Brian Hines (@oregonbrian)

RSSB: The "tell your boss" test Below is another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, wh...

Tonight's blog post: "RSSB: The 'tell your boss' test"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/03/rssb...

12.03.2026 05:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I was surprised how good I felt selling a crude oil fund and buying a sustainability fund - Hinessight Gasoline prices have been on peoples’ minds lately, given how the war with Iran that Trump started for some dubious reasons has caused the price of Brent Crude Oil to shoot up markedly, as shown in th...

Tonight's blog post: "I was surprised how good I felt selling a crude oil fund and buying a sustainability fund"
hinesblog.com/2026/03/i-wa...

11.03.2026 05:48 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Mind isn't separate from body, but we sure feel like it is After being a dualist for about 35 years, when I was a member of an Eastern religion that believed we humans have a mind and soul that are separable from the body, I’m now a contented monist — as it s...

Tonight's blog post: "Mind isn't separate from body, but we sure feel like it is"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/03/mind...

10.03.2026 05:14 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Making daylight saving time permanent would save lives -- of people and deer - Hinessight I’ve found that whether changing our clocks twice a year is a good thing or bad thing, and whether it would be best to make daylight saving time or standard time permanent, are subjects that arouse mo...

Tonight's blog post: "Making daylight saving time permanent would save lives -- of people and deer"
hinesblog.com/2026/03/maki...

09.03.2026 05:19 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

RSSB and critical thinking Below is another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, wh...

Tonight's blog post: "RSSB and critical thinking"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/03/rssb...

08.03.2026 04:42 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Three disgusting things U.S. has done in Iran war - Salem Political Snark I’m no fan of Iran. I don’t know anyone who is. For sure, Iran had to be prevented from building a nuclear weapon. But they were nowhere close to being able to do this. And eight months ago Trump said...

Tonight's blog post: "Three disgusting things U.S. has done in Iran war"
salempoliticalsnark.com/2026/03/thre...

07.03.2026 06:20 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Thinking is good. Overthinking, not so good. Ruminating, pretty bad. Sometimes people attached to a certain kind of spirituality (or pseudo-spirituality) say that thinking should be avoided, that somehow we should live in an intuitive la-la land where actions occur spo...

Tonight's blog post: "Thinking is good. Overthinking not so good. Ruminating pretty bad."
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/03/thin...

06.03.2026 06:17 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

If your iPassword extension for Safari disappeared, this worked for me to get it back - Hinessight Recently the 1Password extension for Safari disappeared on my MacBook Pro. The extension wasn’t showing in Safari settings, so most of the tips for getting it back that I found via some Googling didn’...

Tonight's blog post: "If your 1Password extension for Safari disappeared, this worked for me to get it back"
hinesblog.com/2026/03/if-y...

05.03.2026 05:46 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

RSSB engages in weaponized recalibration Here’s another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. GSD sta...

Tonight's blog post: "RSSB engages in weaponized recalibration"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/03/rssb...

04.03.2026 06:06 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

In the Iran war, let's not ignore the suffering of innocent Iranians - Salem Political Snark After three days of intense bombing of Iran by the Israeli and American military, I’m becoming increasingly worried that Iran is going to become the new Gaza: lots of civilian deaths even though those...

Tonight's blog post: "In the Iran war, let's not ignore the suffering of innocent Iranians"
salempoliticalsnark.com/2026/03/in-t...

03.03.2026 06:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

We are all living the dream life A few days ago I was using one of the machines in my athletic club’s circuit weight room, when I heard a guy at a nearby machine say, “Brian?” I said, yes, and the guy said “I’m Bob. Bob Jones.” [Not ...

Tonight's blog post: "We are all living the dream life"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/03/we-a...

02.03.2026 06:13 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Trump is at war with Iran. It'll probably end badly, like everything Trump does. - Salem Political Snark Last night I was enjoying a hot bath, about to read more of an entertaining thriller novel, when I noticed that a real-life “thriller” message had appeared on my iPhone. The New York Times was reporti...

Tonight's blog post: "Trump is at war with Iran. It'll probably end badly, like everything Trump does"
salempoliticalsnark.com/2026/02/trum...

01.03.2026 06:27 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Dating in RSSB (Radha Soami Satsang Beas) is a toxic cesspool Here’s another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. GSD sta...

Tonight's blog post: "Dating in RSSB (Radha Soami Satsang Beas) is a toxic cesspool"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/dati...

28.02.2026 05:48 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Eight months ago Trump said the Iran nuclear program was obliterated. So how can Iran be a week away from a bomb? - Salem Political Snark Since I’m a big fan of Apple TV’s terrific spy thriller, Tehran, from watching the third season of this Israeli production I know that the fanatical clerics who control Iran have been seeking a nuclea...

Tonight's blog post: "Eight months ago Trump said the Iran nuclear program was obliterated. So how can Iran be a week away from a bomb?"
salempoliticalsnark.com/2026/02/eigh...

27.02.2026 06:33 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Last night's State of the Union address provided more evidence of the Cult of Trump Unfortunately, Donald Trump has inflicted himself on the national landscape for enough years to allow me to write several posts about how he acts like a cult leader, and his followers show him the dev...

Tonight's blog post: "Last night's State of the Union address provided more evidence of the Cult of Trump"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/last...

26.02.2026 06:28 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Facebook post uses Deepak Chopra's ties to Jeffrey Epstein to caution against spiritual bypassing Someone recently sent me a Facebook post by Rosemary Holistic Therapy that has some interesting things to say about spiritual teachers acting badly and the danger of spiritual bypassing — defined as “...

Tonight's blog post: "Facebook post uses Deepak Chopra's ties to Jeffrey Epstein to caution against spiritual bypassing"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/face...

24.02.2026 06:04 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Really irritating that Oregon legislature may weaken public meetings law that Mayor Hoy violated - Salem Political Snark I’m a proud Democrat, but I’m not shy about criticizing my political party when it does something stupid. Like, being on the verge of passing a bill in the current short session of the Oregon legislat...

Tonight's blog post: "Really irritating that Oregon legislature may weaken public meetings law that Mayor Hoy violated"
salempoliticalsnark.com/2026/02/real...

23.02.2026 06:22 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

A thoughtful critique of the RSSB meditation practice Obviously there’s no one right way to meditate. There’s lots of ways, and whether one seems “right” or “wrong” is entirely subjective. It depends on what sort of meditative experience someone wants. S...

Tonight's blog post: "A thoughtful critique of the RSSB meditation practice"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/a-th...

22.02.2026 06:12 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Tariff decision by Supreme Court could have helped GOP in midterms, but Trump is doubling down on tariff tax - Salem Political Snark When I checked my iPhone for the latest news upon waking this morning, my mood instantly brightened. Yay! The Supreme Court has ruled that most of Trump’s tariffs were illegal. And not by a narrow 5-4...

Tonight's blog post: "Tariff decision by Supreme Court could have helped GOP in midterms. But Trump is doubling down on tariff tax."
salempoliticalsnark.com/2026/02/tari...

21.02.2026 06:30 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Forget God, forget prayer, forget magical thinking. There's no path in life other than the steps already taken. Back when I was a member of an Eastern guru-centered religion, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), there was a lot of talk among RSSB initiates about being on the Path. That word, path, came with capital...

Tonight's blog post: "Forget God, forget prayer, forget magical thinking. There's no path in life other than the steps already taken."
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/forg...

20.02.2026 06:36 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

More evidence that Mayor Julie Hoy wanted previous city manager gone for no good reason - Salem Political Snark Salem Mayor Julie Hoy is a habitual liar. In “Mayor Julie Hoy lied about not wanting City Manager Stahley gone. That’s her third lie about Stahley.,”I wrote about three lies Hoy spouted on a single su...

Tonight's blog post: "More evidence that Mayor Julie Hoy wanted previous city manager gone for no good reason"
salempoliticalsnark.com/2026/02/more...

19.02.2026 06:40 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Long-time initiate explains why they lost faith in Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru Here’s another religious de-conversion story from someone who gave me permission to share their story of how they lost faith in the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD...

Tonight's blog post: "Long-time initiate explains why they lost faith in Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/long...

18.02.2026 06:12 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Winter Olympics has a lesson for us: trying hard to succeed often leads to less success Yesterday I wrote a post for my HinesSight blog about how an American ice skater fared in what was expected to be a gold medal performance. Here’s some excerpts from “Ilia Malinin lost an Olympic ice ...

Tonight's blog post: "Winter Olympics have a lesson for us: trying hard to succeed often leads to less success"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/wint...

16.02.2026 06:00 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Ilia Malinin lost an Olympic ice skating medal, but he won the heart of people who also have screwed-up big time - Hinessight For me the most tragic moment in this year’s Winter Olympics was Ilia Malinin, a hugely talented American figure skater, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory when he bungled a seemingly certain g...

Tonight's blog post: "Ilia Malinin lost an Olympic ice skating medal, but he won the heart of people who also have screwed-up big time"
hinesblog.com/2026/02/ilia...

15.02.2026 06:35 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) now says the guru is just a guide, not a savior Here’s another guest blog post from the person who used to belong to Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a religious organization based in India headed up by a guru, until they realized the downside of R...

Tonight's blog post: "Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) now says the guru is just a guide, not a savior"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/radh...

14.02.2026 06:13 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

2026 Pac-12 football schedule shows the conference has recovered from nearly dying - Hinessight It warms my heart to behold the recently released Pac-12 football schedule for the 2026 season. Back in November 2023 I wrote about how sad it was to watch the last Pac-12 Oregon vs. Oregon State game...

Tonight's blog post: "2026 Pac-12 football schedule shows the conference has recovered from nearly dying"
hinesblog.com/2026/02/2026...

13.02.2026 06:16 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Evolution could be even more fundamental than physics Religious dogmatists don’t like evolution because it undercuts their fantasy that God brought into being the world and everything in it via a single act of divine creation. Of course, that goes agains...

Tonight's blog post: "Evolution could be even more fundamental than physics"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/evol...

12.02.2026 06:26 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Mayor Hoy's excuse for not signing a letter criticizing ICE is akin to "the dog ate my homework" - Salem Political Snark Back in the not-really-so-old days, students turned in homework assignments that were — shock! — written on paper, not a screen. (Maybe this still happens in our digital age; I’m clueless about modern...

Tonight's blog post: "Mayor Hoy's excuse for not signing a letter criticizing ICE is akin to 'the dog ate my homework'"
salempoliticalsnark.com/2026/02/mayo...

11.02.2026 06:23 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

This is It, by Alan Watts, is a compelling essay about how unordinary our ordinary life is In my previous blog post, I shared a quotation from Anne Watts, one of Alan Watts’ children, that included an excerpt from one of his books, This is It. Liking the excerpt, I turned to my collection o...

Tonight's blog post: "This is It by Alan Watts is a compelling essay about how unordinary our ordinary life is"
churchofthechurchless.com/2026/02/this...

10.02.2026 06:15 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

In Super Bowl, Bad Bunny was terrific. So were the Seahawks. - Hinessight I felt a bit embarrassed yesterday when I left a voice mail message for someone that ended with “Have a good weekend; not sure if you’re a football fan, but I’m rooting for Seattle since they’re close...

Tonight's blog post: "In Super Bowl, Bad Bunny was terrific. So were the Seahawks."
hinesblog.com/2026/02/in-s...

09.02.2026 06:14 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Brian Hines

Latest posts by Brian Hines @oregonbrian