Christian Theology Exposing The Gospel Of Sensationalism Feeling Vs Knowing

Metaphysics Daily Om We Dont Need To Suffer

Tweet

Ah yes, suffering, the choice we make to identify with our pain. This article addresses suffering in terms of belief about the spiritual life/path, but the principles can be applied to any part of our life where we hold onto to false beliefs.

"WE DON'T NEED TO SUFFER"

LEARN AND LET FLOW

"WE DO NOT NEED TO SUFFER OR LIVE IN POVERTY TO BE A SPIRITUAL PERSON."

The idea that we have to suffer or live in poverty in order to be spiritual is an old one and can be found in the belief systems of many philosophies. Most of us carry this idea around subconsciously, and we may be holding ourselves back from financial or emotional well-being, believing that this is what we must do in order to be virtuous, spiritually awake, or feel less guilty for the suffering of others.

While it's true that there can be a spiritual purpose to experiencing a lack of material well-being, it is rarely intended to be a permanent or lifelong experience. What we are meant to find when material or emotional resources are in short supply is that there is more to our lives than the physical realm. Intense relationships and material abundance can distract us from the subtler realm of the spirit, so a time of deficiency can be spiritually awakening. However, once we recognize the realm of spirit, and remember to hold it at the center of our lives, there is no reason to dwell in poverty or emotional isolation. In fact, once our connection to spirit is fully intact, we feel so compelled to share our abundance that lack becomes a thing of the past.

If you find that you are experiencing suffering in some area of your physical life, perhaps your spirit is asking you to look deeper in your search for what you want. For example, if you want money so that you can experience the feeling of security but money keeps eluding you, your spirit may be asking you to understand that security is not to be found through money. Security comes from an unshakable connection to your soul. Once you make that connection, money will probably flow more easily into your life. If relationships elude you, your spirit may be calling you to recognize that the love you seek is not to be found in another person. And yet, ironically, once you find the love, your true love may very well appear. If you feel stuck in suffering to live a spiritual life, try to spend some time writing about it. The root of the problem will appear and it may not be what you expected. Remember, the Universe wants you to be happy.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Discuss this article and share your opinion

Suggested ebooks:

Aleister Crowley - Gilles De Rais The Banned Lecture
Stephen Flowers - Fire And Ice Magical Order The Brotherhood Of Saturn

Keywords: aleister crowley satan  learn astral projection  astral projection for  black magic rituals book  alistair crowley  do what thou wilt  astral projection hypnosis  witches potions  brigitte nielsen  

Criticism Of Religion

Tweet

I feel that atheists are often quite malaligned. OK, some of my atheist friends think what I do is a little wacky. That's cool. I think they often don't see the bigger picture and are needlessly limiting their perceptions. That's cool, too. However, I find that on about 95% or more topics, I am in complete alignment with the way they view and approach things. That's WAY better than anyone else!

I think in a way, they appreciate having a thinking, skeptically-minded theist (eh, I don't know if theist is the right way to describe me, but I'm not atheist. I have a philosophic explanation that I am seeking which reconciles both.) However, so much of that relies upon the freedom to question, to make a fool of yourself (so that you can learn from the Trickster!), to accept and then to deny after re-assessing the acceptance. Freedom to express, to blaspheme, to question, to mock, to celebrate, to exalt anything and everything which comes from your own connection with what you see as Divine (or if you're a non-theist, what you see as Pretty Awesome But Not Divinely Inspired Whatsoever.) - these are all as important to me and my seeking as they are to the atheist.

Atheists often only pick on Christians (and often Islam, for the same reason) because they seek to deny that freedom to everyone - their followers included. So with that, they're my best friends politically and socially speaking. I often invoke Dawkins' quote, "We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further." I add, "and I just go a few gods less." I don't often see atheists griping about Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, or Sufis... or Pagans, or Witches, or Chaos Magicians, or Hermetics or Thelemites or even Satanists! That's because they typically don't cause any trouble... they're happy to live and let you live as you see fit. Again, I have a very moral fit. Like them, freedom is one of my most treasured virtues.

I often find myself thankful to the conversations I have with them because they keep me on my toes. They point out my nonsense. Sometimes I say, "Well, that's my mystical nonsense, and you just wouldn't get it because you don't accept the power of belief. So we have no common ground to speak on this matter." And the conversations go on, typically, to topics we can talk about (there are so many!). I realize that certain things I do will not ever be a part of a conversation we can have to any depth. That's fine. I do have theist friends too. Sometimes they point out my nonsense and I realize that what they are saying makes great sense and I grow as a result of it.

It's typically the hard-headed ones they don't care for - who start referencing some ancient text as the ultimate guide for truth, completely unwavering. I think that as a magician, it is very important to keep attacking my own beliefs. "If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him." To keep questioning and examining - that is the great work.

{gallery}4horsemen{/gallery}

Suggested ebooks:

Phil Hine - Aspects Of Evocation
Andrew Lang - Myth Ritual And Religion

Keywords: astral projection spells  astral travel guide  magic ritual  golden dawn  the necronomicon book  astral travel techniques  elemental magic  aleister crowley d gray man  african love spells  

Psychic Randi

Tweet

MSG: #244 SEC: 0 - GENERAL PARANORMAL
DATE: 10-MAR-86 10:15 PM
TO: ALL
FROM: SYSOP
SUBJ: RANDI SPEAKS!

THE FOLLOWING SERIES OF MESSAGES IS FROM STEPHEN RYLAND, A MEMBER OF THE COMPUSERVE PARANORMAL ISSUES SECTION (GO ISSUES)

I HAVE SPENT THE LAST TWO NIGHTS WITH JAMES "THE AMAZING" RANDI. THE FIRST NIGHT WAS A SPEECH AT CAL TECH HERE IN PASADENA ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE PARANOMRAL AND THE SECOND A BANQUET OF THE SO. CALIFORNIA SKEPTICS.
RANDI IS A VERY PERSONABLE GENTLEMAN AND AN EXCELLENT MAGICIAN. I WILL OUTLINE HIS TALK BELOW:
FAITH-HEALING: RANDI'S CURRENT RESEARCH TOPIC IS AN EXPOSE' OF FAITH HEALERS. HE SHOWED TAPES OF VARIOUS SERVICES. IN SOME OF THE SERVICES HIS MINIONS WENT FORWARD AND PRETENDED CURES OF MADE-UP DISEASES. HE GAVE SOME OF THE "TRICKS" OF THE TRADE SUCH AS PROVIDING WHEELCHAIRS TO SEMI-AMBULATORY PEOPLE AND USING DATA CARDS TO DO A MENTALIST TRICK OF CALLING THEIR NAMES, DISEASES, DOCTORS, ETC. NOW, BEING OF A FUNDAMENTALIST BACKGROUND AND OFTEN AMONG THE HILL FOLK OF MISSOURI, I HAVE RATHER STRONG FEELINGS IN FAVOR OF THESE SORTS OF HAPPENINGS. HOWEVER, HE CONVINCED ME THAT MANY OF THESE WOULD SCREEN THE PEOPLE WHO CAME FOR STAGE APPEAL AND NOT TRY TO HELP EVERYONE. IT DOES SEEM THAT MANY OF THESE TV HEALERS ARE MORE IN IT FOR THE MONEY THAN REALLY TRYING TO HELP. I'M SURE WE'LL HEAR MORE ON THIS TOPIC LATER.

DOWSING: RANDI HAD DONE A NUMBER OF DOUBLE BLIND EXPERIMENTS WITH DOWSERS IN AUSTRALIA. SUCCESS RATE WAS ONLY 10%. IT DEPENDS ON ONE'S DOWSING THEORY. FOR THE CASE OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE THAT WATER OR THE SUBSTANCE EMITS SOME SORT OF RAY THESE EXPERIMENTS DISPROVE THAT. FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVE THAT DOWSING RELEASES THE SUBCONSCIOUS IT DISPROVES NOTHING.
URI GELLER: RANDI REPEATED THE SPOON BENDING TRICK WHICH GELLER HAD LEARNED FROM TEL AVIV SCHOOL CHILDREN. HE DID ADMIT THAT GELLER WAS A GOOD ILLUSIONIST AND WOULD HAVE MADE A GOOD PROFESSIONAL MAGICIAN.

COLUMBUS POLTERGEIST: RANDI SHOWED THAT THIS HIGHLY PUBLICISED CASE WAS PURELY A HOAX - HE HAD AS A WITNESS A CAMERAMAN WHO STAGED PICTURES FOR THE MEDIA. IN FACT THE NEWSPAPER HAS BEEN CALLED DOWN FOR UNETHICAL PRACTICES.

TV SHOWS: HE SHOWED HOW SOME GIRL ON THE CARSON SHOW DID A COMPLEX CARD TRICK (I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS) ALSO SOMEONE WHO BLEW PENCILS OFF TABLES BUT PRETENDED TO DO IT BY PK.

OTHER: MANY OTHER TOPICS WERE DISCUSSED BRIEFLY INCLUDING UFOS, ESP, ETC. RANDI DID GIVE SOME USEFUL INFORMATION ON THE DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS SUCH AS DOUBLE BLIND, AND THAT NOT ONLY DO YOU HAVE TO PROVE A WAY THAT SOMETHING CAN BE DONE (SUCH AS ILLUSION) BUT ALSO HOW IT ACTUALLY WAS DONE.

THE AUDIENCE IN BOTH CASES WAS A WIDE RANGE OF PEOPLE FROM NOBEL LAUREATES TO HOBBYISTS. AT THE BANQUET THERE WERE SEVERAL LUMINARIES FROM THE LOCAL MEDIA.
BOTH OF THESE MEETINGS WERE INTERESTING. I DO THINK THAT AN INCREASING PERCENTAGE OF THE SKEPTICS MAY BE INTERESTED IN ATTACKING RELIGION EVEN THOUGH SUCH A THOUGHT IS PROTESTED BY THEM. IN SOME CASES SKEPTICS MAY BE REPLACING THE BELIEF OF "NON-BELIEF" OR "ANTI-BELIEF" INSTEAD OF POSITIVE BELIEF IN ANY OF THESE TOPICS. THAT IS, THERE MAY BE MORE DOGMATISM IN NON-BELIEF THAN IN PARANORMAL ISSUES.

END TRANSCRIPT> COMMENTS,
PEOPLE?

TO: SYSOP (X) (R)
FROM: TOM BETZ

I LIKE RANDI'S ATTITUDE... NOT DOGMATIC (AS ARE SO MANY OF HIS DEVOTEES) BUT RATHER SINCERELY INTERESTED IN EXPOSING FRAUD... AND (I REALLY BELIEVE) IF HE EVER DOES FIND A TRUE CASE OF PK OR PSYCHISM, HE WILL BE HAPPIER THAN THE TRUE BELIEVERS HE SO OFTEN ENRAGES! AND I DON'T THINK THERE IS "DOGMATISM IN NON-BELIEF... IT'S PROBABLY AN EQUAL MEASURE.
I'D LIKE TO DISCUSS THE WORD "PARANORMAL" ITSELF... I THINK IT'S A MISNOMER AS SUCH, MUST FOLLOW SOME CONSISTENT PATTERN WHICH IS DETECTABLE. WHY HAVE WE BEEN UNABLE TO DETECT A PATTERN? ON THE OTHER HAND, THE BELIEVERS ARGUE THAT THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN MEETS THE SCIENTIFIC EYE; THAT THE PATTERN IS THERE, BUT MUST BE VIEWED IN A MORE AESTHETIC AND UNQUANTIFIABLE MODE THAN THAT ALLOWED BY SCIENCE. WHAT IS THE UNSEEN LINE THAT DIVIDES- THE TWO CAMPS? COULD IT POSSIBLY BE DUE TO HEMISPHERIC FRAME OF REFERENCE? THAT IS, DO LEFT-BRAIN DOMINANT INDIVIDUALS WIND UP BEING SKEPTICS, WHILE RIGHT-BRAIN TYPES ARE MORE RECEPTIVE TO THE PARANORMAL? I AM GOING TO BE EXPLORING THIS POSSIBILITY IN THE NEAR FUTURE, WITH A GENTLEMAN NAMED ED PELSOU, WHO CONDUCTS SEMINARS ON HOW TO CREATE HEMISPHERIC BALANCE, OR HOW TO GET OUR LEFT AND RIGHT BRAINS TO WORK TOGETHER. WILL GET BACK TO YOU.

TO: SYSOP (X)
FROM: TOM BETZ

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HAD THIS HAPPEN TO YOU: A FRIEND FROM OUT OF TOWN COMES TO VISIT YOU... HE HAS NEVER BEEN TO YOUR HOME TOWN BEFORE, SO YOU SHOW HIM AROUND... AND WALKING DOWN STREETS YOU HAVE WALKED EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE, HE REMARKS ABOUT THE UNUSUAL QUALITY OF AN OBJECT ( A TREE, OR A BUILDING ) THAT YOU HAVE NEVER NOTICED, BUT HAS BEEN THERE SINCE BEFORE YOU WERE BORN... ALL BECAUSE HE IS UNFAMILIAR WITH YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, AND IS THEREFORE TO WHAT HE SEES.
I REALLY BELIEVE THAT PSYCHIC PHENOMENA ARE LIKE THAT. THINGS GO ON ALL AROUND US ALL THE TIME, BUT BECAUSE WE AREN'T PAYING ATTENTION, WE'RE TOO BUSY GETTING DONE WHAT WE HAVE TO GET DONE TO SURVIVE, WE DON'T NOTICE... UNTIL ONE OF TWO THINGS HAPPENS:
1. THROUGH CIRCUMSTANCE ( WE MOVE INTO A HAUNTED HOUSE, A CLOSE FRIEND OR RELATIVE DIES, WE ARE CONTACTED BY AN ALIEN ) IT BECOMES ESSENTIAL TO OUR SURVIVAL TO PAY ATTENTION AND DEAL WITH SOME PSYCHIC PHENOMENON
2. THROUGH CURIOUSITY AND DESIRE TO LEARN WE TAKE TIME OUT FROM EVERYDAY LIFE AND CONCENTRATE OUR EFFORTS ON PAYING ATTENTION AND NOTICING THOSE THINGS WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY IGNORED... IT IS NOT DIFFICULT TO TRAIN ONESELF TO BECOME SENSITIZED TO "ETHERIC" (I HATE THAT WORD, BUT CAN COME UP WITH NONE BETTER AT PRESENT) ENERGIES, BY EXTENDING ONE'S "NATURAL SENSES" ( TASTE, TOUCH, SOUND, SMELL, SIGHT, ETC. ) TO REACH BEYOND THE NORMAL RANGE, OR BY DEVELOPING AN "ALTERNATIVE SENSE" TO DEAL WITH THE ENERGIES.
INASMUCH AS THESE CALLS ARE EXPENSIVE, I CAN'T GO INTO THIS FURTHER RIGHT NOW... HOWEVER, I WILL CONCLUDE BY SAYING, YES, THERE DOES SEEM TO BE A CASE FOR SOME PEOPLE HAVING A STRONGER INNATE SENSITIVITY... WHAT FACTORS MAY CONTRIBUTE TO IT CAN, FOR NOW, ONLY BE A SPECULATION... BUT I TRULY BELIEVE THAT ANYONE, (EVEN YOU, JIM) IS CAPABLE OF EXPERIENCING THESE "PARANORMAL" ENERGIES... GIVEN TIME, NEED, OR WILL.

ULY BELIEVE THA

Suggested ebooks:

Aleister Crowley - Chicago May
Dion Fortune - Psychic Self Defense

Keywords: meditation astral travel  easy astral travel  astral projection experiences  enochian magic  jhon dee  how to astral travel  horned god  tarot deck cards  magic secrets  

Dull Tales Of The Occult

Tweet

by Morgain Blake

Sometimes I think that it's a real shame that witchcraft and Satanism don't live up to their media image. Ah, the romance of those cavernous crypts lit by massive black candles and filled with dizzying clouds of incense! Those robed, chanting figures, those beautiful though damned maidens, those magnificently choreographed circle dances and orgies! When will I taste the mystic potion which sends the hypnotised heroine into such erotic and transporting visions? Where are those ancient houses with secret passages leading to paneled chambers with horrifying sights? How can I join those beautiful people dancing to the strains of supernatural piping in a stone circle under the full moon?

Alas, scenes like these seem to exist mainly in movies and between the pages of books. I've never seen anything like them in ten years of occult experience, and friends with longer track records than mine seem to have missed them as well.

I once had the illuminating experience of giving a ride to a man who was about to attend his first ritual with our group. When I came to his door and introduced myself as the person his friend had persuaded to offer him transport, his eyes widened. I don't know what he was expecting, but what he got was an ordinary redhead in street clothes with a battered Chevy Nova rattling in the driveway. He gathered up a bundle of clothes which looked as though they had been through a number of revels at meetings of the Society for Creative Anachronism and new-looking copies of BOTH" Satanic "and" Spiral "by Starhawk, and followed me to my car, chattering nervously. On the way to the house where the ritual was to be held, he told me how important he was in the Society for Creative Anachronism; how his powers had been revealed to him in a childhood vision and how successfully he had been warding off a series of psychic attacks by his enemies.

I suppose that I should not have been surprised when he didn't know how to behave during the ritual and constantly had that "what do I do with my hands"
look which comes over people who are in totally new situations. However, I was completely shocked when the ritual, which I considered to be beautiful and highly moving (I had written it myself) bored him to tears. He cornered me in the kitchen later while I was loading my plate with the usual sumptuous after-ritual feast (six casseroles, two salads, five desserts and six kinds of chips, washed down with Diet Pepsi and various strange-looking wines). "Are your rituals always like this?" he asked plaintively.

I shrugged. "Sometimes shorter, sometimes, longer, sometimes totally unrestrained."

He brightened. "Totally unrestrained?"

"Yeah. You were lucky today. The High Priest kept his face straight all the way through and Leon the punster didn't make any rude remarks. Sometimes we end up laughing so hard we can't go on for five minutes."

"Oh. Is there ever any sexual involvement?"

"We save that for afterwards," I leered and carried my teetering plate over to the sofa where my two favorite fellow-worshippers had been beckoning lewdly to me. Poor Fred! The most excitement he got that night was watching the more lecherous members of the group figure out ways to hug and nibble the ears of all the women in the group while simultaneously demolishing the food and managing not to miss any of "Star Trek".

Needless to say, Fred never came back.

Recalling Fred's first and only visit to a Real-live Magical Ritual makes me realize that the so-called "occult experts" who appear on network and local TV and speak to parent's groups across the nation are concealing two important and horrible truths from the American Public.

First of all, the experts have bought the legends hook, line and sinker.
They believe that we worship in those smoky crypts and god-haunted groves instead of suburban living rooms and basements. They believe that we feast on murdered infants instead of tuna noodle hot dish and walnut brownies, and that we don't fill our chalices with Diet Pepsi, but with human blood. I have it on the excellent authority of Frank Medina, a Wisconsin-based probation officer who is one of the few REAL occult experts in the country, that it is not even POSSIBLE to drink a cup of blood. The acrid, caustic properties of blood make it much more likely that the drinker would dash off to the bathroom to be sick or even to an emergency room to have his stomach pumped than that he would rise up filled with fervor and praising Satan. However, the "experts" would far rather believe in legend than in fact, and they desperately want to conceal their lack of real evidence from their audiences.

The second horrible truth that these stars of the Oprah Winfrey Show are hiding from the American people is that most of the people who inhabit the occult world are ordinary, normal, and yes, BORING. The High Priests and Priestesses of satanic and wiccan covens across the nation are not pale, glamorously dressed tempters and temptresses who sleep by day in the luxurious homes maintained by their private fortunes, then rise as night to perform unspeakable acts of horror and perversion. We are nurses, secretaries, waiters, engineers, graphic designers, college teachers, soldiers, computer programmers, security guards, and lawyers.

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Average American, we have infiltrated all walks of American life. We might even (perish the thought) be living right next door to you! How can you tell who we are so that you can protect your precious pets, children and selves from us? Well, here are a few dead giveaways.

1. Most of us are well-educated. I have seldom met a witch or a satanist who
does not at least have a bachelor's degree. Those who have not attended
or finished college have made up for it by voracious and eclectic reading
and seldom can be distinguished from their more-educated co-religionists.

2. We have LOTS of books. Not all of those books, or even the majority of
them, will be on occult topics. Our bookshelves overflow with gardening
books, cookbooks, science fiction, mysteries, anthropology texts and even
romance novels.

3. We have LOTS of pets. Many of us have at least one, and usually more than
one cat or dog or other cute little creature. Mysteriously, these pets
do not usually end their lives as blood sacrifices, but are cherished,
coddled and taken to the vet as often as pets raised in Christian
households.

4. Not too many of us were raised without the benefits of "true religion".
A startling number of both satanists and witches were raised Catholic, and
most groups include former Lutherans, Baptists and even Jews. A
conventional religious background can even add to the fervor of our new
religious feelings, and it certainly adds to the rituals. Unless he has
a theatrical background, it is a sad sight to see a lifelong atheist or
agnostic conducting a ritual as High Priest--he usually won't have the
experience to perform without self-consciousness or with truth conviction
as a lapsed Christian can.

5. Those occult people have funny names like Bob and Michael and Sue and
Delores. Certainly, you will find people named Morgain and Rhiannon and
Shadowdancer and Wolf, but you will also find that they generally revert
to their birth names outside of magical groups.

6. They listen to a lot of music. Oddly enough, this is seldom heavy metal
or punk music with those vicious Satanic lyrics we've all been warned
against. Their record libraries generally contain a lot of folk music,
Beatles albums, New Age compact disks, and even jazz. They tend to
subscribe to public radio and TV stations.

7. As mentioned before, they eat a lot. As many recipes are swapped after
occult rituals as after church services, and not just for guaranteed love
potions and remedies for charming off warts.

8. People who are involved with the occult tend to be devoted followers of
"Star Trek". It is well known that almost all of the occult groups which
hold their meetings on the same night that "Star Trek" is shown in their
viewing area always finish their rituals in time to watch the show. The
reason for this is unknown.

9. For some reason, a lot of the women have red hair. I once had to get up
at an occult conference and announce to the group that although Morgain,
Mairi, and Maura all had red hair and glasses, we were not the same person
and would appreciate it if people would bother to learn to distinguish us
rather than addressing us indiscriminately by each other's names. One
would perhaps think that there is a genetic predisposition for redheads to
go into magic were it not for the fact that most magical redheads dye
their hair! (Except for me, of course.)

10. Satanists and Witches are devoted to the Constitution of the United
States, expecially the First Amendment which preserves their right to
worship as much as it does that of fundamentalists, Lutherans, Catholics,
Jews, Buddhists and Hindus. I once heard a fundamentalist at an "occult
seminar" reply to this argument that, except for the fundamentalists and
the Lutherans, the rest of the people in that list were all damned and
didn't deserve religious rights anyway. I wonder why the Lutherans were
OK?

Now then, Mr. and Mrs. Average American, don't these dreadful and
threatening occult types sound an awful lot like you and your spouse? That is, in fact, the most horrible truth which the modern witch-hunters are trying to conceal from you. If everyone knew the truth, that being a satanist or witch can be as ordinary and normal and boring as being a Presbyterian, then the witch-hunters would be out of a job. Their mission would be unnecessary, they would no longer be able to raise (and probably skim) funds, and they themselves would become laughing stocks.

Do you want the world to go on being deceived by the suppression of these horrible truths? If not, then spread them, promulgate them, foment them! Let the whole world know, and then maybe we can all get on with our lives in peace and without fear.

(c) Copyright 1989, 1990 by Morgain Blake. All rights reserved.

Suggested ebooks:

Howard Phillips Lovecraft - Cults Of Cthulhu
Valentina Izmirlieva - All The Names Of The Lord

Keywords: aquarian tarot deck  equinox of the gods  holy guardian angels  chakra balance meditation  el necronomicon  candle magic rituals  astral travel grenada  lucid dreaming for beginners  

Psychology Of Religion

Tweet

Nice article from the current issue of Greater Good on why mindfulness matters, how to cultivate it our lives, and just what exactly what mindfulness is.

WHY MINDFULNESS MATTERS

By Jason Marsh May 17, 2010

This month on "Greater Good", experts explain the benefits of mindfulness--and how you can cultivate it.

It's been 30 years since Jon Kabat-Zinn launched his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. What began as a bit of a lark-an attempt by a molecular biologist to bring Buddhist meditation (minus the Buddhism) into the mainstream of medicine-has grown into a genuine social movement, with variations of the MBSR program developing everywhere from elementary schools to hospitals to the halls of Congress. At the same time, a growing body of research has documented the physical and psychological health benefits of practicing mindfulness, even for just a few weeks.

Still, the term "mindfulness" is likely to raise more than a few questions. For starters: What, exactly, is it? Danielle Rothman

"Simply put, mindfulness is moment-to-moment awareness," writes Kabat-Zinn in his groundbreaking book "Full Catastrophe Living". "It is cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment's thought to. It is a systematic approach to developing new kinds of control and wisdom in our lives."

Kabat-Zinn has made it his life's work to promote secular applications of mindfulness. And this month on "Greater Good", we're highlighting why that work is so important.

Throughout the month, we'll be featuring stories by pioneers who have applied Kabat-Zinn's MBSR program to different realms, from schools to prisons to childbirth and parenting education to the lives of Iraq war veterans. Each story is unique, but they all demonstrate the profound benefits that can come from cultivating mindfulness: reduced stress, heightened compassion and self-control, and a deeper engagement with the people in our lives. And they all make clear that these benefits can be made available to almost anyone with proper training.

This training can take different forms. Kabat-Zinn has stressed that although mindfulness can be cultivated through formal meditation, that's not the only way. Jon Kabat-Zinn delivering his talk at the Greater Good Science Center event, "Compassion, Mindfulness, and Well-Being."

"It's not really about sitting in the full lotus, like pretending you're a statue in a British museum," he said in his presentation at a recent Greater Good Science Center event. "It's about living your life as if it really mattered, moment by moment by moment by moment."

Video from that dynamic and inspiring presentation, part of the GGSC's new "Science of a Meaningful Life" series, is also a highlight on "Greater Good" this month-a terrific opportunity to watch Kabat-Zinn elucidate the practice and the purpose of mindfulness.

Resources

* WATCH THE VIDEO of Jon Kabat-Zinn explaining what mindfulness is and why it matters
* For more on mindfulness and its applications, GGSC members can read The Greater Good Guide to Mindfulness

You'll also find other mindfulness resources, including tips for teaching mindfulness to kids and links to leading organizations that study and teach mindfulness.

And all of these valuable resources are collected in "The Greater Good Guide to Mindfulness"-the first in a series of "Greater Good Guides" we're publishing on our website as a way to dig deeper into some of "Greater Good"'s key themes. The guides are available only to members of the Greater Good Science Center-good reason to start your membership today!

Taken together, from Kabat-Zinn's video presentation to our many articles on the topic, we hope these materials provide a better sense of what mindfulness is, what its benefits are, how it's practiced, and how you might cultivate more of it in your own life.

Greater Good Guide to Mindfulness (download the PDF to read the whole guide).

It's been 30 years since Jon Kabat-Zinn launched his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. What began as a bit of a lark-an attempt by a molecular biologist to bring Buddhist meditation (minus the Buddhism) into the mainstream of medicine-has grown into a genuine social movement, with variations of the MBSR program developing everywhere from elementary schools to hospitals to the halls of Congress. At the same time, a growing body of research has documented the physical and psychological health benefits of practicing mindfulness, even for just a few weeks.

Still, the term "mindfulness" is likely to raise more than a few questions. For starters: What, exactly, is it?

"Simply put, mindfulness is moment-to-moment -awareness," writes Kabat-Zinn in his groundbreaking book Full Catastrophe Living. "It is cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment's thought to. It is a systematic approach to developing new kinds of control and wisdom in our lives."

Kabat-Zinn has made it his life's work to promote secular applications of mindfulness. In his presentation at the recent Greater Good Science Center event, "Compassion, Mindfulness, and Well-Being," he explained that mindfulness can be cultivated through formal meditation, but that's not the only way.

"It's not really about sitting in the full lotus, like pretending you're a statue in a British museum," he said. "It's about living your life as if it really mattered, moment by moment by moment by moment."

Kabat-Zinn used his GGSC talk, part of the Center's "Science of a Meaningful Life" event series, to elucidate the practice and the purpose of mindfulness, and to reflect on the extraordinary growth and influence of his MBSR program.

So far, more than 18,000 people have completed the eight-week program, where they practice basic mindfulness techniques, from sitting meditation to an exercise in eating mindfully, and consider how to draw on these practices as they navigate the challenges of everyday life. Many enroll because they are suffering from ailments ranging from high blood pressure to depression to cancer. Research shows that most of them enjoy significant improvements in their physical and mental health: less pain, higher self-esteem, more excitement about life, and a greater ability to relax and cope with stress. They even show fewer symptoms of physical illness.

But as Kabat-Zinn told the audience at his GGSC talk, the applications of mindfulness go far beyond its medical value. "People who come and understand what we're doing, the first thing they say is 'Oh my God, this isn't about stress reduction,'" he said. "'This is about my life.'"

Indeed, the broad, everyday relevance of mindfulness is demonstrated by how widely it is being embraced in new programs across different sectors of society. School-based programs teaching mindfulness to kids have taken off over the past few years; mindfulness-based programs are also gaining traction in prisons and among substance abuse counselors. These programs and many others have used MBSR as a model, and they're fueled by the increasing number of studies that link mindfulness to emotional balance and stronger immune systems, among other benefits. Whereas just a handful of studies with the word "mindfulness" in the title were published 25 years ago, now that number is approaching or exceeding 100 each year.

We offer this guide as a companion to Kabat-Zinn's GGSC talk (video of which can be found at www.greatergoodscience.org), highlighting resources, research, and some of the many innovative applications of Kabat-Zinn's MBSR program.

While by no means comprehensive, we hope it provides a better sense of what mindfulness is, what its benefits are, how it's practiced, and how you might cultivate more of it in your own life.Additional resources:

* Mindful Education May 13, 2010
* Tips for Teaching Mindfulness to Kids May 13, 2010
* Mindful Kids, Peaceful Schools Summer 2007
* Losing my Mindfulness September 2, 2009

Tags: meditation, awareness, Psychology, mind, Buddhism, Jason Marsh, Why Mindfulness Matters, mindfulness, Greater Good, Jon Kabat-Zinn, book, Full Catastrophe Living, mindfulness-based stress reduction, The Greater Good Guide to Mindfulness

Suggested ebooks:

Robert Ellwood - The Encyclopedia Of World Religions
Aleister Crowley - Psychology Of Hashish

Keywords: thoth tarot deck  real necronomicon  the book of law  magic books  aleister crowley demons  horned god  astral travel blog  real necronomicon  enochian magic dangers  witchcraft love spell  love spell witchcraft  

Wicca Chalice Of Wind Cate Tiernan

Tweet

Rating : 4.0/5

Number in Series : #1 in Balefire series

Reason for Reading : I loved her Wicca/Sweep series

This is book one of four in the new Balefire series by Cate Tiernan who wrote the Wicca/Sweep series about teenage witches aimed at teenagers. This series again focuses on teenagers and witchcraft, but is a very different tale from her previous series.

It alternates between identical twins Clio and Thais who are seperated at birth. Only Clio's nan knew the secret. When Thais' father dies in a car accident, stranger Axelle is appointed to be her guardian and moves her to New Orleans. Thais is pretty much left to her own devices and enrolls herself into the local school where she accidentally bumps into Clio for the first time. Obviously this then changes both of their lives forever...

I really enjoyed this book. It took a little while to get going and I am really looking forward to reading the next one as it left on such a cliffhanger. It was good fun and appeals to me because of the witchcraft content, the teenager characters (even though I am nearer thirty then twenty sadly) and the easy-to-read style. The supporting characters twist and turn in your mind as to whether they have good or bad intentions towards the twins and the story keeps you guessing. I also liked that Clio and her nan have a deaf cat who can sense vibrations through the floor.

Suggested ebooks:

Frater Achad - Chalice Of Ecstasy
Anonymous - Basic Technologies Of Witchcraft

Keywords: free tarot deck  the tarot bible  waite tarot deck  astral projection robert monroe  thoth tarot cards  astral projection how to  equinox of the gods  christian meditation  use white magic