In the course of looking through old blog posts yesterday to find those related to death, because I'm working on another book based on my writing on that subject, I came to a couple of posts that made me think, in my usual humble way, Dude, these are fantastic! They make so much sense, it's a freaking secular miracle!
So, behold...
Some ten years later, this is still my best guess about God. Also, about life after death, existence, and the nature of the self. Looks like I’ve reached a pretty stable stage of my atheism.
My best guess about God
May 3, 2010
Nobody knows what ultimate reality is, which religious believers call "God." All we have are guesses, some more defensible than others.
Here's mine — after some forty years of delving into mysticism, spirituality, religiosity, and philosophy. Subject to change, of course. If I've learned anything, it's that there's always more to learn. Or guess about.
I'll be as pithy as possible, a shift from my usual wordiness.
(1) God doesn't exist. Not in the sense of an all-knowing, all-powerful personal or individual consciousness. Or even a universal consciousness, though this is more likely than an anthropomorphic God.
(2) The cosmos is, always has been, always will be. In some form or another. Existence always has existed. If you want an eternal "God" to worship, there it is: existence.
(3) It may well be that our universe is just a very small part of the cosmos. But reality is thoroughly natural, not supernatural. Other universes, if they exist, are as natural as ours.
(4) We'll never understand the ultimate laws of nature. Or even know whether they exist. "Ultimate laws" probably is a human conception, not the way things really are.
(5) The biggest problem with being a member of Homo sapiens also is our biggest evolutionary advance: self-awareness. We are aware of being aware. Unlike other animals, we construct an ego, I-ness, by looping our awareness back onto ourselves.
(6) This creates a fear of death, because we know we're going to die. This creates a desire to exist forever, because we can ponder our non-existence.
(7) Thus springs up religion. Along with notions of God, soul, spirit, eternal life, heaven, and such. All are products of a self-created "self," which actually doesn't exist in the sense a stone, sunflower, star, or snake does. It is conceptual, not physical.
(8) Enlightenment — seeing reality as clearly as possible — is recognizing that ego, I-ness, selfhood, individuality, or whatever you want to call it doesn't exist.
(9) We're part of the cosmos. And the cosmos is part of us. We just happen to be beings who can conceptualize ourselves as separate from everything else, which we really aren’t.
(10) So when we die, we're dead, inasmuch as "I" consider myself to be a "Me." But the cosmos continues. And so will I. Just not as me. Whether this is a chilling or reassuring realization depends on how much "Me" is attached to my "I."
I’m confident that there’s no life after death. But not 100% confident. This is the way of science, and also of wise living. Never be absolutely sure about anything. Then you won’t fall prey to rigid dogmatism. And if a cherished belief turns out to be untrue, you’ll be more prepared for this.
Keep open a crack in your belief system
August 31, 2010
Ah, it feels so good to let in the light, to freshen the atmosphere, to relieve the pressure of a claustrophobic enclosure. Not anywhere outside — within our psyche.
All we need to do is keep open a crack in our meaning-of-life belief system, that conglomeration of thoughts, feelings, intuitions, knowings, and what-not which enable us to get out of bed in the morning, move through life with a sense of purpose, and offer us some answers to what's it all about?
Nothing is 100% certain. Including what I just said.
Hey, there might well be something that is 100% certain. So far, though, it isn't apparent. Even the most intensively validated theories of science, such as quantum theory, are considered by the scientific method to always be open to falsification.
So living in touch with reality requires that we remain open to the possibility that whatever we fervently believe to be true, isn't. Otherwise truth could smack us in the face and we'd pretend that we didn't feel a thing.
If you're absolutely sure that God exists, erase the absolutely in your mind. Ditto if you're absolutely sure that God doesn't exist. Double ditto for any other belief that you don't see yourself ever letting go of, or modifying.
Loosen your hold. Lighten your dogmatism. Lessen your certainty.
I'm not saying that we should uncritically embrace every alternative belief path that appears before us. The human mind generally moves along well-trod patterns for good reasons. Sticking with the tried and seemingly true allows us to learn from experience rather than having to figure out again today what was known yesterday.
However, whenever we find ourselves defending some position with unusually rigid zeal, that could be a sign that a retreat is in order. How far we move back from our personal 100% Certain Maginot Line is up to us.
I don't think it matters much how large the doubt gap is. Truth can slip through the eye of a psychological needle, or a wide open mental barn door.
What counts is that some crack exists in the otherwise solid structure of our belief system. This is where the benefits will come from that I mentioned above: lightness of being, freshness of attitude, relaxing of rigidity.
Recently I was lying in bed, about to fall into sleep, with thoughts of what one day will come, death, running through my mind. I mulled over one of my favorite frightening fascinating topics, non-existence.
I recalled how in a conversation with friends a few days ago, someone told a story about an atheist she knew who was in a hospice, close to dying. He kept asking staff and visitors, "What happens next? What happens next?"
Meaning, after death.
Now, since he was an atheist, one would expect that he already had an answer to his own question: nothing. When you're dead, you're dead. No more consciousness, no more existing.
But that prospect can be scary, especially if life feels like it's well worth living. If you're happy being alive, it's only natural to want to hold onto that good feeling for as long as possible.
That's why eternity is so appealing to religiously minded people. They don't believe they'll ever stop existing. To them death is just a transition to an even better life.
I could feel some familiar anxiety arising as I visualized my own non-existence (yes, I know that's impossible). I could tell that it was going to be difficult to fall asleep so long as I felt trapped within the bounds of a reality marked by an absolute finis at the moment of my last breath.
Then I thought, "That isn't absolutely certain. No one knows for sure what happens, or doesn't happen, after death. There's a slight possibility that my consciousness will continue to exist, just as I used to believe.”
Instantly I felt the mental pressure subside, like I'd opened a stress-release valve. I relaxed into a pleasant state of who knows? Sure, I still considered that the vastly most likely possibility is that death is The End.
But allowing even a small likelihood of To Be Continued into my mind changed everything. And the same would have been true if my certainty had been in life after death.
Cracks in belief systems are beneficial no matter what the content of our convictions are. It's never healthy to believe that you can't be wrong. That's egotistical, dogmatic, and, well, wrong.
In one of Huston Smith's books he talks of meeting a Zen practitioner who tells him, "I've got a new koan: I could be wrong.” Beautiful. Fully embrace that koan and it seems like enlightenment would be close at hand.
"Other universes, if they exist, are as natural as ours."
The only thing that differs between our opinions is that I think the existence of the natural is supernatural in a sense. That anything exists at all seems to me a sign of divinity, even if that supernatural divinity isn't, as you say, anthropomorphic or otherwise definable. Something came from nothing, and that is magical to me.
I'm still moving around in India, and recently had a discussion with a friend here who is an atheist. During our talk he said that while he doesn't believe in anything, he thinks it would be arrogant to taunt or disrespect God or gods and that he still respects religion partly because it would be unwise to fully reject what can't possibly be known with 100% certainty. Reminds me of that famous Marcus Aurelius quote that I'm too lazy to look up at the moment.
Agnosticism is the only possible honest position on these matters.
Also, I just drank some beer (totally haram) and life is funny right now. I hope I reread this comment later and find grotesque misspellings and grammatical errors beyond my norm.
Posted by: Jesse | January 17, 2020 at 03:44 AM
Brian
That’s an excellent piece of writing...
(I’m very much aware {after many years of head banging ‘licking a stone’ } that everything (emphasise everything) is through the ‘medium’ of this mind, and (for now anyway) I can’t see anyway past this...)
Reminds me of a session at the Dera many many years ago (probably more than 30 years ago) when an American lady asked Charan Singh a very long and roundabout question, which went on for about two minutes, finally culminating in THE question...
Charan Singh looked at her and said “Whatever you feel like sister, whatever you feel like”...
And the place collapsed in laughter !
So what’s the answer ?
As my father always said: “ keep goo’in wi’t yed dahn”
Translated from Lancashire dialect as “keep going with your head down”
(And keep that silent smile....or maybe not so silent !)
Posted by: Eric Robinson | January 17, 2020 at 01:18 PM
Excellent essay Brian ...
(5) The biggest problem with being a member of Homo sapiens also is our biggest evolutionary advance: self-awareness. We are aware of being aware. Unlike other animals, we construct an ego, I-ness, by looping our awareness back onto ourselves ...
(8) Enlightenment — seeing reality as clearly as possible — is recognizing that ego, I-ness, selfhood, individuality, or whatever you want to call it doesn't exist.
I've just finished reading this article about Depressive Realism:
We keep chasing happiness, but true clarity comes from depression and existential angst. Admit that life is hell, and be free...
https://aeon.co/essays/the-voice-of-sadness-is-censored-as-sick-what-if-its-sane
Posted by: Jen | January 17, 2020 at 01:20 PM
Yes Brian an enjoyable read.
Re the comfort and certainty of belief - the picture of the two crusaders often comes to mind - ‘isn’t life simple when you know you’re right all the time’ - :-)
5 …. ‘Unlike other animals, we construct an ego, I-ness, by looping our awareness back onto ourselves’.
Was thinking about this the other day. Really interesting how I-ness is generated. It appears that existence happens as ‘I exist’ which as life progresses and we need to 'survive', for most changes to the belief ‘I’ exist. So it’s simply about reorienting back from the ‘I’ exist self to the ‘I exist’ Self by de-looping Awareness (for those who have an interest in this).
9 …..We just happen to be beings who can conceptualize ourselves as separate from everything else, which we really aren’t.
We just need to get out of the habit of thinking ourselves separate including the notion of being a separated ‘soul’.
That’s my current take on it with a r value of approx 0.75
Hi Eric I think we may have met at the Dera at least once.
Best wishes
Posted by: Tim Rimmer | January 17, 2020 at 03:19 PM
I don’t why, but I actually teared up a little towards the end of this post. I’m going to have to analyze why... 🧐
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 17, 2020 at 03:59 PM
”Nobody knows what ultimate reality is, which religious believers call "God." All we have are guesses, some more defensible than others.“
— No one can prove what the ultimate reality is to anyone other than themselves. And even what you prove to yourself falls into the category of belief.
”Here's mine — after some forty years of delving into mysticism, spirituality, religiosity, and philosophy. Subject to change, of course. If I've learned anything, it's that there's always more to learn. Or guess about.“
—No doubt. The cosmos is in a constant state of evolution.
”I'll be as pithy as possible, a shift from my usual wordiness.”
— 😂
”(2) The cosmos is, always has been, always will be. In some form or another. Existence always has existed. If you want an eternal "God" to worship, there it is: existence.“
— But what IS existence?
”(3) It may well be that our universe is just a very small part of the cosmos. But reality is thoroughly natural, not supernatural. Other universes, if they exist, are as natural as ours.”
— What is supernatural? If there is only what is natural then everything is natural. If there is only light then darkness cannot exist. But it is generally accepted that there is both daylight and darkness. Can there be a ”thing” without an opposite thing?
”(5) The biggest problem with being a member of Homo sapiens also is our biggest evolutionary advance: self-awareness. We are aware of being aware. Unlike other animals, we construct an ego, I-ness, by looping our awareness back onto ourselves.
(6) This creates a fear of death, because we know we're going to die. This creates a desire to exist forever, because we can ponder our non-existence.”
— But animals have just as much fear of dying. They have the same urge, same struggle to survive.
”(7) Thus springs up religion. Along with notions of God, soul, spirit, eternal life, heaven, and such. All are products of a self-created "self," which actually doesn't exist in the sense a stone, sunflower, star, or snake does. It is conceptual, not physical.”
— We’re all stardust... 🙂
”(8) Enlightenment — seeing reality as clearly as possible — is recognizing that ego, I-ness, selfhood, individuality, or whatever you want to call it doesn't exist.”
— But how does it “not exist” if you are in a state of existence that allows you to state that it does not exist?
“(9) We're part of the cosmos. And the cosmos is part of us. We just happen to be beings who can conceptualize ourselves as separate from everything else, which we really aren’t.“
— 🤔 But the lion knows he’s separate from the antelope. That’s why he eats the antelope and not other lions. Don’t you think animals have a sense of separateness? They just don’t have the ability to go around preaching about it. Or maybe they do and we fail to understand their language. 🤷♀️
“Never be absolutely sure about anything. Then you won’t fall prey to rigid dogmatism. And if a cherished belief turns out to be untrue, you’ll be more prepared for this.”
— Well, I can’t speak for anyone else but I believe that rigid dogmatism is arrogance. Ignorance.
”All we need to do is keep open a crack in our meaning-of-life belief system, that conglomeration of thoughts, feelings, intuitions, knowings, and what-not which enable us to get out of bed in the morning, move through life with a sense of purpose, and offer us some answers to what's it all about?”
—
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
~ Leonard Cohen
”Nothing is 100% certain. Including what I just said.”
— 😆 That’s wisdom.
”So living in touch with reality requires that we remain open to the possibility that whatever we fervently believe to be true, isn't. Otherwise truth could smack us in the face and we'd pretend that we didn't feel a thing.”
— And truth often hits us with an invisible hand. Wisdom comes from accepting your imperfection. Redefining what it means to be imperfect and finally realizing that “perfection” is an imperfect concept.
”I'm not saying that we should uncritically embrace every alternative belief path that appears before us. The human mind generally moves along well-trod patterns for good reasons. Sticking with the tried and seemingly true allows us to learn from experience rather than having to figure out again today what was known yesterday.”
— “50 First Dates” 😁
”That's why eternity is so appealing to religiously minded people. They don't believe they'll ever stop existing. To them death is just a transition to an even better life.”
— And yet so many are afraid at the time of death whether they’re religious or not. On the other hand, you see in the face of an animal when they are ready to let go and move on. You also see in them when they are not ready to let go and still have the will to live despite how sick or injured they may be. The same applies to humans.
“Cracks in belief systems are beneficial no matter what the content of our convictions are. It's never healthy to believe that you can't be wrong. That's egotistical, dogmatic, and, well, wrong.”
— Amen.
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 17, 2020 at 07:40 PM
Everything in nature dies and turns into something else—food, medicine, mulch...
“ The first law of thermodynamics, also known as Law of Conservation of Energy, states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. ... In other words, energy cannot be created or destroyed.”
Are we humans just another form of energy?
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 17, 2020 at 07:48 PM
@ The human mind generally moves along well-trod patterns for good reasons.
@ Sticking with the tried and seemingly true allows us to learn from experience
@ rather than having to figure out again today what was known yesterday.
@ However, whenever we find ourselves defending some position with unusually
@ rigid zeal, that could be a sign that a retreat is in order. How far we move back @ from our personal 100% Certain Maginot Line is up to us.
But the mind's ruts, like the Maginot line, render us impotent against
an enemy that's quicker and more mobile. The human mind darts
through or overflies the gaps in our retreating line and attacks Paris
itself. We're lost... we weep over our own damnable distraction and
wonder "What the hell just happened!?
@ What counts is that some crack exists in the otherwise solid structure of our
@ belief system. This is where the benefits will come from that I mentioned
@ above: lightness of being, freshness of attitude, relaxing of rigidity.
Agree and I think self-awareness and mindfulness have to be marshaled
far more effectively to gird up our plodding infrastructure. Otherwise,
whole armies outflank us or rush through holes in distracted consciousness
while we're dozing off in the safety of mental ruts.
Posted by: Dungeness | January 17, 2020 at 10:04 PM
One thing we know about is true to 100% true. We are going to die, what ever it means.
But, does it affect us? Epikur said in the sense: If you are there the dead is not there, if the dead is there you are not there.
The fear of death of us and even at the animals could be "programmed" in the brain at an earlier point at the evolution.
If animals can reflect about it we dont know. But for sure they dont want to suffer, as we neither.
Posted by: John_S | January 18, 2020 at 12:58 AM
It is impossible not to believe what you see, but it is equally impossible to see what you do not believe. Perceptions are built up on the basis of experience, and experience leads to beliefs.
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 18, 2020 at 01:09 AM
Our consciousness, steering our bodies and the World around from behind veils ( bodies) in itself suggests His existence who is powering us - stimulating us - compelling us to react to this World the way we do and live through a complex link which enforces His orders - His commands without fail.
Its this complex link that we are goaded to explore and reveal for ourselves right upto the other End by the RSSB Saints and that was prodded by Christ, Nanak, Mohammad et al and feel His love and Him and Him alone allwhere while we lose ourselves.
Life and death, to me, cease to exist at those states of consciousness when we begin to realise Him, in loving tears - seeing His expanse, depth, universalness. . .
Posted by: Meditator | January 18, 2020 at 01:35 AM
In the good old days (the 80’s for me) I firmly believed, in fact I considered that I knew, without any doubt, that god not only exists but that he lives in Sach Khand. The only question was how long it would take me to get there. I was in a bit of a hurry.
I believed the Sant mat ideas as if they were proven facts.
I remember taking kirpal Singh’s heart to heart talks to work and reading it during the breaks and meditating morning and evening as I was a Thakar Singh initiate at the time. I also attended RSSB satsangs and was often inspired by the speakers who at the time were considered advanced souls. The quality of the satsangs was much higher back then.
It wasn’t until twenty years later that it dawned on me that all I had was blind belief. I was hoping that my inner journey would prove to me that my beliefs were true.
Seems like everyone is waiting......
Waiting for Godot. As in the play
That is summarised succinctly here
https://youtu.be/Cz5ey3RqDBI
Seems like all of life is waiting, but only god knows what for.
Waiting to cross the road, waiting to get married or divorced. Waiting for happiness or misery. Waiting to graduate or get a job. Can’t wait to leave the job now.
Seems like man is searching endlessly because here and now is disappointing and lacking like something is missing. Some project that something to be a god.
Ultimately it’s all a search for meaning in a meaningless world.
You can create all the meanings you want to but in the end they are just your creations, not real meanings.
Part one of the play
https://youtu.be/FqpjddXaw4E
At 15:40 the dialogue goes
“What do we do?” “Wait”
Later, talking about Godot, one asks
“And we, where do we come in?”
“ on our hands and knees”
“As bad as that?”
“We’ve no rights anymore?”
“ you make me laugh if it wasn’t prohibited”
Ultimately we are waiting for “it” to happen. But “it” is as vague as waiting for Godot.
The greatest wisdom is to embrace the unknown. To end the waiting. To become meaningless and let the meaningless become you.
Posted by: Osho Robbins | January 18, 2020 at 02:41 AM
Hi Dungeness
You wrote
"Agree and I think self-awareness and mindfulness have to be marshaled far more effectively to gird up our plodding infrastructure. Otherwise, whole armies outflank us or rush through holes in distracted consciousness while we're dozing off in the safety of mental ruts."
This view, that our existence is constantly being threatened by our own mind, which we cannot ever trust, and cannot trust anything else for that matter, since that all comes through our fallible mind, as if our life were one big never ending game of Warhammer, is actually a projection of the mind.
Peace and well being, and the idea that we are all being taken care of, part of a larger system of greater wisdom which we can grow closer to and rely upon, also comes through the mind.
We go where our sentiment is.
Don't leave meditation until you've tasted the bliss.
Build your world in partnership with your own Mystic Teacher, and let him show you that the battle field is just a fantasy picture book you are reading to yourself, while sitting in His lap in the most fabulous garden. A place of beauty and peace that suffers not a single moment of doubt, illness or loss, though it remains a constant and beloved mystery.
Posted by: Spence Tepper | January 18, 2020 at 05:13 AM
Hi Osho
You wrote
"You can create all the meanings you want to but in the end they are just your creations, not real meanings."
No, they are absolutely real. They come from you, whatever that mystery is. This is like saying a great fiction novel cannot contain truths. But it is quite opposite. The poetry we make is all truth, truth about who we really are, what we really hope, love, cry over, Laugh about. What we create is our best effort to rise above our own prejudices. It comes from within the artist.
It is absolutely real and we don't know where it comes from.
Who thought of unicorns? Where did that dream come from? Inspired by something, some higher sentiment filtered through this pudding brain... Magnificent.
Posted by: Spence Tepper | January 18, 2020 at 08:50 AM
This is along the same lines. A look at the toxic effects of perfectionism and the three different kinds.
It’s truly fascinating how our beliefs about perfection—what it is, what it isn’t—affect our mental health. Of course, it also affects our physical health and overall sense of well-being. But there’s more on that later...
(Brian, I think you’ll like it)
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323323.php
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 18, 2020 at 09:27 AM
People are very concerned about the eternity of nothingness after they die. What about the eternity of nothingness before they were born? Was that unpleasant or boring or lonely? How did you cope with that? How did that eternity end with the moment of birth? I mean, eternity is forever, right? So. if you believe in eternity as a linear concept your moment to live would never have arrived.. So, eternity is right now, always now, in whatever the form of its appearance. This is it. It is not something you come to or arrive at.
You're already dead or unborn and non existent while at the same time alive and apparently existent. Both life and death are here now, or never, if there is eternity..
This poses the ageless question... Who am I?
Posted by: tucson | January 18, 2020 at 10:31 AM
Hi Sonia!
This is a great article you have posted.
"Sure, saying you're a perfectionist may sound good in a job interview, but does striving for perfection make you feel good about yourself? Studies show that constantly chasing the specter of perfection may seriously harm your mental health and well-being. In this (imperfect) article, we explore the dangers of aiming to be perfect."....
" Perfectionism has a particularly negative effect on college students, with studies showing alarming links with depression and suicide."
" In socially prescribed perfectionism, "individuals believe their social context is excessively demanding, that others judge them harshly, and that they must display perfection to secure approval.""
"Anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation are only some of the mental health problems that specialists have repeatedly linked with this form of perfectionism."
....
"One older study, for example, found that over half of people who died by suicide were described by their loved ones as "perfectionists." Another study found that more than 70 percent of young people who died by suicide were in the habit of creating "exceedingly high" expectations of themselves."
"Toxic perfectionism seems to hit young people particularly hard. According to recent estimates, almost 30 percent of undergraduate students experience symptoms of depression, and perfectionism has been widely associated with these symptoms."
To believe one must be perfect is to take on a huge burden and all alone.
But to believe perfection already exists, and is all, similar to Brian Ji's post... Or to word it another way, that our notions of perfection aren't, and to embrace the natural, the extant, and even the dreams, hopes and fantasies that arise like flowers in a garden, that obliges no one. There is no pressure to become, though there is an acknowledgement that we are all becoming. It isn't in our hands to change. It's already happening.
At best we can be quiet enough to sense the flow within ourselves, and cherish that flow, worship it. It is our own divine and perfect nature. Perfect without a single act of will on our part. And since it is perfect already, and we can enjoy that perfection, not building anything, but just sitting quietly without expectations, letting it arise all on its own, for it lives in us, that is the opposite of the stress for perfection.
Experiencing this extant perfection within ourselves, which has been labeled divine, helps explain the healing effects of long term meditation.
Posted by: Spence Tepper | January 18, 2020 at 10:42 AM
@ This view, that our existence is constantly being threatened by our own mind,
@ which we cannot ever trust, and cannot trust anything else for that matter,
@ since that all comes through our fallible mind, as if our life were one big never
@ ending game of Warhammer, is actually a projection of the mind.
It's a cautionary approach and has nothing to do with "Warhammer".
There's no suggestion that the mind can't be trusted at all. That's
argumentative overreach.
We're dealing with the mind and it's a full-time effort. The seriousness
of mindfulness can't be soft-pedalled. As Maharaji said "this isn't tea
and cookies with Auntie". All the soaring blog rhetoric about bliss in
his lap won't change a syllable of it.
At the same time we're uplifted by the strength the practice provides.
Mindfulness or whatever mystic path we follow gives a unique kind
of peace and empowerment. Then all the struggle fades.
Posted by: Dungeness | January 18, 2020 at 12:15 PM
Ah, Dungeness.
The world is not a document you can edit and correct.
It is not an index of static definitions to be neatly collected, corrected, collated and contained. Nor is any book, Sant Mat or otherwise, the appropriate standard to superimpose on life. Each moment is not neatly packaged in wrappings you have made suitably to your own tastes.
But those loose terms, those mis-used mixed metaphors, those rough approximations of the moment, celebrate their humanity.
Posted by: Spence Tepper | January 18, 2020 at 01:18 PM
The problem is that our brains have been programmed from birth and what we've learned is stored in the subconscious mind. This is why when we make promises to ourselves and try to change habits but mostly fail.
“The “subconscious” is the part of your mind that operates below your normal level of waking consciousness.
Right now you’re primarily using your conscious mind to read these words and absorb their meaning, but beneath that mental focus, your subconscious mind is busily working behind the scenes, absorbing or rejecting information based on an existing perception you have of the world around you.
This existing perception began forming when you were an infant.”
Just wondering about meditation and repetition of a mantra like Simran. Does this practice actually access the Subconscious Mind? Can it change our normal functioning mind? Is this what meditation is really all about and not about worshipping some so called saintly person?
Posted by: Jen | January 18, 2020 at 02:15 PM
Hi Spence,
Yes, I really enjoyed that article as well. I think embracing the fact that perfectionism is not healthy allows us to be less rigid and less dogmatic in our thinking. It helps us to be more open-minded. Often times the perfectionist feels the need to defend every action they take and can’t be “wrong” because then (by their standards) they have somehow failed.
You don’t have to be perfect to be an awesome athlete or a great parent or an exceptional artist. You don’t have to be perfect to be a really good therapist or teacher. And you certainly don’t have to be “perfect” to be a profoundly helpful spiritual guide. We simply teach others what we have learned. We teach by sharing insight and shedding light on a subject that we may have more experience with than others. But we have to be open to learning from others as well. I believe that’s called sharing.:) It’s also a very caring and loving mindset to have. That way we all grow together.
Society’s concept of perfection limits mental and spiritual growth. It’s fine to make mistakes. This is an imperfect world and to think that anyone can be perfect in an imperfect world is an insane thought. Especially since we don’t even know what perfection is. What one person thinks is perfect may not meet the definition of perfection to another.
We can strive for excellence without being perfect. I believe the key is in consistency. Consistency, humility and love help us to keep moving closer and closer to our goals of being both a good student and a good teacher.
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 18, 2020 at 03:51 PM
@ The world is not a document you can edit and correct.
@ It is not an index of static definitions to be neatly collected, corrected,
@ collated and contained. Nor is any book, Sant Mat or otherwise, the
@ appropriate standard to superimpose on life.
Soaring rhetoric seems to be contagious today. As is divining who's
lost and and in need of Yoda-like tips to set them on a righteous path.
Let us pray. Thank you, Great Spirit, (or moral equivalent) for the blog
sermonizers in our midst. Our cups runneth over. Surely, the wisdom and
counsel of the Enlightened Ones (don't be modest, you know who you
are) shall reach even the most uninformed and wretched of our brethren.
Amen.
Posted by: Dungeness | January 18, 2020 at 05:27 PM
Posted by: Spence Tepper | January 18, 2020 at 07:57 PM
Hi Sonia
Most great athletes don't believe in perfection. They know it is an impossibility and a naive notion. But they do continually strive for the minutest gains in their work.
They never deny their work. They embrace their work.
Posted by: Spence Tepper | January 18, 2020 at 08:12 PM
@There's no suggestion that the mind can't be trusted at all. That's
argumentative overreach.
See, this is exactly what drives me crazy about Sant Mat. The teaching that the mind can't be trusted and that it has to be "crushed". I believe there is a difference between the higher mind and the lower mind (ego). The ego needs to be tamed. But the mind is our only tool to get us from A-Z. So, the mind can't be bad.
And I don't think we should blame the mind for all of our crazy actions, thoughts, and beliefs. I think those things belong to the immature ego-child in us. The ego-child needs to be parented not crushed. The mind needs to be respected and used in a positive way.
Boy do I feel preachy today.
No Georgy or Whodunit around to be sarcastic with. :-)
I won't be able to maintain this level of seriousness and maturity for very long (in case you're worried).
Posted by: Sonia | January 18, 2020 at 11:04 PM
"Also, I just drank some beer (totally haram)"
Jesse,
There's a loophole. Spill a drop on the ground. Then you can say you didn't let a drop pass your lips.
Posted by: anami | January 18, 2020 at 11:50 PM
This is how animals communicate their feelings of separateness. 😂
https://youtu.be/JMJXvsCLu6s
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 19, 2020 at 12:39 AM
@ spence - would you say that people who write on this blog (myself included) are maniac depressives?
Just a thought. I'm damaged and can see this in others on here.
Posted by: Arjuna | January 19, 2020 at 05:30 AM
@ See, this is exactly what drives me crazy about Sant Mat. The teaching
@ that the mind can't be trusted and that it has to be "crushed".
I agree... "crushing" the mind is the stuff of madness. But observing
it quietly, slowing down, just being there in the moment, not to wag
a finger, or chase a thousand belled cats being loosed in the mind
...will free us.
If the imagery of plugging the holes in the Maginot Line is too
much, there are plenty of kinder, gentler metaphors. The way
of the Tao, Zen, Rumi. I'm too distracted to think of one. Jen,
Spence... anybody, anybody?
Posted by: Dungeness | January 19, 2020 at 08:21 AM
Hi Arjuna
You asked
"@ spence - would you say that people who write on this blog (myself included) are maniac depressives?"
Yes, a range if mental health issues. What brought us to the path? Fortunately folks have gained some help from different approaches.
It's much more helpful if we have struggled, and gained something, and can share that. Not to say one size fits all, but to say that each of us has a way built in, waiting to be found. It may be a little different for each of us.
Posted by: Spence Tepper | January 19, 2020 at 10:32 AM
It has been said that the only things certain in life are death and taxes. I would add another: things change.
.
When I was younger I welcomed change...finding something new in life. Now at age 80 change is less comfortable.
.
Posted by: Ron Krumpos | January 19, 2020 at 12:07 PM
Hi Dungeness,
Time to stop plugging holes in the Maginot Line, time to stop fighting over the Word and start being the Word.
Posted by: Jen | January 19, 2020 at 01:46 PM
@ spence hello
Thank you. I was wondering that question for a while.
I suffer from sleep paralysis and cant move. It's like my ability to move has been taken away and I sense that I am sinking.
I also note a black shadow in my dreams and I dont think it is good
What are your thoughts and can mediation drive these away?
I value your thoughts and look forward to reading your response. All the best
Posted by: Arjuna | January 19, 2020 at 01:53 PM
@ Arjuna
WIKIPEDIA in different languages is interesting to see where they come up with.
The French version gave in Note 19 this in english:
http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwatarts.uwaterloo.ca%2F~acheyne%2Fprevent.html
Posted by: Um | January 19, 2020 at 03:25 PM
@ Time to stop plugging holes in the Maginot Line, time to stop fighting
@ over the Word and start being the Word.
Who's fighting :) The Maginot Line is our attention. With
mindfulness, we can turn it inside away from strife.
Posted by: Dungeness | January 19, 2020 at 03:38 PM
@Arjuna,
My mother has suffered from sleep paralysis most of her life. I’ve researched it quite a bit but oddly enough it’s one of the hardest things to find information about. Not sure what percentage of the population it affects. But other than that she doesn’t have any issues. She isn’t prone to mood swings—has never suffered from depression or anxiety and has always been a high achiever. She’s very “stable”. She does have synesthesia though. That’s neither good nor bad it’s just really weird. 😆
I have a large extended family and 3 of my girl cousins were diagnosed with bipolar. One shot herself when she was 16 but miraculously she lived. Another overdosed and her lungs collapsed but her husband came home early, found him and called 911. Miraculously she’s alive and happy with her 3 kids and 7 grandkids!
There is always hope and the opportunity to be healed.
You know one of the hallmark traits of bipolar disorder is extreme religiosity. When I worked at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, I worked as assistant to the director of the Stanley Center (our department within the Broad was named after the donors who endowed $100M specifically for gene research in bipolar and schizophrenia which were the department’s primary research areas. Secondary focus was autism and epilepsy. Epilepsy and bipolar have been found to run together in the same families. It’s a strange thing. If you go to epilepsy.org you’ll see that many of the symptoms of partial epilepsy (where you don’t have visible/pronounced seizures) are almost the same as symptoms in people with mood disorders.
Of course, head injuries and trauma can damage the brain and cause it to misfire in certain areas. Happens a lot in athletes and soldiers. But there are also a lot of good treatment options for that.
I know so much about bipolar disorder it’s ridiculous. And yes, I can definitely relate to depression and anxiety.
You should do some research on celebrities with bipolar and/or mood disorders. It’s phenomenal. You will be shocked how many actors and musicians have bipolar and very similar issues. Its almost ridiculous. And in today’s society these famous people are much more open to talking about it. It’s also interesting to see how some of them have coped.
You know, bipolar is a PHENOMENON among the creative and artistic community. Always has been. I could share volumes of resources and tools regardIng this issue. At least, I know how to be happy. I guess that’s what I’m saying. I’m very happy most of the time (I’m just overly expressive and outspoken—but that’s just my personality. I was born that way).
I’ll post some links on open thread that you might find very interesting and helpful.
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 19, 2020 at 04:18 PM
Hi Arjuna
My advice re sleep paralysis is to visit a good general practitioner who might give you both a diagnosis and an appointment with a sleep lab.
It's generally a physiological condition, but it can be affected by how much coffee you drink, how well you sleep, regularity in getting to sleep, depth of sleep, etc.
Everyone's brain shuts off voluntary movement at deeper stages of sleep. It's normal. But it's not normal to be conscious and awake when it happens, unless through meditation, or poor sleep habits, or medication / caffeine your wakefulness is affected.
But like all medical conditions, if after you make effort to get to bed on time, in a restful environment conducive to sleep, you still have this problem, then I suggest a visit to the doctor.
Posted by: Spence Tepper | January 19, 2020 at 04:32 PM
Very short video (a minute) expanding upon the topic of this blog. Inspired by Carl Sagan. https://youtu.be/o8GA2w-qrcg
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 19, 2020 at 05:59 PM
@Arjuna
I’ll post those links about sleep paralysis and BP tomorrow.
But I really believe that the majority of commenters on this blog are not bipolar. Most commenters are very consistent in their writing style and tone.
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 19, 2020 at 08:29 PM
@ Don't leave meditation until you've tasted the bliss.
@ Build your world in partnership with your own Mystic Teacher, and let him
@ show you that the battle field is just a fantasy picture book you are reading
@ to yourself, while sitting in His lap in the most fabulous garden. A place of
@ beauty and peace
One other thing. You're right, the partnership is with the Master.
That partnership, probably better described as an eternal
friendship in my opinion, is stronger than the mind.
But, most of us don't understand friendship at this level. That's
why we're given a toy to keep busy, a "fantasy picture book".
That discipline is necessary in the beginning. Our defenses are
weak. We have to start looking within, observing the "dust" in our
dark room, until we begin to get glimpses of light and that absorbs
us.
Most of us need time to read the fantasy book, to struggle with
the dust, to strengthen. One day we can set the book aside. We
finally see the friend is everything. Our Maginot Line is complete.
Posted by: Dungeness | January 19, 2020 at 11:12 PM
@Sonia wrote:
"" When I worked at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, I worked as assistant to the director of the Stanley Center (our department within the Broad was named after the donors who endowed $100M specifically for gene research in bipolar and schizophrenia ""
Tiny question
Was the following EVER discussed in these high circles :
google:
SSRI school shootings
Each new shooting or evenement where compassion is completely zero and bullets/knives are the "culprits", think
Yes with zero empathy, also zero 4themselves and their family
of course they have no stressssssssssssssss
7
Posted by: 💪🏽 7 💙 7 💪🏽 | January 20, 2020 at 09:25 AM
@777
I googled it and if this report is what you’re referring to: https://www.cchrint.org/pdfs/violence-report.pdf
then just be aware that the CCHRINT (Citizens Commission on Human Rights International) was co-founded by the Church of Scientology and commissioned to write that report. As it is well known, the Church of Scientology has great antipathy towards the psychiatric community.
There are so many kids on antidepressants these days (and even stronger meds than that) that the handful using them who have been involved in school shootings don’t even begin to suggest that there’s a link. These kids had other more serious issues to begin with.
Despite my background and experience, I truly believe that it is possible to heal oneself with the mind alone—by changing your programming. However, I’m also the last person that would ever demonize (I like that word) allopathic medicine.
My stance on suffering is that I’m very much “anti-suffering”. I believe people should be as comfortable and pain free as possible and if that involves using western medicine then allopathic medicine serves a good purpose. One can always transition to treatments with less side effects (because that’s really the main issue with Allopathic vs Naturopathic) when they are strong enough. And eventually, hopefully one could lesson or eliminate the need for medication if they can get to the root cause (psychological) of the disease through psychotherapy or meditation. If not, then medicine is perfectly fine.
Posted by: Sonia Taylor | January 20, 2020 at 01:20 PM
The actuality of death provides an on-going helpful reminder of causality that can inspire a life well lived based in equanimity and kindness. Learning to be comfortable about the inevitability and uncertainty about death, helps to process the natural grieving process of the death of others in a healthy way.
Posted by: Roger | February 02, 2020 at 08:24 PM