Chances are you've heard of this one Mythic story (and there are many more like it). It starts with an eternal and noble soul in this SELF-made garden paradise (right away creativity and expression establish the psychic norm of All is ONE). ONE time (even though there wasn't a concept of time yet) the eternal being was walking in the garden (in a sensory yet unconscious Relationship with its own image) when All is ONE transformed into a concept - All ONE - and then into an experience - Alone (probably not possible for eternal beings but the story, like all "otherness," has its own purpose). In response to this Aloneness (the original glimpse of consciousness) the eternal being followed its creative, expressive nature and made a second eternal being (out of some sort of garden material), again in its own image. So now the garden had a significant "other" to relate to the next time ONE came to visit.
Out of the ONE comes Two. Two, however, soon needed something to do (the seeds of Calling were already present) and so was given the task of naming All the "otherness" in the garden. Two was also given the privilege of using the "otherness" of the eternal garden (of course this "use" meant the killing and eating of the "otherness" but there isn't conscious differentiation of Life or Death or Need in eternity so it wasn't a psychological dilemma). After Two finished naming All, which took an eternity, All One again transformed into Alone (the incessant stirrings of consciousness). So Two goes to ONE and says, "Hey, everything in the garden here is really nice and convenient and well-cared for but something's missing." ONE thought this over for an eternity. ONE knew that up to now All was still unconsciously ONE. But ONE also knew all about, and even predicted, Two's experience of the Alone transformation.
ONE smiled in a peculiar way and then, out of different (as yet undifferentiated) garden material, created a third eternal "other." ONE knew the timeless truth that out of ONE comes Two; out of Two comes Three; out of Three comes all things - consciousness. Of course, it wasn't long before Three's Calling and Internity sensed and acted upon conscious discovery, expression and connection with ONE. And ONE knew from the beginning that Three would choose the genuine purpose of walking the Hero's path. ONE also knew that Three would consider hanging around in the eternal garden utterly meaningless. That knowledge was behind ONE's peculiar smile. That smile expressed ONE's eternal Love as Three said "YES" to consciousness and "YES" to Being Human and "YES" to a life-long relationship with Creation.
In this way Three's consciousness brought Divine Relationship into the world. Three then began to differentiate the Potential and mysterious duality of All Life. Three's consciousness learned to honor the original sacredness of All that was revealed in the garden. Three's consciousness of time and space impelled projections and introjections of sorrow and joy and fear and desire in the Experience of being alive. Three courageously said "YES!" to Death because to do so made Perceptions of Life possible. Without Three's consciousness ONE and Two would still be All ONE and Alone in the unconsciousness of the eternal garden.
This Myth, of course, corresponds to the unconscious symbiotic union we all experience at the beginning of Life. The garden story describes the psychological birth of Being Human. The garden story, as a living Myth, is about bringing ONE's divinity - the images, energies and emotions - to full symbolic consciousness of and atonement with individual and collective Life. Anything less than Mythic interpretation of this garden story is madness and puts the soul's nobility at odds with circumstances - All ONE's Divine Relationships.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
From Here to Internity
Myth-making is an ancient human endeavor. (To really understand the important story of Myth-making one needs to study Joseph Campbell's work for about 80 years. I only have 56 years remaining in my own studies!) Jung refers to myth as one of the earliest forms of science. Myth-making, after all, is the discovery, expression of, connection with, and attempt to find meaning in the fact that every single one of nature's species-specific phenomena are pushed to be and live. (Consider a blade of grass pushing through the pavement.) This Calling to life reveals and reflects how the internal and external potentialities of all nature are in a cyclical life-death-rebirth participation with the power of nature. In other words, the life of nature and the nature of life contain relationships that demand specific tasks of consciousness and fulfillment from every organism, whether a single cell creature or complex human being. As I understand it, the scientific and mythological task of "Being Human" then is to consciously acknowledge the sacred life-death-rebirth story contained within all of nature's relationships. In the words of Joseph Campbell, Myth-making is the capacity and intention "to wonder, at once terrible and fascinating, of ourselves and of the universe."
My conviction holds that "to wonder" about ourselves and the universe is a process of always going forth from, and returning back to, Internity. In the beginning, as newborn unconscious potential, our sensory systems go forth as projections and return as introjections. With every projection and introjection cycle one's Internity finds an expanding relationship to image and a new experience of energy and emotion. Each time this cycle occurs there is a centering of consciousness within the newborn. With each centering of consciousness the seed of ego takes root within Internity. Sometime late in the first year of life the ego begins to consciously differentiate between the perceptions of self and otherness. Around two years-old the ego begins to consistently declare, "I Am!" The ego's consciousness of images, energies and emotions then goes through the innumerable physiological, psychological, social, mental, emotional and spiritual transformations of an individual lifetime. And every transformation is a symbolic microcosm of the terrible and fascinating life-death-rebirth relationships that we each share with the universe. Mythically speaking, the story of consciousness demands the ego's declarations of "I Am!" but must also involve movement toward discoveries of the deeper SELF (the unconscious). From Here to Internity, therefore, always includes some level of both conscious and unconscious processes as we all go forth from and return back to wonder.
The PBS series with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell called "The Power of Myth" starts with these words spoken by Joseph Campbell. I don't know if it's his poem or not but for me it sums up part of what I'm trying to write about in this blog.
"We have not even to risk the adventure alone
for the heroes of all time have gone before us.
The labyrinth is thoroughly known.
We have only to follow the thread of the hero path.
And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god.
And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves.
And where we had thought to travel outward,
we shall come to the center of our own existence.
And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world."
The adventure is Here and Now and it's ours alone. Truly following bliss, "the thread of the hero path," is not all happy-go-lucky or fun and games but if it's a genuine Calling it is the right path. One's ego, which is often emotionally unstable (more on that later), too often "thinks" the symbolic labyrinth is filled only with dark and scary threats to its own limited existence - the Minotaur. But, as the words above say, if the conditioned ego will heroically risk the experience of self for the genuine adventure of SELF what's found is "the center of our own existence" - Internity.
My conviction holds that "to wonder" about ourselves and the universe is a process of always going forth from, and returning back to, Internity. In the beginning, as newborn unconscious potential, our sensory systems go forth as projections and return as introjections. With every projection and introjection cycle one's Internity finds an expanding relationship to image and a new experience of energy and emotion. Each time this cycle occurs there is a centering of consciousness within the newborn. With each centering of consciousness the seed of ego takes root within Internity. Sometime late in the first year of life the ego begins to consciously differentiate between the perceptions of self and otherness. Around two years-old the ego begins to consistently declare, "I Am!" The ego's consciousness of images, energies and emotions then goes through the innumerable physiological, psychological, social, mental, emotional and spiritual transformations of an individual lifetime. And every transformation is a symbolic microcosm of the terrible and fascinating life-death-rebirth relationships that we each share with the universe. Mythically speaking, the story of consciousness demands the ego's declarations of "I Am!" but must also involve movement toward discoveries of the deeper SELF (the unconscious). From Here to Internity, therefore, always includes some level of both conscious and unconscious processes as we all go forth from and return back to wonder.
The PBS series with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell called "The Power of Myth" starts with these words spoken by Joseph Campbell. I don't know if it's his poem or not but for me it sums up part of what I'm trying to write about in this blog.
"We have not even to risk the adventure alone
for the heroes of all time have gone before us.
The labyrinth is thoroughly known.
We have only to follow the thread of the hero path.
And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god.
And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves.
And where we had thought to travel outward,
we shall come to the center of our own existence.
And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world."
The adventure is Here and Now and it's ours alone. Truly following bliss, "the thread of the hero path," is not all happy-go-lucky or fun and games but if it's a genuine Calling it is the right path. One's ego, which is often emotionally unstable (more on that later), too often "thinks" the symbolic labyrinth is filled only with dark and scary threats to its own limited existence - the Minotaur. But, as the words above say, if the conditioned ego will heroically risk the experience of self for the genuine adventure of SELF what's found is "the center of our own existence" - Internity.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Myth
I think the word "myth" is too often used to describe a falsehood, a fantasy, an untruth. Misunderstanding and misusing the word that addresses the most fundamental discoveries, expressions, connections and meanings of life is one of our first clues to the limited and limiting human condition these days. But the words falsehood, fantasy and untruth only describe the death of myth. The truths of a living myth are intense revelations and reflections of divine image.
I've learned how to conceive of a living myth from several different sources. They each describe the power of myth as clues to our deepest potential; as our souls and bodies being composed of individual elements which were already present in the ranks of our ancestors; as turning inward and getting the message of the symbols; as the natural and indispensable intermediate stage of cognition between conscious (ego) and the collective unconscious (the deeper SELF); as opening our eyes to the kingdom spread-out before us; as the center being everywhere; as always and everywhere having a divine link with the infinite Guest we often call soul; as embodying an essential and finding meaning in life via what we each already embody; as welcoming the sacrifice; as a way to make sure that beyond our deaths we leave behind psychological remains that continue to serve love; as kindling a light in the darkness of mere being; as becoming fully human in this spiritual experience of being alive. Myth is an attempt to describe the divine image within each one of us and surrounding each one of us; to realize (make real) and then bring forth one's genuine discoveries of potential, expressions of relationship, connections to experience and meaningful perceptions of it all; to find atonement (at-one-ment) between conscious information and the daily glimpses of the collective unconscious; to give form and the power of transformation to our most natural ability - imagination.
In this age, however, I think we've lost the necessary imagination for how a living and meaningful myth guides us in our daily psychological birth. Sure, we have all kinds of religions that are founded on myth. But too often religion becomes rigidly dogmatic and is then utilized to judge and justify beliefs and behaviors relative to some exclusive after-life instead of guiding the relationships to all life right Now. I also think the historical and collective practices of too many religions have resulted in the sacred mysteries of the Earth being viciously reduced to expendable resources in a manipulative "holier than thou" quest to carry-out delusions of the "chosen" group. Add to this the reality that the Earth is no longer the center of the solar system and much more ancient than many religions want to believe. This scientific fact coupled with the lack of a living myth threatens to psychologically reduce our planet and the experience of being alive to mere interstellar good luck in an ever expanding cosmos. And this boxed-in psychological perspective then leans perilously close to completely denying the relationships that define our role as stewards of the Earth's consciousness. Consequently, without a living myth the spirit of the age has mostly failed to move beyond the poverty of dependence and independence toward more responsible and sustainable realities of interdependence and intra-dependence (Internity). The externally focused egotistical pedagogy of it all then becomes even more rooted in oppression, addiction, trauma and shame while righteously running-off at the mouth and tripping over the emotional baggage between its legs. Without a meaningful and living myth our psychological birth becomes instead a chronic limitation of human potential, relationship, experience and perception. Without the divine revelations of a living myth the discoveries, expressions, connections and meaning of "How I Am: Being Human" forget how to look beyond the symbols, losing the beauty and intensity of our most important gift - imagination.
I think the poet Kabir says it best:
To be a Slave of Intensity
Friend, hope for the guest while you are alive.
Jump into experience while you are alive!
Think...and think...while you are alive.
What you call 'salvation' belongs to the time before death.
If you don't break your ropes while you're alive,
do you think
ghosts will do it after?
The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
Just because the body is rotten -
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing now,
you will simply end up with an apartment in the City of Death.
If you make love with the divine now, in the next life you will have the face of satisfied desire.
So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is,
Believe in the Great Sound!
Kabir says this: When the guest is being searched for, it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest that does all the work.
Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.
Jump into experience while you are alive!
Think...and think...while you are alive.
What you call 'salvation' belongs to the time before death.
If you don't break your ropes while you're alive,
do you think
ghosts will do it after?
The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
Just because the body is rotten -
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing now,
you will simply end up with an apartment in the City of Death.
If you make love with the divine now, in the next life you will have the face of satisfied desire.
So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is,
Believe in the Great Sound!
Kabir says this: When the guest is being searched for, it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest that does all the work.
Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Sensational
Let's be sensible here. What's the sense? To come to our senses. Sensate focus. Sensory deprivation. Enough of this nonsense! Trust your senses. A sense of time and place and home. Sensing vibe. Sensing danger. Beyond sense. Common sense. Sixth sense. Senseless. Good sense. A sense of direction. A sense of humor. A sense of well-being. Making sense. I'm sure we can all think of many more variations of the word "sense" because we each have a sense for what it means. And as obvious and important as the five physiological senses are - seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching (there are many more, too) - it's also obvious that the process of sensing includes far more than physiology. The Internity of "How I Am: Being Human," (discoveries of potential, expressions of relationship, connections to experience and the meanings of perception) is sometimes painful, sometimes pleasurable, always purposeful and without a doubt - sensational.
Today Internity has me wondering about sensory deprivation tanks, meditation and dream states. All of those experiences diminish the importance and functional norm of physiological sensations. And without the stimulation of our time-space senses it seems that consciousness would also become unstimulated and therefore diminished. But the opposite is true! Sensory deprivation tanks, meditation and dream experiences dissociate from "known" sensations and usually enhance consciousness, oftentimes including images and symbols that one has never "seen" or other stimuli one can't possibly know through memory and has no clue how to interpret or associate or respond to (i.e., hallucinations). I think these phenomena are best described as the return of consciousness to its original source - the ancient and ever-present collective unconscious (thank you Dr. Jung).
Which brings me back to thinking about Internity and a baby suspended in the earliest sensory deprivation tank, mediation and dream state - the womb. For me there is no convincing argument against the fact that the baby is having powerful sensations via the symbiotic union with mother's energies and emotions (which, of course, are in conscious and unconscious relationship with otherness). And because the baby's ego consciousness (differentiations, attachments, identity, personal memories and dissociations, etc.) is still only a seed of possibility while in the womb and for several months after birth, I think it's likely that the baby is also experiencing sensational images of the collective unconscious that have yet to be seen and can't possibly be known, interpreted, associated or responded to.
Therefore, my claim throughout this entire writing effort is that one's Internity, from the first sensations to the last, is both an a priori concoction of images, energies, emotions and symbols as well as an experiential condition of ego differentiations, attachments, identifications, personal memories and dissociations. And it all comes from and returns to the original source - an ancient and ever-present flow of the collective unconscious. In this blog I intend to consistently address Internity as a total reality of potential, relationship, experience and perception while also discovering, expressing, connecting and finding meaning in how the purposes of "How I Am: Being Human" are both consciously and unconsciously sensational.
Today Internity has me wondering about sensory deprivation tanks, meditation and dream states. All of those experiences diminish the importance and functional norm of physiological sensations. And without the stimulation of our time-space senses it seems that consciousness would also become unstimulated and therefore diminished. But the opposite is true! Sensory deprivation tanks, meditation and dream experiences dissociate from "known" sensations and usually enhance consciousness, oftentimes including images and symbols that one has never "seen" or other stimuli one can't possibly know through memory and has no clue how to interpret or associate or respond to (i.e., hallucinations). I think these phenomena are best described as the return of consciousness to its original source - the ancient and ever-present collective unconscious (thank you Dr. Jung).
Which brings me back to thinking about Internity and a baby suspended in the earliest sensory deprivation tank, mediation and dream state - the womb. For me there is no convincing argument against the fact that the baby is having powerful sensations via the symbiotic union with mother's energies and emotions (which, of course, are in conscious and unconscious relationship with otherness). And because the baby's ego consciousness (differentiations, attachments, identity, personal memories and dissociations, etc.) is still only a seed of possibility while in the womb and for several months after birth, I think it's likely that the baby is also experiencing sensational images of the collective unconscious that have yet to be seen and can't possibly be known, interpreted, associated or responded to.
Therefore, my claim throughout this entire writing effort is that one's Internity, from the first sensations to the last, is both an a priori concoction of images, energies, emotions and symbols as well as an experiential condition of ego differentiations, attachments, identifications, personal memories and dissociations. And it all comes from and returns to the original source - an ancient and ever-present flow of the collective unconscious. In this blog I intend to consistently address Internity as a total reality of potential, relationship, experience and perception while also discovering, expressing, connecting and finding meaning in how the purposes of "How I Am: Being Human" are both consciously and unconsciously sensational.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Internity
In my first post I propose that the greeting "How are you?" is both an acknowledgement of separate egos but also a deeper and unconscious connection, personal and collective, attempting to break through to consciousness. In my second post I stay with the idea of deeper connections and adhere to the philosophy that no one is born who isn't called first. My third post is focused on the destructive behavior of zombies ( the effects of oppression, addiction, trauma and shame on potential, relationships, experiences and perceptions). My most recent effort touches on how waking-up to the miraculous connectedness of it all (biology) and the ego's separation of it all (ideology) both demand a comprehensive evaluation of how Freedom and Responsibility mirror each other throughout one's nature, nurture and Spiritual Health. In this post my claim is that every single aspect of "How I Am: Being Human" originates from and returns to one's Internity - the discoveries, expressions, connections and created meanings of life.
My sense of Internity is based on this idea: All behavior is purposeful and internally motivated. I throw this idea out there all the time (which, of course, is purposeful) and the usual responses run the gamut from "I totally agree" to "Well... um, all behavior?" or, "No way! Why in the world...? How do you explain...?" and so on and so forth. The idea, however, isn't claiming that all purposeful behavior is well thought-out, or useful, or effective, or safe, or kind, or healthy, or awake, or even a function of ego-consciousness. The claim is simply that the feelings/values and beliefs/thinking patterns of behavior are informed by the content of one's emotional core and though not always conscious, it is always purposeful. And although the "internally motivated" part of the idea implies conscious choice it's obvious that the consciousness of "How I Am: Being Human" is sometimes inspired, sometimes routine, sometimes completely unexamined and sometimes reduced to instinct. No matter how the idea is thought about by others (which, of course, is also purposeful), my conviction remains firm. The discoveries, expressions, connections and meaning of all potential, relationships, experiences and perceptions, in every moment - the eternal NOW - are responded to with, and simultaneously created by, the internally motivated and purposeful behavior of one's Internity.
The biological and psychological birth of one's Internity is pure potential, a dream-like calling filled with undifferentiated images, instinctual energies and powerful emotions. As I've said before, simply holding a baby creates an awareness - personal and collective - of potential, relationships, experiences and perceptions. (Those who don't dare hold a baby are also exhibiting internally motivated purposeful behavior.) And because the conscious separations of ego are still only a seed of potential the baby is in a full participation (participation mystique) with the collective unconscious of "Being Human" (i.e., the psychological vibe within and without the baby). The psychological birth of one's Internity began while still in the womb as a symbiotic union with the energies and emotions of the mother. Once born into this world those energies and emotions take on a whole new dimension with the addition of sensory images as one's Internity begins it's struggle toward ego-consciousness. The potential at this point is composed of unfathomable yet purposeful projections and introjections ("It's not what the eye sees, but what catches the eye that matters"). In essence, one's biology, psychological birth (ego) and the experience of being alive are set on a fateful trajectory with these first relationships, experiences and perceptions. As time marches onward the Internity of the baby will grow into a complex of discoveries, expressions, connections and meaning (schemas), all revealed and reflected via the callings and conditionings of internally motivated purposeful behavior.
To close-out this post I present the (corny) diagram below (I'm no graphic artist) to give some more specific ideas as they relate to Internity. As you can see the emotional core is enveloped by these energies: To Have,To Feel, To Act, To Love, To Speak and Be Heard, To See and To Know (Yes, the Chakras). In the beginning, most every healthy baby's Internity is impelled by the purely emotional survival energies of To Have, To Feel and To Act. From this point onward the formation of the baby's physiological, psychological and sociological energies and emotions - healthy and unhealthy - relies almost entirely on how those first collective, yet still unconscious relationships, (ideally the mother, the father and the rest of the family), respond to the demands To Have, To Feel and To Act. And even though the discoveries, expressions, connections and (primitive) meanings of the baby are unconscious and in a symbiotic union with all of the collective relationships, the whole process is nevertheless impelled toward the necessary awakening and conscious separations of ego. The ego, "How I Am," then continues with the internally motivated purposeful behaviors of "Being Human" - the emotional core of Internity.
My sense of Internity is based on this idea: All behavior is purposeful and internally motivated. I throw this idea out there all the time (which, of course, is purposeful) and the usual responses run the gamut from "I totally agree" to "Well... um, all behavior?" or, "No way! Why in the world...? How do you explain...?" and so on and so forth. The idea, however, isn't claiming that all purposeful behavior is well thought-out, or useful, or effective, or safe, or kind, or healthy, or awake, or even a function of ego-consciousness. The claim is simply that the feelings/values and beliefs/thinking patterns of behavior are informed by the content of one's emotional core and though not always conscious, it is always purposeful. And although the "internally motivated" part of the idea implies conscious choice it's obvious that the consciousness of "How I Am: Being Human" is sometimes inspired, sometimes routine, sometimes completely unexamined and sometimes reduced to instinct. No matter how the idea is thought about by others (which, of course, is also purposeful), my conviction remains firm. The discoveries, expressions, connections and meaning of all potential, relationships, experiences and perceptions, in every moment - the eternal NOW - are responded to with, and simultaneously created by, the internally motivated and purposeful behavior of one's Internity.
The biological and psychological birth of one's Internity is pure potential, a dream-like calling filled with undifferentiated images, instinctual energies and powerful emotions. As I've said before, simply holding a baby creates an awareness - personal and collective - of potential, relationships, experiences and perceptions. (Those who don't dare hold a baby are also exhibiting internally motivated purposeful behavior.) And because the conscious separations of ego are still only a seed of potential the baby is in a full participation (participation mystique) with the collective unconscious of "Being Human" (i.e., the psychological vibe within and without the baby). The psychological birth of one's Internity began while still in the womb as a symbiotic union with the energies and emotions of the mother. Once born into this world those energies and emotions take on a whole new dimension with the addition of sensory images as one's Internity begins it's struggle toward ego-consciousness. The potential at this point is composed of unfathomable yet purposeful projections and introjections ("It's not what the eye sees, but what catches the eye that matters"). In essence, one's biology, psychological birth (ego) and the experience of being alive are set on a fateful trajectory with these first relationships, experiences and perceptions. As time marches onward the Internity of the baby will grow into a complex of discoveries, expressions, connections and meaning (schemas), all revealed and reflected via the callings and conditionings of internally motivated purposeful behavior.
To close-out this post I present the (corny) diagram below (I'm no graphic artist) to give some more specific ideas as they relate to Internity. As you can see the emotional core is enveloped by these energies: To Have,To Feel, To Act, To Love, To Speak and Be Heard, To See and To Know (Yes, the Chakras). In the beginning, most every healthy baby's Internity is impelled by the purely emotional survival energies of To Have, To Feel and To Act. From this point onward the formation of the baby's physiological, psychological and sociological energies and emotions - healthy and unhealthy - relies almost entirely on how those first collective, yet still unconscious relationships, (ideally the mother, the father and the rest of the family), respond to the demands To Have, To Feel and To Act. And even though the discoveries, expressions, connections and (primitive) meanings of the baby are unconscious and in a symbiotic union with all of the collective relationships, the whole process is nevertheless impelled toward the necessary awakening and conscious separations of ego. The ego, "How I Am," then continues with the internally motivated purposeful behaviors of "Being Human" - the emotional core of Internity.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Waking Up To Miracles
I'm certainly not a doctor so I won't attempt to speak to the physiological complexities of conception or birth. Nonetheless, I am amazed how two people, out of billions of possibilities, and then (in most cases) one particular egg (out of how many?) and (in most cases) one specific sperm (Oi), join together to begin the creation of another completely individual story within the epic human story. I mean, the conception seems so random and unlikely at the cellular level yet the birth seems specific, personally and collectively, to the needs and elements of the time. Despite the complexities and my non-medical limitations, I'm going to claim that conception reflects biological mysteries while birth reveals mythological intentions and they both strike me as miraculous!
[I can already hear the fundamentalists yelling, "Ah-hah! So you do! believe life begins at conception. You do! think abortion is the destruction of a human life. You are! anti-abortion." Hmm... this issue will never be that simple. It is worth thinking about, however. So, "Yes," I do believe life begins at conception. But life began a few billion years ago (give or take) and at the cellular level alone has begun and ended more times than any of us could ever comprehend (and that's just human biology!). Under those circumstances it's obvious that biological mysteries, always and everywhere, unalterably connect life to death, naturally transcending the distinctions of each. And "Yes," I do think abortion is the intentional destruction of life. But that reality must be comprehended with a full history of what can only be described as the biological and ideological destruction of billions of the already living. So, from my perspective, the abortion debate is seeped in oppression and lost potential any way you look at it. In other words, trying to defend the miracle of conception while simultaneously oppressing the miracles of life all around is spiritual ignorance. And trying to defend the right to create and destroy life without understanding the unalterable connections between freedom and responsibility is also spiritual ignorance. I trust, therefore, that if we were all willing to fearlessly examine biological and ideological oppression we would each begin to address the abortion issue much differently than "for or against." Fundamentally, I'm protesting the whole debate until and unless it includes examination of how the issue is preceded by, and founded on, centuries of destroyed human potential.]
Hmm... I didn't set-out to write the second paragraph but the moment I finished the first one I got this image of a guy I know who is always using his religious beliefs to metaphorically punch me in the face. If I mention how I believe people are miracles he gets this mean smile and insists that I answer whether I'm "for" or "against" abortion. I refuse the debate based on the grounds that two men addressing this issue is complete and utter hypocrisy. Besides, in his rigidity toward life he needs to start and "win" the debate in order to prove the righteousness of his faith. And even though I try to practice empathy (a nonjudgmental effort to understand and care about another's experience) I too smile like a fist (Yes, I'm aware of my own hypocrisy). I also know he has a history of childhood abuse. From the beginning interpretations of his Potential were ideologically aborted by domestic violence which led to teenage withdrawal, manipulation and rebellion that included drugs, weapons and eventually time in prison for violent crimes. Finding his personal salvation in a rigid belief system (i.e., attempting to organize the dissociations of his earlier traumas) is what he needs these days. I wish him luck and hope his religion leads him to some healthy, loving relationships NOW! in this life. But, because disagreeing with him might include some dire consequences, I have my doubts. Nevertheless, I thank him for helping me wake-up to why I believe what I believe.
Waking-up is what the "How I Am: Being Human" diagram (2nd post of May 18th) is all about. Of the six "needs" and their corresponding health components I think truly waking-up starts with and finds its way back around to the "Freedom Needs/Spiritual Health" sphere. As shown, the factors and influences immediately surrounding this sphere are Calling and Temperament; the other realities are Change, Potential and Mortality. In the beginning most children have a natural grasp (no ideology) on these elements. As we grow and experience the ideological conditioning of feelings and values, (nurturing?) the grasp on Potential begins to loosen, sometimes let go of completely, causing us to drearily fall into unexamined beliefs and conditioned behaviors (like zombies). Essentially, throughout life, being human is continuously formed, conformed, deformed, informed and transformed by relationships, experiences and perceptions. And it's all in relation to Potential and the "Freedom/Spiritual Health" sphere as they relate to one's current story, history, herstory and our collective story. I think waking-up means to bring the unconscious material of the stories to consciousness and then taking full responsibility for "How I Am: Being Human" right NOW. Life, after all, is about waking-up to one's Potential and "Freedom/Spiritual Health" while being in a conscious, meaningful relationship as, and with, a world full of miracles!
[I can already hear the fundamentalists yelling, "Ah-hah! So you do! believe life begins at conception. You do! think abortion is the destruction of a human life. You are! anti-abortion." Hmm... this issue will never be that simple. It is worth thinking about, however. So, "Yes," I do believe life begins at conception. But life began a few billion years ago (give or take) and at the cellular level alone has begun and ended more times than any of us could ever comprehend (and that's just human biology!). Under those circumstances it's obvious that biological mysteries, always and everywhere, unalterably connect life to death, naturally transcending the distinctions of each. And "Yes," I do think abortion is the intentional destruction of life. But that reality must be comprehended with a full history of what can only be described as the biological and ideological destruction of billions of the already living. So, from my perspective, the abortion debate is seeped in oppression and lost potential any way you look at it. In other words, trying to defend the miracle of conception while simultaneously oppressing the miracles of life all around is spiritual ignorance. And trying to defend the right to create and destroy life without understanding the unalterable connections between freedom and responsibility is also spiritual ignorance. I trust, therefore, that if we were all willing to fearlessly examine biological and ideological oppression we would each begin to address the abortion issue much differently than "for or against." Fundamentally, I'm protesting the whole debate until and unless it includes examination of how the issue is preceded by, and founded on, centuries of destroyed human potential.]
Hmm... I didn't set-out to write the second paragraph but the moment I finished the first one I got this image of a guy I know who is always using his religious beliefs to metaphorically punch me in the face. If I mention how I believe people are miracles he gets this mean smile and insists that I answer whether I'm "for" or "against" abortion. I refuse the debate based on the grounds that two men addressing this issue is complete and utter hypocrisy. Besides, in his rigidity toward life he needs to start and "win" the debate in order to prove the righteousness of his faith. And even though I try to practice empathy (a nonjudgmental effort to understand and care about another's experience) I too smile like a fist (Yes, I'm aware of my own hypocrisy). I also know he has a history of childhood abuse. From the beginning interpretations of his Potential were ideologically aborted by domestic violence which led to teenage withdrawal, manipulation and rebellion that included drugs, weapons and eventually time in prison for violent crimes. Finding his personal salvation in a rigid belief system (i.e., attempting to organize the dissociations of his earlier traumas) is what he needs these days. I wish him luck and hope his religion leads him to some healthy, loving relationships NOW! in this life. But, because disagreeing with him might include some dire consequences, I have my doubts. Nevertheless, I thank him for helping me wake-up to why I believe what I believe.
Waking-up is what the "How I Am: Being Human" diagram (2nd post of May 18th) is all about. Of the six "needs" and their corresponding health components I think truly waking-up starts with and finds its way back around to the "Freedom Needs/Spiritual Health" sphere. As shown, the factors and influences immediately surrounding this sphere are Calling and Temperament; the other realities are Change, Potential and Mortality. In the beginning most children have a natural grasp (no ideology) on these elements. As we grow and experience the ideological conditioning of feelings and values, (nurturing?) the grasp on Potential begins to loosen, sometimes let go of completely, causing us to drearily fall into unexamined beliefs and conditioned behaviors (like zombies). Essentially, throughout life, being human is continuously formed, conformed, deformed, informed and transformed by relationships, experiences and perceptions. And it's all in relation to Potential and the "Freedom/Spiritual Health" sphere as they relate to one's current story, history, herstory and our collective story. I think waking-up means to bring the unconscious material of the stories to consciousness and then taking full responsibility for "How I Am: Being Human" right NOW. Life, after all, is about waking-up to one's Potential and "Freedom/Spiritual Health" while being in a conscious, meaningful relationship as, and with, a world full of miracles!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Zombies
I was leaving for work yesterday just as NPR had some sort of "news" about surviving the attack of zombies. It must not have been much more than a sarcastic quip (how else would NPR talk about zombies?) because by the time I got to my car they had moved on to some other story. But that's when it hit me! I'm talking about the same thing - zombies! Except, now I understand that I'm trying to point out how the attack is already well under way!
After all, according to Wikipedia, being a zombie means to be "a hypnotized person, bereft of consciousness and self-awareness yet ambulant and able to [react] to surrounding stimuli; mindless shambling; of low affect with a death-like trance and hostile to life; sometimes caused by a pandemic illness, breaking down civilization and resulting in flesh-eating, specifically brains." How is this not a description of what's going-on in most public schools, fast food restaurants, work places and the American media!?!
(Okay. I might have leapt off the deep-end here but one of the mottos I subscribe to is, "If falling - dive.") The "How I Am: Being Human" chart of my previous post would attempt to help a zombie by asking, "Do you know how what you're ingesting is affecting your moods? What sort of exercise do you get besides shambling around town all night and day? Just what is your sleep pattern? Have you ever heard the word "ablutions?" Does anyone know what you do for a living, or un-living, or... What exactly do you do? How would you describe being undead, or un-living, or whatever you call it? And if it's really fulfilling why are you so insatiable? What interests you? Do you fully comprehend and understand why you want to hang-around with all those other zombies? How does being a zombie contribute to your personal experience; your family's experience of you; your reputation in the community? Do you realize how your emotions have gotten so stuffed that all you ever say is 'Mmmaahhrrgg?' Where does choice and change fit in to being neither fully alive or completely dead? If you hadn't chewed-off your fingers would you still play the piano? Are creativity, freedom and personal responsibility even possible for zombies? Is your zombie approach to life, eating brains in particular, a surrender, or avoidance or maybe an overcompensation for how desperate your thinking is? Does this phrase, 'We don't see things as they are; we see things as we are' mean anything to you? Is it possible that you're in fact the only zombie in the world and projecting your personal slime all over the place? How safe is it for anyone living to be around you? Would you please stop staring at my forehead? Could I interest you in some macaroni and cheese?" And so on and so forth.
Unfortunately, the normalization (and resulting invisibility) of oppression, addiction, trauma and shame all contribute to the life/un-life of a zombie: lack of self-awareness, reacting to stimuli (instead of responding), carelessness and hostility toward others (and "otherness"), and general dis-ease and illness. Maybe the influx of zombies into human consciousness (in the media and recklessly tail-gaiting you in a Suburban) is a metaphoric warning that "How I Am: Being Human" has been reduced to deadened emotional cores, superficial feelings and values, and rotting beliefs and thoughts about self and others. I think the oppression of human potential, the pursuit of addictive relationships, the trauma of too many experiences and the resulting shame-filled perceptions (however "normal" they seem) are constantly being revealed in purposeful behavior that is best described as the mindless shambling of zombies. And the attack is well under way.
After all, according to Wikipedia, being a zombie means to be "a hypnotized person, bereft of consciousness and self-awareness yet ambulant and able to [react] to surrounding stimuli; mindless shambling; of low affect with a death-like trance and hostile to life; sometimes caused by a pandemic illness, breaking down civilization and resulting in flesh-eating, specifically brains." How is this not a description of what's going-on in most public schools, fast food restaurants, work places and the American media!?!
(Okay. I might have leapt off the deep-end here but one of the mottos I subscribe to is, "If falling - dive.") The "How I Am: Being Human" chart of my previous post would attempt to help a zombie by asking, "Do you know how what you're ingesting is affecting your moods? What sort of exercise do you get besides shambling around town all night and day? Just what is your sleep pattern? Have you ever heard the word "ablutions?" Does anyone know what you do for a living, or un-living, or... What exactly do you do? How would you describe being undead, or un-living, or whatever you call it? And if it's really fulfilling why are you so insatiable? What interests you? Do you fully comprehend and understand why you want to hang-around with all those other zombies? How does being a zombie contribute to your personal experience; your family's experience of you; your reputation in the community? Do you realize how your emotions have gotten so stuffed that all you ever say is 'Mmmaahhrrgg?' Where does choice and change fit in to being neither fully alive or completely dead? If you hadn't chewed-off your fingers would you still play the piano? Are creativity, freedom and personal responsibility even possible for zombies? Is your zombie approach to life, eating brains in particular, a surrender, or avoidance or maybe an overcompensation for how desperate your thinking is? Does this phrase, 'We don't see things as they are; we see things as we are' mean anything to you? Is it possible that you're in fact the only zombie in the world and projecting your personal slime all over the place? How safe is it for anyone living to be around you? Would you please stop staring at my forehead? Could I interest you in some macaroni and cheese?" And so on and so forth.
Unfortunately, the normalization (and resulting invisibility) of oppression, addiction, trauma and shame all contribute to the life/un-life of a zombie: lack of self-awareness, reacting to stimuli (instead of responding), carelessness and hostility toward others (and "otherness"), and general dis-ease and illness. Maybe the influx of zombies into human consciousness (in the media and recklessly tail-gaiting you in a Suburban) is a metaphoric warning that "How I Am: Being Human" has been reduced to deadened emotional cores, superficial feelings and values, and rotting beliefs and thoughts about self and others. I think the oppression of human potential, the pursuit of addictive relationships, the trauma of too many experiences and the resulting shame-filled perceptions (however "normal" they seem) are constantly being revealed in purposeful behavior that is best described as the mindless shambling of zombies. And the attack is well under way.
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