Danger

The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.

ALFRED ADLER (1870-1937)

Mystic

Isn’t it weird that the word ‘Mystic’ can mean so many different, often opposing, things?

 

Differing religious traditions describe mystical experience variously on continua ranging

 

From:        union with God (Henosis in Neoplatonism and Theosis in Christianity, Brahma-Prapti or Brahma-Nirvana in Hinduism) [possibly through Nullification and absorption within God's Infinite Light (Chassidic schools of Judaism)]

To:           experience of one’s own true blissful nature (Samadhi or Svarupa-Avirbhava in Hinduism).

 

Or from:    complete detachment from the world (Kaivalya in some schools of Hinduism, including Sankhya and Yoga; Jhana in Buddhism) through

To:           deep intrinsic connection to the world (Satori in Mahayana Buddhism, Te in Taoism)

 

Via:           Innate Knowledge (Irfan and fitra in Islam),

and:          liberation from the cycles of Karma (Moksha in Jainism and Hinduism, Nirvana in Buddhism).

 

What canst thou say?

“You will say,

‘Christ saith this, and the apostles say this;’

but what canst thou say?

Art thou a child of the Light,

and hast thou walked in the Light,

and what thou speakest,

is it inwardly from God? “

–George Fox, 1652.

No matter what your ‘Good Book’ says, only your lived experience can be your guide in life.

Plague

“What is this plague, this germ which, like the tubercle bacillus, lurks within, waiting for the victim’s strength to sink below a certain level so that it may strike?
It is not a new organism. Its ravages were predicted by certain seers of the nineteenth century.
Melville and Hawthorne, Nietzsche and Marx, Dostoyevsky and Kafka all saw it coming in one form or another.
Its actual appearances have been described in some detail by contemporary poets and painters, playwrights and novelists.
There were and are a few theologians at work on the bacterium, but for the most part of examination and analysis are taking place in the secular laboratories.
The germ has a very simple name: meaninglessness.
And the conditions under which is strikes are well known: when one raises or is confronted by the ultimate questions about live, about the purpose and meaning of existence, and discovers that there are no answers; no answers, that is, that can be believed.
Life seems pointless and empty, rather cruel and even a little mad.”

William Graham Cole. The Restless Quest of Modern Man

Attitude

“Everything can be taken from a man but–the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.”

Dr. Victor Frankl

Loving yourself

Some wise counsel, from the works of Louise Hay:

• Stop all criticism:
  Refuse to criticize yourself. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Everybody changes. When you criticize yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive.
• Don’t scare yourself:
  Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure, and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought.
• Be gentle and kind and patient:
  Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved.
• Be kind to your mind:
  Don’t hate yourself for having these thoughts. Gently change the thoughts.
• Praise yourself:
  Criticism breaks the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.
• Support yourself:
  Reach out to friends, and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it.
• Be loving to your negatives:
  Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So, lovingly release the old negative patterns.
• Take care of your body:
  Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise can you enjoy? Cherish and revere the temple you live in.
• Mirror work:
  Look into your own eyes often. Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself. Forgive yourself looking into the mirror. At least once a day, say: “I love you, I really love you!”
• LOVE YOURSELF – NOW
  Don’t wait until you get well or lose the weight, or get the new job, or find the new relationship. Begin NOW – do the best you can.

 

Is this The Day?

 

Well, you didn’t wake up this morning because you didn’t go to bed
You were watching the whites of your eyes turn red
The calendar on your wall is ticking the days off
You’ve been reading some old letters
You smile and think how much you’ve changed
All the money in the world couldn’t buy back those days

You pull back your curtains
And the sun burns into your eyes
You watch a plane flying
Across a clear blue sky
This is the day
Your life will surely change
This is the day
When things fall into place

You could’ve done anything If you’d wanted
And all your friends and family think that you’re lucky
But the side of you they’ll never see
Is when you’re left alone with the memories
That hold your life together … like glue

You pull back your curtains
And the sun burns into your eyes
You watch a plane flying
Across a clear blue sky
This is the day
Your life will surely change
This is the day
When things fall into place

This is the day your life will surely change
This is the day your life will surely change
This is the day your life will surely change
This is the day your life will surely change

 

‘This is the day’, TheThe

Matt Johnson, (c) Universal Musi Publisher Group

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X6O4VdatHk

Some reasons for being a member of a religious group (2)

1.                 upbringing; you were brought up that everyone should have a religion, and haven’t questioned that

2.                 culture: in your country / region, religion and culture are closely intertwined: most everybody is a member of that group;

3.                 hero; you admire the founder of the group and want to show that you identify with him / her

4.                 local heroes; you admire other members of the group and the way they act/ talk/ … and want to be like them

5.                 loneliness; membership brings you human contact, even friendship

6.                 you’re looking for answers and they seem to offer some

7.                 you feel uncomfortable with the uncertainties of life, and religion persuades you there are some certainties

8.                 you want to live life according to a moral code and think that morality only stems from religious beliefs

9.                 being a member of the group brings you privileges in society,

10.             being a member of this group gives you power over others

11.             separateness; group membership lets you feel that you’re ‘better’ than some / all other humans

12.             you like ritual

13.             your partner is already a member of it and you want to fit in

14.             guidance: you like being told what to do

15.             you are seeking meaning in life and think a religion might point you to it

16.             you feel uncomfortable with the values of (western) consumer society and are looking for something more

17.             curiosity: you just wanna know what this religious stuff is all about

18.             you yearn to be accepted into a group

19.             order: you believe that religion is a force for good in society

20.             you feel guilt and want your sins to be washed away

21.             you seek tranquility in your busy life

22.             you’re afraid of your own death, or what comes after, and religion might let you believe you’re eternal.

Superhero

On a lighter note, I am Batman…

Your results:
You are Batman

Batman 85% Superman 75% Hulk 75% Wonder Woman 53% Supergirl 53% Iron Man 50% Spider-Man 45% Catwoman 45% The Flash 40% Robin 37% Green Lantern 35%

You are dark, love gadgets and have vowed to help the innocent not suffer the pain you have endured.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Life anxiety, death anxiety

This page by  Robert Gerzon really grabbed my attention:

Because we human beings are individual organisms, conscious of our separateness from one another and from the universe, we are simultaneously confronted with life anxiety and death anxiety.

Our life anxiety is our fear of fully experiencing our aliveness, our creative power and our existential isolation.

Our death anxiety is about the dreaded annihilation of the self: losing power, being absorbed back into the universe and ceasing to exist as an independent individual.

Fortunately we can avoid becoming paralyzed and panicked by the polarities of life and death. By choosing to “sit with anxiety,” we avoid the twin traps of fighting anxiety or trying to run from it. Instead of letting the two existential poles of anxiety paralyze us, we embrace them and transform them into sources of power and inner peace.

Death is the great mystery of life. The big question, the most unfathomable one for all people, is “What happens when I die?” There is a part of me that can’t wait to find out how the story ends- what happens after death? The meaning we give life is inseparable from the meaning we give death. A universal essence within me knows that, when the body and brain cease functioning, the adventure of consciousness continues in some other form. Even our daily need to visit the dark realm of sleep reminds us of the presence of death -the “big sleep”- in the midst of life. Our desire for relaxation is evidence of our need to “die” regularly, and of death’s rejuvenating powers.

Our anxiety about death keeps us from recognizing our own true and healthy love of death. When we accept the reality and the mystery of death we can begin to love death in a positive way, as a part of the perpetually renewing cycle of life, as liberation and reunion with our Source. Far from signifying any morbid desire to die, loving death simply means accepting death as a natural and sacred part of life.

When we deny or ignore both our death anxiety and our death love, the death urge turns toxic and we are doomed to act it out destructively as self-sabotage or as injurious behavior toward others. Freud called this repressed attraction to death thanatos, and described how it turned into aggression and self-destruction. But if we embrace the “grim reaper,” we find that its terrifying appearance is nothing but the embodiment of our own fears. Once accepted, it is transformed into the joyful Angel who guides us on our eternal journey. Our death anxiety dies and is reborn as a sacred love of death.

Wise men and women throughout the ages spent their lives preparing for and becoming friends with death, so that when it came it neither took them by surprise nor made them anxious. We can cultivate a healthy appreciation of death by meditating upon it.

When I begin a death meditation, I start by choosing to “die” for a little while. I simply imagine being dead–and instantly all worries, responsibilities and time pressures dissolve. I experience the peace and freedom that accompany the death of my self. I allow my consciousness to expand into the all-embracing oneness. In dying I lose my self but gain the universe. I have found that enjoying this temporary “death of the self” for fifteen or twenty minutes can be marvelously relaxing and refreshing. Death meditation is a way to practice the art of letting go, to see daily events from a larger perspective, and to cultivate a relationship with the timeless.

Just as embracing death anxiety allows us to experience a healthy love and acceptance of death, choosing to face the life anxiety of selfhood will usher us into the sacred realm of abundant and eternal life. Then we can finally allow life energy (what Freud callederos) to course through us, free and unfettered. Our life anxiety becomes a sacred love of life that experiences the miracle of aliveness with wonder and gratitude. When we love both life and death there is nothing left to fear–and we can experience the “peace that passes understanding.”

You can read more at:
http://www.beyondindigo.com/articles/article.php/artID/200031

Some reasons for being a member of a religious group (1)

Reasons for being a member of a religious group:

1. upbringing; you were brought up that everyone should have a religion, and haven’t questioned that
2. culture: in your country / region, religion and culture are closely intertwined: most everybody is a member of that group;
3. hero; you admire the founder of the group and want to show that you identify with him / her
4. heros; you admire other members of the group and the way they act/ talk/ … and want to be like them
5. loneliness; membership brings you human contact, even friendship
6. you’re looking for answers and they seem to offer some
7. you feel uncomfortable with the uncertainties of life, and religion persuades you there are some certainties
8. you want to live life according to a moral code and think that morality only stems from religious beliefs
9. being a member of the group brings you priveleges in society,
10. being a member of this group gives you power over others
11. separateness; group membership lets you feel that you’re ‘better’ than some / all other humans
12. …
13. …

Meaningful work

 

Can we find meaning in our daily work?

Lucy Kellaway thinks so: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7417359.stm.

Physis

Eric Berne (founder of Transactional Analysis) noted four forces which act on the little person: the encouraging and the limiting influences from parents and parent figures, Fate, and ‘physis’.

Physis is the urge to life and growth, which enables us to overcome adversity and say “This is what I want to do, and I’d rather do it my own way”  (Berne, 1972).

This positive force derives from the energy of the Child egostate, the source of spontaneity, creativity and joy. This liberating concept sees creativity and self-fulfilment as normal processes.

(from http://www.taresources.co.uk/Microsoft_Word__Developing_Creativity_for_Olga.pdf)

You will never be happy

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of.

You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”

— Albert Camus

Dread of death

 

“The primitive dread of death resides in the unconscious -
a dread that is part of the fabric of being,
that is formed early in life
before the development of precise, conceptual formulation,
a dread that is chilling, uncanny, and inchoate,
a dread that exists prior to and outside of language and image.”

Irvin Yalom, “Existential Psychotherapy”

+ve

To live
requires making a positive choice,
and then living each moment
in a way that’s consistent
with that choice.

The inescapable end

“The image of the future produces contrasting feelings in man. The expectation of the future gives one a feeling of joy. It is a great thing to have a future in which one can actualize one’s possibilities, in which one can experience the abundance of life, in which one can create something new — be it new work, a new living being, a new way of life, or the regeneration of one’s own being. Courageously one goes ahead towards the new, especially in the earlier part of one’s life. But this feeling struggles with other ones: the anxiety about what is hidden in the future, the ambiguity of everything it will bring us, the shortness of its duration that decreases with every year of our life and becomes shorter the nearer we come to the unavoidable end. And finally the end itself, with its impenetrable darkness and the threat that one’s whole existence in time will be judged as a failure.

How do men, how do you, react to this image of the future with its hope and threat and inescapable end? Probably most of us react by looking at the immediate future, anticipating it, working for it, hoping for it, being anxious about it, while cutting off from our awareness the future which is farther away, and above all, by cutting off from our consciousness the end, the last moment of our future. Perhaps we could not live without doing so most of our time. But perhaps we will not be able to die if we always do so. And if one is not able to die, is he really able to live?

How do we react if we become aware of the inescapable end contained in our future? Are we able to bear it, to take its anxiety into a courage that faces ultimate darkness? Or are we thrown into utter hopelessness? Do we hope against hope, or do we repress our awareness of the end because we cannot stand it? Repressing the consciousness of our end expresses itself in several ways.

Many try to do so by putting the expectation of a long life between now and the end. For them it is decisive that the end be delayed. Even old people who are near the end do this, for they cannot endure the fact that the end will not be delayed much longer.

Many people realize this deception and hope for a continuation of this life after death. They expect an endless future in which they may achieve or possess what has been denied them in this life. This is a prevalent attitude about the future, and also a very simple one. It denies that there is an end. It refuses to accept that we are creatures, that we come from the eternal ground of time and return to the eternal ground of time and have received a limited span of time as our time. It replaces eternity by endless future.

But endless future is without a final aim; it repeats itself and could well be described as an image of hell.

From Paul Tillich ‘The Eternal Now’

“Wandering in a foreign land”

I can relate to this, from James Park

Sometimes we find ourselves set at a distance
from the world of our daily concerns.
We begin to see the familiar as if it were new and strange.
We may seem to be wandering in a foreign land.
We notice things in a new light:

         What are all these people so busy doing?
         Where are they going in such a hurry?
         Do they ever notice the ridiculousness of their behavior?
         Why do they regard their activities as valuable and important?
         What difference would it make if this day had not happened?
         Sometimes the world seems like a colony of ants,
         each individual endlessly repeating his behavior until he dies.
         No one asks about the ultimate meaning.
         Each merely continues faithfully to fulfill his little function.
         Would it be so great a loss (and a loss to whom)
         if the whole ant colony were wiped out in an instant
         —like a distant city of which we have never heard
         being swallowed up by the earth?
         What is a city for, anyway?
         It is a cluster of buildings where people live and reproduce.
         They hold jobs and live off one another.
         But is it not circular, adding up to precisely zero in the end?

Futility

“ 1. The quality of being futile; triflingness, want of weight or importance; esp. inadequacy to produce a result or bring about a required end, ineffectiveness, uselessness. “

(OED)

Middle aged depression

 I think I must be bucking the trend …. 

“People are most likely to become depressed in middle age, according to a worldwide study of happiness. The team of economists leading the work found that we are happiest towards the beginning and end of our lives, leaving us most miserable in middle years between 40 and 50.

The results, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, showed that people’s levels of happiness followed a U-shaped curve, a pattern that was remarkably consistent in the vast majority of countries the researchers looked at, from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe.

For both men and women in the UK, the probability of depression peaked at around the age of 44. In the US, men were most likely to be unhappiest at 50, while for women the age was 40.

…. the signs of mid-life depression were consistent across many groups of people, irrespective of socio-economic status, whether they had children in the house, were divorced, or were facing changes in jobs or income.

“What causes this apparently U-shaped curve, and its similar shape in different parts of the developed and even often developing world, is unknown. However, one possibility is that individuals learn to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses, and in mid-life quell their infeasible aspirations. Another possibility is that cheerful people live systematically longer.”

“It looks from the data like something happens deep inside humans. For the average person in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year. Only in their 50s do most people emerge from the low period. But encouragingly, by the time you are 70, if you are still physically fit then on average you are as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year-old. Perhaps realising that such feelings are completely normal in mid-life might even help individuals survive this phase better.”

From  the Guardian