Meditation is the only intentional, systematic human activity which at the bottom is about not trying to improve yourself or get anywhere else, but simply to realize where you already are... Paying attention can be a very difficult feat in a culture where we are taught to deny so much of our being. Finding ourselves again, though, is incredibly well worth the time and effort put into learning to do so.… [click on title for the rest of the post]
Buddha entered a village. A man asked him as he was entering the village, "Does God exist? "He said, "No, absolutely no." In the afternoon another man came and he asked, "Does God exist?" And he said, "Yes, absolutely yes." In the evening a third man came and he asked, "Does God exist?" … [click on title for the rest of the post]
What Jung calls “participation mystique,” is the deep enmeshment that can happen in intimate relationships when an individual doesn’t do the inner-work to heal their unconscious pain. The wounds get passed through the generations, metastasizing through our relationships and literally shaping our children’s lives. The sickness will stay in the family tree until someone in the outer branches has enough support and awareness to face and move through that ancient grief. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
We should understand that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things: the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains, and all the four-legged animals and the winged peoples; and even more important, we should understand that He is also above all these things and peoples. When we do... Continue Reading →
There's a term in Buddhism, manasikara, which means attention. It's a fundamental component of awareness because it directs the mind to it object -- it's the charioteer of the mind that directs it where to go. It comes in two forms: appropriate and inappropriate attention. Anxiety is a form of inappropriate attention. A scripture describes a monk whose meditation practice revolved around obsessively ruminating on things that were making him unhappy. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
As my body heals from the iatrogenic injury caused by psychiatric drugs, the process of healing the autonomic nervous system demands the continual working with fear in the body. This morning I did the below yoga session. Yoga is wonderful for training us to be with the sometimes uncomfortable sensations in our body, which is a skill that can be transferred to our lives in a multiple number of ways. Practicing and learning to be with discomfort is an important skill to have. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
"What he discovered were manifestations of both his personal and collective unconscious. In this sense, he demonstrated by personal example that the enigmatic phenomenon we call “psychosis” is often about being completely inundated or possessed by the personal and archetypal unconscious rather than caused by a genetically predisposed biochemical imbalance or “broken brain,” that it has psychological and spiritual significance, meaning and purpose, and that it can potentially be psychotherapeutically treated with the proper skills, commitment and knowledge." … [click on title for the rest of the post]
The lesson that life constantly enforces is “Look underfoot.” You are always nearer to the true sources of your power than you think. The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Don’t despise your own place and hour. Every place is the center of the world. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Birth control pills are notorious for exacerbating mental health issues. This comes up again and again in my work with people who are learning to go natural and avoid drugs. Hormone balance is very important for overall well-being. The pill wreaks havoc on hormone balance. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
We pass on our dysfunction to our children. We got our dysfunction from our parents. We're all in this together. We, now, can choose to break the chain as we become conscious and change our own behavior. We need not blame ourselves for how we find ourselves. We really need not blame anyone. We can, however, by recognizing it, start to change the pattern and free future generations. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
You must be logged in to post a comment.