Welcome Fellow Seeker

Greetings, Fellow Seeker,

The path of discovery isn’t a straight road—it twists, turns, and sometimes doubles back before revealing the next horizon. That’s what this space is about: the journey of questioning, evolving, and becoming.

In this issue, I want to share a pivotal moment from my own path—an encounter with my future self while living in California. It was a moment that changed everything. He didn’t offer cryptic wisdom or grand revelations. Instead, he taught me something deceptively simple: Go to the gym. What seemed like ordinary advice turned out to be the first step in rewiring my mind, not just my body. I had no idea that lifting weights would strengthen more than my muscles—it would reshape my neural pathways, opening me up to ask questions about myself, my faith, and the beliefs I once held sacred.

This is just the beginning of that story. I dive deeper into it in my Substack article, How I Met My Future Self. You can read it here - https://tinyurl.com/522nxn3k For now, I want to leave you with a thought: transformation rarely arrives in the form we expect. Sometimes, it starts with something as simple as a dumbbell.

Many who undergo deconstruction end up swinging to extremes—rejecting everything they once knew in favor of an oppositional stance. This can leave them feeling isolated and disconnected from their past values, even when all they really need is to explore and expand their understanding rather than completely reverse course.

How to Approach Balanced Deconstruction:

• Embrace Exploration, Not Rejection:
  Recognize that deconstruction is about exploring and questioning, not necessarily about a 180-degree turn.

• Retain What Resonates:
  Identify the core values from your past that still serve you, and integrate them with new insights rather than discarding them entirely.

• Seek a Unifying Perspective:
  Instead of falling into extremes, consider embracing a broader, universal understanding—like the concept of Tao, which transcends gender, dogma, and rigid binaries.

• Practice Mindful Self-Awareness:
  Regular reflection and mindfulness can help you stay centered and prevent you from swinging to one extreme or the other.

• Foster Community and Dialogue:
  Connect with others on the journey who value balanced growth. Engaging in respectful conversation helps you remain open and grounded.

• Allow for Continuous Growth:
  Understand that transformation is an ongoing process. It’s okay for your perspective to evolve gradually, without the pressure to completely overhaul who you are overnight.

My Own Journey:
When I experienced my spiritual awakening, it felt like that pivotal scene in The Truman Show. Imagine Truman sailing his little boat through uncharted waters, only to suddenly crash into the end of the set—the limits of his world. That’s exactly how it felt for me. I was reaching upward toward God, trying to connect with what I thought was an all-powerful, distant being, only to crash through the ceiling of my own limiting beliefs.

On the other side, I didn’t find the God I expected. I found something bigger, more expansive. I realized God wasn’t confined by gender, doctrine, or the rigid frameworks I had clung to. As Stuart Wilde once said, “He, she, or it doesn’t give a damn what you call it.” I learned to call it Tao—the way, the flow that connects everything. Tao isn’t some distant, removed deity. It’s within me, within nature, within everything. Tao is the creator and the creation, all at once.

This wasn’t a complete rejection of my faith, but an expansion beyond the boundaries I had known. And I’m still wrapping my head around it every day.

📖 The Empty Calories of Ideology

We all consume ideas, just as we consume food. But not all ideas are nourishing. Some are empty calories—quick, easy to digest, and emotionally satisfying in the short term, but offering little to sustain real thought. In my latest Substack article, I explore how ideology, when consumed uncritically, can replace the richness of culture, art, and tradition with something hollow.

Culture is meant to challenge us, to make us think, and to make us feel. But in a world where everything is being flattened into slogans, hashtags, and moral binaries, we risk losing something far more valuable than debates—we risk losing depth.

I invite you to read The Empty Calories of Ideology and consider this: How much of what we consume—whether in media, faith, or politics—is truly nourishing? And how much of it simply reinforces what we already believe?

(Read the full article here: https://tinyurl.com/3x4nrnhr)

✍️ Writing Process: It All Starts with People

A lot of writing advice tells you to start with plot. To outline every twist and turn before you even begin. But for me, writing is never about an event—it’s about people.

When I begin a new story, I don’t start with a grand idea for a plot. I start with characters. I ask: Who are they? What do they fear? What do they want? What moments shaped them before the story even begins?

I don’t just create a protagonist; I build their world from the inside out. I create a rough character profile, then dive deeper into their backstory. What choices have they made? What wounds do they carry? As I do this, the plot begins to reveal itself naturally. The conflicts arise from who these people are, not just from external events.

This is why characters are so important. Readers don’t just follow a story—they follow people. They invest in them emotionally. They see themselves in their struggles. That’s what hooks a reader, not just a clever twist or an exciting climax.

So, if you’re a writer, or even if you just love a good story, ask yourself this: What makes you connect with a character? What keeps you turning the page? Because at the end of the day, it’s never just about what happens. It’s about who it happens to.

Thank you for walking this path with me. If something here sparks a thought, I’d love to hear from you.

Ja Gurudev Om. Jai Masters Om.

Until next time,
Andrew Alan Buhman - The Sage Wanderer

P.S. - Get your copy of my debut noir thriller Nick Grayson: The Truth in the Lies here:
👉 Hardcover: https://tinyurl.com/49dfpxzp
👉 Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/2pehmpt7
👉 Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/2zt8nwm7