Are There Two Levels of Being? Is This Necessary?

     Are there two very different types of people in this world - living two different levels of existence?

     Does one group assume, and thus live out a self-fulfilling prophecy, that they lack agency over their own psychosocialspiritual development? I suspect the vast majority of people are in this group. What impact does this absolutely fundamental self-concept / worldview have on one's ethics, proneness to: depression / anxiety, addictions & suicide, and overall quality of life? There are probably valid measures of spirituality to "diagnose" this powerful, pervasive form of hopelessness.

     The fact is that the normal trajectory of human psychosocialspiritual development goes far beyond what most of us know or even suspect. What impact would it have if this were common knowledge? What impact would it have if there were skilled facilitators - eg transpersonal psychologists - to help people pass through the glass ceiling of "ordinary unhappiness"?

     See: http://healthyhealers.blogspot.ca/search?q=developmental

Steve McCurry   http://stevemccurry.com/

Asceticism - Secular & Spiritual

     "The word 'asceticism' comes from the Greek term askesis, which originally referred to training athletes. If you want to win the race, you've got to train; you've got to look at your exercise regime. You've got to look at your diet and your sleep, and conduct, because if you don't, you're not going to win the race. So the asceticism an athlete undertakes depends upon putting some other things aside. If you want to be a doctor, you've got to go through the mill of medical training, working a hundred hours or more a week as a junior doctor, being tested under grueling conditions so you can become a healer. That enormous degree of renunciation, which involves laying aside other interests and concerns, is completely accepted by society. If we aspire to the spiritual version of that same kind of training in order to realize our potential, we have to prioritize the way we spend our time and where we put our energy."
     Ajahn Amaro

Steve McCurry   http://stevemccurry.com/

How Do We Take Care of Ourselves?

     I think we all take care of ourselves, but HOW do we accomplish this?

     When we crave junk food, if instead we eat a healthy meal, we are actually denying ourselves - at one level.
     How often do we try to satiate our "hunger" with "junk food"? I suspect far more often than we realize. Shopping, eating, drinking, travel, work, all manner of entertainment - even real junk food. None of these, in themselves, in moderation, is necessarily unhealthy. However, insofar as these are regular substitute, fake gratifications for what we actually hunger for, they're all a waste of time, energy, our very life.

     So what do we really need? What has real meaning for us? How can we let go of junk food and live more authentically?

Steve McCurry   http://stevemccurry.com/

Recognizing & Transcending Fear

     “Fear is the cheapest room in the house.
      I would like to see you living
      In better conditions.”                                             Hafiz

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_a_baldwin.html#KQKea0dwqHKufJQi.99

I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/james_a_baldwin.html#KQKea0dwqHKufJQi.99

      "I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."

      “Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”                                                                                                                                                James A. Baldwin

     Listen to American meditation teacher Jack Kornfield being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. They spoke at length about practice & mindful living:
http://www.oprah.com/own-super-soul-sunday/Full-Episode-Oprah-and-Jack-Kornfield-on-Mindful-Living-Video

Steve McCurry   http://stevemccurry.com/

A Higher Level of Consciousness is Being Called Forth Now

"some measure of inner peace and awareness is a necessary prerequisite for truly effective and compassionate action in the world."

        Welwood J. ed. “Ordinary magic. Everyday life as spiritual path.” Shambhala, Boston, 1992. 

 

Steve McCurry   http://stevemccurry.com/

Science AND Spirituality - Using ALL our Capacities

     It seems perfectly healthy & reasonable to use ALL our CAPACITIES to learn about & make the most out of life.

 

     "Science is 'most usefully seen as a communal effort of humanity to describe and understand the world and prevent error as much as possible through systematic inquiry'.

     By contrast 'spirituality is an experiential realization of connectedness with a reality beyond the immediate goals of the individual'. 

     ... what they have in common is our human attempt to make sense of our world."

 

       Thurman SK. Review of 'Neuroscience, consciousness & spirituality.' Mindfulness 2013; 4(3): 286-88.

 

 

Shannon Stapleton photo

Spiritual & Mental Health Benefits of Secular Mindfulness Meditation (MBSR)

     "spirituality ... ‘the personal quest for understanding answers to ultimate questions about life, about meaning, and about relationship to the sacred or transcendent’.

     Although prayer is a common means to spiritual growth, mindfulness meditation offers another method of cultivating spirituality irrespective of religious affiliation, or non-affiliation. In theory, mindfulness meditation can foster an increased sense of spirituality by disengaging from a narrow self-focus, & engaging a much broader view of interconnectedness in which oneself is not seen as separate from everyday activities, other people, or the world. As such, the experience of mindfulness has been described as a method of self-transcendence.

     Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a standardized 8-week program that incorporates Buddhist traditions of mindfulness meditation into a secular instructional class designed to teach skills that reduce suffering associated with stress, pain & illness. Recent reviews of clinical & non-clinical populations report that MBSR training enhances mental health & quality of life. These positive outcomes have been related in part to enhanced mindfulness.

     This (current) study provides preliminary evidence for changes in mindfulness as a mediating mechanism through which changes in spirituality may partly explain the mental health benefits of MBSR — a secular behavioral medicine intervention that focuses on intensive training in mindfulness meditation. The main findings from a relatively large group of apparently healthy but mentally stressed adults showed that increases in daily spiritual experiences were directly related to increases in mindfulness, which, in turn, was associated with improved mental health-related quality of life following MBSR."

       Greeson JM et al. Changes in spirituality partly explain health-related quality of life outcomes after Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. J Behav Med 2011; 34(6): 508-18.

John Bulmer photograph   www.theguardian.com