Posted inReality Spiritual practice/meditation

In this moment, be the mystery of existence

Thirty-five minutes until the Beanery coffeehouse closes. One sixteen ounce of coffee to consume while composing a caffeinated blog post. I accept the mission.  Now. In this moment.  To say something about one of my favorite chapters in one of my favorite books: "God in the Moment," in Luther Askeland's marvelous Ways in Mystery. I've highlighted this chapter so many times, there's fewer non-colored lines than colored. Blogged about this chapter before in my very early blogging days, when I wrote "Still trying to set my hair on fire." Re-reading it, I was pleased to find that when I was…
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Posted inReligions Spiritual practice/meditation

Spirituality is liberal, religiosity is conservative

Thanks to Steve for letting me know about a study that confirms what seems intuitively obvious.  People become more politically liberal immediately after practising a spiritual exercise such as meditation, researchers at the University of Toronto have found. "There's great overlap between religious beliefs and political orientations," says one of the study authors, Jordan Peterson of U of T's Department of Psychology. "We found that religious individuals tend to be more conservative and spiritual people tend to be more liberal. "Inducing a spiritual experience through a guided meditation exercise led both liberals and conservatives to endorse more liberal political attitudes." Here's a…
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Posted inScience Spiritual practice/meditation

Think less, sense more. Stress relief made simple.

Here's some good advice from Daniel Bor, a cognitive neuroscientist, in his book "The Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning."  After enumerating some oft-heard ways to reduce stress (get enough sleep, exercise regularly, etc.), Bor says: But eclipsing this list in the fight against stress is one simple mental exercise: meditation. This is often written off as being too esoteric and not sufficiently scientific, but it's been shown to profoundly help virtually any mental ailment, whether the person has a psychiatric condition or is merely suffering from the stresses and strains of…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Compassion starts with yourself: be kind to your own crap

Last night I watched part of a video that Netflix suggested I'd like to stream to my TV -- "Louis C.K.: Live at the Beacon Theater." I enjoyed his style of ironic/cynical comedy. Often he reminded me of me. Like when Louis C.K. said that he believes in being kind to people. He gets pleasure out of knowing that he believes this. Doesn't mean that he actually does kind things, compassionate things, caring things. He just enjoys the feeling of believing that these would be good things to do, were he ever to do them. I can relate to this.…
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Posted inBooks Spiritual practice/meditation

Alan Watts in a nutshell: each present moment is eternity

Man, I dig Alan Watts. I just finished re-reading my favorite Watts book, "The Wisdom of Insecurity." He wrote it at a time, 1951, when "dig" was becoming part of the lexicon of the Beat Generation. But Watts' cogent understanding of what genuine spirituality -- for lack of a better term -- is all about: timeless. And so simple. Here's how the basic message of the book, as summarized in the final chapter, Religion Reviewed, flows. Watts' quotations are indented. My words precede the quotes. We long for security. For absoluteness. For something unchanging. But reality isn't like that. Living…
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Posted inBuddhism Radha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Eyes shut spiritual escapism: the trap of “going within”

For many years, decades actually, I practiced a form of meditation aimed at "going within." Meaning, within some supposed realms of consciousness distinct, and higher than, the physical world. This practice was part of a Sant Mat teaching. As Wikipedia says: The basic teaching of contemporary Sant Mat, as described by its Masters, is that everything lies inside us and that God is within. The outside world is only an image or a reflection of the inner reality. So, in pithier terms, what's outside of us is worthless crap; what's inside of us is precious divinity. This world-denying notion is…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Beliefs are not a substitute for seeing

Reading today's Sunday Oregonian, I came across a nice Q & A in an interview with poet Mary Szybist. What do you believe about the world? I like what Flannery O'Connor has to say about beliefs. She advises writers: "Your beliefs will be the light by which you see, but they will not be what you see and they will not be a substitute for seeing." I am wary of fixed beliefs because they can and sometimes do become "substitute[s] for seeing." I'm also wary of cynicism. Perhaps a belief can be a "light by which you see." I begin "Incarnadine"…
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Posted inBooks Spiritual practice/meditation

Experience is all we are — no “experiencer” inside our head

Showing my age, I'm digging a re-reading of Alan Watts' "The Wisdom of Insecurity." I'm on a blogging triple-play with the book, previous posts being here and here. What Watts did masterfully, way back in 1951, was bring a sort of core spirituality down to earth, shorn of superfluous lofty religious, mystical, and supernatural abstractions. It's a purified philosophy of living -- ageless wisdom trimmed of dogmatic theologies. So simple. So, so simple. What we're looking for has always been right before our eyes. Also, our nose, mouth, ears, hands, and every other part of us.  Here's how I'd encapsulate…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Alan Watts on “I” versus “Me” — a crazy battle

Sometimes -- well, more often than that -- I wonder whether our dogs are considerably more enlightened than I am.  After all, I never catch them wondering whether they're doing, thinking, or feeling the right thing. But I question myself a lot. Our dogs don't. Whatever they're up to, they seem to experience it unhesitatingly. Even if that "it" is hesitating before an open door, wondering whether they should go out on an upstairs deck on a cold, rainy night. They don't worry about indecision; they just stand there, thoroughly indecisive. Like I said in my previous post, I'm a…
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Posted inBooks Spiritual practice/meditation

I love Alan Watts’ “The Wisdom of Insecurity.” Here’s my love notes.

Some books I read once, and never look at again. Others become frequent companions, picked up whenever I need a, well, pick-me-up (non-liquid variety).  Alan Watts' wonderful "The Wisdom of Insecurity" is one of those books. It's my favorite Watts writing. Every time I read it, the book speaks something fresh to me. Not because the words between the covers have changed. Because I have.  Which is the central message of the book. Life is nothing but change. Scary! We don't know what's going to happen! Things could spiral out of control! Death... disease... disability... despair. And that's just some of…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Here’s something to be afraid of: fear

Fear is good. In certain situations. Like if you come upon a poisonous snake, coiled and ready to strike. Fear makes you jump back in a flash, much quicker than the reasonable, rational, thoughtful side of your brain would. But most people today aren't faced with frequent fearful physical threats. Yet we're still afraid. Of making mistakes. Being made fun of. Of failing. Of something bad happening to us in the future. Of saying or doing something outside the acceptable norm.  Religions make use of our propensity to fear what isn't actually there, yet can be imagined. Hellfire. Damnation. Bad…
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Posted inMiscellaneous Spiritual practice/meditation

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” — what the movie means to me

Watching the last scenes of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" last night via a rented DVD, I was almost moved to tears. When the closing credits came on I turned to my wife and said, "Wow. That was one of the best movies I've ever seen. So inspiring. So meaningful." She replied, "I didn't like it very much. Depressing. A downer." Each to his or her own. Me, I'm recommending the movie highly. See it. Decide for yourself how this amazing tale of a wise six year old, Hushpuppy, in a bayou town called The Bathtub speaks to you. Here's…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Mindfulness is meditation on reality, not supernatural illusion

After more than forty years of daily meditation I've realized that mindfulness is the way I want to meditate. I'm no longer interested in withdrawing from the world via repeating a mantra, or focusing on some spiritual "eye center" that supposedly is the gateway to supernatural realms of reality. That used to appeal to me. No longer. Because reality is a horrible thing to waste. Sure, what's inside my head, my brain, that's real. But mental cognizing, no matter how refined or ethereal, is a different order of reality from what mindfulness focuses on. What is present, right here, right…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Why be reluctant to share spiritual experiences?

One of the (few) things I like about Christianity is how open Christians are to talking about their visions of Jesus, heaven, angels, and other aspects of the divine. If a Christian has a spiritual experience, he or she usually feels that this is something to be shared, not kept secret. By contrast, there's a rather cult'ish tendency in Eastern religions, meditative practices, and mystical paths to -- shush! -- keep quiet about "inner" supposed supernatural experiences. I've always been suspicious of this, because it strikes me as a means of control. For example, I'm quite familiar with the injunction…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Spiritual practice/meditation

Andrew Cohen is a tyrant, not a guru

It's always a pleasure to get an email message from someone who is thoughtful, churchless, a good writer, skeptical of gurus, and honestly blunt. In short, someone who reminds me of me!  Here's what Scott Little had to say about his conversion to reality from religion. It's nicely said. HIs observations about the tyranny of Andrew Cohen apply to other supposed "gurus" who manipulate devotees through emotional charisma. Thanks for letting me share your thoughts on this blog, Scott. Hello Brian, I found your Church of the Churchless blog today.  Thank you for your work there. I am a former Christian…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Meaning and happiness. Are they really so different?

Thanks to a regular Church of the Churchless visitor, "cc," for letting me know about an interesting article in the Atlantic: There's More to Life Than Being Happy. For sure. Maybe. Who can say? Those are some of my reactions to the article, which focuses on Viktor Frankl and his well-known book, "Man's Search for Meaning." In September 1942, Viktor Frankl, a prominent Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist in Vienna, was arrested and transported to a Nazi concentration camp with his wife and parents. Three years later, when his camp was liberated, most of his family, including his pregnant wife, had…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

David Lane’s honest view of Sant Mat

There's a lot to like in a recent posting by David Lane on his Radhasoami Studies discussion group. "What I Believe? -- a position paper of sorts by David Lane" describes how Lane feels about the Indian philosophy of Sant Mat, Radha Soami Satsang Beas version (Sant Mat comes in various guises, much as Christianity has many competing theologies). One of the things I liked the most in this mini-essay was praise of me -- the person I'm closest to -- at the end. And I wasn't even expecting it! Meaning, I didn't search out the posting because of the me-mention.…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

In Zen Buddhism, meditation replaces God

I've got a lot of books about Zen. Back in college I liked "The Supreme Doctrine" so much I couldn't bear returning it to the San Jose Public Library, so I kept it.  My attitude toward Zen Buddhism is decidedly mixed, though. I resonate with the philosophical aspects, but when Zen gets too religious and supernatural, that turns me off. Which is why I'm enjoying a re-reading of Kosho Uchiyama's "Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice" so much. On the back cover there's a quote from the book which pretty much sums it up: When we let…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Spiritual practice/meditation

An atheist meditation that pleases God

I'm a believer. Not in God. But in "covering my bases." (For those unfamiliar with American English, this means being thoroughly prepared for something.) I don't believe in God. But I believe in the possibility that God exists. Heck, I believe in the possibility that anything imaginable exists. Along with what can't be imagined, just to cover my bases. That's because I'm scientifically minded. Contrary to how many religious people view science, actually it is science that is most open to reality in any form, any guise, any way of being. Material. Energetic. Non-physical. Mathematical. Ethereal. Conscious. Unconscious. Higher dimensional. Lower…
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Posted inGod Personal/Stories Spiritual practice/meditation

A cup of coffee is more real than God. Drink up!

There's so much to like about reality. It's got real stuff in it. Way cool. This is what makes living so satisfying. And so frustrating. Yet always interesting. We bump into real stuff that isn't us.  Maybe that bump is with an attractive sexual partner. Maybe it is with a mountain whose steep slopes challenge our climbing skills. Maybe it is with sitting still on a meditation cushion, aware of air going in and out of our nose. Maybe it is with cancer cells that have invaded our body. There's no end to the variety of encounters with physical reality.…
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