

He decided to do an experiment. He would do nothing and see what happens. Within a couple of months his arm was completely healed, and as good as new.

This is not to say that medication has never been helpful for me, or others I know. At times it has, and I’m sure will be again.

However, I will make what may seem like a radical statement.

No medication can heal you.

Medication can be an aid in your healing, or it can mask the symptoms of an injury so that you no longer feel the pain. But it doesn’t actually do the healing.

So where then does healing come from?

Science will use a lot of big, fancy words but they cannot answer this most mystical question.

The reality is the entire universe is always and continuously in a state of creation, renewal, and healing.

Healing is coded in the Logos, the original blueprint of the universe.

Life continuously regenerates and heals itself provided we get out of the way.

Cut down the plants in a meadow and new ones begin growing back immediately.

Scrape your knee and the body instantly begins healing itself, without any effort on your part.

Yet, we are conditioned by our education and culture to overlook this self-evident truth.

The more you understand how healing actually works, the more you know how to create that healing space for others.

Whether I’m doing personal coaching, leading a breathwork or meditation session, guiding a retreat, working with a couple, facilitating the mastermind, I have one primary goal in mind:

Create the space where each person can feel safe, relaxed and fully present to be in an unconditional relationship with whatever arises.

When those conditions are met, holistic healing happens on its own — physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Present moment awareness is always the agent of transformation.

It’s often not easy, however.

Old, deep wounds, traumas from the past, fears and anxieties about the future can make it a very difficult process.

We live in a culture where we want everything instantaneously. However, true healing is usually a process. That process can take days, months, or even years, depending on the depth of the trauma.

A coach or mentor who can consistently model that state of relaxed presence while supporting you in returning to your original blueprint and living in alignment with your highest purpose can be a vital source of support in that process.

Here’s the most amazing truth.

Healing is never something we force, create, or get from external substances.

Our bodies, our hearts, and our minds were amazingly and intelligently designed to know how to heal and renew themselves.

We only need to be mindful to stop re-injuring ourselves in the same wounded locations to let the healing process commence.

—————

Please reach out if you’re interested in working with me.  We’ll schedule a time to talk and get to know each other.

-Brian Piergrossi

http://brianpiergrossi.com

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Now more than ever, it’s all about family!

My extended family and I came together on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ, this weekend.

My first time there in a couple decades.

A nostalgic place for me, as we’d go there every summer when I was a child.

I saw a lot of the very same rides I’d go on in my youth.

The bumper cars and Ferris wheels. The High Seas Log Flume and the giant Buccaneer pirate ship.

Instead of mindlessly scrolling their phones for hours alone in their rooms, it’s heartening to see the younger generation having communal, embodied experiences, facing their fears and going on scary rides together.

Because after all, life is an embodied adventure, which is sometimes scary!

But you never uncover the fruits of the adventure if you don’t say “Yes” to the ride.

— Brian Piergrossi

Next stop: New York City.

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brianpiergrossi.com

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I’m at a remote monastery last year for five days of phone-free silence.

All of us have committed to this silence.

I’m meditating by myself in the church.

I’m not sure how long I’ve been meditating. Time seems to have disappeared. I would guess it’s been for over two hours straight now.

I’m having one of the deepest and most profound spiritual experiences of my entire life.

I feel like I’m communing directly with God.

The ecstatic infinity of this inner stillness is exquisite, and it just keeps getting better!

I’ve been waiting my whole life for this. I never want to leave this state.

I’m beyond excited to discover what this meditation will bring me.

I hear footsteps and an indiscernible chatter.

Suddenly a hand taps me on the shoulder.

I hear a voice say, “Excuse me.”

In that moment, a surge of anger rushes through my body.

Like a fork in the road, two possibilities open.

Part of me wants to pick him up by his collar and slam him up against the wall, tell him this is a silent retreat and how dare he violate that rule and disturb me while I’m praying silently with my eyes closed in a church.

I open my eyes and there is a very old man looking at me.

“Are you the priest from California?” he says.

I look at him closely. He looks very feeble, disoriented, lost and confused.

My heart fills with compassion and love for him.

There have been times in my life when I’ve felt very feeble and confused myself.

I get it.

“I’m not,” I respond to him with kindness.

“I’m so sorry,” he says and quickly walks away apologetically.

The great irony is that this meditation did in fact give me the greatest revelation and exactly the lesson I needed.

It just wasn’t how or what I expected.

That simple moment was the most profound life-changing moment of the entire retreat.

So much of my life had been chasing spiritual highs as a self-centered pleasure pursuit.

While those who are religious can too often fall into dogmatic concepts without any direct experience, traveling the world chasing spiritual experiences is all too common in the modern “spiritual but not religious” scene.

Instead of becoming outwardly attached and identified with material things, we become inwardly attached and identified with accumulating spiritual experiences.

The choice was very clear to me in that moment.

I could selfishly choose the pleasure of my own spiritual experience and the anger of its disruption, or I could choose to treat this elderly stranger with compassion and kindness.

What would Jesus do?

What I’ve learned is that spiritual experiences, or spiritual revelations, are great when they come, and yet they are not what’s most important.

What’s more important is our relationship with others and how we treat them.

Our kindness and compassion to others is the mark of our wholiness. Not how many spiritual states we’ve had.

It’s clear God brought that old man out of nowhere to disturb me at the high point of my meditation for a reason.

And it’s for that disturbance that I am grateful.

— Brian Piergrossi

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All seven and we'll watch them fall

They stand in the way of love And we will smoke them all

With an intellect and a savoir faire

No one in the whole universe will ever compare

I am yours now

And you are mine

And together we'll love

Through all space and time ‘

Lyrics by Prince from the song ‘7’.

Peaking, not surprisingly, at no. 7 on the Billboard charts in 1992.

Seven appears as a number of spiritual completion and renewal across an astonishing variety of cultures, traditions, times and places.

In the yoga tradition, the human body contains seven primary chakras extending from the base of the spine to the crown of the head.

1. Root (survival, grounding)

2. Sacral (creativity, sexuality)

3. Solar plexus (will, power)

4. Heart (love, compassion)

5. Throat (communication, truth)

6. Third eye (intuition, insight)

7. Crown (union with the Absolute, enlightenment)

Dormant spiritual energy (Kundalini) is described as ascending through all seven chakras, culminating in complete union of the individual with the Divine at the crown of the head.

In the Gospel of Luke, Mary Magdalene is introduced as a woman from whom Jesus had cast out seven demons (Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9).

Following her deliverance, she became one of Jesus’ most devoted followers, accompanying Him throughout His ministry, witnessing His crucifixion, and becoming the first person to encounter the risen Christ.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter comes to Jesus and asks:

“Lord, how often shall my brother or sister sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times”

Jesus said to him, “I tell you not seven times, but seventy times seven.” — Matthew 18:21–22

In elements of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, there is the belief in seven levels of heaven, with the “seventh heaven” regarded as the highest heaven of all.

In The Interior Castle, St. Teresa of Ávila describes the soul as a castle containing seven mansions, each representing a deeper stage of spiritual growth.

1. First Mansion – Initial conversion and awakening to the spiritual life.

2. Second Mansion – Growth in prayer and perseverance.

3. Third Mansion – A disciplined, virtuous life, relying largely on one’s own efforts.

4. Fourth Mansion – The beginning of God’s deeper work in the soul.

5. Fifth Mansion – Spiritual transformation, symbolized by the silkworm becoming a butterfly.

6. Sixth Mansion – Intense purification, trials, and profound mystical experiences.

7. Seventh Mansion – Spiritual marriage, the soul’s deepest union with God.

In Genesis there are seven days of creation, and we have seven days of the week, culminating  in the ancient Jewish tradition of the Sabbath—a day of completion, renewal, and rest in God, on the seventh day.

In Christian theology we have:

• Seven virtues

• Seven deadly sins

• Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

• Seven sacraments

• Seven times Jesus spoke from the Cross

• Seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer

No book of the Bible employs the symbolism of the number seven more than the Book of Revelation.

Revelation opens with messages to the seven churches of Asia Minor and introduces the seven spirits before God’s throne, the seven golden lampstands, and the seven stars held by Christ.

It’s when the seven seals are opened that God’s divine purpose becomes unveiled.

The number seven continues in the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls of God’s judgment, each unfolding in sequence as part of the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan.

In the Buddhist tradition, the path to awakening is described in part through the Seven Factors of Awakening:

1. Mindfulness – Awareness of the present moment.

2. Investigation – Discernment through examining reality.

3. Energy – Diligence and sustained effort in practice.

4. Joy – Spiritual happiness arising from progress on the path.

5. Tranquility – Calmness of body and mind.

6. Concentration – Deep meditative focus.

7. Equanimity – Complete mental balance and serenity.

These qualities are cultivated progressively as the practitioner advances toward enlightenment.

After attaining enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree, the Buddha spent seven weeks in contemplation before beginning to teach the Dharma.

It’s not just the world’s spiritual traditions, however.

The number seven also appears in the structure of music.

In Western music, the diatonic scale consists of seven natural notes—A, B, C, D, E, F, and G—before the sequence repeats at the octave.

Likewise, in Indian classical music, the basic scale is composed of seven notes: Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, and Ni, after which the pattern repeats at a higher octave.

Across these musical traditions, seven marks the completion of a full musical scale before the cycle begins anew.

Across many modern cultures seven is considered the “lucky number.”

Slot machines famously use triple 7s as a jackpot symbol.

The Point

The point here is actually not about the number seven.

I actually don’t care very much about the number seven and I’ll probably never write about it again.

The point is that there is one eternal, living blueprint that comes before, and after any language, that individuals from a wide variety of different cultures, places, and times, have attempted to translate into languages, traditions, and conceptual frameworks.

This does not mean that every spiritual tradition is the same and of equal value.

We’ll explore the differences in style, value, and potency another time.

Some embody a greater fullness of the truth than others

What it does mean is that words lay out the map to the territory, but they are not the territory itself.

We can talk and write about how to know a beautiful forest for eons.

But at some point, if we really want to know that beautiful forest, we need to put down the book and go take a walk inside it.

I want to know God beyond words, ideology, stories, parables, dogma, and fleeting, superficial experiences.

I want to know God the way an unborn child knows its mother’s womb.

I want to know others who want to know God in the same way.

Together I want to hear God say to us:

‘I am yours now

And you are mine

And together we'll love

Through all space and time

So don’t cry

One day all seven will die ‘

—Brian Piergrossi

—————-

Personal Coaching

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Have you had enough of your own mental wheels spinning, creating endless stories and the emotional roller coaster that comes with them?

Have you had enough of the algorithm running your life?

Do you have the courage to get away with me for five days and turn everything off?

For most of you, the answer will be no.

I’m too scared.

I’m too busy.

I’m too addicted to the mind-numbing churn of the Matrix.

But for a small percentage of you, the answer will be YES.

Are you one of them?

If so, keep reading.

=======

Just over a year ago, I experienced what was probably the most transformational five days of my entire life.

I committed to a five-day, personal, completely screen-free, fully silent retreat at a monastery in rural America.

So many epiphanies and insights arose during those five days that I’ve continued integrating ever since.

I went into the retreat mentally and spiritually preparing myself for what I expected would be a very difficult experience.

I knew I would be completely cut off from my family, friends, music, podcasts, news, and all my usual daily routines and habits.

To my great surprise, instead of being difficult, it became one of the most blissful periods of my entire life.

After months of reflection and prayer, I’ve become convinced that this experience is one of the greatest gifts I could ever offer you.

When all the external stimulation is cut off, truth is revealed. A joy of BEing is discovered that is acausal and ever-present.

An immense, unconditioned love at the source of all creation is touched—free from distraction.

Deeper than any passing thoughts, feelings, or experiences.

Deeper than anything we can imagine.

Anything we could ever hope to gain or fear to lose.

There were times during the retreat, deep in that pristine stillness, that I never wanted to return to “the world” again.

And yet, as I continued to move through the inner process, I found myself inspired to serve humanity more than ever, aspiring to become a beacon of God’s eternal, healing love.

I also came away appreciating my family and friends more deeply than ever before.

It is my prayer that I may show others the way home as well.

Five days.

No phone.

No news.

No social media.

No endless stream of information competing for your attention.

Just silence.

Just nature.

Just prayer.

If something within you is saying “yes” as you read these words, don’t ignore it.

Turn everything off. And discover the Presence that transcends time.

If you feel called to this retreat, I’d love to hear from you.

Investment: $500

Your investment includes:

• One private preparation call before the retreat.

• One group video call with all participants before the retreat.

• One guided meeting with me each day during the retreat for teaching, reflection, questions, and practical guidance.

• One group integration call following the retreat.

• Private online community before & after for all attendees

• Personal texting before and after the retreat should questions arise.

• Guidance informed by more than twenty years of leading over one hundred retreats in more than two dozen countries.

Scheduling a Conversation

This retreat will be limited to just five participants so that it remains deeply personal, intentional, and conducive to the spirit of silence.

If this retreat resonates with you, please message me here and we’ll schedule an immediate conversation, answer any additional questions you have, and determine if it’s the right fit.

About Brian Piergrossi

For over twenty years, Brian Piergrossi has worked with thousands around the world through private coaching, retreats, workshops, online courses, group programs, and authoring two books.

During that time he has led more than one hundred retreats in over two dozen countries.

Brian is happily married to his wife Annie and has two children. They live deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

We live in the loudest time in human history.

If you live in any urban or even suburban area, you’re most likely exposed to the continuous, yet spontaneously alternating, sounds of cars whizzing by, planes and helicopters flying above you, sirens wailing, horns honking, leaf blowers, jackhammers, trains, subways, motorcycles, garbage trucks, and so forth.

Our cities have been increasingly designed for efficiently hauling consumer items and less designed for the quality of life of the human beings who consume them.

Restaurants and cafes often blast terrible low-vibration pop music so loud you can barely hear the person across the table talk.

In the average person’s home, the TV is on all day long with mindless, degenerate movies, reality TV, and cable news.

In 2026, however, most people are not outside, they’re not in a bar or restaurant, and they’re not watching TV.

They’re staring at their phones with earbuds on.

Blankly staring at “reels” and “stories,” where the noise level and the fast-paced editing continue to increase as the average person’s attention span continues to decrease.

I feel confident in stating there’s more talking and less listening in the world right now than at any other time in human history.

Everyone has the ability to express their uninformed opinion on anything under the sun 24/7 on social media.

With the millions of podcasts, news programs, and YouTube videos on every topic imaginable, you’d think we’d have it all figured out by now.

And yet, people seem more confused than ever!

With all the talk about air pollution, water pollution, and food pollution, no one talks about the modern form of pollution that may be the most damaging to the human soul of all.

Noise pollution.

The human body and the mind were never designed for this level of consistent noise.

The overwhelmed nervous system subconsciously enters into a chronic state of fight or flight, so common most people no longer know it’s there.

The body, the mind, and heart forget how to relax, ground, and center.

They can no longer drop into the interior silence of divine intelligence and wisdom.

If you study the great spiritual mystics and saints from any time and any culture in human history, you discover something they all have in common.

They all sought places that were quiet.

Whether it be deserts, monasteries, or mountaintops, they all sought places where the nervous system could relax, the mind could quiet, the heart could open, and the soul could be illuminated.

More than ever, what we need is quiet.

………………..

While this is a massive problem that can seem overwhelming, I do have a transformational solution.

Stay tuned. In a few days, I’ll be unveiling my new 5-day Digital Detox & Silent Retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani Monastery.

Comment, or reply, to be sent the information directly.

Space will be limited to only 5 participants.

============

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There’s an immature version of love and a mature version of love.

The immature version of love is defined as that which I strongly prefer.

I love chocolate ice cream.
I hate vanilla ice cream.

I love classic rock music.
I hate jazz music.

I love the New York Yankees.
I hate the Boston Red Sox.

You get the idea, right?

This is my preference. I’m very attached to it. I’m identified with it. This means I love it.

There is, however, a mature version of love that we’re invited to step into.

In the Bible, it says, “God is love.” And “we are made in the image of God.”

This means then that we are also, in fact, made in the image of love.

We’ve been intelligently designed from the very beginning to grow into the fullness of love.

Love, in the fullness of its maturity, however, is not about preference.

It’s actually about something far deeper.

To love means to care.
To pay attention.
To be present.
To notice.
To respond with the utmost intelligence, aliveness, and creativity, regardless of the circumstances, challenges, or difficulties.

We are called to love whoever, and whatever, we come into contact with, moment by moment.

This does not mean that we like everyone, or like everything. It does not mean that we no longer have preferences, or use discernment.

What it does mean is that whoever and whatever we come into contact with, we give our utmost care, presence, and attention to.

Whether it’s our family, a pet, a plant, a tree, a community of friends, a garden, or our own physical, mental, emotional, spiritual development.

To become fully human is to become an embodied channel for divine love.

We come to live in the presence of God more deeply, not just by knowing love conceptually, but by committing to embodying it in the here and now.

- Brian Piergrossi

BrianPiergrossi.com

—-—-—-—-—-

Reach out to learn more about my personal coaching and schedule a time to chat.

Some friends have recently expressed surprise when I told them how excited I am to be celebrating the 250th anniversary of America this weekend.

One long-time friend asked: “Do you want to celebrate 250 years of a lie?”

I understand the cynicism and disappointment people feel in America not yet fully living up to its ideals.

I used to hate where I grew up in Pennsylvania. I hated everything about it. I hated the school. I hated the neighborhood. I hated my parents. I hated the weather. I hated the people. I left as soon as I could.

Then one day in my late twenties, a series of unexpected circumstances brought me back to my hometown.

I remember very clearly walking by myself through the neighborhood in a deeply contemplative state, and a powerful realization dawned upon me. A moment of profound transformation.

This is where I come from.

This is the place that shaped me.

These are my roots.

To hate this place is to hate myself.

And I don’t want to hate myself.

I want to learn to love myself, fully and completely.

🇺🇸

When I was 20 years old, I did a backpacking trip across Europe and met people from all over the world.

I remember quite vividly meeting a young man about my age from Uruguay, a place I didn’t know much about at the time.

“Do you like living in Uruguay?” I said.

I’ll never forget the look on his face. He seemed utterly shocked, almost confused by the question.

“Of course!!” he exclaimed. “That’s my home.”

🇺🇸

I’ve learned over the years to deeply love America in the same way I’ve learned to deeply love my body, my wife, my children, and the very life I’ve lived.

My body is not perfect.

My wife is not perfect.

My children are not perfect.

My life has certainly not been perfect.

And America is definitely not, and has never been, perfect!

And yet there’s something about accepting the imperfections of this world that makes me love it a hundred times more.

There’s a transcendent beauty that emerges in the practice of loving someone, or some place, amidst the imperfections.

It’s knowing that it’s your love, your care, your devoted participation in the relationship, that transforms both yourself and the one you love in the process.

To commit to love transforms both the loved and the lover at the same time.

As Walt Whitman once said:

“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

In the end, the reason I’ve come to love America so much is very simple.

It’s because I AM American.

I’ve been to every state in America except Alaska, done retreats & workshops, and met people all over this beautiful country for multiple decades. I know it very well.

This is the soil I was born out of.

I’m deeply grateful for the heartbeat of America and all it has brought into this world.

🇺🇸

I am grateful for baseball

And those short little jean shorts

Bob Dylan

& cowgirl boots

The banks of the Mississippi River in Memphis

Billy the Kid and Butch Cassidy

Buddy Holly

Walt Whitman, who sang America into mystic, ecstatic exaltation

Chuck Berry

The deep stillness of the gigantic redwood forests in Northern California

Muddy Waters proclaiming he’s a man

Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire

Elvis shaking his hips

Autumn sunsets in the Appalachian Mountains

Bonnie and Clyde

Wild spring flowers in the stunning Rocky Mountains of Colorado

Levi Strauss inventing blue jeans in old San Francisco

Cold pizza for breakfast on the subway in Brooklyn, NY

Amish country in Pennsylvania

A million shimmering stars in the huge evening sky above West Texas

Jack Kerouac somewhere out there still on the road, awakening & restless

Edward Abbey looking out from the mountaintop

Aretha Franklin just wants some RESPECT

Marilyn Monroe

Muhammad Ali floating like a butterfly

James Brown

Flannel shirts

Miles Davis

Janis Joplin

Laying in the bright green morning grass in the hills of Virginia

John Coltrane

Sunday morning church & football amidst the cornfields of Nebraska

John Cougar Mellencamp

Tom Petty

The bright lights of 1970s Las Vegas on a steamy summer night

Hunter S. Thompson

The Santa Monica Pier

Thousands of saguaro cactuses in Southern Arizona

The silence of Joshua Tree National Park at midnight

Lead Belly

Andy Warhol

Pine trees in North Carolina

Quentin Tarantino

Bourbon Street in New Orleans on a humid Friday night

James Dean

Beautiful old live oak trees in Savannah, Georgia

Marlon Brando

Babe Ruth calls his shot

Henry David Thoreau meditating on Walden Pond in idyllic, rural Massachusetts

The magical, otherworldly landscapes of Southern Utah, Arizona & New Mexico

The Snake River in the early spring

The steel mills of Northern Ohio

Dr. Richard Alpert becoming Ram Dass

The Summer of Love

The LA palm trees in the morning twilight on Hollywood Blvd.

The old cowboys riding underneath the big sky of Wyoming

Louis Armstrong thinking to himself it’s a wonderful world

Barbecue ribs in Kansas City

Broadway

James Taylor

Quiet Hopi elders with deep wisdom in their eyes

Clint Eastwood

Tacos in San Antonio

Purple Rain

The Badlands of South Dakota

Country roads taking me home in West Virginia

Late-night church revivals in rural Alabama

I’m grateful for the truckers

And the artists

And the working class

And the middle class

And the leisure class

And the billionaires

And the homeless

And every ethnicity, shade, and color

And every religion

And every sexual orientation

And every political persuasion

From the beaches of the Florida Keys

To the cold winter forests of Maine

From the surfers still riding the waves in San Diego

To the lush rain forests of Washington State

God bless America!

Are we still the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The answer is up to you.

—Brian Piergrossi

BrianPiergrossi.com

There’s a very interesting interwoven parallel journey between my wife and my greatest spiritual teacher.

I had already known Annie for at least six months before it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks that she was the one.

Annie and I had known of our greatest spiritual teacher our entire lives before suddenly recognizing together that he was the ONE.

I was in a relationship with Annie for years, and yet there was an unconscious fear of entering into the commitment of marriage together.

It felt best to keep the options open and maintain some level of independence in case something went wrong.

I had resisted commitment in romantic relationships for much of my adult life, bouncing around whenever things got boring, mixing it up to keep things more exciting and titillating.

In a similar way, I was keeping my options open with other spiritual leaders and paths. Bouncing around to keep things exciting. The more exotic the spiritual path and teacher, the more I was enthralled.

Like a menu, I could pick and choose whatever I liked from each spiritual tradition that gave me pleasure and avoid anything that felt challenging, uncomfortable, or difficult.

This is very common in the New Age, “spiritual but not religious” scene. You take the stuff you like from each path, and you leave out anything that’s difficult to face.

I could sense moving into a more steadfast commitment on both levels would transform me in ways I could not imagine, the way a caterpillar cannot imagine how it is about to become a butterfly.

Yet it would require a much higher degree of discipline, focus, strength, and resiliency.

Most importantly, in both cases it would require becoming a more mature embodiment of love.

Amazingly, it was right after having the courage to commit my life to Christ that I was clearly guided to commit my life more deeply to Annie, asking her to marry me, moving to the country, and raising a child together.

And yet, that was just the beginning of the journey.

When we commit to deepening in intimacy with another, we often think the goal is to know them completely.

Gather all the data points and details. Observe their predictive patterns until we get to a point where we fully know them and the job is complete.

That is not how it actually works.

Here’s the most amazing thing:

To truly deepen in intimacy with another, one must engage in the mystical process of unknowing.

I love you.

I see you.

I don’t know you.

And I never will.

But I’m willing to discover you anew in each moment.

The more I commit to knowing Christ, the more I realize I cannot know him by just adding more data points and reading more Bible verses.

I only know him more by allowing myself to be re-formed into a new creation, physically, mentally, and spiritually, by his presence.

In a similar way, I find I can only know my wife more intimately, not by gathering more data, but by allowing myself to be continually transformed by her presence.

Intimacy is not the conquest of the mystery of the other. It is the willingness to move deeper and deeper inside that vast unknowability without any end or limit.

True love is not an information-gathering assignment.

True love is a transformative fire.

In my relationship with Christ, I’m becoming closer to my wife, and through my relationship with my wife, I’m becoming closer to Christ.

Through the relationship with both, I move more deeply into the fullness of who I truly am.

Commitment is the doorway to deeper revelation.

We begin to discover the infinite depths of what love is once we commit.

— Brian Piergrossi

BrianPiergrossi.com

After a severe, chronic illness, I first became very interested in yoga and meditation at twenty years old. I dedicated my life to transcending my own suffering and seeking spiritual enlightenment.

Spiritual sages like Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Ramana Maharshi, and J. Krishnamurti opened up incredible vistas inside me in my twenties.

This eventually led me to a deep immersion into the work of spiritual teachers like Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, and others in my thirties.

Books like the Tao Te Ching, The Way of Zen, The Power of Now, I Am That, Be Here Now, and The Way of Chuang Tzu were instrumental to me intuiting more clearly the nature of reality, who we really are, and why we’re here.

I also studied Tantric and Buddhist teachings, many developmental models of consciousness, and was greatly inspired by Sufi poets such as Rumi and Hafiz etc.

I worked with all the great nondual teachings, popular self-help, and law of attraction teachings, from every corner of the globe and eventually taught what I had realized to others.

This catalyzed a whole series of ecstatic spiritual experiences, gave me a great sense of inner peace and freedom, and dramatically transformed my consciousness, unlocking deeper patterns of wisdom.

Whatever I was experiencing in the moment felt like a fun, temporary illusion that could be laughed off like a momentary dream.

My consciousness became much more light, and present to the here and now. I became supremely skilled at knowing how to manifest situations and circumstances that gave me pleasure.

My presence became more magnetic and charismatic. I felt like I could manifest whatever I wanted and usually did.

I started dating the most beautiful women, visiting the most amazing exotic locations, all while being fully self-employed generating my income creating a business I absolutely loved. I was teaching and coaching others what I had learned. I led retreats and workshops all over the world, and had well over one-hundred thousand people following me across social media.

And yet something was missing.

Looking back, with a lot of introspection, I decoded three important patterns in this stage of my spiritual journey and the spiritual communities I was connected to.

Spiritual nihilism

Spiritual narcissism

Spiritual hedonism

From this worldview the purpose of life is to create your own reality. You can manifest whatever makes you feel good, and you can learn how to create more and more pleasurable experiences for yourself as you go.

I became outstanding at doing this yet I now felt called to something higher, truer, and deeper.

I was being called from:

From hedonism to service

From narcissism to sacrifice

From nihilism to eternal love

It wasn’t until my mid-forties that I was ready to meet my greatest teacher. (More on that another time.)

I had become free.

But I hadn’t yet become love.

I had become a spiritual being

But I hadn’t yet learned to become a fully human being.

The same presence that once laughed off the world as nothing but an illusion now began to learn how to weep, to sacrifice, to suffer, to sweat, to serve, and to truly love, for the good of the whole.

My inner prayers and intentions were no longer, “My will be done,” but, “Thy will be done… on Earth as it is in Heaven.”

I used to ask all my clients, students, and retreat attendees:

If anything is possible what do you want to create?

I now ask all my clients, students, and retreat attendees:

If anything is possible what are you called to create?

A subtle yet profound change in how one orients their inner attention and thus their life.

What are YOU called to create?

The more we follow the life God is calling us toward, the more we become an active participant in the eternal dance of love that forms all that is true, good, and beautiful.

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In my last article about my new online community The Upper Room I wrote:

‘The intention of this community is to support each member to come into deeper communion with the Creator, each other, and all of creation.’

We can put that intention in different words that are even more simple and concise:

The intention is to go to Heaven.

Anything that distracts us from that focus is essentially the definition of sin.  It causes disconnection and thus suffering to ourselves and others.

This brings forward a few of life’s most important questions which sadly are rarely discussed.

Where is heaven?

What is heaven?

And how do we get there?

These are not questions we can merely answer verbally, or just by repeating a belief someone taught us to say.

The answers come through a continuing transformation and healing, of the mind, body, heart, and soul.

The answers come by being willing to let go more and more fully and allow God to make us a new creation.

The answers come through committing to the process of metanoia.

What is metanoia?

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Metanoia (Greek: μετάνοια) is one of the most important words in the New Testament.

Most English Bibles translate it as “repentance,” but that translation is somewhat limited because modern people often hear repentance as:

Feeling guilty

Being sorry

Apologizing for sins

The original Greek is richer.

Meta = beyond, after, change

Nous = mind, intellect, perception, way of seeing

So metanoia literally means something like:

A transformation of mind, perception, consciousness, and orientation.

Not merely “I did something bad.”

Rather:

I now see reality differently.

This is why when Christ begins preaching:

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

The deeper sense is:

“Change the way you see. Awaken. Reorient your entire being because God’s Kingdom is present.”

Many modern scholars believe “undergo a radical change of heart and mind” is closer to the Greek than simply “repent.”

This is one reason the Desert Fathers, Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus the Confessor, and other Christian mystics viewed the Christian life as a lifelong metanoia. It wasn’t a one-time emotional conversion. It was an ongoing transformation of perception until one sees all things through God.

For St. Maximus especially, sin is fundamentally a misperception of reality. We become attached to created things as if they were ultimate. Metanoia is the healing of vision so that everything is seen in its proper relation to God.

In that sense, metanoia is not merely moral.

It is:

intellectual

psychological

spiritual

existential

A complete reordering of the person.

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May this space, and the core purpose of my work, hold a healing energy, intelligent insight, and compassionate guidance, that supports you in moving more fully through the  process of metanoia

May God bless you.

————————

About Me

Work With Me

At the end of 2022, a small group of friends began unexpectedly having a series of mystical encounters and spiritual experiences with God and Christ around the same time in the Western North Carolina region.

They began gathering for walks in the forests inquiring into the truth of life’s deepest questions and attempting to make sense of what they were experiencing.

This led to weekly discussion, prayer, and worship music together in each other's homes, recorded online calls together, and to this online community. A friend affectionately named this group of friends: “The God Squad” and the name stuck.

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Intention:

The intention of this community is to support each member to come into deeper communion with the Creator, each other, and all of creation.

As in the beginning, this  community continues to be a place where people are free and safe to ask questions about what they’re experiencing, or curious about, to better understand their spiritual journey. There are no heretical questions or topics.

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Who Belongs Here

Members of this community are welcome from whatever spiritual or religious path they are currently walking.

Healthy disagreements are more than welcome. However we’re generally more interested in finding common threads that point to the one & only truth rather than being stuck in the points of contention and egoic debate.

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The Story Behind ‘The Upper Room’

In scripture, The Upper Room was the space for several events and gatherings that changed the course of humanity.

🍞 The Last Supper:

The final meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his crucifixion, where he instituted the Eucharist (Communion).

🚪 Post-Resurrection Appearances:

The room where the disciples hid behind locked doors out of fear, and where the resurrected Jesus appeared to them, prompting "Doubting Thomas" to believe.

🙏 The Gathering of the Early Church:

Following the Ascension, the eleven apostles, along with Mary and other followers, used this room as a home base for prayer and operational decisions (like choosing Matthias to replace Judas).

🔥Pentecost:

The place where the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples as "tongues of fire," marking the traditional launch of the Christian mission.

It was a place of communion, transformation, preparation, and spiritual awakening.

The phrase "upper room" is often used metaphorically to represent a place of deep prayer, intimacy with God, and spiritual preparation for shining our lights out into the world together.

——————--

The Upper Room: Invitation to Join the Online Community:

If this resonates with you you’re Invited to join the conversation HERE.

I see tremendous courage every day in the work that I do.

Not the courage of beating someone up in the ring or slaying someone on a battlefield.

Not the courage of performing in front of millions or risking it all in a business deal.

(Though I sometimes support clients in those areas as well.)

What I see people face is something that could perhaps be considered even scarier.

Every day, in personal sessions and group work, I see people having the courage to honestly and vulnerably look at the mistakes they’ve made in their life and communicate how they feel inspired to do better.

I see people facing their old self and committing toward a new self that is still unknown and often feels out of reach.

The only way to do this is to first acknowledge that we’ve made mistakes in the grand school of life.

It’s not a bad thing to make mistakes. In fact, I would argue it’s a good thing.

I don’t think I’ve ever met a person filled with genuine wisdom about the human experience who hasn’t made lots of mistakes in their life.

I’ve certainly made a lot of mistakes in my life and grown in wisdom each time because of it.

This is because the best, and perhaps the only way, to become truly great at something is by having the courage to make lots of mistakes and learn from them.

Michael Jordan has missed more shots than you have. That’s because he’s taken far more shots than you have. Each time he missed, he learned from the mistake and adjusted accordingly.

The path to deeper wisdom and genuine mastery is to make mistakes, acknowledge them by looking within, and continue learning from them. This requires courage.

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Reply to this email to learn more about the work I do with individuals, couples, and groups and how it may benefit you, or someone you love.

- Brian Piergrossi

Brianpiergrossi.com

There are many science-based strategies to support our healing. There are prescription drugs, vitamin supplements, and physical and psychological therapy practices.

They each have their place.

Yet perhaps the most powerful remedy to reset the mind, the heart, and the nervous system rarely gets mentioned.

You can’t commodify it or buy it in a pharmacy.

The great remedy is forgiveness.

Continued accumulation of resentments over a lifetime is a fundamental source of mental and physical illness, and dis-ease.

It clogs up the heart, debilitates the mind, and increasingly saps the vitality of the body.

I can say with conviction, working with so many people over twenty years, that often the most important person to forgive is oneself.

Sustained self-loathing creates a whole slew of destructive patterns.

On a metaphysical level forgiveness is a time-buster.
It’s the gateway to eternal life.

Forgiveness is uniquely foundational to the teachings and worldwide transmission of Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness restores us to our innocence consciousness. It returns us to the Garden of Eden. There’s a feeling of coming home to one’s true nature.

Christians so often forget that well before the ‘original sin’ entered the human timeline there was the original innocence we are perfectly designed for.

As we mature in our spiritual journey, we do not forgive in order to be nice to others.

We do not forgive because an outside authority told us we should.

We do not forgive in order to get something in return.

We forgive because we realize it aligns our hearts with the Infinite Truth, the Supreme Love and Divine Intelligence.

Forgiveness reintegrates us with the original blueprint at the heart of all creation.

We learn to forgive, and to repent for our sins, because it aligns us with Reality.

Forgiveness is the gateway to the freedom of our inherent birthright. The restoration of all things into their radiant Big Glow.

Forgiveness heals our long-held traumas and wounds and brings us further into the actualization of God’s inherent design for us.

One of the highest commitments we can make is to learn to how forgive.

Will you make that commitment?

====================

About

Work With Me

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New container for the 22nd season of my men’s mastermind group begins this Thursday, 6pm EST!

A couple spots still available to join me.

Reply to this email ASAP if interested in joining.

More details:

https://open.substack.com/pub/brianpiergrossi/p/an-invitation-to-men-and-the-woman

——-——

Personal & couples session packages also available for both men & women.

When I first started coaching people over twenty years ago, I would treat everyone as equal and the same in accordance with my post-modern university education and liberal sensibilities.

Through trial and error, with many individuals, I learned that was a big mistake.

I had to learn instead to face the timeless truth that there are two distinct paths to the full actualization of one’s life.

The masculine path and the feminine path.

These are the two opposing yet synergistically complementary paths of creation. The design is actually quite beautiful.

However, in our current world, we often fail to appreciate the value in the inherent design of these two distinct modes of being.

Trying to continually force a feminine path on a masculine man is destructive to his strength, confidence, inner compass and inspired direction, often leading to nihilistic apathy, superficial hedonism, and addictive coping patterns.

Trying to continually force a masculine path on a feminine woman creates chronic stress and anxiety, unconscious resentment, disconnection from her body, often leading to chronic physical pain and health disorders.

A masculine man needs something very different than a feminine woman needs to unlock his deepest potential.

He needs to be consistently challenged to grow in his strength.

He needs adversity to build his character.

He needs routine accountability to grow in integrity.

He needs to foster an inner-discipline to cultivate his gifts.

He needs clarity of purpose to harness his vitality and deepest life-force.

The mature man learns to find his highest purpose in self-sacrificing love.

He dedicates his time and energy to actualize his body, his mind and his emotional intelligence to be a stronger vessel of love and service to his family, his community, and his world.

He learns over time to surrender his personal will to God’s will so his life may be a benefit and a blessing to others.

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New container for the 22nd season of my men’s mastermind group begins this Thursday, 6pm EST!

A couple spots still available to join me.

Reply to this email ASAP if interested in joining.

More details:

https://open.substack.com/pub/brianpiergrossi/p/an-invitation-to-men-and-the-woman

——-——

Personal & couples session packages also available for both men & women.

There are two major things that are about to happen. I’m curious how both of these things converging at the same time will affect the world’s major religions, and our sense of meaning and purpose in general.

One is that all signs point to us being on the verge of major disclosure of alien life in contact with planet Earth. To me, a more accurate term is “interdimensional beings.”

The second is being on the verge of the explosion of agentic artificial intelligence right now and the massive changes ensuing.

The increasing difficulty of discerning what’s real and not real, the vast potential to manifest whatever projects and goals are desired in hours, or minutes, instead of years, the decreasing need for our fellow human beings, or even the decreasing need for ourselves.

What impact do these converging forces have on our sense of purpose, identity, social cohesion, and traditional narratives of collective meaning?

Thoughts?

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22nd Season of my Men’s Mastermind begins May 21st on Zoom. More info & next steps.

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Contact me for more information about my work: brianmichaelpiergrossi@gmail.com

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About Me

The moment of greatest uncertainty is also the moment of greatest opportunity.

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Men’s Mastermind with Brian Piergrossi

Season 22

Begins Thursday, May 21 | 6 PM EST | 16 Weeks | Limited to 10 Men

We are living in a time of major transition and uncertainty on multiple fronts.

For many people it can feel confusing, at times even overwhelming.

Yet the moment of greatest uncertainty is also the moment of greatest opportunity.

Accessing these opportunities requires:

• Self-honesty

• Clarity of intention

• Strategy

• Accountability

• Holistic integration

If you are reading this, you are a man I hold in high regard as being on a conscious path of self-mastery and accountability.

This will be my 22nd season leading my men’s mastermind group.

Our core group of men has been together for several years and shares a strong bond of support.

Our community is rooted in this foundational question:

If anything is possible, what are you called to create in these 10 areas?

• Physical

• Mental

• Emotional

• Spiritual

• Work / Purpose

• Financial

• Relationships

• Community

• Family

• Home

These ten pillars form the architecture of a deeply meaningful life.

Our meetings inspire greater focus, purpose, resilience, strength, and accountability to reach new levels of success beyond superficial gratification.

⸻

Who

The men who register for my mastermind groups are interested in a supportive community to inspire and hold them accountable in living their highest purpose.

They are committed to activating a deeper level of clarity, courage, discipline, and service to those they love.

They are entrepreneurs, leaders, fathers, creators, and men in transition who value honest reflection, practical support, and resonant community.

⸻

Some Common Questions

How many people?

This group is limited to only 10 men to maintain optimal intimacy, trust, and cohesion.

⸻

When?

We meet in a weekly Zoom call for approximately 60 minutes.

The Spring season is a 16-meeting commitment, May 21 – Sept. 3.

We meet Thursday evenings at 6 PM EST.

It’s OK if you can’t attend every single meeting.

⸻

What are the meetings like?

The meetings are held sacred as a life-enhancing priority. We begin promptly at the specified time regardless of who is present.

The meetings are fun, enriching, encouraging, supportive, focused, and beneficial to each individual and the group as a whole.

Each member shares ideas, support, information, and feedback honestly and vulnerably in ways that help advance individual and group goals.

All sessions are confidential. Nothing that transpires is shared publicly.

⸻

What is the format?

• Check-ins: How are you feeling right now in your mind, heart, spirit, and body?

• Each member reviews their intentions since the last meeting and whether they have accomplished their weekly goals outwardly and/or realized inwardly.

• Open forum where each member can ask for feedback on challenges, points of confusion, celebrate victories, and request support.

• Brian offers coaching and mentoring support, followed at times by suggested homework.

• Each member shares intentions/goals for the following week.

• Closing.

⸻

Can we stay in touch between meetings?

Definitely.

There is a private messaging thread to stay in touch, update one another, and support each other on homework, insights, and accountability between sessions.

This is, in fact, where a lot of the best stuff transpires.

⸻

Investment

$777 paid in full for the full 16-week season

or 3 installments of $290

Payment via PayPal or Venmo to thebigglow@gmail.com

⸻

It’s been an amazing six years thus far, with many stories of profound transformation among our members.

If you think you’d find value committing to a higher level of clarity, discipline, and purpose while journeying with this small community of committed men, message me this week and let’s schedule a conversation.

-Brian Piergrossi http://brianpiergrossi.com

⸻

Some previous examples of what our meetings are like:

Aug. 14, 2025

https://youtu.be/jYZBaykH7cQ

Dec. 18, 2025

https://youtu.be/1VFlrcQ8L-c

This Thursday at 6 PM EST, we’re opening up the final meeting of season 21. All are welcome to join us.

You’ll hear honest ‘check-ins’, stories of transformation, and an open forum where real challenges, lessons, and breakthroughs are shared.

If you’ve ever wondered what a men’s group can offer, this will give you a direct inside look.

Topics include:

• The breakthroughs that keep men coming back

• Why accountability and honesty are essential for growth

• The role of community in becoming the strongest version of yourself

This is a special invitation to witness the power of men coming together in truth, strength, and support.

—————

Season 22 begins May 21, Thursday, 6pm EST.

————-

Join Zoom Meeting this Thursday @ 6pm EST:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86441154897

Meeting ID: 864 4115 4897

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About my work

About me

What is your purpose?

Last night, in my view, was one of the best meetings in the twenty-one seasons leading my men’s mastermind group.

The reliable structure was the same. The meeting began with each man checking in on how they are feeling in this moment right now.

I then moved forward to holding each member accountable for the actions he intended to accomplish this week.

We then moved to the open forum where each man is free to bring forward anything they are inquiring into.

Any challenges, difficulties, or points of confusion from the past week they would like reflection on from the rest of the group.

After a period of silence, the conversation quickly began to deepen in profound power and life-changing wisdom.

A courageous private and confidential conversation emerged about God, surrender, and trust, personal loss and pain, negative self-talk, the larger meaning in our lives, and what truly brings well-being and fulfillment.

Here is where the dialogue eventually landed:

Pain without purpose is suffering.

Pain with purpose is sacrifice.

Sacrifice is love.

Learning to love is the meaning of life.

Each man then shared his intentions and goals for the upcoming week, and we closed out the meeting in gratitude.

It’s unusual for a group of men in our society to have an intentional conversation about how to love.

And yet being consistently committed to learning how to love is the most mature masculine act there is. It requires bravery, strength, integrity, and sacrifice.

It’s only when a man’s highest intention is being of service to others that he is grounded in his most fulfilling purpose.

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The 22nd season of my men’s mastermind group begins Thursday May 21 at 6pm EST.

Contact me if you’re interested in learning more.

So many people I know are in drastic need of help right now yet unable to ask for it.

I get it. I used to be like that also. I remember clearly the turning point.

It was close to twenty-five years ago. It was twilight in the forest. Many of the best moments of my life have happened in the twilight of the forest.

It was summertime. She and I were engaged in a deep and intimate, heartfelt conversation as the air grew cooler, the crickets began to sing and the day slowly turned into night. I was telling this wise woman, with raw vulnerability, the things I wanted in my life, my passions, my inspirations, my desires, the deepest callings of my heart.

She looked at me with a deep presence and said something that changed the course of my life.

“If you want something, ask for it.”

It was a simple yet life-changing message I was open, available for, and ready to hear.

It struck me to my core, hitting me in a deep way that sent reverberations up and down my spine. It changed the direction of my life.

There’s a widespread perception I used to share that asking for help is a sign of failure, and that highly successful people don’t need to ask for help.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The most successful people are the ones who have asked for and received the most support of all. In some cases, dozens or even hundreds of people whose job it is to support them in the areas of nutrition, physical fitness, mental and emotional health, spiritual practice/guidance, relationship counsel, business and financial consultants, etc.

The reason is that these people have a high degree of self-worth and self-love and are able to envision a brighter future. They are able to consistently invest their time, money and energy in committed devotion to a higher version of themselves, and their life.

Many people never ask for help not because they do not need it, but because fear, pride, shame, or old conditioning convinces them they have to do it alone. Yet asking for help is the very doorway through which a new life begins to blossom.

If you want something, ask for it.

You’re worth it.

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Contact me for more information about my work: brianmichaelpiergrossi@gmail.com

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Work With Me

About Me