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A Religion of One’s Own, Review

January 11, 2014 — 6 Comments

A Religion of One's Own

A Religion of One’s Own

I just read A Religion of One’s Own by Thomas Moore, an author I admire. I met him in person last May when he had recently completed the book and was in the editing process. The workshop I took with him then was about soul, spirit, and the distinction between the two. This new book goes into detail on this subject. Like his other books I have enjoyed the subject matter is easily accessible although the reader becomes highly aware of Tom’s deep background and knowledge of world religions, art, music, history, and natural magic. He spent many years as a monk learning languages and music composition as he studied to be ordained as a priest. His knowledge of Greek and Latin always add depth to his concepts because he carefully traces true meanings in words.  The words I learn from him stay in a special memory bank of super charged, precious possessions.  They are magic words for me, with mystical value.

I read the book almost non stop on my Kindle paperwhite, a new gadget I now think is excellent.  One feature of Kindle reading is the ability to look up words within the device as you read.  The words you look up are added to your ongoing vocabulary list.  Since I learn new words every time I read his work, this was fabulously useful. Here is my new vocabulary from this book:

  • pleroma
  • pusillanimous
  • constellate
  • canonical
  • inchoate
  • detrius

Normally I would take the meaning from context and go on, but now I am a real vocabulary builder.  What Thomas Moore is asking us all to do is to develop a much broader vocabulary and understanding of religion.  The mystical and mysterious is essential to our fulfillment and happiness.  Without soul, spirit, and practices that maintain the health and vigor of both in our lives we can become dead to the pleasure of being alive.  Churches and formal religion have lost the leadership role they once maintained without question.  Now it is important not to discard the sacred and the meaningful, but to make a unique personal system that is true to our own natures.  Dogma and deterioration from institutions can be replaced by practices that feed our souls and our spirits, and nurture harmony in our communities.

I know all of Tom’s many fans will be happy to read this latest edition of his teaching.  If you have not had the pleasure of meeting him in person or in writing you are missing a very special treat.  He is a Renaissance Man in that he is honestly creating a renaissance vortex and map for his readers to follow.  He is asking no less than a rebirth and re-empowerment of our sacred traditions so as not to loose the beauty and significance of them.  He gives concrete suggestions and guidance to achieve this goal by treating all the religious traditions as one’s own.  Personal wisdom and satisfaction are essential to living a blissful, peaceful life.  Thomas Moore has once again created a meaningful and significant lesson we can all easily grasp.  The book is short, compelling, and will leave you in a new frame of mind.  It is worth reading, and even more worth practicing.

Metanoia and Spirit

January 2, 2014 — 1 Comment

We are influenced daily, and there are people claiming to representing us daily, but we are unaware of most of it. As we forge our futures we find obstacles to happiness of both physical and spiritual natures. Our quest is never a solo, even if we think we act alone. We are slaves to certain beliefs and we ensalve others to our beliefs as much as we can.  If we do not transform the way we look at our habits and our regrettable past behavior we are likely to be stuck in repeating, regretting, and then repeating the same patterns.

Metanoia is the concept of repentance that has been badly used and understood.  Confession can be way to act temporarily sorry to absolve oneself of  responsibility for past transgressions.  As a practice it may teach that we are out of control, will repeat, and then feel very guilty about our behavior ad infinitum.  This constant cycle of guilt and repeated undesirable action has little hope of creating liberation or happiness.  The guilt is an almost certain sign that the action will be repeated.  It is the currency of pain.  Repentance of the depressing kind is a revolving door or shame leading to more guilt.

My favorite author, Thomas Moore, has written a new book, A Religion of One’s Own, which will be zapped into my Kindle in a few days.  To warm up for this book he translated the Gospels from the original Greek language.  To warm up for reading the new book I am reading Writing in the Sand, a book Thomas Moore wrote about the meaning of the Gospels. Chapter 2  of Writing in the Sand is about Metanoia, but not of the shameful kind.  This word refers to a change of mind so profound as to cause a shift in vision.  Thomas breaks down the literal meaning to bring a completely different sense to the word and what it represents.  His knowledge of the original language brings back the meaning of the Gospels.  I agree that we all need a spiritual and a soulful context for living.  Thomas Moore is an ethical  voice with a powerful message.  I hope you will have a chance to read his work.  It constantly inspires me.

Fear, Blame, Revenge, Repeat

October 16, 2013 — 1 Comment

skull and crossbones

skull and crossbones

The human condition known as revenge is ancient and well documented.  The Greek goddess Nemesis represents retribution.  She lives in the underworld with Hecate.  She feels no remorse and hesitates at nothing to deal out vengeance when it is required.  She is a neutral spirit with a balanced approach.  She has the task of taking happiness from the undeserving while bringing more joy to those who earn it.  She is pictured with a balance scale, doing  calculations.  She is concerned with issues of money.  Her name is related to the word number, and the word economy.  She is not vengeful,  but is an accountant from the underworld.

The collective as well as your personal consciousness about wealth, money and right livelihood are the province of Nemesis.  She keeps the accounts in balance.  Abundance and prosperity follow the laws of nature.  Knowledge as well as belief influence the outcome of all your earthly investments.  Spiritual integrity in work and business ethics are measured against one’s degree of avarice and destructive behavior.  Can you find ways that your beliefs about receiving limit you now?  Can you think of ways to budget a more secure financial future for yourself through awareness?  Some Americans call her “Death and Taxes”, to say she is hard to avoid.  She is impossible to avoid, and she is counting all the time.  She will deliver what is due from the wheel of karma because that is her job.

Wellness Budget

October 7, 2013 — 2 Comments

psyche

psyche

psyche

psyche

Your health is like a bank account. You deposit and withdraw from your inherited constitution.  If you need a loan, there is no place to apply.  Your account, like the number of days you will live, is subject to your habits and practices.  Diminishing returns are built into the model.  Some of us are genetically lucky, while many start life with disadvantages.  Accidents and disasters cause permanent damage, mental and physical.  There is no way to know how much one will need to withdraw due to illness.

Prehabilitation is more cost effective than rehabilitation because once a system is depleted it may never fully recover.  There are ways to make deposits over time that will earn interest.  These reserves affect your immune system and your ability to remain calm under pressure.  Health is your only real wealth, in the words of Dr. Bronner.  Changing lifestyle habits results in changing wellbeing.  We need not aim for perfection, since that in itself is cause for stress.  Logical, simple additions can be made to daily routine that add up to better health in the long run.

  • Rest and sleep adequately
  • Exercise the entire body as much as possible
  • Eat the most natural fresh foods you can find
  • Develop a meditative practice
  • Dance, sing, draw, take photos, or otherwise express your creativity
  • Spend time enjoying friends and family
  • Learn stress reduction techniques to add to your arsenal  of tools
  •  Discover the power of bodywork and other healing modalities

Investments made today will accrue interest as long as you live.

Eternal Child Archetype

October 3, 2013 — 4 Comments

Each of us has a child archetype within our psyche. Carolyn Myss outlines six kinds of archetypal children. They are:

  • Eternal child
  • Divine child
  • Magical child
  • Orphan child
  • Nature child
  • Wounded Child

The eternal child has an attachment to youth and immaturity.  The positive eternal child is the stuff that ads are made of, enthusiastic, fresh and free.  The shadow eternal child has a resistance to responsibility and rejection of the aging process.  The need to stay youthful may lead to extreme dependence on others for security.  The puer aeternus is a man who never accepts responsibility.  He is frequently a character in fiction, and sadly appears often in real life.  Peter Pan is a modern eternal youth story with Tinkerbell playing the puella aeterna.  Clinging to youth can prevent one from reaching the full range of emotions and insights.  Youthful enthusiasm and a willingness to make fresh starts are the positive aspects of this child persona.  Adults who are consistently unreliable or dependent on others reflect the worst aspects of the eternal child.

Peter Pan Peter Pan

Fall Equinox

September 22, 2013 — 5 Comments

Does the fall equinox have special meaning to you? Native people around the world have marked and celebrated the night that is equal in northern and southern hemispheres in spring and fall for centuries.  The balance of darkness and light, the nature of shadow, the harvest of what has been sown are celebrated at this powerful change of seasons.  To enter winter with excess overhead or an insufficient supply has been a recipe for disaster since the first fairy tale was created.  In both short and long terms fall is a time for risk assessment.  The harvest is in, or soon will be, and it must last until new crops can be grown and harvested.  Failure can mean starvation.  Useless baggage must be jettisoned now to keep the boat afloat.

Today our supplies come from abroad and we don’t even know when and how harvests are made.  Coal, natural gas, and petroleum are harvested to process, transport and refrigerate our food.  The cost of the supply chain far outweighs the cost of the food itself.  Our electronic devices are similar.  They are harvested elsewhere and imported to us.  Globalization demands that goods and services be produced at the lowest price and sold for the highest possible price.  International business must take advantage of the lowest wages and least demanding labor forces.  I believe that these imperialistic practices have caused a spiritual equinox.  Forces that seem to be out of our control darken the skies and freeze out those with the fewest resources.  Persephone returns to her husband Hades in the underworld every year as winter approaches.  Her symbolic return in the spring celebrates light over darkness.  As the days grow shorter and nights grow longer what seeds will you purposely germinate?  Do you believe the violence and darkness being proliferated will be reversed?

fall color

fall color

change of season

change of season

Autumn

Autumn

Smart Phone Life

September 21, 2013 — 5 Comments

I am afraid of the  mix of media and social media consumed by the population in 2013.  There are distractions of all shapes and sizes.  Being over busy overbooked and overly self centered is a modern sign of success.  Emotional wellbeing of average people has been sinking while stability slips out of sight.  The youth will use technology in ways that are modeled by the adults they see.  When parents and other adults  lead the way to digital detox younger people may also consider life outside the smartphone.

I think the point Louis C.K. makes in this video about emotional range of motion is key.  His claim that smartphone distraction is avoidance of fully feeling sadness or happiness in favor of a phone buzz strikes me as a valid observation.  It is impossible to be engaged in meditation and smart phone love at the same time.  Some feel the attachment to the full time companion, Phoney, is destroying social skills.  I agree, but the strongest argument for limiting time and energy with Phoney is productivity.  Phoney is there to procrastinate with you, to deny reality and to take you away from all the pending doom.  It can never make you feel truly happy, but it does kill time.

Digital detox has entered the dictionary and folks are in treatment for FOMO ( fear of missing out).  This is perhaps the most ironic of all conditions…to abandon real life with no fear of missing reality in favor of never missing out on the ability to respond to a phone.   Do you know anyone who is in need of intervention for this tragic ailment?  I do, but would not know where or how to begin.

Sand Mandala in Tucson

September 20, 2013 — 5 Comments

We are lucky to have a tradition of sand mandala making at the U of Arizona Bookstore. Monks have been visiting to draw them on the floor in the basement for years. This is the third one I have been lucky enough to witness.  This time they are making the Buddha of Compassion.  After they create the image the sweep up the sand and dispose of some of it in water, in a ritual representing the cosmos.  This demonstration of attachment and enlightenment is illustrated clearly when the sand is swept and the American viewers rush in to get a bag of the magical sand to take home and keep.  The monks don’t need to do that; they are off to draw and destroy many more mandalas all over the world.  They do it to show the futility of attachment. It is a beautiful way to illustrate the point.

Culture in Need of Lovingkindness

September 16, 2013 — 4 Comments

Today we watch another mass shooting unfold in DC like the reality show that it is. The constant reminder of violence must have something to do with the growth and spread of violence. Lovingkindnessis the remedy for our growing epidemic of right and wrong.  If everyone is busy deciding to be right and seek vengeance from those who are wrong who will get in touch with reality?  Have we given up reality to watch it on television and tweet it live?  How riveting will it be to live tweet the IPO of twitter?  While some see gun control or calorie control as the way to solve of cultural problems, I believe we are highly delusional as a society.  The guns and the health issues are symptoms of systems that do not work.  Our distraction is killing us as individuals and as a culture.

Numb and nihilistic as we witness weather and violent torrents of human hatred wash over our land, we twist the truth by looking for the single issue or party on which to place blame.  The events in the world must blur for those who play computer games as well as absorb world tragedy as it unfolds.  The digital distance we have from other other humans and the truth is dragging us in a downward spiral of delusion.  I wonder if people can wake up and think they are in the World of Warcraft…or some variation on it.  We are cultivating violence and maya, when our only hope is in truth and lovingkindness.  Each of us generates energy that fuels the hatred; none of us is perfect.  On an individual basis we must take responsibility to feed and care for the soul of the world until al beings are free.  This will require centering.  This will require a shift in focus and a pivot in the direction of our thinking.

The Three Book Diet

September 13, 2013 — 7 Comments

library girl

library girl

I went along with a fad diet started by one of my social media teachers, Chris Brogan. Last November he proposed that  limiting the number of books one read would change the way one learns and absorbs the art and information in the books.  As a proud and profuse library addict I looked at my own reading habits and wondered if I might benefit from reading less and studying more.  The Three Book Diet commenced with a bang and ended with a whimper very shortly after it was begun.  I, however, had chosen three very deep books that deserve a lifetime of reflection and contemplation, as well as physical homework, so I stayed in.

The Sacred Contracts book is the text used in an on line course I have enrolled in to do deeper study in archetypal psychiatry.  I have an extensive and comprehensive set of video lectures and appropriate homework assignments in the course.  The student is required to look very deeply into the past and identify archetypal patterns and write about them in detail.  The self analysis is heavy, and the written work required to make progress is lengthy and serious.  I have started the work, but see that it could require a lifetime.

The Leonardo book has been on my shelf for years, as has the workbook with active homework assignments to help the reader become more like Leo.  It ranks as one of my favorites, so I knew I could stay busy in these books easily for a year without scratching the surface.  I was right about that; 10 months into this diet and I do not seem to be the least bit more brilliant or innovative.  It is for the same reason it always is….because I do not do my homework to rebel.  At least the Sacred Contract study has taught me that this rebel is a teacher and my teacher is a rebel, so maybe I will soon break out of my will to avoid my own assigned homework.  That would be such a fabulous breakthrough!!

Impact Equation is a great book that I read once and looked at a couple of times during the diet.  Chris is the new kind of guru.  Perhaps I think this because he is my guru of social media and disruptive positive change.  I subscribe to his newsletter and correspond with him all the time, so his voice and his attitude are very well known to me.  I am actually happy he gave up the diet; I told him he was too young for it.  Now he has launched a new magazine/biz school, Owner, which is very exciting, so obviously this was not his year to diet.  I have learned from Sacred Contracts that Chris is my teacher and visionary.  He doesn’t need a contract with me, but I am signed up to learn and emulate.  It will end when I have done my homework.  This brings me to the brilliance of the diet for me.  I needed to blog and develop my own skills, but while consuming hundreds of books a year I had no time dedicated to my own writing.  Now I have a small but growing group of Gentle Readers that I love very much.  I would never have found them, or my discipline to write, had I not gone on the book diet.

When I break the fast I will decide what is prudent. I have a pile of books I bought and had signed by my favorite author of all time, Thomas Moore.  I have preordered his new book, which will be released into my Kindle in January.  I will read A Religion of One’s Own with great gusto.  Chris Brogan is my guru of worldly wisdom, but Thomas Moore is my idol.  He is teaching the world to be monastic….in a good way…in a meditative way….in a kind way. Contemplative reading is one way to meditate.  The book diet has taught me the great value of learning more by consuming less. I may go on a One Book Diet next year..it could be fabulous.