Despite some initial technical problems, last night's Samhain sabbat on Ritual Network was a resounding success. It was a major milestone: Ritual Network's first group ritual, first Sabbat, first outdoor ritual. Fraught with challenges which I had not previously faced in my sanctum sanctorum, it was also far more rewarding.
Sky has officially joined Ritual Network as our resident High Priest, and we can't wait to start preparing for Yule. Things will only get better from here. :)
Ritual Network would like to thank Jenny for allowing us the use of her space, Rufus for taking a couple hours out of his busy schedule to make an absolutely amazing Anubis mask, Morgan for her role in the ritual, and everyone who chose to witness. Thank you!
<iframe width="560" height="340" src="http://cdn.livestream.com/embed/ritualnetwork?layout=4&clip=pla_f4e799f6-4d3f-4405-b098-a8e8fe9a355a&height=340&width=560&autoplay=false" style="border:0;outline:0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><div style="font-size: 11px;padding-top:10px;text-align:center;width:560px">Watch <a href="http://www.livestream.com/?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks" title="live streaming video">live streaming video</a> from <a href="http://www.livestream.com/ritualnetwork?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks" title="Watch ritualnetwork at livestream.com">ritualnetwork</a> at livestream.com</div>
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
A True Democracy?
New Idea: I just commented on a couple of political posts on FB, and it occurred to me that perhaps we're trying so hard to fix this broken system that we've missed the fact that it has become obsolete. Once upon a time, it was the best governmental system on Earth for the average citizen. But it has become corrupt, and we will likely never work out all the bugs. The United States currently runs as a Democratic-Republic, meaning that the people vote in officials (Democracy) to make our laws (Republic). This system was chosen because at the time of its inception, it was the best way for the people's voices to be heard. It was impossible to count every vote with any sort of accuracy back then, so for things such as the Presidential election, an electoral college was created. We've already found the limitations in this system and debated lightly about abolishing it. Congress is designed for the same purpose as the electoral college. But now we have the greatest resource ever known to Man: the Internet. With a few clicks, every computer in America is able to access the exact wording of all the bills that are being debated. It's far more difficult to attach self-serving legislation into a proposal if ten million people can call you out on it. However, it would require the people to step up and take responsibility for our own governing, which seems to be the new paradigm anyway. Imagine it: a true democracy that makes laws for itself.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Welcome to Ritual Network!
Ritual Network aims to offer community support to solitary Witches and Pagans, partly by offering live streaming rituals online. This project is under construction, but I hope to have the official webpage up and running very soon!
Ritual Network's Facebook profile is our temporary website, where you can view RitualCasts (click "Livestream" on the left-hand menu) and get updates and notifications, or you can catch us on our Livestream channel.
Ritual Network follows an astrological calendar, so events will not necessarily be at a "convenient" time for any one region. Times are written in 24-hour format.
Event | Pacific Standard | Universal Time | Japanese Time | |||
New Moon | 9/27 | 04:00 | 9/27 | 11:00 | 9/27 | 20:00 |
Full Moon | 10/11 | 19:00 | 10/12 | 02:00 | 10/12 | 11:00 |
New Moon | 10/26 | 12:45 | 10/26 | 19:45 | 10/27 | 04:45 |
*Samhain | 11/01 | 21:00 | 11/02 | 04:00 | 11/02 | 13:00 | |||||
Full Moon | 11/10 | 12:00 | 11/10 | 20:00 | 11/11 | 05:00 |
New Moon | 11/24 | 22:00 | 11/25 | 06:00 | 11/25 | 15:00 |
Full Moon | 12/10 | 06:30 | 12/10 | 14:30 | 12/10 | 22:30 |
*Winter Solstice | 12/21 | 21:15 | 12/22 | 05:15 | 12/22 | 13:15 |
New Moon | 12/24 | 10:00 | 12/24 | 18:00 | 12/25 | 02:00 |
How to make the most of your Ritual Network experience:
- Make arrangements so you won't be disturbed during ritual. Wear ritual garb/jewelry if you like, go Skyclad if you desire. Visualize yourself within the circle I cast, and feel free to cast your own space as well. We meet in a place between the worlds, the bounds of time and space have no hold on our work.
- POV is from the Northern quarter of the circle unless otherwise stated. If possible, arrange your device so you face South.
- Your wand or athame
- Candles- see a table of correspondences for color recommendations (we'll have one soon!)
- Incense
- Matches or a lighter
- Food and drink for Cake and Ale blessing
- Have a stone or crystal on hand to charge with intent
- Individual rituals may have other suggested items.
A simple but effective Altar setup in a confined space.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Respecting children= respecting our future
Being a new mom keeps me very busy, so I don't always have the time to blog, but it certainly has given me a lot of inspiration. My daughter Raelin just turned 5 months old, and every day is full of discovery for her. A few days ago, she found that she can reach her feet and that her toes are interesting to look at. I see dramatic changes in how she interacts with the world almost daily, and it amazes me to no end.
I spend a lot of time lately looking at my earliest memories to more easily understand how Raelin experiences the world. I remember little things, like how when my mother picked me up her hands dug painfully into my armpits. She never realized she was doing this, of course, and in her mind she was being gentle by not squeezing too hard around my chest. So I try to be mindful of those little things.
My parents played a lot of Raffi's music for me as a child, and I wondered whatever happened to him. It turns out that he now runs an organization whose philosophy is as follows:
Child Honouring is a philosophy—a vision, an organizing principle, and a way of life—the children-first way of sustainability.
It starts with three givens:
The essence of the vision is expressed in A Covenant for Honouring Children and its underlying principles.
Its spirit is invitational—a call to imagine and create a diversity of child-friendly cultures. A child-honouring society would show love for its children, and thus for all of us, in every facet of its design and organization.
~*~*~*~*~
Buddha is attributed with saying, "What's done to the children is done to society." I fully agree. I have seen people do or say things to kids that they would never say to another adult, and not even bat an eyelash. I'm not even talking about cases of abuse or anything dramatic, I'm talking about little things, like continuing to carry on a long conversation after a child starts fussing, until it turns into a tantrum. The adult gets angry at the child for "making a scene" and tells them to stop crying at the count of 3, "or else." If someone twice your size told you to do something at the count of 3, "or else," how would you react? The adult has also made it clear that a) the conversation was more important than filling the child's needs right away, b) the opinion of bystanders observing the "scene" is more important than the child making it clear that his needs have not been met, c) that because adults are older and bigger, they have the right to make threats. Little things matter.
One of my greatest passions is the study of comparative mythology/religion. I believe they are all paths to the same goal, and that if you strip away the metaphors and symbols (i.e. anything that has a describable form) the same truths are unearthed.
Matthew 18:3 reads: And [Jesus] said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Buddha said something similar with regards to reaching Enlightenment, and alchemical psychology "processes" past memories to purge the practitioner of "lead". The Egyptian goddess Isis had a throne on one of her headdresses, and her son Horus ruled as a god from her lap. I'll let you interpret all that for yourself. Even if the spiritual mumbo-jumbo is not your cup of tea, it can't hurt to take a trip down memory lane and see what you dig up. You're likely to come out of it all a better person.
I spend a lot of time lately looking at my earliest memories to more easily understand how Raelin experiences the world. I remember little things, like how when my mother picked me up her hands dug painfully into my armpits. She never realized she was doing this, of course, and in her mind she was being gentle by not squeezing too hard around my chest. So I try to be mindful of those little things.
My parents played a lot of Raffi's music for me as a child, and I wondered whatever happened to him. It turns out that he now runs an organization whose philosophy is as follows:
Child Honouring is a philosophy—a vision, an organizing principle, and a way of life—the children-first way of sustainability.
It starts with three givens:
- The primacy of early years—early childhood is the gateway to humane being.
- We face planetary degradation that is unprecedented in scope and scale—a state of emergency that most endangers the very young, and that requires a remedy of equal scale.
- This crisis calls for a systemic response in detoxifying the environments that make up the world of the child.
The essence of the vision is expressed in A Covenant for Honouring Children and its underlying principles.
Its spirit is invitational—a call to imagine and create a diversity of child-friendly cultures. A child-honouring society would show love for its children, and thus for all of us, in every facet of its design and organization.
~*~*~*~*~
Buddha is attributed with saying, "What's done to the children is done to society." I fully agree. I have seen people do or say things to kids that they would never say to another adult, and not even bat an eyelash. I'm not even talking about cases of abuse or anything dramatic, I'm talking about little things, like continuing to carry on a long conversation after a child starts fussing, until it turns into a tantrum. The adult gets angry at the child for "making a scene" and tells them to stop crying at the count of 3, "or else." If someone twice your size told you to do something at the count of 3, "or else," how would you react? The adult has also made it clear that a) the conversation was more important than filling the child's needs right away, b) the opinion of bystanders observing the "scene" is more important than the child making it clear that his needs have not been met, c) that because adults are older and bigger, they have the right to make threats. Little things matter.
One of my greatest passions is the study of comparative mythology/religion. I believe they are all paths to the same goal, and that if you strip away the metaphors and symbols (i.e. anything that has a describable form) the same truths are unearthed.
Matthew 18:3 reads: And [Jesus] said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Buddha said something similar with regards to reaching Enlightenment, and alchemical psychology "processes" past memories to purge the practitioner of "lead". The Egyptian goddess Isis had a throne on one of her headdresses, and her son Horus ruled as a god from her lap. I'll let you interpret all that for yourself. Even if the spiritual mumbo-jumbo is not your cup of tea, it can't hurt to take a trip down memory lane and see what you dig up. You're likely to come out of it all a better person.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Recommended Resources (Will be updated regularly)
Movies:
Pay It Forward
The Secret
What The Bleep Do We Know?
Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Eat, Pray, Love
Books:
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Being In Love by Osho
The Emerald Tablet by Dennis William Hauck
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
Organizations:
The Centre for Child Honouring
Pay It Forward
The Secret
What The Bleep Do We Know?
Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Eat, Pray, Love
Books:
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Being In Love by Osho
The Emerald Tablet by Dennis William Hauck
The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
Organizations:
The Centre for Child Honouring
Quantum Physics and Spirituality
This is a "vintage" blog from my Facebook notes, posted June 24, 2010.
~*~*~*~
I knew for quite some time that quantum physics has proved many ideas familiar to the metaphysical community. Documentaries such as "What the Bleep Do We Know?" and "The Secret" have helped bring these ideas to the scientifically-minded public. Until now, though, I was unfamiliar with this particular writing, and it pleases me greatly. :)
The following is the epilogue of "What is Life?" (1944) by theoretical physicist Erwin Schrodinger, in which he proves both the existence of the Divine and the metaphysical theory of Oneness. Yes, it's a bit of a doozie to read through, but I find it exhilarating!
~*~*~*~
As a reward for the serious trouble I have taken to expound the purely scientific aspects of our problem sine ira et, studio, I beg leave to add my own, necessarily subjective, view of the philosophical implications.
According to the evidence put forward in the preceding pages the space-time events in the body of a living being which correspond to the activity of its mind, to its self-conscious or any other actions, are (considering also their complex structure and the accepted statistical explanation of physico-chemistry) if not strictly deterministic at any rate statistico-deterministic.
But there is a randomness requirement for mind to break the causal chain of determinism
To the physicist I wish to emphasize that in my opinion, and contrary to the opinion upheld in some quarters, quantum indeterminacy plays no biologically relevant role in them, except perhaps by enhancing their purely accidental character in such events as meiosis, natural and X-ray-induced mutation and so on — and this is in any case obvious and well recognized.
For the sake of argument, let me regard this as a fact, as I believe every unbiased biologist would, if there were not the well-known, unpleasant feeling about 'declaring oneself to be a pure mechanism'. For it is deemed to contradict Free Will as warranted by direct introspection. But immediate experiences in themselves, however various and disparate they be, are logically incapable of contradicting each other. So let us see whether we cannot draw the correct, non-contradictory conclusion from the following two premises:
(i) My body functions as a pure mechanism according to the Laws of Nature.
(ii) Yet I know, by incontrovertible direct experience, that I am directing its motions, of which I foresee the effects, that may be fateful and all-important, in which case I feel and take full responsibility for them.
The only possible inference from these two facts is, I think, that I — I in the widest meaning of the word, that is to say, every conscious mind that has ever said or felt 'I' — am the person, if any, who controls the 'motion of the atoms' according to the Laws of Nature. Within a cultural milieu (Kulturkreis) where certain conceptions (which once had or still have a wider meaning amongst other peoples) have been limited and specialized, it is daring to give to this conclusion the simple wording that it requires. In Christian terminology to say: 'Hence I am God Almighty' sounds both blasphemous and lunatic. But please disregard these connotations for the moment and consider whether the above inference is not the closest a biologist can get to proving God and immortality at one stroke.
In itself, the insight is not new. The earliest records to my knowledge date back some 2,500 years or more. From the early great Upanishads the recognition ATHMAN = BRAHMAN (the personal self equals the omnipresent, all-comprehending eternal self) was in Indian thought considered, far from being blasphemous, to represent the quintessence of deepest insight into the happenings of the world. The striving of all the scholars of Vedanta was, after having learnt to pronounce with their lips, really to assimilate in their minds this grandest of all thoughts. Again, the mystics of many centuries, independently, yet in perfect harmony with each other (somewhat like the particles in an ideal gas) have described, each of them, the unique experience of his or her life in terms that can be condensed in the phrase: DEUS FACTUS SUM (I have become God).
To Western ideology the thought has remained a stranger, in spite of Schopenhauer and others who stood for it and in spite of those true lovers who, as they look into each other's eyes, become aware that their thought and their joy are numerically one — not merely similar or identical; but they, as a rule, are emotionally too busy to indulge in clear thinking, in which respect they very much resemble the mystic.
Allow me a few further comments. Consciousness is never experienced in the plural, only in the singular. Even in the pathological cases of split consciousness or double personality the two persons alternate, they are never manifest simultaneously. In a dream we do perform several characters at the same time, but not indiscriminately: we are one of them; in him we act and speak directly, while we often eagerly await the answer or response of another person, unaware of the fact that it is we who control his movements and his speech just as much as our own.
How does the idea of plurality (so emphatically opposed by the Upanishad writers) arise at all? Consciousness finds itself intimately connected with, and dependent on, the physical state of a limited region of matter, the body. (Consider the changes of mind during the development of the body, as puberty, ageing, dotage, etc., or consider the effects of fever, intoxication, narcosis, lesion of the brain and so on.) Now, there is a great plurality of similar bodies. Hence the pluralization of consciousnesses or minds seems a very suggestive hypothesis. Probably all simple, ingenuous people, as well as the great majority of Western philosophers, have accepted it.
It leads almost immediately to the invention of souls, as many as there are bodies, and to the question whether they are mortal as the body is or whether they are immortal and capable of existing by themselves. The former alternative is distasteful, while the latter frankly forgets, ignores or disowns the facts upon which the plurality hypothesis rests. Much sillier questions have been asked: Do animals also have souls? It has even been questioned whether women, or only men, have souls.
Such consequences, even if only tentative, must make us suspicious of the plurality hypothesis, which is common to all official Western creeds. Are we not inclining to much greater nonsense, if in discarding their gross superstitions we retain their naive idea of plurality of souls, but 'remedy' it by declaring the souls to be perishable, to be annihilated with the respective bodies?
The only possible alternative is simply to keep to the immediate experience that consciousness is a singular of which the plural is unknown; that there is only one thing and that what seems to be a plurality is merely a series of different aspects of this one thing, produced by a deception (the Indian MAJA); the same illusion is produced in a gallery of mirrors, and in the same way Gaurisankar and Mt Everest turned out to be the same peak seen from different valleys.
There are, of course, elaborate ghost-stories fixed in our minds to hamper our acceptance of such simple recognition. E.g. it has been said that there is a tree there outside my window but I do not really see the tree. By some cunning device of which only the initial, relatively simple steps are explored, the real tree throws an image of itself into my consciousness, and that is what I perceive. If you stand by my side and look at the same tree, the latter manages to throw an image into your soul as well. I see my tree and you see yours (remarkably like mine), and what the tree in itself is we do not know. For this extravagance Kant is responsible. In the order of ideas which regards consciousness as a singulare tantum it is conveniently replaced by the statement that there is obviously only one tree and all the image business is a ghost-story.
Yet each of us has the indisputable impression that the sum total of his own experience and memory forms a unit, quite distinct from that of any other person. He refers to it as 'I'. What is this 'I?
If you analyse it closely you will, I think, find that it is just a little bit more than a collection of single data (experiences and memories), namely the canvas upon which they are collected. And you will, on close introspection, find that what you really mean by 'I' is that ground-stuff upon which they are collected. You may come to a distant country, lose sight of all your friends, may all but forget them; you acquire new friends, you share life with them as intensely as you ever did with your old ones. Less and less important will become the fact that, while living your new life, you still recollect the old one. 'The youth that was I', you may come to speak of him in the third person, indeed the protagonist of the novel you are reading is probably nearer to your heart, certainly more intensely alive and better known to you. Yet there has been no intermediate break, no death. And even if a skilled hypnotist succeeded in blotting out entirely all your earlier reminiscences, you would not find that he had killed you. In no case is there a loss of personal existence to deplore. Nor will there ever be.
~*~*~*~
I knew for quite some time that quantum physics has proved many ideas familiar to the metaphysical community. Documentaries such as "What the Bleep Do We Know?" and "The Secret" have helped bring these ideas to the scientifically-minded public. Until now, though, I was unfamiliar with this particular writing, and it pleases me greatly. :)
The following is the epilogue of "What is Life?" (1944) by theoretical physicist Erwin Schrodinger, in which he proves both the existence of the Divine and the metaphysical theory of Oneness. Yes, it's a bit of a doozie to read through, but I find it exhilarating!
~*~*~*~
As a reward for the serious trouble I have taken to expound the purely scientific aspects of our problem sine ira et, studio, I beg leave to add my own, necessarily subjective, view of the philosophical implications.
According to the evidence put forward in the preceding pages the space-time events in the body of a living being which correspond to the activity of its mind, to its self-conscious or any other actions, are (considering also their complex structure and the accepted statistical explanation of physico-chemistry) if not strictly deterministic at any rate statistico-deterministic.
But there is a randomness requirement for mind to break the causal chain of determinism
To the physicist I wish to emphasize that in my opinion, and contrary to the opinion upheld in some quarters, quantum indeterminacy plays no biologically relevant role in them, except perhaps by enhancing their purely accidental character in such events as meiosis, natural and X-ray-induced mutation and so on — and this is in any case obvious and well recognized.
For the sake of argument, let me regard this as a fact, as I believe every unbiased biologist would, if there were not the well-known, unpleasant feeling about 'declaring oneself to be a pure mechanism'. For it is deemed to contradict Free Will as warranted by direct introspection. But immediate experiences in themselves, however various and disparate they be, are logically incapable of contradicting each other. So let us see whether we cannot draw the correct, non-contradictory conclusion from the following two premises:
(i) My body functions as a pure mechanism according to the Laws of Nature.
(ii) Yet I know, by incontrovertible direct experience, that I am directing its motions, of which I foresee the effects, that may be fateful and all-important, in which case I feel and take full responsibility for them.
The only possible inference from these two facts is, I think, that I — I in the widest meaning of the word, that is to say, every conscious mind that has ever said or felt 'I' — am the person, if any, who controls the 'motion of the atoms' according to the Laws of Nature. Within a cultural milieu (Kulturkreis) where certain conceptions (which once had or still have a wider meaning amongst other peoples) have been limited and specialized, it is daring to give to this conclusion the simple wording that it requires. In Christian terminology to say: 'Hence I am God Almighty' sounds both blasphemous and lunatic. But please disregard these connotations for the moment and consider whether the above inference is not the closest a biologist can get to proving God and immortality at one stroke.
In itself, the insight is not new. The earliest records to my knowledge date back some 2,500 years or more. From the early great Upanishads the recognition ATHMAN = BRAHMAN (the personal self equals the omnipresent, all-comprehending eternal self) was in Indian thought considered, far from being blasphemous, to represent the quintessence of deepest insight into the happenings of the world. The striving of all the scholars of Vedanta was, after having learnt to pronounce with their lips, really to assimilate in their minds this grandest of all thoughts. Again, the mystics of many centuries, independently, yet in perfect harmony with each other (somewhat like the particles in an ideal gas) have described, each of them, the unique experience of his or her life in terms that can be condensed in the phrase: DEUS FACTUS SUM (I have become God).
To Western ideology the thought has remained a stranger, in spite of Schopenhauer and others who stood for it and in spite of those true lovers who, as they look into each other's eyes, become aware that their thought and their joy are numerically one — not merely similar or identical; but they, as a rule, are emotionally too busy to indulge in clear thinking, in which respect they very much resemble the mystic.
Allow me a few further comments. Consciousness is never experienced in the plural, only in the singular. Even in the pathological cases of split consciousness or double personality the two persons alternate, they are never manifest simultaneously. In a dream we do perform several characters at the same time, but not indiscriminately: we are one of them; in him we act and speak directly, while we often eagerly await the answer or response of another person, unaware of the fact that it is we who control his movements and his speech just as much as our own.
How does the idea of plurality (so emphatically opposed by the Upanishad writers) arise at all? Consciousness finds itself intimately connected with, and dependent on, the physical state of a limited region of matter, the body. (Consider the changes of mind during the development of the body, as puberty, ageing, dotage, etc., or consider the effects of fever, intoxication, narcosis, lesion of the brain and so on.) Now, there is a great plurality of similar bodies. Hence the pluralization of consciousnesses or minds seems a very suggestive hypothesis. Probably all simple, ingenuous people, as well as the great majority of Western philosophers, have accepted it.
It leads almost immediately to the invention of souls, as many as there are bodies, and to the question whether they are mortal as the body is or whether they are immortal and capable of existing by themselves. The former alternative is distasteful, while the latter frankly forgets, ignores or disowns the facts upon which the plurality hypothesis rests. Much sillier questions have been asked: Do animals also have souls? It has even been questioned whether women, or only men, have souls.
Such consequences, even if only tentative, must make us suspicious of the plurality hypothesis, which is common to all official Western creeds. Are we not inclining to much greater nonsense, if in discarding their gross superstitions we retain their naive idea of plurality of souls, but 'remedy' it by declaring the souls to be perishable, to be annihilated with the respective bodies?
The only possible alternative is simply to keep to the immediate experience that consciousness is a singular of which the plural is unknown; that there is only one thing and that what seems to be a plurality is merely a series of different aspects of this one thing, produced by a deception (the Indian MAJA); the same illusion is produced in a gallery of mirrors, and in the same way Gaurisankar and Mt Everest turned out to be the same peak seen from different valleys.
There are, of course, elaborate ghost-stories fixed in our minds to hamper our acceptance of such simple recognition. E.g. it has been said that there is a tree there outside my window but I do not really see the tree. By some cunning device of which only the initial, relatively simple steps are explored, the real tree throws an image of itself into my consciousness, and that is what I perceive. If you stand by my side and look at the same tree, the latter manages to throw an image into your soul as well. I see my tree and you see yours (remarkably like mine), and what the tree in itself is we do not know. For this extravagance Kant is responsible. In the order of ideas which regards consciousness as a singulare tantum it is conveniently replaced by the statement that there is obviously only one tree and all the image business is a ghost-story.
Yet each of us has the indisputable impression that the sum total of his own experience and memory forms a unit, quite distinct from that of any other person. He refers to it as 'I'. What is this 'I?
If you analyse it closely you will, I think, find that it is just a little bit more than a collection of single data (experiences and memories), namely the canvas upon which they are collected. And you will, on close introspection, find that what you really mean by 'I' is that ground-stuff upon which they are collected. You may come to a distant country, lose sight of all your friends, may all but forget them; you acquire new friends, you share life with them as intensely as you ever did with your old ones. Less and less important will become the fact that, while living your new life, you still recollect the old one. 'The youth that was I', you may come to speak of him in the third person, indeed the protagonist of the novel you are reading is probably nearer to your heart, certainly more intensely alive and better known to you. Yet there has been no intermediate break, no death. And even if a skilled hypnotist succeeded in blotting out entirely all your earlier reminiscences, you would not find that he had killed you. In no case is there a loss of personal existence to deplore. Nor will there ever be.
Countering Stress and Depression, by the Dalai Lama
Hi all, just reposting this so I always have a copy of it. A big Thank You to the Dalai Lama- beautifully written!
Countering Stress and Depression
by Dalai Lama on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 2:25am
At a fundamental level, as human beings, we are all the same; each one of us aspires to happiness and each one of us does not wish to suffer. This is why, whenever I have the opportunity, I try to draw people's attention to what as members of the human family we have in common and the deeply interconnected nature of our existence and welfare.
Today, there is increasing recognition, as well as a growing body of scientific evidence, that confirms the close connection between our own states of mind and our happiness. On the one hand, many of us live in societies that are very developed materially, yet among us are many people who are not very happy. Just underneath the beautiful surface of affluence there is a kind of mental unrest, leading to frustration, unnecessary quarrels, reliance on drugs or alcohol, and in the worst case, suicide. There is no guarantee that wealth alone can give you the joy or fulfilment that you seek. The same can be said of your friends too. When you are in an intense state of anger or hatred, even a very close friend appears to you as somehow frosty, or cold, distant, and annoying.
However, as human beings we are gifted with this wonderful human intelligence. Besides that, all human beings have the capacity to be very determined and to direct that strong sense of determination in whatever direction they like. So long as we remember that we have this marvellous gift of human intelligence and a capacity to develop determination and use it in positive ways, we will preserve our underlying mental health. Realizing we have this great human potential gives us a fundamental strength. This recognition can act as a mechanism that enables us to deal with any difficulty, no matter what situation we are facing, without losing hope or sinking into feelings of low self-esteem.
I write this as someone who lost his freedom at the age of 16, then lost his country at the age of 24. Consequently, I have lived in exile for more than 50 years during which we Tibetans have dedicated ourselves to keeping the Tibetan identity alive and preserving our culture and values. On most days the news from Tibet is heartbreaking, and yet none of these challenges gives grounds for giving up. One of the approaches that I personally find useful is to cultivate the thought: If the situation or problem is such that it can be remedied, then there is no need to worry about it. In other words, if there is a solution or a way out of the difficulty, you do not need to be overwhelmed by it. The appropriate action is to seek its solution. Then it is clearly more sensible to spend your energy focussing on the solution rather than worrying about the problem. Alternatively, if there is no solution, no possibility of resolution, then there is also no point in being worried about it, because you cannot do anything about it anyway. In that case, the sooner you accept this fact, the easier it will be for you. This formula, of course, implies directly confronting the problem and taking a realistic view. Otherwise you will be unable to find out whether or not there is a resolution to the problem
Taking a realistic view and cultivating a proper motivation can also shield you against feelings of fear and anxiety. If you develop a pure and sincere motivation, if you are motivated by a wish to help on the basis of kindness, compassion, and respect, then you can carry on any kind of work, in any field, and function more effectively with less fear or worry, not being afraid of what others think or whether you ultimately will be successful in reaching your goal. Even if you fail to achieve your goal, you can feel good about having made the effort. But with a bad motivation, people can praise you or you can achieve goals, but you still will not be happy.
Again, we may sometimes feel that our whole lives are unsatisfactory, we feel on the point of being overwhelmed by the difficulties that confront us. This happens to us all in varying degrees from time to time. When this occurs, it is vital that we make every effort to find a way of lifting our spirits. We can do this by recollecting our good fortune. We may, for example, be loved by someone; we may have certain talents; we may have received a good education; we may have our basic needs provided for - food to eat, clothes to wear, somewhere to live - we may have performed certain altruistic deeds in the past. We must take into consideration even the slightest positive aspect of our lives. For if we fail to find some way of uplifting ourselves, there is every danger of sinking further into our sense of powerlessness. This can lead us to believe that we have no capacity for doing good whatsoever. Thus we create the conditions of despair itself.
As a Buddhist monk I have learned that what principally upsets our inner peace is what we call disturbing emotions. All those thoughts, emotions, and mental events which reflect a negative or uncompassionate state of mind inevitably undermine our experience of inner peace. All our negative thoughts and emotions - such as hatred, anger, pride, lust, greed, envy, and so on - are considered to be sources of difficulty, to be disturbing. Negative thoughts and emotions are what obstruct our most basic aspiration - to be happy and to avoid suffering. When we act under their influence, we become oblivious to the impact our actions have on others: they are thus the cause of our destructive behaviour both toward others and to ourselves. Murder, scandal, and deceit all have their origin in disturbing emotions.
This inevitably gives rise to the question - can we train the mind? There are many methods by which to do this. Among these, in the Buddhist tradition, is a special instruction called mind training, which focuses on cultivating concern for others and turning adversity to advantage. It is this pattern of thought, transforming problems into happiness that has enabled the Tibetan people to maintain their dignity and spirit in the face of great difficulties. Indeed I have found this advice of great practical benefit in my own life.
A great Tibetan teacher of mind training once remarked that one of the mind’s most marvellous qualities is that it can be transformed. I have no doubt that those who attempt to transform their minds, overcome their disturbing emotions and achieve a sense of inner peace, will, over a period of time, notice a change in their mental attitudes and responses to people and events. Their minds will become more disciplined and positive. And I am sure they will find their own sense of happiness grow as they contribute to the greater happiness of others. I offer my prayers that everyone who makes this their goal will be blessed with success.
The Dalai Lama
December 31, 2010
Published in the Hindustan Times, India, on January 3rd, 2011
Countering Stress and Depression
by Dalai Lama on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 2:25am
At a fundamental level, as human beings, we are all the same; each one of us aspires to happiness and each one of us does not wish to suffer. This is why, whenever I have the opportunity, I try to draw people's attention to what as members of the human family we have in common and the deeply interconnected nature of our existence and welfare.
Today, there is increasing recognition, as well as a growing body of scientific evidence, that confirms the close connection between our own states of mind and our happiness. On the one hand, many of us live in societies that are very developed materially, yet among us are many people who are not very happy. Just underneath the beautiful surface of affluence there is a kind of mental unrest, leading to frustration, unnecessary quarrels, reliance on drugs or alcohol, and in the worst case, suicide. There is no guarantee that wealth alone can give you the joy or fulfilment that you seek. The same can be said of your friends too. When you are in an intense state of anger or hatred, even a very close friend appears to you as somehow frosty, or cold, distant, and annoying.
However, as human beings we are gifted with this wonderful human intelligence. Besides that, all human beings have the capacity to be very determined and to direct that strong sense of determination in whatever direction they like. So long as we remember that we have this marvellous gift of human intelligence and a capacity to develop determination and use it in positive ways, we will preserve our underlying mental health. Realizing we have this great human potential gives us a fundamental strength. This recognition can act as a mechanism that enables us to deal with any difficulty, no matter what situation we are facing, without losing hope or sinking into feelings of low self-esteem.
I write this as someone who lost his freedom at the age of 16, then lost his country at the age of 24. Consequently, I have lived in exile for more than 50 years during which we Tibetans have dedicated ourselves to keeping the Tibetan identity alive and preserving our culture and values. On most days the news from Tibet is heartbreaking, and yet none of these challenges gives grounds for giving up. One of the approaches that I personally find useful is to cultivate the thought: If the situation or problem is such that it can be remedied, then there is no need to worry about it. In other words, if there is a solution or a way out of the difficulty, you do not need to be overwhelmed by it. The appropriate action is to seek its solution. Then it is clearly more sensible to spend your energy focussing on the solution rather than worrying about the problem. Alternatively, if there is no solution, no possibility of resolution, then there is also no point in being worried about it, because you cannot do anything about it anyway. In that case, the sooner you accept this fact, the easier it will be for you. This formula, of course, implies directly confronting the problem and taking a realistic view. Otherwise you will be unable to find out whether or not there is a resolution to the problem
Taking a realistic view and cultivating a proper motivation can also shield you against feelings of fear and anxiety. If you develop a pure and sincere motivation, if you are motivated by a wish to help on the basis of kindness, compassion, and respect, then you can carry on any kind of work, in any field, and function more effectively with less fear or worry, not being afraid of what others think or whether you ultimately will be successful in reaching your goal. Even if you fail to achieve your goal, you can feel good about having made the effort. But with a bad motivation, people can praise you or you can achieve goals, but you still will not be happy.
Again, we may sometimes feel that our whole lives are unsatisfactory, we feel on the point of being overwhelmed by the difficulties that confront us. This happens to us all in varying degrees from time to time. When this occurs, it is vital that we make every effort to find a way of lifting our spirits. We can do this by recollecting our good fortune. We may, for example, be loved by someone; we may have certain talents; we may have received a good education; we may have our basic needs provided for - food to eat, clothes to wear, somewhere to live - we may have performed certain altruistic deeds in the past. We must take into consideration even the slightest positive aspect of our lives. For if we fail to find some way of uplifting ourselves, there is every danger of sinking further into our sense of powerlessness. This can lead us to believe that we have no capacity for doing good whatsoever. Thus we create the conditions of despair itself.
As a Buddhist monk I have learned that what principally upsets our inner peace is what we call disturbing emotions. All those thoughts, emotions, and mental events which reflect a negative or uncompassionate state of mind inevitably undermine our experience of inner peace. All our negative thoughts and emotions - such as hatred, anger, pride, lust, greed, envy, and so on - are considered to be sources of difficulty, to be disturbing. Negative thoughts and emotions are what obstruct our most basic aspiration - to be happy and to avoid suffering. When we act under their influence, we become oblivious to the impact our actions have on others: they are thus the cause of our destructive behaviour both toward others and to ourselves. Murder, scandal, and deceit all have their origin in disturbing emotions.
This inevitably gives rise to the question - can we train the mind? There are many methods by which to do this. Among these, in the Buddhist tradition, is a special instruction called mind training, which focuses on cultivating concern for others and turning adversity to advantage. It is this pattern of thought, transforming problems into happiness that has enabled the Tibetan people to maintain their dignity and spirit in the face of great difficulties. Indeed I have found this advice of great practical benefit in my own life.
A great Tibetan teacher of mind training once remarked that one of the mind’s most marvellous qualities is that it can be transformed. I have no doubt that those who attempt to transform their minds, overcome their disturbing emotions and achieve a sense of inner peace, will, over a period of time, notice a change in their mental attitudes and responses to people and events. Their minds will become more disciplined and positive. And I am sure they will find their own sense of happiness grow as they contribute to the greater happiness of others. I offer my prayers that everyone who makes this their goal will be blessed with success.
The Dalai Lama
December 31, 2010
Published in the Hindustan Times, India, on January 3rd, 2011
An Introduction
The world is on the threshold of dramatic change, and this blog is dedicated to bringing people together to make that change happen for the better. While there may be some political commentary, I mostly want to focus on social, spiritual, and personal changes: the things we deal with in our every day lives. I want to discuss what history has to teach us, so we don't make the same mistakes. There will also be some of my own personal ramblings, you never know what they will be.
A big argument I hear coming is that there are 7 billion people in the world, so how much of a difference can 1 person make? For this we have to go back to what we learned as children: It’s a small world, after all. And it’s getting smaller. It may not be “Six Degrees of Separation” exactly, but social networking sites allow us be in contact with hundreds or thousands of individuals around the world each day. Lead by example. There are important politics going on right now; the Internet allows us to keep up with how proposed laws will affect YOU, and it’s easier than ever before to contact your congress people to vote on laws. It is their constitutional duty to honor the voice of the people.
My goal is to never be preachy or aggressive about issues, but to present my thoughts for consideration. I encourage everyone to research the topics that affect or interest them and to make their own informed decisions. Encourage others to do the same. And don’t be part of the problem by passing on information without checking your facts or pressure others to accept your beliefs.
To help set the mood, I recommend the movie Pay It Forward. It's on Netflicks instant play. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)