I have been writing my thoughts in a form of answers on quora (a social question-and-answer website) for many years now, and I never thought to ask for money in exchange for my thoughts. It always felt to me that writing answers to people’s questions - often personal questions, questions that are intimately meaningful to them - is not something that I could set a price to. I could not turn my answers, answers that are intimately meaningful to me, into a product for sale.

When recently quora introduced a new functionality which allows writers to put their answers behind a pay wall, I found that I could not do it. I found the idea of making my thoughts available only to those who pay for them unsupportable though, as I considered it, I found myself wishing for a “make a donation” button instead. I like the idea of having a way for my readers to contribute to me if they wish to, as much as they wish to, with no pressure and no expectations. And so I decided to extend an invitation to my followers to “buy me a coffee”.

Why ask for money at all? For two reasons that I am aware of at the moment: one is to exchange contributions, to benefit each other, though in various forms, me with by sharing my thoughts, my readers with money. Two, because while I’ve never wished to announce myself a teacher and start selling workshops, ebooks and classes on zoom, asking others for donations in exchange for my words, my thoughts, my guidance, does make me more “real” in the human world. By creating this page and taking this step I do not claim a position of authority as a teacher among humans, but I do claim a position of one who contributes insight and clarity on the subject of life. In human societies, as they are organized at present, those in such positions accept contributions from their audience, and so that is what I have decided to do.