Showing posts sorted by relevance for query mysticism. Sort by date Show all posts
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Thursday, June 19, 2014

Mysticism

An Overview 
Humanity has always wanted to find its source. Mysticism is a spiritual quest for hidden truth or wisdom - the goal of which is union with  the sacred or transcendent realm. Forms of mysticism are found in all major religions, by analogy in the shamanic and other ecstatic practices of non literate cultures, and in secular experience.
The word Human in Greek means "The being that looks upwards". The word "Greek" means "One with God," so both together create "The being  that looks upwards to become one with God". The Orphic Scripts offer a wealth of information to the researcher of Religions and Science. Written 2000 years BC prove that the Ancients knew things that we rediscovered.
Life in the material world exists as a polarity.
The physical world of the body and the perceived world of the mind. Whether the physical or mental is more real or primary has been a central issue of philosophy and religion. Yin and Yang are the Chinese dualistic concepts. Yin is the light, passive, feminine, positive element. Yang is the dark, active, masculine, negative element. Everything in creation is seen as a result of the interplay between two elements.
The form, shape and individuality we express are recognizable by our selves and by others as our identity. Among primitive people almost everyone evidently believed in spiritualism, or the survival and continuation in some fashion of this identify beyond the death and discarding of the physical body, or "passing over."  Only in fairly recent times has there apparently been any real questioning of this idea. The scientific paradigm introduced the somewhat arrogant assumption that only whatever can be measured or quantified by the mind could be considered real. One of the big problems with this paradigm is that it is fairly evident that there are things we can know without being able to explain them.
On the one hand we have the material world (physics) and on the other the mental world of hopes, dreams, and aspirations (metaphysics). The first represents survival and procreation, while the second represents all transcendent experience. From this duality arises a third possibility, the spiritual. The single characteristic distinguishing humans from deities is immortality.
In most antique cultures when an individual achieved enough wealth or power some assumed the mantle of a god by declaring themselves or their lineage to be immortal. More often than not these demi-gods used oppressive force to prohibit the individuation of others. Until the Renaissance the average person was often forbidden even to read or write.
Mythology is the account of larger-than-life heroes and archetypes who embody universal values and ideals. Mysticism is traditionally associated with certain forms of religion, as it has been described as a union with the Collective Spirit. Mysticism differs from religion in that the mystic desires to be as close to the Collective Spirit as possible, whereas most religions teach obedience of God's will and rules.
On this Earth, there are all too many restrictions, rules, oppression, sadness, bitterness, tears, disappointments, suffering, pain and death. It would seem that the need to earn money, pay rent, buy food and clothes precedes any spiritual considerations. But the fact is that the more vulnerable, the more superstitious a person or culture proves to be. History reveals that religious institutions power over men has caused no little human suffering.
Dogma and bigotry are the result of the separation of the psyche into a good and worthless portion. In fact, Alan Watts went so far as to say that religion too often has operated through guilt and fear, by "forbidding every natural act." From this has come considerable distrust and disdain of religion.
The biblical term "fear God" is a mistranslation of "revere God." Fear is an emotion that is expressed as anxiety and dread by the expectation or recognition of danger. So fear is an emotion disconnected with the actual event. Man is endowed with the power of reason. He has the ability to be inspired by higher forces from a larger life and to utilize wisdom and knowledge to banish all that belongs to the darkness and ignorance.
Many religious leaders preach fear, which directs their energy into dis-harmony. These so called leaders generate tension, hostility and insecurity in others. This type batters people's self-esteem, frightening them just as (s)he is frightened. They destroy creativeness and any incentive in the very people they should motivate in order to achieve their prescribed goals. A fearful boss often cripples a company or group, and is a leader in rank only.
Fear corrodes, rusts, and blocks the channels through which help can come. Fear can cause us to be subservient, dominant, possessive, and obsessive. It prevents us from experiencing love. Where fear is the problem and love is the answer. Love dispels fear. New Age ideas are more concerned with harmony.
Unification is the business if institutions. Ram Dass said that it is your business not to surrender your individuation and be consumed. We may grow weary of attachments to greed and power, to disappointment and suffering. Asceticism would have us believe these are very valuable for our souls. Through suffering we learn compassion. It is in that spirit that the character is evolved and strengthened and we learn detachment. As awareness increases, one gradually realizes that there is more to be attained.
Atonement is the central idea of western philosophies. Atoning means undoing and correcting errors. When an individual can truly forgive, they essentially atone. The miracle that ensues is the personalized experience of revelation (experience of higher love). This is the feeling of being at-one (atone) with the source of such love. Atonement presupposes a kind of dismemberment of the psyche into a good and worthless portion. This idea of duality may have its roots in the harsh geography of the cradle of western civilization.
Unitive consciousness is the central theme of oriental philosophy. "All things are one." Oneness is the quality or state of being of wholeness; holiness, beyond illusions of separation. The idea of the Buddhist void is that when all is lost or surrendered, then all is gained. Zen Buddhism is an oriental school of Mahayana Buddhism, that maintains awareness, enlightenment, and a higher perception can be achieved through meditation, self contemplation and intuition, rather than through sacred texts or scriptures.
Tao literally means "Way." (Tao is pronounced Dow.) Those who follow the Tao are called Taoists. Taoism is a Chinese form of spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Lao Tze (from Tao Te Ching, or Book of Tao), in the sixth century BC. Taoists were referred to as the "cloud people" because of their serenity. Spirit is believed to be the energy out of which every manifestation of life is formed, whether it be a plant, a bird, a tree, an animal, or a human. Similarly, Qi or Chi is the mainstream of existence. Chi is similar to the idea of Spirit, the dynamic, the essence, the vitality that is life, has always existed.
Nirvana is similar to the idea of perfection. It is the final state when all things come into there own and there are no flaws, no weaknesses, no faults at all, and perfect peace. It is what we seek to spiritually achieve, which in actuality, is an infinite process. We cannot achieve perfection, as there is no limit to knowledge, wisdom, understanding or truth. As the mind and spirit grows, their capacity is increased. Meditation is thought to be the most direct path.
Meditation is the spiritual exercise that allows the mind to be clear in order to focus on a specific idea.
When initiating meditation, one must learn to detach from the norm of life (eliminate anxieties, distracting thoughts, and the presence of others). Many meditation schools provide symbolic techniques for this. Preparation involves the ability to center the higher self, often through affirmations such as being protected by white light, blessing yourself, your environment, and your aura. It is important not to force anything, simply allow higher conscious states to be one's guide.
Meta means change, transformation, and beyond. Physics is the science dealing with the properties, changes, interactions, etc., of matter and energy. Metaphysics therefore, examines things beyond matter and energy. It also refers to the branch of philosophy that seeks to explain the nature of being and reality. The term "Metaphysical" came into common usage during the late 1800's along with New Thought Churches.
Spiritual healing assumes that good health involves getting above or beyond the physical. The Universe is thought to be perfectly balanced by natural laws. Order is maintained by regulatory vibrations. When mankind works closer to the natural laws we can be assured of an eventual positive outcome. However, we do not always need to search and attend to the letter of the law, rather, we should understand and conform to its meaning. It is not necessary for the Collective Spirit to create new laws, for all the laws are in existence.
All that is necessary for the universe is here now, it always has been, and always will be. Being aware of and guided by our higher self, as soul, allows us to break the bonds of the physical world and return back to higher essences of the Collective Spirit.
A Psychic is an individual who can tap into higher planes and receive impressions, vibrations, which are beyond those normally received by the five senses. Perhaps all people are psychic in varying degrees, but the term tends to have greater value to those who can actually relate and process occult information. Like all psychic abilities, some are endowed with certain gifts, while others need to focus more on its development.
A psychic is not necessarily a medium and a psychic is not always the same as the spiritual. What is termed "extra-sensory-perception" may have no relationship to ones spiritual nature, but is merely an extension of the physical senses.
 An individual who is both priest and medium is called a shaman. For thousands of years there was no science or medicine, or religion as we know it. Only the shamen stood between the known and the unknown. Certain shamanic cultures require the development of internal vision as a prerequisite for becoming a shaman.
A Druid is a Celtic priest and shaman who inhabited the ancient Breton area (Gaul, southern England, Wales, Ireland), with legendary abilities of prophecy and sorcery. Wicca is also a ancient religious cult based on love, worshiping a Goddess, and rituals of witchcraft and wizardry. Most of the rituals involved in Wicca are based on Celtic, Norse or Druid magickal practices. A ritual, or rite is a prescribed act, or series of acts, conducted during a religious or solemn ceremony. Rituals are generally formulated as a route to knowledge.
Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) was a mystic who belonged to the Order of the Dominicans. He was admirer of Thomas Aquinas, and was convinced that for the soul which goes down into its depths, in these depths a perfect morality will appear, that there all logical understanding and all action in the ordinary sense have an end, and that there an entirely new order of human life begins.  Eckhart had a profound influence on the development of the German language, as he wrote in German as well as in Latin. The German idealists looked to Eckhart as a forerunner of their movement, and modern scholars have traced his influence in the development of Protestantism and existentialism.
In late 19th-century, when Darwinism, biblical criticism, and other secularizing influences were undermining the supernaturalist structure of Protestant orthodoxy.  Freud, Pavlov, and James had begun to formulate the secularized and materialist theory of mind that has so far dominated modern Western thought.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) and her fellow Theosophists were rescuing from occult tradition and exotic religion a forgotten psychology of the superconscious and the extrasensory. Soon after its  establishment in New York the Theosophical Society moved its headquarters from New York to India.  She "stands out as the fountainhead of modern occult  thought, and was either the originator and/or popularizer of many of the ideas and terms which have a century later been assembled within the New Age Movement".
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) was a German physician whose system of  therapeutics, known as mesmerism. He was the forerunner of the modern  practice of hypnotism. His dissertation at the University of Vienna (M.D., 1766), which borrowed heavily  from the work of the British physician Richard Mead, suggested that the gravitational attraction of the planets affected human health by affecting an invisible fluid found in  the human body and throughout nature. His theory of "animal magnetism," claimed that an invisible fluid in the body acted according to the laws of magnetism. 
Disease was the result of "obstacles" in the fluid's flow through the body, and these obstacles could be broken by "crises" (trance states often ending in delirium or convulsions) in order to restore the harmony of personal fluid flow. Mesmer devised  various therapeutic treatments to achieve harmonious fluid flow, and in many of these treatments he was a forceful and rather dramatic personal participant. The idea of mind-over-matter  and the New Thought movement gained an audience partly through his great popularity.
George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff  (1872?-1949) was a Greco-Armenian mystic and philosopher who founded an influential quasi-religious  movement.He is thought to have spent his early adult years traveling in northeast Africa, the Middle East, India, and especially Central Asia, learning about various spiritual traditions. He established the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man (reestablished at Fontainebleau, Fr., in 1922).
Its members, many from  prominent backgrounds, lived a virtually monastic life. A disciple named P.D. Ouspensky introduced Gurdjieff's teachings to Western readers in an understandable intellectual form. Gurdjieff's basic assertion was that human life as ordinarily lived is similar to sleep; transcendence of the sleeping state required work, but when it was achieved, an individual could reach remarkable levels of vitality and awareness.
Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) She founded Christian Science with her book, Science and Health is based on the premise that God is not the cause of pain and suffering, and that by aligning our thoughts with Divine Principle we come into health and fulfillment. She rebelled against the hellfire determinism of her father's stark Calvinist theology, yet she retained from that stern Protestant heritage a Bible-centered, though  somewhat unorthodox, piety that prevented her from accepting the attenuated Christianity characteristic of liberal Unitarianism and, later, of Transcendentalism.
Ernest Holmes (1887-1960) published The Science of Mind (1927) established the United Church of Religious Science and the Religious Science International. The individual  human mind is seen an expression of the Universal Mind, and the universe is its material  manifestation. Man and nature are, therefore, like the God who is their true being,  considered to be fundamentally good, and apparent evil stems from ignorance of the  highest identity. The mind, working with creative faith and knowledge of its identity  with the infinite, draws on infinite resources in what is called "affirmative prayer."  When directed to a particular end, such as healing of mind or body, this employment of  mind is called "spiritual mind treatment" and its results a "demonstration."
Religious Science trains both ministers and practitioners, who are qualified to give spiritual mind  treatments. Services are generally similar in format to those of mainstream Protestant  churches, but with an especially affirmative, optimistic tone.
Alice Bailey was one of the early authors who "channeled" her writings from an "an ancient spiritual entity" named Djwhal Khul. Her Letters on Occult Meditation (1920) bore some similarities to Blavatsky in the many references to Hindu concepts that have influence the New Age movement.
The Veda which literally means sacred knowledge. It is also used in reference to any of the early sacred writings and rituals associated with Hinduism. The core of Vedic teachings supports a philosophy that "life-form" and life-force" are two separate things. Life-form refers to the temporary physical body, whereas life-force refers to the eternal. These teachings state that the life-force energy which empowers all living things is equal, but the mental state associated with a physical body does have lower and higher states of understanding, experience and ability.
In India almost every aspect of daily life became ritualized or prescribed. Karma has to do with reactions arising from actions, or the natural law of cause and effect; reaping what you sow. Karma can be positive or negative as a result of interfering with, or promoting, someone else's free will choice. The effects are thought to extend to past and future lifetimes. Thus a person might be seen as paying for the sins committed in a previous life. Practically speaking, karma became an instrument of oppression. This resulted in a caste system where for many people, individualization became almost nonexistent. Those born into a low caste had little hope of ever escaping miserable circumstances.
Kundalini is another Sanskrit word meaning "circular power." Spiritual energy that is focused (or coiled) around the root chakra. An Eastern practice that when activated (or uncoiled), and channeled upward to higher chakras, produces certain forms of enlightenment. Without a controlled release, it can affect the physical, emotional or mental well-being of an individual. As such, special exercises are used to control and channel the Kundalini energy to assist in creating a more balanced life.
Psycho-Cybernetics (1960) became the best selling book ever published on self image therapy, self hypnosis, and self improvement, has sold over 30 million copies. Dr. Maxwell Maltz's experiences with some plastic-surgery patients experiencing increased self-esteem and confidence after their improved appearance while others did not. What made one group "see'' themselves in a better light while the other group continued to feel "inferior.'' Dr. Maltz's studies led to a program for personal fulfillment through mental -- not cosmetic -- self-image enhancement.
This guide describes the steps to a more positive self-image, one that can actually alter your life's course to personal and career success. Dr. Maltz claimed to have discovered the ultimate link between the phyological and psychological processes and his success spawned numerous similar writings.
Visualization techniques can provide for self healing or creating something in one's life. Certain things an individual might request can often manifest in a literal fashion, due to a lack of preciseness, so it is important to learn good visualization techniques. Meditation visualization techniques are related to Hypnosis, a powerful tool which, in therapeutic hands, can be used for self help such as overcoming significant events and unwanted habits. Neuro-Linguistic-Programming  is a fairly recent form of therapy, used significantly in hypnosis, to correct certain behavior or feelings.
For example, if fear is a predominant element for someone, a hypnotherapist could negotiate with the sub-conscious to reduce this and allow confidence to grow at levels the sub-conscious agrees to allow.
An affirmation is a declaration of that which one knows to be true or wish to aspire and maintain. Affirmations can provide the subconscious mind with an energizing thought process and may not work unless an effective focus is given to creating an identity to that which is being affirmed. There are many people who consider that affirmations should eliminate the word 'I' in order to remove any form of conflict. These techniques have become popularized to the extent that many if not most Olympic athletes now have a visualization coach or some equivalent.
If the Earth is a place where we are presented with difficulties, frustrations, obstacles and handicaps, then the purpose of earthly existence can be seen as the opportunity to meet conditions that are a challenge to the evolving spirit. In this way the spirit can have a chance to express some of its latent qualities that can be called on in times of crisis. Spiritual mastery, then, involves conquering the problems we encounter, knowing that none are insurmountable. Being patient, meditating and praying for guidance can open the way.
The daunting task of converting destructive human activities to constructive and cooperative behavior is upon us. Making the necessary jump to planetary awareness implies a new sense of awe and wonderment about who and where we are. Economic means are available, and political means exist, but the moral means are at issue.
We are located in vastness. We come out of 15 billion years of unfolding, we are vital dust, a further development of the original fireball.  Try to locate yourself in our galactic neighborhood. This particular galaxy is only one of millions if not billions. It is 100,000 light years wide. A single light year is equal to six trillion miles. Our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy, is 2.3 million light years away. The Earth is revolving at 900 miles an hour. It is orbiting the sun at 19 miles/ second. We are moving as a solar system at 40,000 miles/hour around the center of our galaxy, and our galaxy is expanding at 12 million miles/minute. Bacteria and photosynthetic algae began some 2.8 billions of years ago extracting the carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere and the evolution of life began.
 
"Before the creation, God was united with whatever exists in such a manner that in Him were contained all things that are, or have been, or shall ever be. All forms from all eternity being thus concealed within His Essence, and thus being compatible with the continual development of new forms, whether macroscopic or microscopic."    - From the principles of Orphic Theology, known to have been taught in Greece the 2nd Millennium BC.

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Atomistic Mysticism


At this point our best shot at planetary and social healing is probably to become better human beings. That means finding ways to become more conscious and caring. Also it is time to end the conflict between science and spirituality, which only served the purpose of religious fundamentalists and science fundamentalists to the detriment of  everyone else; too many rules and too little forgiveness. This is the traditional dualistic subjective/objective mindset found in the West, and is parallel to the supposed separation of mind and body.

In most of the ancient or primitive cultures there has been a common thread of reverence for nature; the transition of the seasons, the moon and stars, for the larger cycles of nature, including our own coming into being and passing away. Even though we have learned much about the marvelous intricacies of nature, we have only scratched the surface. What we don’t know probably surpasses by far what we understand. We are a mystery and we live in a mystery, and we know it – some of us. To have a sense of awe and wonderment, and reverence is a gift. The ultimate mysteries may not even be knowable by humans, and our lives as humans could be only a small part of who we really are.

Day follows night, spring follows winter and  the unfolding of life is a cycle. These are reassuringly orderly processes. Atomistic mysticism describes a way of thinking or a kind of a posture in life that includes a deep respect for the intrinsic processes of both nature and science. Recently astronomers have learned that in just our own galaxy there are probably 100 million habitable planets.  Cosmology is revealing that we live in a universe that naturally evolves stars, galaxies, and planets with mountains, oceans, and even life, which is increasingly unlikely to be limited to just one planet.

We have become so used to the mechanistic view of the world that originated with Descartes that we have forgotten that it is a metaphor. We no longer think, as Descartes did, that the world is like a clock. We think it is a clock, and that nothing is real unless it can be weighed or measured. The physical world is defined by its limitations. Everything is composed of the same material, but differences in configuration, finite dimensions and measurable attributes are what distinguish one thing from another in time and space.

On the other hand, the believers in the Gaia hypothesis think the world is one huge organism that regulates itself to some good end. The Spiritual world is said to be nonphysical in nature, and exists independently from matter, and is also said to be infinite and not subject to the constraints of linear time, death, or decay.

Our senses interpret everything around us and translate it through specific vibrations. Our experience of the world is limited by what our physical senses can interpret. Science has come to understand that both atoms and thoughts are just energy. Just as water may be in the shape of ice, liquid, or clouds, energy comes in various forms such as waves, particles, liquid, solid, gas, light, sound, even brainwaves. The science of Quantum Physics seeks to answer the question "what is energy?" and arrives at one of the most basic facts of the Universe, that "everything is energy". And apparently energy cannot be created or destroyed.  Once you really understand that everything is energy, then you understand that there is no such thing as separation. Physics has come full circle back to metaphysics.

So if everything consists of waves of energy at its fundamental level, then this same source of energy must flow around, within and through us. The fact that this energy is matter, space, time and biological life, which to some suggests that it also has an underlying intelligence. One interpretation of quantum mechanics suggests that matter actually came from intelligence. So it makes sense for people to refer to it as a universal mind or collective field of consciousness.  The zero point energy field may be the most compelling news of our time.

The harmonics of energy vibrations are synonymous with our perceived categories of reality  There is a  vibrational continuum as particles vibrate at increasing speeds and take on a more subtle, less dense form. The range may continue beyond what we have even imagined.  Our five senses allow us to perceive on a physical level only a narrow spectrum of vibrations though we have devices to extend those perceptions a bit. However beyond that is mystery.
  •  Sound:  25 to 25,000 vibrations per second or cycles/hertz
  •  Electricity: 1 Billion vibrations per second
  •  Heat: 2 Billions vibrations per second
  •  Invisible spectrum of color (including infra-red & ultra-violet): 500 Billion vibrations per second
  •  X-Rays: 2 Trillion vibrations per second
  • The frequency of visible light: from 430 trillion Hz, to 750 trillion vibrations per second.  (The visible spectrum is about one ten trillionth of the total spectrum).

 Plato wondered if the world as we perceive it is an illusion. Today most cosmologists think that the universe was created during the big bang about 13.8 billion years ago, and it is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. The cosmos is woven into a fabric we call space. Just like the plot of the Matrix, you may be living in a highly advanced computer program and not even know it. Quantum physics suggests that all matter when taken down to its sub-atomic level consists of waves of energy which is referred to as quanta. This aspect of physics is congruent with the wisdom of the ages – physical reality is probably nothing more than an illusion.
 
Physicists can now offer us the ability to test whether we live in our own virtual Matrix, by studying radiation from space. As fanciful as it sounds, some philosophers have long argued that we’re actually more likely to be artificial intelligences trapped in a fake universe than we are organic minds in the “real” one.

 Our own bodies are electro-chemical batteries operating electro-mechanical structures. There is enough energy in the form of  information within living cells for them to reproduce themselves -- to actually create a new being from a few cells. And within that being is all the information needed to be whole and complete and healthy. Learning to trust and work with these organic processes is a core message of the wisdom traditions, both ancient and modern.

A thermostat illustrates an analog computer in that it is either off or on. Higher brain functions resemble a digital computer by assigning intellectual values to perceptional data, and working out a logical, rational procedure. But that takes time and effort. Often an immediate decision is required: approach or avoid, like or dislike, accept or reject, do or don’t. And our fast-paced industrialized world dictates ever more split-second choices. When driving 60 miles per hour, your body moves 88 feet per second. Rationalizations are just not an option.

Intuition is potentially our most valuable asset. Even Einstein said that choosing what you will pay attention to is what counts. Fear motivates and keeps us alert, but paying too much attention to fear leads to a tragic downward spiral. Positive thoughts engender an upward spiral toward happiness, but can also lead to fuzzy or wishful thinking. Balancing the two is essential, but  it is a artful skill to be honed. Intuition gathers information even from non-local sources and helps us make better choices. The more you use it, the more dependable it becomes, like any other skill.

At any moment any cell can be either in the growth mode or the protection mode. The protection mode consumes the very nutrients normally used for growth and maintenance of the cells. We are hard wired to avoid danger. Conditioned reflexes operate both at the physical and psychological levels. If you put your hand on something hot, your brain sends a signal to move the hand before you even know there is a problem. This is commonly called a “gut” reaction.

One of out greatest problems is that each of us made to feel we are “not good enough” on some level. The worst atrocities stem from a separation of the human psyche into a good and a worthless portion: “they are wrong, we are right.” Even the most seemingly caring parents often inflict extreme morality on a helpless child. Without rules there is anarchy but historically, piety can also be very dangerous. War is usually about piety. Principles differ from rules by trusting the individual to do the right thing. While shame and guilt are tyrannical weapons used by society to keep us in line.

The way to go from protection into growth is through the heart. Fear, hate and indifference will drag you down, cut you in half and make you a slave to a system or an “ism.” Caring, gratitude, and forgiveness will put you on an upward spiral. It isn’t rocket science; just treat others the way you want to be treated.

Either you care or you don’t, so what's it to be? Making a commitment to be more spiritual begins with being more compassionate and caring, being willing to look at things differently,  learning to trust the deep wisdom within. Recognize fear, unkindness and hate and choose something better. Start to see yourself as a kinder, gentler person and your experiences will reflect that.

To paraphrase -Michael Pollan - If we try to break things apart and try to fix them in very  reductionist terms, we are missing the essence of the living system. In Theosophy. It is the concept of a control point from which all emerges. It is an "omnipresent, eternal, boundless, and immutable principle."

In the Sanskrit doctrine of Tat tvam asi -- in his words, "Thou art that, which asserts that everything you think you are (Subjective), and everything you think you perceive (Objective), are undivided. To fully realize this lack of division is to become enlightened.
 
  "... we are the gods that our ancestors told stories about. We fly from one part of the globe to another in a matter of hours; we instantly communicate over thousands of miles; we can commit mayhem in moments, move mountains in minutes, and every night we sit in front of our magic picture box and find out what all the other gods are up to...

“ We are magnified through space and time, our senses enlarged, our whims accelerated.... We are at a time in human history and planetary development when we are becoming aware of the stupendous unconscious knowledge and skillful orchestration that is going on in ourselves as well as in the outer cosmos all the time. We are at a crossing point in human history..."

"...the earth has grown through us a brain and nervous system, but now these systems need to grow a larger psyche to contain them and to learn how to use them.  Thus the task of our time, evolutionary governance, is one of matching the increasing complexity of external reality with a corresponding increase in the depth and breadth of our psychic reality." 

"True illumination, like all real and vital experience, consists rather in breathing of a certain atmosphere, the living at certain levels of consciousness, than in the acquirement of specific information."
 - Evelyn Underhill, from Mysticism, [1974, New American Library
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Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Christina Lopes





The coronavirus pandemic has caused many prople to loose most of their normal. People are more isolated and turning within, and many are thinking about some sort of renwal or even a spiritual awakening.

But all too often in the past, the spiritually elite exalted themselves in their own eyes. Their attitude seems to be, "If you only knew as much as I know, you would think and feel as I do." This attitude causes one to look down on others and to pity them for being unspiritual. .

The teachings of a spiritual nature often seem to be about these elite individuals and the use rituals and ceremonies involving various forms of mumbo-jumbo to gain, in their eyes, more political power over humanity. And these people seem to be exercising the major share of authority or influence within various larger groups.

And some religious leaders seek to replace God's authority with an authority of their own usually by claiming unique access to the "word of God." The contest of who can be "holier than thou," may even reflect impossible demands of morality, about situations in which moral failure is inevitable. Emotional blackmail is abusive manipulation.

Woo-woo (or just plain woo) refers to ideas considered irrational or based on extremely flimsy evidence or that appeal to mysterious occult forces or powers based on or concerned with emotions, ancient mysticism, or complex spiritualism;  mysterious; new agey;  other than rational or scientific.

Many seek straightforward talk to help  release their anxiety about the future without trying to force things to happen (which may make things worse). There is considerable interest in the larger implications of the new physics and the new biology, and want to understand whit these may mean to us as individuals.

A look at Amazon's Best Sellers Books in New Age & Spirituality includes: Angels & Spirit Guides, Astrology, Chakras, Channeling, Divination, Dreams, Gaia, Goddesses, Meditation, Mental & Spiritual Healing, Mysticism, New Thought, Reincarnation, Self-Help, Shamanism, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism.

But there are few people are knowledgeable about more than a couple of the above topics. One such person is Christina Lopes. She received a Doctorate Degree in Physical Therapy from New York University and my Master’s Degree in Public Health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins University. She is a successful life coach and healer for others, and a spiritually awakened empath who has a substantial presence online.

She has a lot of followers and offers an amazing number of YouTube talks that are fast paced, well organized and very informative. She is a clear and concise speaker and does not talk down to her audience, often referring to how she dealt with her own past challenges.

Anyone with an interest in spiritual development would likely find her interesting. On her website she writes, " I’m here to help you navigate the challenges of awakening and shift your life toward more joy, peace, happiness, and purpose."



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Thursday, June 19, 2014

Paradigms

A paradigm is a way of organizing and condensing information.

A major paradigm might contain many smaller ones. In science we find paradigms at many different levels, paradigms within paradigms within paradigms. But paradigms are not just scientific, we each have many different paradigms for different contexts.

In understanding our world, we learn about it, but we also learn from it. Our brain uses paradigms to classify, sort, and process information received by the senses. Our paradigms affect the way we design, record, and interpret our experiments and observations, as scientists and as humans. Just as computers have different programs which interpret a data stream in a certain way, we have different paradigms which do the same thing.

A paradigm is generally a fixed conceptual framework that one can accept and work within, which then becomes a filter for seeing, interpreting, and correlating experience. It is a model of understanding mostly free of significant contradictions. Even when there are contradictions, we can shift in and out of various paradigms, although not always as well as we would like.

Our senses are affected by our state of mind as well as by our experiences. Because our senses are easily fooled, how do we know under what conditions we can trust them? What we see depends on what we expect to see, but that is controlled by our paradigms and influenced by our mood.

Our Personal Paradigms affect the types of questions we ask as individuals and as cultures, when we are trying to make sense of the world around us. They incorporate the knowledge and experiences we have acquired since birth as we become conditioned to our physical, social, and spiritual environment. These paradigms color our perception by filtering information. The filters are conditioned by our experiences throughout life as we learn about our surroundings.

Paradigms are not just ideas that are used by scientists, they are a part of the way our brains work and we all rely upon them. They are involved in all aspects of learning at many different levels, but they also help us get through our day. We develop habits and routines as we turn over certain activities to autopilot as we learn them.

Remember how hard it was to drive a car the first time you tried it. You had to pay attention to everything, accelerator, steering, brakes, shifting gears and being very aware what your hands and feet are doing. The feeling of the road and the forces and sounds inside the car required your complete attention. But eventually you've learned to ignore the unimportant sounds and vibrations. Eventually you probably become almost unaware of the experience of driving home and suddenly find yourself on your street and you don't remember getting there.

When things like that happen, it usually means that we have been ignoring those things which were not critical to driving. You can be sure that had a child run into the road, you would have noticed and remember. That reason we go on "autopilot" sometimes is not to overburden the brain with trivialities, thus freeing it for important things, like surviving.

We all build internal models of our world, which we rely upon to understand it and to assure our survival in it. Our personal paradigm not only helps us to sort, and classify information, but also guides our expectations. And it affects the way this information is processed by the brain and the types of questions we ask when trying to understand the world around us incorporating the knowledge and experiences we have acquired since birth.

Our sense of entitlements largely derives from our ancestry and their beliefs, social and financial status, their language, education, and cultural traditions and prejudices. In the past hard and fixed rules often imposed limitations and restrictions that were strictly observed. But now people move about more freely and may explore vicarious lifestyle possibilities through the media and more complex social interactions.

For some, this brave new world can be confusing and difficult. But for a more intrepid intellect it cam amount to a new and hopeful paradigm.

A Paradigm Shift is a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a sort of metamorphosis, a transformation, or even a revolution. One of the most apparent paradigm changes was that of the pre and post industrial era. Apparently we are about to experience great and profound change having to do with sustainability and climate change. Paradigm change does not just happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change, such as: when hunter-gatherers learned agriculture, the development of the wheel and of Architecture, the use of currency, and the printing press, which enabled the Scientific Revolution. 
 
We have reached an extraordinary point in the history of science, for some physicists believe they are now on the verge of having a single theory that will unite all of their science under one mathematical umbrella. In particular this theory would unify the two great bastions of twentieth century physics - the general theory of relativity and quantum theory. Since general relativity describes the large scale, or cosmological, structure of the universe, and quantum theory describes the microscopic, or subatomic, structures, the unification of these theories would explain both the very big and the very small. This theory is often referred to as a "theory of everything," or TOE.
 
In particular this theory would unify our understanding of all the fundamental physical forces in our universe.... That goal has partly been realized... but is proving to be extremely difficult. Nonetheless, most TOE physicists are confident this goal will be realized in the next few decades. Now the entire physical universe would be encompassed by a set of equations - or perhaps just one equation. But the question would still remain, what would that equation mean?
 
Physicists are "used to looking at the world in a very mechanist way". We may not be the stars in any great cosmic drama, Steven Weinberg says, but "faced with an unloving and impersonal universe" we can nonetheless create for ourselves " a little island of warmth and love and science and art." It is a deeply humane statement from a man often associated with a cold, impersonal vision. What is most surprising, perhaps, is that here an avowedly atheistic scientist expresses a view not dissimilar to that of some religious believers. 
"...for all science's great achievements it is not necessarily the field which can show us the point of either our own lives or of the universe as a whole. That task is outside science" - Father Coyne. 
Scientific paradigms were ushered in by Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, and Einstein, each progressively diminished our identity and at the same time increased it. We no longer perceive ourselves as being the center of the physical universe, and in fact there apparently is no center. 
 
The philosophical content of the media, literature or conventional higher education no longer pictures us as the chosen protagonists in a divine drama. For thousand of years, the central theme of that drama had been the nobility of the struggle of that protagonist. This most ancient perception seems to have been subverted by the complexity of contemporary times.
"... we are the gods that our ancestors told stories about. We fly from one part of the globe to another in a matter of hours; we instantly communicate over thousands of miles; we can commit mayhem in moments, move mountains in minutes, and every night we sit in front of our magic picture box and find out what all the other gods are up to.... We are magnified through space and time, our senses enlarged, our whims accelerated.... We are at a time in human history and planetary development when we are becoming aware of the stupendous unconscious knowledge and skillful orchestration that is going on in ourselves as well as in the outer cosmos all the time. We are at a crossing point in human history..."
"Everything around us (including our own bodies, which appear so substantial) is ultimately nothing but ephemeral networks of particle-waves whirling around at tremendous speeds, colliding, rebounding, disintegrating in almost total emptiness. What we call matter is mostly emptiness, proportionately as void as intergalactic space, void of anything except occasional dust spots and scattered electric charges. Any single one of the roughly 1027 atoms in the average human body has almost all its mass concentrated in a nucleus so small that if all the nuclei of all the atoms that make up the whole of humankind were packed together, their aggregate would be the size of a grain of rice." -from THE SEARCH FOR THE BELOVED by Jean Houston. p.20.
A paradigm gives way to another. Something is taken away and something new comes into being, both are vital parts of the human landscape, determining how we are identified--deeply affecting how we perceive who we are, and our sense of entitlement.
 
Science presumes to give absolute knowledge of the nature of the physical universe. Pragmatists wants us to believe they are dealing from a complete deck of cards. But Einstein himself admitted that what he did best was being good at guessing. He implied that what he chose to pay attention to was an aesthetic choice. Even still, as much as 80% of the mass of the universe is apparently unaccounted for, in spite of such elegant theories of the universe. Mankind has not only became aware of the complexity of the physical world but also of the limitations of the scientific method.
 
Apparently the most direct way to find new physics of a grand unification is to go to ever-higher energy and explore completely uncharted territory. There seems to be an intrinsically interwoven relationship between Modern Science and Mysticism, because both involve some of the deep and fundamental questions of our very existence. Man has two components: his essence and his social/cultural context. No matter the surroundings, the nature of his thoughts are always the same, and his substance remains unchanged.
 
 Fritjof Capra, in The Tao of Physics, sought an integration of the mathematical world view of modern physics and the mystical visions of Buddha and Krishna. Even though Schrodinger himself dismisses the attempts to 'prove' mysticism via physics, it is clear his mystical view of the world finds no contradiction in his view of physics. Indeed, many of the physicists who developed quantum mechanics and TOE had their own highly developed views on metaphysics. For example, the Nobel Prize winning Physicist John Wheeler coined the term "The Participatory Universe." This is the point where Physics meets Metaphysics, with the realization of startling parallels between the two. 
 
The religions of the east saw the Universe as a Whole. Modern Physics now talks of the "Systems world view," and other theories which are hauntingly similar to the expressions of the vision of reality experienced by the ancient Sages, describing the truth an indivisible whole. Indeed, an understanding of the human situation apparently comes not from a single spiritual or intellectual paradigm, but from a unification of the fruits of all human endeavors.
 
"The world is now too dangerous for anything less than Utopia." --R.Buckminster Fuller.
But the way we treat each other and even ourselves is too little changed from the darker, anthropomorphic, superstitious behavior of the Neolithic or Neanderthal. And we have in our hands the keys to complete destruction of our species and our world as we know it. What will we have now for metaphor. What totemic instrument will we use when we come up against the ineffable, the limits of human understanding?
"...the earth has grown through us a brain and nervous system, but now these systems need to grow a larger psyche to contain them and to learn how to use them. Thus the task of our time, evolutionary governance, is one of matching the increasing complexity of external reality with a corresponding increase in the depth and breadth of our psychic reality." -ibid. p.22. "True illumination, like all real and vital experience, consists rather in breathing of a certain atmosphere, the living at certain levels of consciousness, than in the acquirement of specific information."  - [Evelyn Underhill, from Mysticism, 1974, New American Library] -ibid.p.23.
Interplanetary space travel represents a very recent paradigm shift. But the fact is that "we" do not go to the moon, most of us, except in our imaginations, or perhaps even to the exotic realms we see on TV. Indeed, much of the population of the world is largely without even the basics of life to a very real and painful extent. We soar in our dreams and sometimes come down hard upon waking. Jack Gariss had a pioneering radio program "Bio-Cosmology," broadcast on KPFK FM for 17 years. He regularly reported on the frontiers of  macrophysics, microphysics and metaphysics. And for the last few years of his life he sought to bring them together, in a way that is paraphrased here:
This, a legendary time of giants. It is up to us. I think that the research …has put to rest the idea that aggression arose because of an aggressive gene that exists within us, that we are the Naked Apes who killed, as in some currently prevailing theories. Perhaps the biggest test of our intelligence and compassion; the most crucial watershed of human development since the inception of agriculture, even more important than the founding of cities, is the present issue of war and peace. Yes this is a tremendous burden and responsibility, but if we fail this may well become another dead planet like Mars and Venus, rather unimportant planets circling around a rather unimportant star, in an unimportant part of the galaxy. If we can find a solution, through understanding, co-operation, compassion, a new form of morality which takes into account the sacredness of every life form, then this will be a period remembered very far into the future. 
The Late Joseph Campbell spent a long, scholarly lifetime acquiring one of the greatest overviews of the cultures of humanity in all of literature. He said that the next paradigm would be one arising out of the experience not of one culture, but of all. He referred to the photo of the earth, taken on the first manned expedition to the moon, as a suitable icon of this new paradigm that would engage the consciousness of our entire species.
 
Of course, this evokes futuristic notions of interactions with extra-terrestrial species. But realistically the next paradigm may be concerned with issues that are quite terrestrial. The unknown is very likely far greater than our present knowledge.  It is interesting to imagine future decades and centuries. Futurology is an analytical, reasoned-out prediction of the future. Perhaps  we will learn to live harmoniously with nature and as we come to understand more about  the ultimate nature of reality,  we may find that we are the eyes of the universe looking at itself.

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Saturday, November 12, 2022

Theosophy






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Established in 1879, Theosophy is more of a philosophy of religion than a religion per se. The word theosophy comes from the Greek words theos "god" and sophia "wisdom". Literally, theosophy means "divine wisdom." The roots of this philosophy can be traced back to ancient Gnosticism, with borrowings from Greek philosophy and medieval mysticism. Modern theosophy also draws heavily on Hinduism.

For a long time the importance of Theosophy seemed to be hidden behind a lot of complexities. A bit like Hinduism it seemed just too complicated for most Westerners. Thanks to brilliant teachers Pablo Sender and a few others, a sort of renaissance is taking place in a timely fashion that seems related to complications brought about by declining western religions.

The concept of soul is generally central to religions and play's an important role concerning one's fate in this world and what is to come after it. The soul and immortality and the belief in life after death, which is maintained by each of the Abrahamic religions, raises the metaphysical question of how the human person is to be defined. Some form of mind-body dualism, whether Platonic or Cartesian, in which the mind or soul survives the death of the body, has been favored by many theologians.

For thousands of years matters of the soul were relegated to the church. And the hunger in the human heart for transcendence and pursuit the depth the mystical dimensions was mostly just an emotional accounting for the difference between humans and animals. Because of ignorance of the complexities of the mind and body, superstitions appeared across the world. The misunderstanding of science or causality fostered a belief in fate, or magic, or fear of that which is unknown.

Throughout human history, charms, rites and rituals have been used to attempt to retake control of life, particularly in times of distress and uncertainty. Those who claimed to have certain knowledge or superior evidence for their own beliefs often claimed divine revelations. And nonbelievers were often punished or killed as  infidels, atheists,, miscreants, heathens, idolaters. The European religious wars were brutal, with the combined death toll ranging from 5.5 million to 18.5 million. Some areas of Europe had more than 30 percent of their population wiped out.

This was a monolithic structure that divided the human psyche into a good and a worthless portion, which Joseph Campbell referred to as lots of rules and very little forgiveness. As the old structure crumbles and fades away it is in a way being more or less replaced by the internet, which has been sort of a free for all where genius and rabble both vie for attention in the same way yellow journalism uses lurid features and sensationalized news in newspaper publishing to attract readers and increase circulation."Mind blowing and terrifying" adjectives come to mind.
People seem to be more than ready for a more intellectual and philosophical approach. The New Thought started in the 1830s, with roots in the United States and England. As a spiritual movement with roots in metaphysical beliefs, such as "mind over matter."
Rather than focusing on just one religion, Theosophy is open to the wisdom of all religious traditions. Finding  a way to reconcile religion and science has had Western mystics redefining evolution as a multistage spiritual quest for perfection with the One instead of the mechanistic system many believed it to be. But these western mystics are so far not organized into coherent cyber locations. However there a few budding exceptions.
Helena Blavatsky (August 12, 1831 - May 8, 1891) or Madam Blavatsky as she was also referred to, was a leading occultist during the 18th century. Her works spanned many religious beliefs, spiritual encounters and higher realms of consciousness to create a comprehensive syntheses. In 1875 Blavatsky, along with Henry Steel Olcott  started a publishing firm known as the Philosophical Society, with books such as Isis Unveiled a best-seller and favourite amongst forward thinkers including Albert Einstein.

She co-founded the Theosophical Society. She was the first person to introduce the concept of the Mahatmas (also called adepts or Masters) to the West. She claimed personal contact with certain Adepts, Masters and Mahatmas living in Tibet, Ladakh, India, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. She is said to have been asked by them to bring certain teachings to the west, having to do with universal brotherhood and aspiritual knowledge which was unknown ordinary humanity. And apparently she devoted the rest of her life to that commitment,

Persons who testified to having seen the Mahatmas: Annie Besant, Henry Olcott, Damodar Mavalankar, Isabel Cooper-Oakley, William Brown, Nadyezhda Fadeyev, S.R. Ramaswamier, Justine Glinka and Vsevolod Solovyov.

Blavatsky, was instrumental in bringing the spiritual wisdom of the East and that of the ancient western mysteries to the modern West, where they were virtually unknown. And her influence extends to contemporary culture today, and she will most likely remain the most memorable and innovative esotericist of the 19th century. She had a great influence outside of her organization. She popularized of many of the ideas  and terms related to the New Age Movement. The Theosophical Society, which she co-founded, has been the major advocate of occult philosophy in the West, and the single most important avenue of Eastern teaching to the West.

She was among the most original and perceptive minds of her time and demonstrated psychic powers of a startling nature, and also claimed personal contact with highly developed Masters living in Tibet and India. A well-versed student of metaphysical and esoteric lore, she promoted a greater western knowledge of esoteric religions, philosophies and mythologies.
Theosophy teaches that all religions contain elements of the “Ancient Wisdom” and that some wise men throughout history have held the secret of spiritual power. And those who have been enlightened by the divine wisdom can access a transcendent spiritual reality through mystical experience. Theosophists also place their trust in the Mahatmas (literally, “Great Souls”), also referred to as the Great Masters or the Adepts—those who have reached an exalted state of existence and who possess the  world’s accumulated knowledge.

And increasingly there are YouTube presenters on the Theosophical channel who are intelligent and interestingly innovative. But to find them requires sifting through some academic ideas about the tenants of Theosophy itself.

Here are links to help sift out some of the more innovative minds:













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