The Great Unnamed Epidemic

 

THE GREAT UNNAMED EPIDEMIC

LACK OF SELF-LOVE, SELF-COMPASSION

TIME FOR SELF-RECONCILIATION

Would you beat up on a Divine Being? Even if it is verbal, emotional abuse, you are doing that if you call yourself worthless, no good, lazy, an idiot, asshole, or dumb as shit. Or anybody else for that matter, however usually when we call anybody else that, it is a projection of our own feelings of lack of self-worth. I was brought up that way by my WWII vet. Marine Father, who fought in the worst battles in the Pacific.  He probably had ptsd, before they discovered that dis-ease! He would call me and my brothers all those names growing up, and somehow I can still feel those barbs 60 years later. I rebelled and went sailing as a young adult, not only from Dad, but from a culture that would send young men (mostly back then especially). My dear Brother Barry was one of those victims, a beautiful gregarious young man, who did not want to fight and fell in love with the Vietnamese people. So, as a helicopter pilot, he flew unarmed Medi-vac helicopters with red crosses on them, hopefully, they would not be shot down. I was in the army as a medic at the same time, not in Viet Nam, because he was(and he sent me letter warning me not to come there). He had only two weeks left out of 13 month tour.

From Science of Mind Magazine

 One time I was sailing for 6 months without reading a newspaper or listening to any news, and came back with dental problems. I looked down in the islands for a dentist, and finally found one on Crooked I. that said “Licensed to Pull Teeth Only”-beautifully carved wooden sign. So I took another swig of rum and a half of one the few percodans aboard, and sailed back into Ft. Lauderdale. There I had the wisdom tooth pulled anyway, and came out to wait for my ride, when I noticed a newspaper in a rack and read the headlines – “President Ford …” I was shocked and wondered what happened to President Nixon. Then I read about the whole Watergate scandal and Nixon’s subsequent resigning. Hmmm,



Messages from a Islander

 

Yes, that's her. She's lovely. She's from Barbados and my grandmother was from nearby Trinidad so my family went to both islands when I was a girl. I was thinking about how important Jung's concept of shadow is to us Libras who are so in love with love and harmony. I've seen too many light lovers get bit in the rear -- I've seen their children pay the price for the parent's inability to recognize pathology....You've probably been aware of the same thing as a spiritual therapist. Will you tell me about the kind of work you did?

 

Yes, Miriam went to the University of West Indies. I spent time in the islands around Barbados, after purchasing a sailboat in St. Lucia - Castries! This was a turbulent time there, so sailed back to U. S. island hopping to Antiqua, Martinique, Quadoloupe, Dominica, St. Barts(I unfortunately told Jimmy Buffett about it and he ended up making it a big tourist destination), St. Michaels, Virgin Islands, St. Croix, Puerto Rico, ----many Islands many memories. And another lifetime it feels, my favorite therapy work was my "internship" at Center for Attitudinal Healing with Dr. Jerry Jampolsky. He was the first psychiatrist to work with life-threatened children. When I got there, some of his original children had become young adults. So I went about and got a grant to work with them, and it became the young adult program. This was like working with Angels on Earth, as these kids were ready to go, and yet, they wanted to experience being here now intensely, so they loved it that I took them out on big sailboat, up to Yosemite several times, to Mendocino, to Monterey, to Mt. Shasta. The shadow that you speak of, was the very angry Mothers naturally. However, I am now (25 years later) back in touch with some of the Mothers and Jerry Jampolsky. He is celebrating his 90th birthday with a big workshop in San Francisco next Aug. I am planning on coming out there, and possibly meeting with some of the Mothers, and see if their Angels on Earth children came back to them as Angels from heaven? Anyway, to sum it up, I ended up studying with famous relationship teachers and opened a Creative Relationship Center in Mill Valley and worked day treatment with several hospitals in San Francisco and in a transitional lodge in Napa State Hospital. I was a licensed Family Therapist, which was my third licensed career. My first was as a Clinical Pathologist, and then a Licensed Sailing Captain teaching Marine Science under Sail. So lots of good memories, and Mindfulness Meditation/prayer is my Way at the moment. So there you go, Denise - in a nut shell! TMI?

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Miriam went to the University of West Indies. I spent time in the islands around Barbados, after purchasing a sailboat in St. Lucia - Castries! This was a turbulent time there, so sailed back to U. S. island hopping to Antiqua, Martinique, Quadoloupe, Dominica, St. Barts(I unfortunately told Jimmy Buffett about it and he ended up making it a big tourist destination), St. Michaels, Virgin Islands, St. Croix, Puerto Rico, ----many Islands many memories. And another lifetime it feels, my favorite therapy work was my "internship" at Center for Attitudinal Healing with Dr. Jerry Jampolsky. He was the first psychiatrist to work with life-threatened children. When I got there, some of his original children had become young adults. So I went about and got a grant to work with them, and it became the young adult program. This was like working with Angels on Earth, as these kids were ready to go, and yet, they wanted to experience being here now intensely, so they loved it that I took them out on big sailboat, up to Yosemite several times, to Mendocino, to Monterey, to Mt. Shasta. The shadow that you speak of, was the very angry Mothers naturally. However, I am now (25 years later) back in touch with some of the Mothers and Jerry Jampolsky. He is celebrating his 90th birthday with a big workshop in San Francisco next Aug. I am planning on coming out there, and possibly meeting with some of the Mothers, and see if their Angels on Earth children came back to them as Angels from heaven? Anyway, to sum it up, I ended up studying with famous relationship teachers and opened a Creative Relationship Center in Mill Valley and worked day treatment with several hospitals in San Francisco and in a transitional lodge in Napa State Hospital. I was a licensed Family Therapist, which was my third licensed career. My first was as a Clinical Pathologist, and then a Licensed Sailing Captain teaching Marine Science under Sail. So lots of good memories, and Mindfulness Meditation/prayer is my Way at the moment. So there you go, Denise - in a nut shell! TMI?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



How to Live Agelessly

 

 

To me, when I am living moment to moment mindfully, compassionately toward myself and others, I am living in an Eternal Heaven on Earth Space.

 



Be Careful What You Wish For

 

 

 

I know you support the Dhamma Bros. and Vipassana Meditation

Meditation in Prison (We are all prisoners--...)

There are two well-know documentaries about meditation in prison - one in India is called Doing Time, Doing Vipassana, while the other is about an Alabama Prison called The Dhamma Brothers.... The man responsible for both of these is S. N. Goenka, who passed last year at 88 years old. Here is an interview with him in an article in National Geographic in 2005.
"We are all prisoners--of our minds," says Satya Narayan Goenka, an 80 year-old Burmese businessman turned meditation teacher who has spearheaded the vipassana resurgence in India.

 

 

Ra Divakar Yes, this is what Real Freedom is...!

 

R. T. haha. it's funny, I would almost prefer the lifestyle -- at least I would then have time for unending practice! Maybe having to go hold down jobs and earn a bunch of money and engage in a big messy distracting material world full of cravings is the bigger prison... ; )

 

Ron Alexander Hey R. T., I know of a place for you - where you have your own meditating cell and you are waited on hand and foot and it is free. The catch is that you have to stay silent for ten days and learn to meditate for hours per day! www.dhamma.org

Website Thiền Vipassana

www.dhamma.org

Homepage of the organization which offers Vipassana Meditation courses as taught by S.N. Goenka

 

Ron Alexander These ashrams are all over the world now thanks to S.N. Goenka and there is one in Jesup, Ga., I am sure there is one not far from Boulder. There are ones in California, Mass. - all over - there is list on the website. I have been to Jesup three times and looking for fourth time soon. I have even considered volunteering there and living there a few months? R. T.!

R. T. That's awesome to hear, they are springing up all over, and as a result of his films and work.
I am waiting on a response right now to actually be able to stay at my Sangha... I believe in having a teacher/Lama (finally),  as well as doing the incredibly powerful mantras, along with the insight and breath meditation. But all this is good! This progression gives me more hope in the world than anything else. thanks.

Rowan Tate And do you mean Jesup, Georgia? I used to live in Atlanta for a dozen years

Ron Alexander Yes, R. T. , I remember and that is why I brought up Jesup first - not a tourist destination, the Teachers there do not want distractions, although the building are nice with good heat/air conditioning thankfully. This is a perfect place to let go of ego and go within

Ron Alexander 15 or so members here at Charleston Unity have gone including the Minister and 87 year old Senior Minister. We meditate at the church for an hour at a time for several times per week, and had our first Sangha last evening!

 

Ra Divakar Hey R. T.  and Brother Ron - nice dialogue thank you! Rowan, an Ashram or Monastery is many times better than prison, be careful what you wish for! On the other hand, one of my teachers was just busted for marijuana, and even "medical" pot does not hack it here in S. C., so he may be headed there, and I have to say he has a lot of equanimity about it!

 



Buddhism is not a religion to me

 

The Buddha did not base his ideas on faith but on empirical (self) observation, which makes him more of a scientist than a theologist. Though I practice a Buddhist type of meditation, I consider myself a Christian (Mystical (God is everywhere including within)type as found in Unity and Science of Mind). Mysticism to me is where spirituality bridges any religion - Sufism from Muslim, Kabbala from Judaism, as well as Unity and Science of Mind from Christianity. I consider what I know about Buddhism to a type of Mystical Psychology, which is most helpful in daily life.
 Kristin Mahoney: it is all semantics to me religion, observation, spirituality all man's ways to try to use word's to describe what we feel in our "hearts" "souls" "beings" ~ to name what is felt ~ that knowing inside that ultimately binds us in Goodness, Truth, The Light Love.

 

 

 

 



Meditation in Prison (We are all prisoners--of our mind)

There are two well-know videos about meditation in prison - one in India is called Doing Time, Doing Vipassana, while the other is about an Alabama Prison called The Dhamma Brothers. The man responsible for both of these is S. N. Goenka, who passed last year at 88 years old. Here is a quote from him in an article in National Geographic in 2005.
"We are all prisoners--of our minds," says Satya Narayan Goenka, an 80 year-old Burmese businessman turned meditation teacher who has spearheaded the vipassana resurgence in India.
"Where better to recognize this than behind bars?" Indeed, in prisons around the world, meditation groups now meet regularly. Practicing these techniques, studies show, prisoners ease their own suffering and inflict less on others.
"I am not teaching Buddhism,"  Goenka tells me emphatically, when I meet him at his home in Mumbai. He's a big but graceful man, with a booming bass voice. "I am interested in converting people from misery to happiness, from bondage to liberation, from cruelty to compassion.
"There is no mystery to it," he continues with a chuckle, his ample belly shaking. "Vipassana means to see things as they really are.' After watching your breath for a few days, you begin to pay close attention to your sensations. You realize very quickly that you are obsessed with cravings--food, warmth, all sorts of desires-and aversion to unpleasant things. Then you realize the impermanence of it all. Everything changes. From these simple understandings, discovered by each person starting with Buddha himself, an entire doctrine eventually unfolds."



Being Watched - Foreigner in a Strange Land

 

I had a long journey filled dream last night. Involving traveling in a camper, a small boat, and even walking in strange indoor, outdoor corridors. There were strangers around, mostly indifferent, some even attempting to take advantage of my being from a foreign land. Interesting landscapes, valleys, canyons and big mountains in a distances. One significant image was of a surprisingly bridgeless river which me and at that time fellow passengers of the camper felt like we really had to cross. This one odd couple who were "trying" to help us told us it was impossible and they wanted to guide us to a nearby mountain community at a charge. One of my passengers (who had naval architect training) said he could design a log raft to float us across. I was all for that idea, however the couple was against it and the "wife' was even preparing us a bill to pay the next day. In the meanwhile, I got momentarily lost in one of those corridors, and had to bang on shut large-freezer type door that closed behind me(really made me paranoid).  The "husband" thankfully opened that door with a knowing look on his face. Then I woke up.

 

When I went back to sleep I had a long sea journey to make on a small outboard propelled boat. Somehow, I ended up going up these long steps and must have been towing the boat, as people were amazed that I was climbing there. I assured them that the wind was behind me, and that I "knew what I was doing." Now, I am back in one of those strange corridors, however with a lot of "interesting characters" traveling along. There were little shops and restaurants along the way, and as I felt hunger and ducked into one, a rather compassionate scholarly looking man questioned me. Hungry, eh? Are the police watching you?  I told him "no" (not that I knew of), and he replied, "good, call me, I am Legal (lawyer?) Jones, if you need me." Somehow, I felt comforted by that and realized I was being watched over, not just "watched."

 

 

 



The Buddha, The Bible and The Body

 

 

 

I believe that The Buddha would like the Christian view of the body as being the Temple of the Holy Spirit. A "temple" needs maintenance to last long, just as the body. Our body has been somewhat dissed in several new age "theologies", however The Buddha and the scribes of The Bible honor our physical self dutifully.

 

The Buddha even went further describing the somatic energies - our senses as a way to enlightenment. In his time under the Bodhi Tree, he found that every thought found its way into the physical. Vitally, Buddha found that by recognizing these senses as temporary symptoms, by just being aware of these "sensations" as they passed through, would help heal/purify our bodies. Furthermore, by purifying our thoughts would reduce the symptomatic sensations. However, still the meditative process is to watch the senses pass(Vipassana), learning first how to simply watch the breath(Anapana).

 

The Buddha is well-known for saying "suffering is part of human nature". We all suffer. I agree after my experience of Anapana and then especially Vipassana (The Dalai Lama considers this advanced meditation and sends his Monks to learn this meditation.) I have gone to two ten day silent courses and one three day(can experience only after ten dayer). And I plan to return soon eventually doing some volunteer work at the site as well.

 

What is not so well known, is what The Buddha calls the "end of suffering". That is the "purification of thoughts". Also not so famous, included in Meditation is prayer - the Metta prayer - sending out the wishes(vibrations/energy/thoughts) that everyone can end their suffering - "May all Beings be happy." repeated several times.

 

This meditative process is not easy and takes time. Although, I am sure there are people who "learn in the twinkling of the eye" (epiphanies), I have not been that fortunate. The way Goenka (a layman by the way, who I think teaches the authentic Vipassana), teaches is that first one must go to a ten day all silent retreat (given freely), to even become a "student". My first ten days(first 3 days especially) were overall really a painful experience, however the pain lessened as my thoughts passed through. The pain was in the senses produced by the toxic thinking. As my thoughts are purified, my pain decreases. Goenka first went to a teacher to do something about his awful frequent migraine headaches. Well, his headaches went away, so he decided to take it back to his family and friends especially his Mother who had some kind of chronic pain issues. And that was the start of Vipassana now being taught all over the world with the courses gratefully being taught for free. Goenka was advised that free courses would never work in the U. S., however he has proven them wrong. People like me(who have means) who go through the silent retreats are so grateful at the results that they donate generously.

 

www.dhamma.org