Month: August 2013

Toco – Outro Lugar (saturday mellow)

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Mystical experiences, spiritual emergency, madness etc…a compilation

"Spiritual crisis (also called "spiritual emergency") is a form of identity crisis where an individual experiences drastic changes to their meaning system (i.e., their unique purposes, goals, values, attitude and beliefs, identity, and focus) typically because of a spontaneous spiritual experience. A spiritual crisis may cause significant disruption in psychological, social and occupational functioning. Among the spiritual experiences thought to lead to episodes of spiritual crisis or spiritual emergency are psychiatric complications related to existential crisis, mystical experience, near-death experiences, Kundalini syndrome, paranormal experiences, religious ecstasy and meditation or other spiritual practices...

The rat-race is dark and empty…

From The Atlantic is an interview with Morris Berman: How America's 'Culture of Hustling' Is Dark and Empty: Results-obsessed perspectives overlook meaning — and leave little room for creativity, pleasure, or accepting the importance of sadness. He says: Most Americans have a dull sense that their lives are fundamentally “off”—because for the most part, they... Continue Reading →

Meditation is an intimate act of getting to know oneself

Not only have I used the word "intimate" to describe the experience of meditation, I also have often underscored the difficulties that must be faced in honest and deep contemplation of any kind. This process over time, though perhaps not explicitly pleasant does become soothing in some sort of profoundly paradoxical and beautiful way. It is healing. …. [click on title for the rest of the post]

The underlying sense of uneasiness that we have now is actually a good thing

The underlying sense of uneasiness that we have now is actually a good thing: it is the expression of our sensitivity. Those who go through life without feeling ill at ease are unconscious. The uneasy feeling caused by our awareness holds tremendous potential for transformation. It is a treasure of energy that we can grasp with both hands and use to build something better. Indifference doesn’t lead anywhere …. [click on title for the rest of the post]

A busy day after writing, “Is depression unhappiness?” (visiting choice in multiple ways)

So these are a couple of conversations that went down on twitter. These two exchanges didn't actually bother me much. I can't take this sort of stuff personally, really. It's so clearly not about me at all. Still in combination with everything else that happened throughout social media yesterday, I do need to slow things down again. I will be less available again for a while. Among other things I quit a couple of email groups. …. [click on title for the rest of the post]

Story Of The Long-Handled Spoons

Story Of The Long-Handled Spoons Swami was having a conversation with Lord Shiva one day and said Lord, "I would like to know what heaven and hell are like." Lord Shiva led the Swami to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the Swami looked in. In the middle of the room was... Continue Reading →

Is depression unhappiness?

I noticed in my wandering about social media after the article by Giles Fraser, Taking pills for unhappiness reinforces the idea that being sad is not human that all sorts of people came out crying foul. How dare Giles minimize the horrors of depression by calling it "unhappiness." Here is one such response. Well perhaps they have point. He maybe should not have called it unhappiness, though for me his argument remains cogent anyway. Depression is one variety of unhappiness in my book. Sometimes it's really really severe unhappiness...it can be more aptly, perhaps, called despair…. [click on title for the rest of the post]

There is a path for every one of us. And we’re all different.

I repeatedly talk about how what works for me may not be appropriate for anyone else when I talk about healing. Well this extends out to our entire lives and spiritual pursuits too. Recently I wrote about how important it is to respect where people fall on the spectrum of psychiatric drug use as well.... Continue Reading →

Live the questions now

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.... [click on title for the rest of the post]

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