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: 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]
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 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 →
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]
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 →
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]
iatrogenic /iat·ro·gen·ic/ (i-ă´tro-jen´ik) resulting from the activity of physicians; said of any adverse condition in a patient resulting from treatment by a physician or surgeon. (see more definitions here -- medical dictionary: iatrogenic harm) ...
An email from Mitch the director and producer of the film. If you can't contribute monetarily you can pass the info on to others who might be able to. Happy Sunday! Live from shooting in Detroit, exciting news! With just 4 days left on our Indiegogo campaign, a "MYSTERY DONOR" has pledged $10,000 to MAKE ME NORMAL ($6500... Continue Reading →
WOWEE...check out the Dear Mental Health Professional Hashtag on twitter today. Here is a taste. These are not isolated experiences, now, are they? There are hundreds of more tweets just like these! … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep is a very common complaint. Mindfulness can help but one must first radically revision the nature of the problem.
People tend to get into a negative feedback loop with insomnia: Not getting to sleep leads to worry, leads to further difficulty sleeping, leads to more worry, leads to…. What to do? One possibility is to start thinking about the night in a different way. This is a conceptual reframing, a profoundly different paradigm regarding the issue of sleep. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
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