We started our session with a new procedure. that is a check in, so to speak by all attendees. As we go around the circle each attendee may bring up a single item or person or idea that needs to be "held in the light." This procedure ensures that each member of the group can seek any help that they may need from the group and can bring up their immediate concerns. Sometimes these check ins may also point out needs for future discussions or presentations. Today several attendees has significant issues to present in check-in. Therefore we elected to do some Loving Kindness Meditation for these people and their issues. Paul N. led us and instructed us in the traditional way of doing Loving Kindness Meditation.
Traditional sequence in Loving Kindness Meditation.
1. Think of 5 people: a. self; b. a benefactor; c. friend or relative; d. neutral; e. a difficult person.
2. Meditate on each of these five people reciting the following phrases either out loud or to one self.
May (I, name) be filled with loving kindness
May ( ) be well
May ( ) be peaceful and at ease
May ( ) be happy.
Heidi presented a couple clippings, one that had to do with eating right, in a followup to last week's presentation by Jean H.
Sharleen brought The Twelve Symptom of Inner Peace. Written by Saskia Davis. We read through these.
1. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment
2. Loss of interest in judging self.
3. Loss of interest in judging other people.
4. Loss of interest in conflict.
5. Loss of interest in interpreting the action of others.
6. Loss of ability to worry. (this is a serious symptom).
7. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
8. Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
9. Frequent attacks of smiling through the eyes of the heart.
10. Increasing tendency to let things happen rather than to make them happen.
Saskia Davis is a nurse who wrote this in 1983. She still has a website with this list on it.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=1403d01aab81ca99&mt=application/msword&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Dcc2d2977d4%26view%3Datt%26th%3D1403d01aab81ca99%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbSjANMSm9fJxvsLlLfwFvpFrkuN0Q
Another way is to use this list of Twelve and Fake It. Fake it and it will become real. As one attendee put it: "To be good in business you have to be sincere. After you have learned to fake this you've got it made.
The second half of the session was used to discuss one of the issues brought up in Check-IN:
Young people who can't keep their hands off of each other. It was stated that now in college, you g people do not date. They just "hook up." That is they just have casual sex and strive to have no committed relationships. Everyone agreed that in these situations there are are all kinds of denied emotions here. And at some point, these young people will pay for this toying with the emotions. There was some discussion of what types of advice to give these young couples.
Friday, August 2, 2013
July 25, 2013: The Tale of Eating Beauty by Jean Hausman
Jean Hausman, a member of our group, who is a life coach, and now a published author presented some of the ideas from her book won weight loss. She will soon begin author's presentations and wanted our opinion on how she presents the information in the book. She has a website for this book which gives her background and brief description of the nature of the book. Several of our members has purchased the book.
http://jeanhausmann.com/
Here are two other links that Sharleen provided us with that relate to weight loss and behavioral changes.
April 11, 2013: Music That Moves Us led by Sky
Everyone was to bring in one or two pieces of music that moves them. Most everyone brought something. Here are some connection to some of them. Paul also brought his guitar to play for us but unfortunately we ran out of time. Therefore this needs to be on the agenda for a future meeting.
Here are some of the links to the music that was played.
Here are some of the links to the music that was played.
February 28, 2013: Cambodia, Angkor Temples, Part II
During this session, we will continue with some views of the more famous Angkor Temples of Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Schedule for March and April.
Schedule for March and April, 2013
February 28, 2013: Angkor Temples, Cambodia: Part II
March 7, 2013: Bake Off
March 14, 2013: Dancing Wisdom by Meredith W.
March 21, 2013: Dancing Wisdom Part II
March 28, 2013: The Irreducible Mind by Gary
April 4, 2013: Bake Off
April 11, 2013: Music that Move Us by Sky
April 18, 2013: Open
April 25, 2013: Aging as a Spiritual Practice by Sue
May 2, 2013: Bake Off
February 28, 2013: Angkor Temples, Cambodia: Part II
March 7, 2013: Bake Off
March 14, 2013: Dancing Wisdom by Meredith W.
March 21, 2013: Dancing Wisdom Part II
March 28, 2013: The Irreducible Mind by Gary
April 4, 2013: Bake Off
April 11, 2013: Music that Move Us by Sky
April 18, 2013: Open
April 25, 2013: Aging as a Spiritual Practice by Sue
May 2, 2013: Bake Off
February 21, 2013: Cambodia, Angkor Temples Part I
Here is a copy of some of my slides and my notes from the Cambodia: Angkor Temples presentation. Unfortunately the group was rather small. Many folks I believe are on vacation. Those present seemed to find the topic interesting, however. Hit Read more to see what I have been able to load.
Next week, Part II of Angkor Temples, Cambodia, and especially we will learn about the ancient Hindu creation myth called "Churning the Ocean of Milk".
Next week, Part II of Angkor Temples, Cambodia, and especially we will learn about the ancient Hindu creation myth called "Churning the Ocean of Milk".
February 14, 2013: Saint Valentine's Day - History
Here is a copy of my Powerpoint Presentation. I apologize for the variations in fonts. This has occurred because of my attempt to bring it forward from Powerpoint. I hope it is not too distracting. Hit Read More to see the presentation.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
February 7, 2013: Bake Off
As is often the case with our Bake Off meeting, the discussion was fairly free ranging. because there are medical illnesses occurring in some of our loved ones lives, there was a discussion about illness. and episodes of reported miraculous cure. We physicians in the group also reminisced about our years in medical school, especially during the pre med "weed-out" course, organic chemistry usually taken during the sophomore college years.
There was a brief discussion about the increased expectations that patients have in this day and age, due to frequ3ent self education about diseases. Paul commented that he was not afraid to tell a patient that he did not know an answer or did not know the diagnosis for a patient.
It was felt that some patients get benefit from actually having a name put on their illness -- from actually achieving a diagnosis even if there is not a good outlook for their diagnosis.
Someone recommended a book entitled: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. by Mark Haddon. Here is a link where the story is summarized and annotated: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time/context.html
Also here is a summary from Wikipedia on this book which won some awards.
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title quotes the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1892 short story "Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year,[1] the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book,[2] and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.[3]
The novel is narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy who describes himself as "a mathematician with some behavioral difficulties" living in Swindon, Wiltshire. Although Christopher's condition is not stated, the book's blurb refers to Asperger syndrome, high-functioning autism, or savant syndrome. In July 2009, Haddon wrote on his blog that "curious incident is not a book about asperger’s....if anything it’s a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. The book is not specifically about any specific disorder," and that he is not an expert on autism spectrum disorder or Asperger syndrome."
There was some discussion of the behavioral characteristics of schizophrenic mental illness and also of Asperger syndrome. It is said that the recent event in the news in which a 5 year old boy was kidnapped from his school bus and held hostage in a bunker for 5 days. It was felt that probably the boy's Asperger's syndrome protected him somewhat from the trauma of the event. He was also allowed to take his medication during that time which would have helped. In some cases a schizophrenic could achieve a position of CEO of a company. The behavior characteristics of some schizophrenics who do not form close relationships well might actually help them in the performance of their duties in such a position. Such a person might not be as affected by the isolation of the position and by some of the duties for example firing people under them.
There was a brief discussion about the increased expectations that patients have in this day and age, due to frequ3ent self education about diseases. Paul commented that he was not afraid to tell a patient that he did not know an answer or did not know the diagnosis for a patient.
It was felt that some patients get benefit from actually having a name put on their illness -- from actually achieving a diagnosis even if there is not a good outlook for their diagnosis.
Someone recommended a book entitled: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. by Mark Haddon. Here is a link where the story is summarized and annotated: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-time/context.html
Also here is a summary from Wikipedia on this book which won some awards.
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title quotes the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1892 short story "Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year,[1] the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book,[2] and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize.[3]
The novel is narrated in the first-person perspective by Christopher John Francis Boone, a 15-year-old boy who describes himself as "a mathematician with some behavioral difficulties" living in Swindon, Wiltshire. Although Christopher's condition is not stated, the book's blurb refers to Asperger syndrome, high-functioning autism, or savant syndrome. In July 2009, Haddon wrote on his blog that "curious incident is not a book about asperger’s....if anything it’s a novel about difference, about being an outsider, about seeing the world in a surprising and revealing way. The book is not specifically about any specific disorder," and that he is not an expert on autism spectrum disorder or Asperger syndrome."
There was some discussion of the behavioral characteristics of schizophrenic mental illness and also of Asperger syndrome. It is said that the recent event in the news in which a 5 year old boy was kidnapped from his school bus and held hostage in a bunker for 5 days. It was felt that probably the boy's Asperger's syndrome protected him somewhat from the trauma of the event. He was also allowed to take his medication during that time which would have helped. In some cases a schizophrenic could achieve a position of CEO of a company. The behavior characteristics of some schizophrenics who do not form close relationships well might actually help them in the performance of their duties in such a position. Such a person might not be as affected by the isolation of the position and by some of the duties for example firing people under them.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Schedule:
Here is a schedule for upcoming meeting topics as currently planned:
February 7, 2013: Bake Off
February 14, 2013: History of Valentines by Ann
February 21, 2013: Cambodia, Angkor Temples 2nd week, by Ann
February 28, 2013: Cambodia, Angkor Temples, by Ann
March 7, 2013: Bake Off
March 14, 2013: Dancing Wisdom, by Meridith. From a book by Yvonne Daniel
March 21, 2013: Dancing Wisdom, perhaps some practice, Meridith.
March 28, 2013: Irreducible Mind by Gary.
April 4, 2013: Bake Off
April 11, 2013: Music that moves us spiritually, by Skye. Especially Bach and Mozart.
April 18, 2013: Open
April 25, 2013: Aging as a Spiritual Practice, by Sue
May 2, 2013: Bake Off
February 7, 2013: Bake Off
February 14, 2013: History of Valentines by Ann
February 21, 2013: Cambodia, Angkor Temples 2nd week, by Ann
February 28, 2013: Cambodia, Angkor Temples, by Ann
March 7, 2013: Bake Off
March 14, 2013: Dancing Wisdom, by Meridith. From a book by Yvonne Daniel
March 21, 2013: Dancing Wisdom, perhaps some practice, Meridith.
March 28, 2013: Irreducible Mind by Gary.
April 4, 2013: Bake Off
April 11, 2013: Music that moves us spiritually, by Skye. Especially Bach and Mozart.
April 18, 2013: Open
April 25, 2013: Aging as a Spiritual Practice, by Sue
May 2, 2013: Bake Off
January 31,2013: Gunther Pohlmann Society Meeting
This week was a meeting of the Gunther Pohlmann Society. We have enough new members in the group, many who did not know our Dr. Gunther Pohlmann. Therefore, the first part of the meeting was spent discussing Gunther and his ways and why we devote the fifth Thursday in every month that it occurs to discussing something that either Gunther wrote himself, or something that we feel would have been in his discussions.
Today, his daughter, Heidi, brought a copy of his article Children of War published in Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol III, No. 4, pg 374.
This peer reviewed Journal, the voice of the Society of Adolescent Psychiatry, published a special group of articles, attempting to consider "How Can the Children of World War II German National Socialist Sympathizers and Jewish Survivors Talk to Each Other?" Introductory article Pp. 350-353. by David W. Cline.
Dr. Cline opened his Introduction with a quoted section from the poem, Ulysses, by Alfred Lord Tenneyson.
Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world,
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
the sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulps will wash us down;
It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Children and War: A Personal Perspective on Childhood in World War II and Post-war Germany Pp. 374-378. Guenther P. Pohlmann
Abstract: War is a major cause of traumatic stress for children and adolescents. German children who were born just before WWII experienced multiple stresses during and after the war. In addition to the losses and deprivations associated with the war, they had to face the shame of their country's defeat and responsibility for the war, and many lived with the knowledge of their families' complicity in the Nazi atrocities -- something that was largely unacknowledged and never discussed. While in some cases, war trauma results in an ever repeating cycle of violence; in others, the children who experience war are remarkably open to reconciliation and peace. While genocidal violence has recurred -- in Camboida, in Bosnia, in Rwanda, for example, there is hope that the children who live through these experiences can help to bring an end to these horrific events. The author offers his views on how the unique perspective of these children can inform us. He describes his experiences and his observations of his contemporaries and peers who were children in Germany during World War II, and adolescents in the post-war era. Some of these children have led the way in the ultimate acknowledgement of individual and collective responsibility and in taking steps to ensure that the horrors of the genocide would not be repeated.
If you would like to purchase copies of any of these articles in this special section of the Journal of Adolescent Psychiatry, go to this link.
http://www.benthamscience.com/contents-JCode-APS-Vol-00000002-Iss-00000004.htm
Dr. Gunther Pohlmann and Dr. David Kline had become friends when both were sent to Iraq in the first Gulf War. Gunther was involved in setting up a MASH type hospital during that war. Both doctors worked on dealing with psychiatric issues that later affect the young men who are in battle. They developed the use of meditation, mostly in the form of TM to help and other techniques during debriefing that helped prevent or as an initial treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Many forms developed then are still used today in our wars.
Interestingly, currently TM has been used prior to sending men to war to try for primary prevention of PTSD and similar disabilities. As an aside, in a recent newspaper issue, there was also an article about using meditation to treat arthritis. Inflammatory markers have been measured in the blood of study subjects and they are significantly reduced, showing objectively that meditation helps not just reduce the pain of arthritis but actually reduces the inflammatory cause of arthritis.
Discussion at the end of this meeting reminded us of several sources that our group has particularly enjoyed during the past year and even before. They include:
Dr. Weil's article: Why We Are All Addicted?
Pema Chodran: Shenpa. We have discussed this article before. There was some discussion of the definition of shenpa. Todd has kindly provided us with a copy of this article. Hit Read More down at the bottom to see this article again.
Recommendation for a new book by Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis, in which the author examines ten "great ideas" dating from antiquity and their continued relevance to the happy life.
His new book is entitled: The Righteous Mind. This book is about the difference in thinking between conservatives and liberals.
On the light side, apparently a poll was taken asking whether people thought this country was currently divided. The results of the poll were 50% to 50%, Yes and No. The pundits are still arguing about that.
Today, his daughter, Heidi, brought a copy of his article Children of War published in Adolescent Psychiatry, Vol III, No. 4, pg 374.
This peer reviewed Journal, the voice of the Society of Adolescent Psychiatry, published a special group of articles, attempting to consider "How Can the Children of World War II German National Socialist Sympathizers and Jewish Survivors Talk to Each Other?" Introductory article Pp. 350-353. by David W. Cline.
Dr. Cline opened his Introduction with a quoted section from the poem, Ulysses, by Alfred Lord Tenneyson.
Come, my friends,
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world,
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
the sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulps will wash us down;
It may be that we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are--
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
Children and War: A Personal Perspective on Childhood in World War II and Post-war Germany Pp. 374-378. Guenther P. Pohlmann
Abstract: War is a major cause of traumatic stress for children and adolescents. German children who were born just before WWII experienced multiple stresses during and after the war. In addition to the losses and deprivations associated with the war, they had to face the shame of their country's defeat and responsibility for the war, and many lived with the knowledge of their families' complicity in the Nazi atrocities -- something that was largely unacknowledged and never discussed. While in some cases, war trauma results in an ever repeating cycle of violence; in others, the children who experience war are remarkably open to reconciliation and peace. While genocidal violence has recurred -- in Camboida, in Bosnia, in Rwanda, for example, there is hope that the children who live through these experiences can help to bring an end to these horrific events. The author offers his views on how the unique perspective of these children can inform us. He describes his experiences and his observations of his contemporaries and peers who were children in Germany during World War II, and adolescents in the post-war era. Some of these children have led the way in the ultimate acknowledgement of individual and collective responsibility and in taking steps to ensure that the horrors of the genocide would not be repeated.
If you would like to purchase copies of any of these articles in this special section of the Journal of Adolescent Psychiatry, go to this link.
http://www.benthamscience.com/contents-JCode-APS-Vol-00000002-Iss-00000004.htm
Dr. Gunther Pohlmann and Dr. David Kline had become friends when both were sent to Iraq in the first Gulf War. Gunther was involved in setting up a MASH type hospital during that war. Both doctors worked on dealing with psychiatric issues that later affect the young men who are in battle. They developed the use of meditation, mostly in the form of TM to help and other techniques during debriefing that helped prevent or as an initial treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Many forms developed then are still used today in our wars.
Interestingly, currently TM has been used prior to sending men to war to try for primary prevention of PTSD and similar disabilities. As an aside, in a recent newspaper issue, there was also an article about using meditation to treat arthritis. Inflammatory markers have been measured in the blood of study subjects and they are significantly reduced, showing objectively that meditation helps not just reduce the pain of arthritis but actually reduces the inflammatory cause of arthritis.
Discussion at the end of this meeting reminded us of several sources that our group has particularly enjoyed during the past year and even before. They include:
Dr. Weil's article: Why We Are All Addicted?
Pema Chodran: Shenpa. We have discussed this article before. There was some discussion of the definition of shenpa. Todd has kindly provided us with a copy of this article. Hit Read More down at the bottom to see this article again.
Recommendation for a new book by Jonathan Haidt, author of The Happiness Hypothesis, in which the author examines ten "great ideas" dating from antiquity and their continued relevance to the happy life.
His new book is entitled: The Righteous Mind. This book is about the difference in thinking between conservatives and liberals.
On the light side, apparently a poll was taken asking whether people thought this country was currently divided. The results of the poll were 50% to 50%, Yes and No. The pundits are still arguing about that.
January 24, 2013: Mooji and discussion of gurus presented by Skye
This week Skye introduced us to a man whom he feels is one of his more important recent gurus. We listened to Mooji expressing some thoughts on consciousness and happiness. There are literally dozens, maybe hundreds of Mooji dialogues and oral dissertations on YouTube. You can Google his name and find these for your own edification.
Mooji, or Anthony Paul Moo-Young was born January 29, 1954 in Jamica. Having grown up in San Antonio, Jamaic, after his father died, when he was 15, he imigrated to London, England to live with his mother whom he had not seen since he was a baby. In England, he taught himself art, making stained glass, ceramics, and sculpture.
In 1993,Mooji met Papaji in India under whom he studied for a time. Papaji is a well known Indian guru who studied from Sri Raman and who taught among many others Andrew Cohn. However, Papaji has also been criticized for either telling, inferring, or allowing hundreds of individuals to believe they were fully enlightened simply because they had one or more powerful spiritual experiences. Then these people encouraged the same thing in their students. Thus out of Papaji came the so called "neo-Advaita", or "satsang"* movement in western culture.
In the case of Mooji, people seem to be moved by his simple thoughts and his soothing voice especially on his You-Tube videos. He teaches the advaita Vedanta tradition. He left Brixton, England in 2011 and has operated an ashram in the Alentejo region of southwest Portugal.
He has written 3 books: Before I am: The Direct Recognition of Our Original Self -- Dialogues with Mooji. Arunachala Press, 2008. ISBN 978-81-89658-18-2
Breath of the Absolute - Dialogues with Mooji. 2010. ISBN 978-81-88479-61-0
Writing on Water: Spontaneous Utterances Insights and Drawings. Mooji Media 2011. ISBN 978-1-908408.
*Satsang is a word in Indian philosophy that means 2) the company of the highest truth, 2) the company of a guru, or 3) company with an assembly of persons who listen to , talk about, and assimilate the truth. the "satsang" typically involves listening to or reading scriptures, reflecting on, discussing and assimilating their meaning, meditating on the source of these words, and bringing their meaning into one's daily life.
At our meeting Skye asked the attendees what we thought of Mooji. I think we all felt that we didn't hear or know enough about his teachings to make a judgement. Then Skye asked: "If you met a guru, how would you know he is a guru? What would you ask this guru?"
The discussion shifted to indeed what is a guru anyway? I thought I could just look up the word guru and come up with a definition that would help answer this question. But it turns out that it is not that easy. The pure Sanskrit word means "teacher." But there are other origins that might apply as well. In Pali, the word may mean "heavy with knowledge" or "heavy with spiritual wisdom." Another traditional etymology of the term guru is based on the interplay of darkness and light. In some texts, the syllables gu and ru stand for darkness and light, respectively. Some believe that the two syllables mean respectively "gu", light, and "ru", to push away. Well, it does seem that all of these etymologies have great meaning.
Indeed, our group of this morning's attendees came up with all of these ideas as well as some others. Paul says that everyone he meets has some wisdom that he does not have. So many are truly gurus in his view. Someone else said: "A guru is someone who makes you see your own guruship." Heidi put forth the name of Dr. Seuss, because his writings show that the questions are often complicated, but the answers are simple. You need a child's eye sometimes to see the truth. The idea of bringing light into darkness was known to the group. If a person can bring light into your darkness then for you that person is a guru. We all have different sensitivities and different views and different ways of transferring knowledge and wisdom work for different people. There is really a part of each of us that is a guru. We all felt that some might criticize Mooji, but if someone thinks he brings light then he does. Thinking it makes it so. One member said that certain people have a "presence" and he cited the Lubavitcher Rabbi Samuels as one with such a "presence." Likewise Muktananga would be another with a "presence." I think also the 14th Dalai Lama would be such a person. But these folks seem very enobled -- they may be satgurus. It has certainly been interesting to consider the meaning of this word.
January 10, 2013: Elkhart Tolle, presented by Skye
Eckhart Tolle was born in 1948 in Germany and now lives in Canada. He says that he was depressed much of his young adulthood, but then had "a transformation" when he was 29.
I couldn’t live with myself any longer. And in this a question arose without an answer: who is the ‘I’ that cannot live with the self? What is the self? I felt drawn into a void! I didn’t know at the time that what really happened was the mind-made self, with its heaviness, its problems, that lives between the unsatisfying past and the fearful future, collapsed. It dissolved. The next morning I woke up and everything was so peaceful. The peace was there because there was no self. Just a sense of presence or “beingness,” just observing and watching.[11]
After experiencing this new sense of "deep bliss," he became a spiritual teacher. He now lives in Vancouver, Canada, and travels, speaks on his beliefs and writes to teach his ideas about spirituality.
In the introduction to his second book, Stillness Speaks, he says: "A true spiritual teacher does not have anything to teach in the conventional sense of the word, does not have anything to give or add to you, such as new information, beliefs, or rules of conduct. The only function of such a teacher is to help you remove that which separates you from the truth ... The words are no more than signposts."[18]
Tolle says that "the most significant thing that can happen to a human being is the separation process of thinking and awareness" and that awareness is "the space in which thoughts exist." He also says that "the primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it." He believes that a spiritual awakening as he sees it is the next step in human evolution. He proposes that we need to lose our illusory sense of self because it is based on an unconscious identification with our memories and thoughts which are often painful because they are an accumulation of old emotional pain.
At the following link site, which is the Official Site of Eckhart Tolle, are many videos of Tolle speaking, and having conversations with widely respected spiritual and ethical leaders from around the world.
http://www.eckharttolletv.com/free/default.aspx?f=1#/483665614/What-is-the-purpose-of-mental-illness
December 27, 2012: Mystery Chant presented by Todd
Todd led the attendees in a Heart Meditation, much like a Heart Math time of Appreciation. We did this to a CD of music written and arranged specifically to be used with Heart math Meditation.
We discussed this meditation and the music's influence on the process. Some of the music on the CD seemed very appropriate for meditation. Other pieces on the CD would not have seemed to be appropriate due to almost jazz characteristics and yet the group concurred that indeed even these musical works seemed to promote the proper spiritual activity.
Gary read a letter written by Ram Dass to two people who had lost a loved one. he found the letter very moving. Here is that letter.
Dear Steve and Anita,
Rachel finished her work on earth, and left the stage in a manner that leaves those of us left behind with a cry of agony in our hearts, as the fragile thread of our faith is dealt with so violently. Is anyone strong enough to stay conscious through such teaching as you are receiving? Probably very few. And even they would only have a whisper of equanimity and peace amidst the screaming trumpets of their rage, grief, horror and desolation. I can't assuage your pain with any words, nor should I. For your pain is Rachel's legacy to you. Not that she or I would inflict such pain by choice, but there it is. And it must burn its purifying way to completion. For something in you dies when you bear the unbearable, and it is only in that dark night of the soul that you are prepared to see as God sees, and to love as God loves. Now is the time to let your grief find expression. No false strength. Now is the time to sit quietly and speak to Rachel, and thank her for being with you these few years, and encourage her to go on with whatever her work is, knowing that you will grow in compassion and wisdom from this experience. In my heart, I know that you and she will meet again and again, and recognize the many ways in which you have known each other. And when you meet you will know, in a flash, what now it is not given to you to know: Why this had to be the way it was. Our rational minds can never understand what has happened, but our hearts ¨– if wee can keep them open to God – will find their own intuitive way. Rachel came through you to do her work on earth, which includes her manner of death. Now her soul is free, and the love that you can share with her is invulnerable to the winds of changing time and space. In that deep love, include me.
In love,
Ram Dass
We discussed this meditation and the music's influence on the process. Some of the music on the CD seemed very appropriate for meditation. Other pieces on the CD would not have seemed to be appropriate due to almost jazz characteristics and yet the group concurred that indeed even these musical works seemed to promote the proper spiritual activity.
Gary read a letter written by Ram Dass to two people who had lost a loved one. he found the letter very moving. Here is that letter.
Dear Steve and Anita,
Rachel finished her work on earth, and left the stage in a manner that leaves those of us left behind with a cry of agony in our hearts, as the fragile thread of our faith is dealt with so violently. Is anyone strong enough to stay conscious through such teaching as you are receiving? Probably very few. And even they would only have a whisper of equanimity and peace amidst the screaming trumpets of their rage, grief, horror and desolation. I can't assuage your pain with any words, nor should I. For your pain is Rachel's legacy to you. Not that she or I would inflict such pain by choice, but there it is. And it must burn its purifying way to completion. For something in you dies when you bear the unbearable, and it is only in that dark night of the soul that you are prepared to see as God sees, and to love as God loves. Now is the time to let your grief find expression. No false strength. Now is the time to sit quietly and speak to Rachel, and thank her for being with you these few years, and encourage her to go on with whatever her work is, knowing that you will grow in compassion and wisdom from this experience. In my heart, I know that you and she will meet again and again, and recognize the many ways in which you have known each other. And when you meet you will know, in a flash, what now it is not given to you to know: Why this had to be the way it was. Our rational minds can never understand what has happened, but our hearts ¨– if wee can keep them open to God – will find their own intuitive way. Rachel came through you to do her work on earth, which includes her manner of death. Now her soul is free, and the love that you can share with her is invulnerable to the winds of changing time and space. In that deep love, include me.
In love,
Ram Dass
Dec 13, 2012: Prayer Service by Jean Hausman
October 18, 2012: Continuation of Mindsight, by Gary.
Role and benefits of meditation on relations to the wider knowledge of psychology and physiology.
October 11, 2012: Mindsight by Gary and Paul
Towards An Alternative View of Psychology and The Potential Role of Meditation as a
Treatment Modality – Largely Based On the Recent Work of Daniel Siegel
Our understanding of the building blocks of the cosmos and life is now based on the quantum paradigm. This paradigm displaced the previous reigning paradigm, as defined by Isaac Newton’s brilliance, approximately one century ago. The Newtonian paradigm emphasized the significance of matter, space and time. Our understanding of matter was as chemically based building blocks that interacted with the environment in a fairly
predictable fashion, since the environment was viewed as defined by space and time. Space and time were both understood as fixed entities that were governed by laws and rules that could be observed and understood. For the most part, the varieties of psychological theories appropriately reflected this understanding. The self was viewed as separate and distinct, made up of these chemicals that followed certain rules. It interacted with an environment that also followed the rules of space and time. Concepts like free will were discussed within this reductionistic, cause-and-effect framework. Resolution of philosophical debates regarding the significance of mind and matter could never be attained and the debates continued.
However, the change in paradigms has greatly altered our understanding of matter, space and time. As noted in previous discussions, Einstein’s theories of relativity, both special and general, stated the equivalence of matter and energy. Matter came to be understood as a manifestation of underlying mass and energy. Space and time came to be understood as relative to an independent observer, making the observer primary to both. Quantum
notions like complementarity (the notion of particles as both points and waves), uncertainty (an inability to determine place and momentum at the same time), entanglement and non-locality (shared processes, whereby information is instantly exchanged between related particles) further undermined the primary significance of matter, space and time. However, despite the magnitude of these changes in our understanding of the building blocks, our theories of psychology have continued to reflect our old Newtonian concepts of cause and effect that exist only if space and time
are fixed entities. The shift to the significance of the observer and choice with the corresponding lack of determinism and the beauty of potential and information has never occurred. A change in colors is in order.
More recent ideas put forth by Daniel Siegel suggest that thinking in regards to psychology may be moving in a new and different direction. To be clear, I don’t recall the invocation of the word “quantum” in his writing. He begins by highlighting the evelopment and differences between the right and left hemisphere of the brain. These differences emerge in the embryo brainstem, which then regulates asymmetries in the development and functioning of the cerebral cortex. Brain circuits that constitute an
intrinsic motive formation (outside of awareness) exist even before cortical neurons develop, and these include the hypothalamus, basal ganglia, and amygdala. The asymmetry of the intrinsic motive formation leads to the asymmetric development of the hemispheres. On the other hand, extrinsic motive formation, which involves conscious awareness, begins to ascend at about age two and follows the development of the cortices and hippocampus.
Implicit motive formation and memory do not carry the internal sensation that something is being recalled. Conscious processing during encoding or retrieval is not involved. Implicit motive formation relies on the brain structures that are intact at birth and include the amygdala and other limbic regions for emotional memory, the basal ganglia and motor cortex for behavioral memory, and the perceptual cortices for perceptual memory.
Somatosensory memory is also a part of implicit processing and is likely mediated by the somatosensory cortex, the orbital frontal cortex, the anterior insula, and the anterior cingulate, especially on the right side of the brain. All of these implicit elements form part of the foundation for our subjective sense of ourselves that filter our experience in the moment, though we do not recognize their influence on our present reality. There is
no sense of time or self associated with implicit memory. Repeated experiences shape the development of these circuits and our lives can become shaped by re-activations of the more readily activated circuitry that forms the implicit memories. Knowing about implicitmemory allows us to free ourselves from the repetitive behaviors and automatic memories derived from the past, as we will discuss later. Explicit memory, on the other hand, is what most people mean when they have the sense of remembering. It begins to develop by the second birthday and reflects the development of the medial temporal lobe (including the hippocampus), parietal, and orbital frontal ortex. The development of the hippocampus, as a “cognitive mapper,” allows for a sense of sequencing as a sense of time develops. The hippocampus also includes a spatial representational map of the locations of things in the world; this function allows the child
to identify context and create a four-dimensional sense of the self in the world across time. There are two forms of explicit memory. There is semantic, or factual, memory and episodic, or autobiographical, memory. Both forms of memory seem to require focal attention to activate the hippocampus. Items that activate the hippocampus then move into working memory where they can be maintained for longer periods of time by
rehearsal or refreshing the activity that activated the circuits. For memory to be permanent, it must undergo a process called cortical consolidation. This does not involve the hippocampus, but may rather depend on the REM stage of sleep; dreams may play a significant role in the consolidation of explicit memories. The hippocampus subsequently becomes necessary again for retrieval of these long-term memories. Semantic memory involves the symbolization of external or internal facts, is called ”noesis,” and is
otherwise known as factual memory. Semantic recall more generally involves the left, as opposed to the right, hippocampus.
Autobiographical memory, “autonoesis,” depends on the development of the frontal cortical regions of the brain. By the third year of life, a child begins to join caregivers in mutually constructed tales that lead to self-knowledge and autobiographical narratives. Thus, autobiographical memory emerges out of our interpersonal experiences with attachment figures. It depends on the development of a sense of subjective self that is continuous in time, consistent with the process of a narrative. As a result, it can also be
referred to as episodic recall because a process of mental time travel is evoked. The right hippocampus is more preferentially involved. It is linked to the processes of the prefrontal regions, specifically the midline prefrontal regions, especially the orbital frontal cortex in the right hemisphere.
Explicit memory is typically context dependent. Further, emotion plays a significant role in the development and encoding of memories. Emotions make experiences more easily remembered. Experience becomes more personally meaningful, perhaps because of the role of neurotransmitters as well as the activation of the amygdala. However, excessive activation of emotions, like fear, may lead to increased release of cortisol that can block
the function of the hippocampus and our ability to encode these memories. Additionally, the hippocampus can be damaged by chronic exposure to stress hormones. On the other hand, an enriched environment leads to enhanced development of the hippocampus. There are some significant implications to what has been discussed to this point. For example, implicit memories are not conscious and shape our subsequent thoughts and
behaviors without our knowledge. They can include elements of emotional memories, behavioral memories, perceptual memories and somatosensory memories that serve as the basis for our subjective sense of self. They can result from many repeated experiences in infancy, and beyond, which are implicitly encoded and subsequently become models for behaviors and interactions with others without our awareness. Previous psychological
models that invoked notions of mysterious drives with undefined energies, psychosexual stages of life and various defenses may otherwise come to be understood as secondary to differential developmental processes, anatomical connectivity, and various hormones, neurochemicals and neuroreceptors that are part and parcel of the intrinsic system. All of
these are impacted upon by genetics, the very real significance of a child’s relationship to it’s attachment figures, as well as the ways children interact with the environment, including attachment figures, by way of sensory exploration of the environment in response to such social interactions as toilet training, for example. Any resulting implicit memories can have a profound impact, outside of our awareness, on our explicit functioning for the remainder of our lives.
All this is meant to serve as an introduction to Daniel Siegel's central ideas. He proposes that our one reality is made up of three interrelated pieces: the mind, brain and relationships. Energy and information are exchanged in a continuous feedback between these three interrelated pieces. Information is the expression of energy in a given pattern. We are born with a temperament that is largely dependent on genetics, but attachments
with caregivers shape our subsequent abilities to form relationships (our ability to share information/energy with others), the development of our brain (the embodied mechanism of energy/information flow), and the development of our mind (the emergent self organizing regulatory process for energy/information flow). Activation of the attachment system involves an infant seeking physical proximity with a caregiver that most basically
enhances its chances of survival. Attachment establishes an interpersonal relationship that helps the immature brain use the mature functions of the caregiver to organize its own processes. It is associated with the processes of emotional regulation, social relatedness,access to autobiographical memory, and the development of self-reflection and narrative. According to John Bowlby, the nature of an infant's attachment to the primary caregiver
becomes internalized as a working model of attachment. A mental model of attachment is formed. This is a fundamental way in which implicit memory allows the mind to create generalizations and summaries of past experiences early on, before we have the ability to develop explicit memories.
Mary Ainsworth developed the Infant Strange Situation as a means to assess attachment. An infant is observed in different situations that include staying with mother, staying with mother and a stranger, staying only with a stranger, and then staying alone for up to 3 min. Ainsworth and her student Mary Main observed for general patterns of attachment: secure, avoidant, anxious and disorganized. The secure pattern is one of attunement between infant and caregiver. The avoidant pattern is characterized by a lack of
attunement, with the infant subsequently minimizing attachment and the need for others, so as to minimize disappointment. The anxious pattern is characterized by inconsistent attunement. This results in difficulties with being soothed, leading to an intense search for attachment that is never satisfied. The disorganized pattern is a combination of avoidant and anxious, with the attachment figure being a source of terror causing the need for protection that leads to fear that can never be resolved, resulting in a fragmented sense of self. Further, all of these attachment patterns are malleable. Changing conditions can change the working model of attachment as development unfolds across the lifespan. Mary Main was subsequently able to move the field of attachment beyond the study of
infant behavior and into the representational level of analysis. A protocol called the Adult ttachment Interview (AAI) was developed. The AAI is a narrative assessment of an adult’s state of mind with respect to attachment, which reflects a particular organizational pattern of the mind of an individual at the time of the interview. They found that a parent’s pattern of narrating the story of early family life within a semi-structured interview correlated with the strange situation classification of that parent’s child. The
four categories included: secure/autonomous (correlating with secure ttachment), dismissing (correlating with the avoidant attachment pattern), preoccupied (correlating with the anxious pattern), and solved/disorganized (correlating with the disorganized attachment pattern). These findings cut across socioeconomic and cultural groups. They were unrelated to long and short-term memory, social desirability, or interviewer style. They were not found to correlate with measures of personality that have a large degree of
heritability. These findings suggest that the patterns of relating between parent and child have significant influences throughout a person's life. The AAI continues to be the most robust predierctor of an infant’s attachment to his or her parents, perhaps because it is consistent with coherent autobiographical reflections and the ability to reflect on the mind. Overall, these findings support the view of childhood attachment as relationship
based.
Daniel Siegel proposes that attachment experiences influence the developing brain. Most simply, consider that all sensory information, save olfactory, is routed through the thalamus. From there, two neural branches separate. One branch goes to the amygdala and hippocampus, where we become alerted to the stimulus. The other proceeds to the cortex of the corresponding sense via the thalamocortical circuit, eg. the sense of sounds
go to the auditory cortex where they are sorted out and comprehended. Recall that neurons that fire together wire together. The fibers to the amygdala are shorter and, therefore, easier to navigate. Thus, at first blush, it is easier to maintain a degree of alertness than comprehension. Unless the thalamocortical tract is strengthened, by things like myelination, allowing for increased comprehension, we will more generally remain at a lesser degree of awareness and a higher level of alertness, resulting in increased
secretion of cortisol and adrenaline. It can generally be considered that secure attachment results in strengthening of the thalamocortical circuitry allowing for a greater degree of comprehension, while the other three attachment patterns strengthen the thalamus/amygdala connections because of the associated fear and corresponding need or alertness. The resultant increase in connectivity to the cortices in those who are securely attached, are naturally more widely distributed and result in novel connections
that would not be possible if the more limited connections between the thalamus and amygdala are emphasized. The increased connectivity results in increased complexity leading to an increased capacity for integration. A more cohesive sense of self follows an increase in integration. Thus, while much of our early experience, including attachment experiences, may be intrinsic in nature, the increase integration in the cortices allows for
stability and cohesiveness over time and greater likelihood that what was previously intrinsic can become extrinsic with time. There is support for other processes at work whereby insecure attachments might inhibit
neural integration. For example, in the process known as “developmental overpruning,” high levels of stress hormones lead to excessive death of neurons in the crucial pathways involving the neocortex and limbic system, which are responsible for emotional regulation. High levels of stress have also been known to block hippocampal functioning, and chronic exposure to stress hormones may lead to neuronal death in the hippocampus.
If the hippocampus is inhibited or damaged, the ability to encode what would become explicit memories is diminished and an implicit sense of fear, by way of the amygdala, is increased, as in PTSD. This results in fight or flight reactions/fear being triggered by current, non-traumatic events that have similarities to previous traumatic events on an intrinsic level; we are unable to discriminate between these events on an extrinsic level because we lack the memory that would allow us to symbolize these events on a higher level. Siegel also notes that unresolved traumatic memories are associated with an excessively right dominant activation pattern, which, as you may recall from Dr. Robinson’s work, will lead to excessive anxiety and withdrawal. Traumatized children have also been found to have asymmetric brain abnormalities and altered development of the corpus callosum, which is responsible for integration of information between the right and left cerebral hemispheres. Indeed, verbal abuse has been shown to have an adverse impact on the development of the corpus callosum. Overall, increased exposure to stress will lead to an increase in implicit, as opposed to explicit functioning, because of a decrease in integration between the hemispheres, leading to subsequent decrease in cohesiveness. This decreases the potential for intrinsic processes to subsequently be made extrinsic.
Therefore, attachment relationships greatly impact the developing connectivity of the brain, its’ integration and cohesiveness, and its’ ability to process information. Attachment relationships also greatly impact our subsequent abilities to form other relationships, become self aware and empathic. It has been discovered that there exist neurons in the frontal and parietal regions of the cortex called mirror neurons, which are activated by either one’s own purposeful actions or the perception of another’s actions.
Upon activation, these mirror neurons influence the state of activation of lower subcortical areas, including the limbic and brainstem regions, by way of what is known as the insula. The insula is a bilateral, midcortical region that sits at the interface between these lower parts of the brain, involved in taking in information from the body and the senses, and the higher cortex that integrates information and leads to thoughts and plans. The insula includes a map of the internal workings of the body, known as an nteroceptive map. The activation of the limbic and brainstem regions is then relayed back upward, again through the insula, to the middle prefrontal regions, including the anterior insula and cingulate. This pathway is how we come to integrate what we are feeling, via the interoceptive map, with awareness of others’ actions. Thus, self-awareness and empathy are integrated. It follows that our sense of a coherent self will be compromised if communication with others is less than secure and attuned. This is consistent with what is known of the functions of the middle prefrontal cortex, and especially the right orbital
frontal region; it serves the vital integrative function of correlating social communication, empathic attunement, emotional regulation, registration of bodily state, stimulus appraisal and self-consciousness. It is this mid-prefrontal region of the cortex that is enhanced by the secure attachment
pattern. It is also this area of the brain that is the focus of the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness is thought to strengthen the mid-prefrontal cortex, including the anterior cingulate, orbitofrontal cortex, medial and ventral regions of the prefrontal cortex. Further, mindfulness and the mid-prefrontal cortex share many of the same functions including body regulation, attuned communication, emotional balance, response flexibility, fear modulation, insight, empathy, and morality. It becomes Daniel Siegel's assertion then that our attachment experiences of childhood can be modified throughout
adulthood by pursuing mindfulness practices. He proceeds to discuss his metaphor entitled “the wheel of awareness.” (Please see the accompanying figure entitled “The Wheel of Awareness,” to be handed out.) This consists
of a central hub that is consistent with the mid-prefrontal cortex (PFC). This is the place of “knowing.” It is the plane of open possibility in which information can exist before it becomes more defined. Extending out from the hub would be spokes of attention. The spokes would be anything that we intend to attend to. These spokes correspond to any focus of attention we might pursue while meditating. They can extend outward to either
the inner rim or the outer rim of the wheel. The inner rim is an area of increasing probability, where the energy/information invested by our attention is more defined. It involves implicit processing. It consists of intentions, beliefs, attitudes, moods, mental models, and motivation. This implicit processing does not involve conscious awareness. However, it significantly biases and shapes our explicit awareness. As we attend to the inner rim during a state of meditation, we may become more aware of these implicit processes, such that the unconscious bias and shaping of the
explicit awareness by implicit awareness becomes conscious and itself shifts to the outer rim of explicit processing. This would be an example of increasing integration. Extending outward would be the outer rim of explicit processing. This is the “known.” It is the area where the energy/information shifts from a possibility to a certainty, or “known” entity. It is where the implicit intentions, beliefs, attitudes, moods, mental models, and motivation of the inner rim explicitly become the emotions, thoughts, images, memories and perceptions of the outer rim. It is here that we choose peace and love. Certainly, from what has preceded, it should be evident that we would be in a much better position to make such choices later in life if our attachment experiences earlier in life were more positive. It should also be evident that earlier disruptive experiences can be shifted to a more integrative level using meditation and mindfulness at a later time.
As the above information and ideas are considered, we move away from a sense of a separate self, existing in a space and time governed by cause and effect. Rather, our sense of self is part of a continuum that includes our relationships with others, our neural development and integration, and how the self regulates, via the mind, the flow of information and energy between and within these modalities. This is similar to the quantum notions of entanglement and non-locality (shared processes, whereby information is immediately exchanged between related particles). Further, the self is in a
state of perpetual redefinition. This is similar to the quantum notions of uncertainty (an inability to determine place and momentum at the same time) and complementarity (the notion of particles as both points and waves). Previous notions of the psychology of a static self may be considered as illusions of isolation (as opposed to the continual flow of
relationships and information) and rigidity (as opposed to perpetual redefinition), both individually and collectively. They resulted in a preoccupation with self-importance and an anthropomorphic/anthropocentric orientation, both cosmologically and
metaphysically. As we shift our understanding of self to be more consistent with the current paradigm, the possibilities and choice of the quantum paradigm, as opposed to older notions of cause and effect, enhance our creativity and imagination. We become less encumbered by dualisms, judgments and bigotry. The role of meditation to help the
implicit become explicit and increasing our cohesive sense of self is an obvious modality in pursuit of such equanimity. The seeming paradox, that a greater awareness of self allows us to be in the moment of such selflessness, is resolved by an understanding of self and psychology from a quantum viewpoint, vs. the previous limitations of the Newtonian understanding. Such awareness of self and the resultant selflessness will
ultimately enable an ever-increasing empathy and love for each other, our environment and our cosmos.
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