Monthly Archives: April 2013

You are browsing the site archives by month.

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Eckhart Tolle (* 1948) is a spiritual teacher and author. He was born in Germany, educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge and lives currently in Vancouver, Canada. At the age of 29, a profound inner transformation radically changed the course of his life. Later, he began to work in London with individuals and small groups as a counselor and spiritual teacher.

Eckhart Tolle is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Power of Now and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth, which are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our time. In this book, Tolle advocates present moment awareness and the dismantling of the ego as the path towards awakened living.

Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans to the beauty that is an essential part of their inner most being, their true nature. The messengers – Buddha, Jesus, and others were humanity’s early flowers. Their messages were often greatly distorted. This book should bring a shift in consciousness, but can only awaken those who are ready.

We have an inherited dysfunction – to miss the point of human existence, which is now intensifying (violence on humans and the planet). Fear, greed and the desire for power are the reasons.

You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you. The reason for the dysfunction: The Ego.

The greatest achievement is not art or science, but the recognition of our own dysfunction.

Religions became divisive rather than unifying because many things were added that had nothing to do with the original teachings. Now religions are belief systems with which people can identify themselves – but having a belief system does not make you spiritual. The new spirituality is the transformation of consciousness – spirituality has everything to do with your state of consciousness. Some churches are “egoic” entities identified with mental positions. The most rigid structures, the most impervious will collapse first – disintegrating from within.

When forced with radical crisis an evolutionary leap is necessary. We are faced with the choice to evolve or die. At the heart of the new consciousness (compare with Ever Present Origin) lies the transcendence of thought, the new-found ability of rising above thought, of realizing a dimension within yourself that is infinitely more vast than thought.

Evil is maybe complete identification with form, not recognizing that we are connected with the whole, the intrinsic oneness with every “other” as well as with the Source. Heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness. Human consciousness is one with the life of the planet – natural upheavals s the old consciousness dissolves.

Don’t label things. Watch the “Ego” or “I”, watch the incessant stream of mind. Thinking without awareness is the main dilemma of human existence.

The unconscious compulsion to enhance one’s identity through association with an object is built into the very structure of the egoic mind. Many people are not buying a product but an identity enhancer (compare with Your Own Identity).

To find yourself through things does not work! The unchecked striving for more, for endless growth, is a dysfunction and a disease (like cancer!). You can value things, but not get attached to them. Letting go can show power. Making yourself right and others wrong is one of the principal egoic mind patterns. The ego tends to equate having with Being!

Attachment to things drops away by itself when you no longer seek to find yourself in them. Wanting keeps the ego alive much more than having. Sometimes the feeling you are not enough turns physical – into hunger.

Another problem: Life’s fulfillment is perceived to be fulfillment of one’s gender identity. Enjoy good attributes, improve through nutrition and exercise.

Try and feel your inner body – feel the aliveness inside it. Make it a habit to feel the inner body as often as you can.

The ultimate truth of who you are is “I AM”. Yielding means inner acceptance of what is. Resistance is an inner contraction, a hardening of the shell of the ego – life will not be helpful.

To uphold the I-thought, it needs the opposite thought of “the other” (compare with Memories, Dreams, Reflections). What you react to in another, you strengthen in yourself. You can only be in a state of non-reaction if you can recognize someone’s behavior as coming from the ego. At times you may have to take practical steps to protect yourself from deeply unconscious people. Complaining is not to be confused with informing someone of a mistake or deficiency so that it can be put right.

Ego implies unawareness. If you are simply stating what you know to be true, the ego is not involved at all, because there is no identification.

Only through awareness – not through thinking – can you differentiate between fact and opinion. Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.

Compassion arises when you recognize that all are suffering from the same sickness of the mind.

Awareness is the power that is concealed within the present moment. Whatever happens in my life is no longer of absolute but only of relative importance.

The ego uses people and situations to get what it wants. The underlying emotion that governs all the activity of the ego is fear. Only the truth of who you are, if realized,will set you freed.

Form: impermanence; Formless: within yourself.

A genuine relationship is one that is not dominated by the ego – an outward flow of open, alert attention toward the other person. That alert attention is Presence.

Egoic relationship: Wanted, thwarted wanting (anger, resentment, blaming, complaining) and indifference.

The source of all energy is within you! The ego has to role-play and authentic human interactions become impossible when you lose yourself in a role.

The primary cause for unhappiness is never the situation but the thought about it.

Treat children as equals! You need to tell them sometimes what to do and what not to do.

Egoic patterns sometimes dissolve when you don’t oppose them internally.

Awareness means Presence, and only Presence can dissolve the unconscious past in you.

What to me is a mistake may be exactly what our children need to do or experience. Give them guidance and allow them to make mistakes, especially as they begin to reach adulthood. Allow them to suffer. Suffering drives them deeper. A lot of it is caused by the ego. Eventually suffering destroys the ego – but only until you suffer consciously. It has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning of the ego.

Parents have to be there as human beings. Give your child attention – not wanting anything other than that moment as it is. Only in form we are not equal. Only if you find the formless dimension in yourself can there be true love in that relationship. To love is to recognize yourself in another. The child wants to be loved on the level of Being, not form.

Love is the recognition of oneness in the world of duality.

You become most powerful if the action is performed for its own sake rather than as a means to protect, enhance etc. your role.

Those who do not appear more than they are but are simply themselves, stand out as remarkable and are the only ones who truly make a difference in this world. They are the bringers of the new consciousness. Whatever they do becomes empowered because it is in alignment with the purpose of the whole. You are totally focused on the situation and you become one with it. You don’t try to be anybody in particular. You are most powerful, most effective, when you are completely yourself.

In form you might be inferior/superior – true self-esteem and humility are then the same.

Peace is the end of the ego. Being one with life is being on with Now. Being at peace and being who you are, that is, being yourself, are one.

To create suffering without recognizing it is the essence of unconscious living. You have to take responsibility for your inner state at any given moment. To become free of your ego means you need to be aware of your thoughts and emotions as they happen.

Those who are exceptionally good at what they do may be completely or largely free of ego while performing their work. They are one with what they do, one with the Now, one with the people or the task they serve.

Those people who work without ego are extraordinarily successful at what they do. Anybody who is one with what he or she does is building the new earth.

When work is no more than a means to an end, it cannot be of high quality. You need to immediately become one with the new situation and respond to the requirements of the present moment. In order to attract success, you need to welcome it wherever you see it.

The collective will come into conflict with other collectives, because it unconsciously seeks conflict and it needs opposition to define its boundary and thus its identity. Enlightened collective will fulfill an important function.

We have to be aware of our pain body. Nobody can go through childhood without suffering emotional pain.

If the balance between male and female energies had not been destroyed, the ego’s growth would have been curtailed.

Every time you are present when the pain-body arises, some of the pain-bodys’ negative emotional energy will burn up, as it were, and become transmuted into Presence. Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world. Give and it will be given to you.

“I don’t mind what happens.” – “Is that so”.

Non-resistance, non-judgment and non-attachment are the three aspects of true freedom and enlightened living.

Practice: Look at an object with complete attention but relaxed. Breathe with awareness.

The primary purpose of your life can not be found outside. It is concerned with what you are, your state of consciousness.

The inner purpose is to awaken. Finding and living in alignment with the inner purpose is the foundation for fulfilling your outer purpose.

Anxiety, stress or negativity arise because you turned away from the present moment.

Where you meet with people, at work or wherever it may be, give them your fullest attention. When you become aligned with the whole, you become a conscious part of the interconnectedness of the whole and its purpose, the emergence of consciousness into this world. As a result, spontaneous helpful occurrences, chance encounters, coincidences, and anachronistic events happen much more frequently.

The universe too has an inner and outer purpose inseparable from ours (form: dreams, drama – formless essence).

On the new earth, old age will be universally recognized and highly valued as a time for the flowering consciousness.

The only actions that do not cause opposing reactions are those aimed at the good of all. They are inclusive, not exclusive. They join, the do not separate.

Not what you do, but how you do determines whether you are fulfilling your destiny. And how you do what you do is determined by your state of consciousness.

The modalities of awakened doing are acceptance, enjoyment, and enthusiasm.

Whatever you cannot enjoy doing, you can at least accept that his is what you have to do. Joy flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you.

Enthusiasm means there is a deep enjoyment in what you do plus the added element of a goal or a vision that you work toward. Structural tension is added! You will feel like an arrow that is moving toward the target – and enjoying the journey. Enthusiasm never opposes; it does not create winners and losers. It is based on inclusion, not exclusion of others. You see yourself inspiring countless people with your work and enriching their lives.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The meek are the egoless!

Overlap of Science, Religion, and Philosophy

The relationship between religion and science has been a subject of study since Classical antiquity. It has been addressed by philosophers, theologians, scientists, and other commentators. Some contemporary scientists are of the opinion that religion and science are non-overlapping magisterial, addressing fundamentally separate forms of knowledge and aspects of life. Some theologians or historians of science, propose an interconnection between them. In my readings I have found authors and concepts addressing the overlapping of science, religion and philosophy that I find detrimental for understanding that we are here to improve ourselves and that we are all connected.

James A. Gardner, a complexity theorist and essayist, wrote in his book Biocosm: The New Scientific Theory of Evolution: Intelligent Life is the Architect of the Universe, that the “overlapping domains of science, religion, and philosophy should be regarded as virtual rain forests of cross-pollinating ideas” and that “the messy science/religion/philosophy interface should be treasured as an incredibly fruitful cornucopia of creative ideas”.

This idea of overlap is addressed in Theosophy, where the second objective is “To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science.”  In the Theosophical view religion, science and philosophy are three different approaches to the truth and when rightly followed are not contradictory. In fact they blend into one another. They are three ways of viewing the truth of the universe, and what at one time is religion or philosophy will be science at another time. As a British scientist, John D. Barrow, has written (Theories of Everything, 4):

Today, physicists accept the atomistic viewpoint that material bodies are at root composed of identical elementary particles, as [that view is] well supported by evidence. It is taught in every university in the world. Yet, this theory of physics began amongst the early Greeks as a philosophical, or even mystical, religion without any supporting observational evidence whatsover… Atomism began life as a philosophical idea that would fail virtually every contemporary test of what should be regarded as “scientific”; yet, eventually, it became the cornerstone of physical science. One suspects that there are ideas of similar groundless status by today’s standards that will in the future take their place within the accepted “scientific” picture of reality.

Carter Phipps refers in his book “Evolutionaries: Unlocking the Spiritual and Conscious” to Jean Gebser when he explains that there is “evidence that integrative, cross-disciplinary thinking may not be the latest and greatest idea of the cognoscenti but an actual higher mental function that represents a further step in the evolution of consciousness itself.”

Gebser describes in his monumental work The Ever-Present Origin  consciousness as “being present”. His major thesis was that human consciousness is in transition, and that these transitions are mutations and not continuous (compare with Initiation by Elisabeth Haich). Looking back into our human past he distinguished four levels of consciousness: the archaic structure, the magical structure, the mythical structure, and the mental structure.  Working from the historical evidence of almost every major field including religion, physics, philosophy and natural sciences Jean Gebser saw traces of the emergence (which he called “efficiency”) and collapse (“deficiency”) of various structures of consciousness throughout.

Gebser saw through the quagmire of “the decline of the West” the emergence of a new structure of consciousness, the integral structure. This structure requires our conscious effort through personal and collective self-transcending practice. In the chapter about integral consciousness of his book he writes in this context, that the necessary changes in humanity won’t be reached through attempts of making the world a better place.  In his opinion those so-called “do-gooders” are shirking their responsibility to work on and improve themselves. They are playing the game of demanding from others what they are too lazy to do themselves. In his words they are not only betraying themselves but the whole world.

In the same book he explains in the article “Dualismus und Polarität” [dualism and polarity] how the classical view of “either and or” (dualism) which has been valid for thousand of years has to be substituted with the view of “as well as” (polarity).  Based on the scientific discoveries of Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Ernest Rutherford, Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg about Quantum Physics and the Theory of Relativity we can’t avoid to change our way of thinking. We must integrate these new concepts into our way of live.  With these discoveries our model of the universe expanded rapidly and advanced theoretical physics demonstrated that everything in the universe is subtly dependent upon everything else.

Whereas in dualism opposite views were irreconcilable (e.g. good and bad; the here and now and the afterlife; fear and hope; beautiful and ugly), in polarity you understand that everything is interdepend and can’t fight each other with impunity or exclude each other (e.g. male and female principles; employer and employee). These “poles” are dependent on each other and build a whole (Yin and Yang).

Quantum Physics

Most of us have heard of Quantum Physics and even though I have read books and articles about this topic I don’t want summarize a specific book.  If you want to find out more about it there are excellent resources on the Internet, for example at http://physics.about.com/od/quantumphysics/p/quantumphysics.htm. This video does a great job explaining the quantum principles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45KGS1Ro-sc.

On this website you can also find a good explanation about Quantum Physics: http://www.abundance-and-happiness.com/quantum-physics.html

Below are the main ideas that are relevant for this website and that I have gotten from my readings directing us again to the fact that we have to work on ourselves to improve the world.

Quantum Physics is a branch of science that deals with discrete, indivisible units of energy called quanta as described by the Quantum Theory. Fundamental to contemporary Quantum Theory is the notion that there is no phenomenon until it is observed. This effect is known as the ‘Observer Effect’ (see http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/02/980227055013.htm).

According to Alex Paterson (see http://www.vision.net.au/~apaterson/science/observer_effect.htm) the implications of the ‘Observer Effect’ are profound because, if true, it means that before anything can manifest in the physical universe it must first be observed. Presumably observation cannot occur without the pre-existence of some sort of consciousness to the observing and therefore the Observer Effect implies that the physical Universe is the direct result of ‘consciousness‘.

This interpretation is supported by Jim Tucker, the medical director of the Child and Family Psychiatry Clinic, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He explains, that because Quantum Physics shows that events involving its smallest particles only occur once they are observed, the material world is derived from consciousness, not the other way around.  He also points out, that this belief has been shared by a number of quantum physicists, including Max Planck, the father of quantum mechanics and Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1918.

That means, the substance of the universe is not matter but consciousness (see also Quantum Enigma). This is extremely important to understand because of most people’s belief today that the substance of the universe is matter and therefore they attempt to accumulate as many material possessions as possible. And if consciousness creates the material world, then it may not be dependent upon that world to exist, meaning that consciousness does not depend on a living brain to exist. So if consciousness does not require a brain, it continues after the brain stops working. Tucker goes even further and bases his hypothesis of how [tooltip title=”” content=”You can find more about this concept in The Gnostic Gospels and the Bhagavad Gita under Religion and Theosophy under Philosophy” type=”classic” ]reincarnation[/tooltip] could exist  on these discoveries.

In addition, Quantum Physics is beginning to realize that the Universe appears to be a dynamic web of interconnected and if we understand that there is a common spiritual bond between all things in the universe and that we are all part of one Divine Intelligence, no phenomena such as telepathy and clairvoyance is unexplainable.

But what does this mean for us? It is further evidence that we are all part of the One, the Whole, the Divine Intelligence – whatever you want to call it – and that it is with our deeds and actions that we can change the world (see also http://www.thespiritedway.com/lifepurpose-quantum-physics.html).

Your Own Identity by Herman Meyer

Herman Meyer (* 1947) was born in Germany.  He is a psychologist and naturopathy and focuses on alternative medicine.  He is a partnership and destiny researcher.  He founded the Institute of Psychological Astrology in Munich, Germany.

He has written many books in German, among them Your Own Identity (Die Eigene Identität), Laws of Destiny (Gesetze des Schicksals) , Liberation of Forced Destiny (Befreiung vom Schicksalszang – Astropsychotherapy), Astrology and Psychology, and Death is not a Coincidence (Der Tod ist kein Zufall).

In this book Hermann Meyer combines his profound knowledge about the relationship of human behavior with the knowledge of holistic cybernetics for success. He explains in plain language the multiple causes of success and failure in life.

Herman Meyer maintains in this book, that our identity should be taken as a guide for our own true path and that negative fate only means that we have strayed from this path. He sees fate as a blind alley, that takes us away farther and farther from our own identity, or it indicates a detour.

Almost all people are on these false starts and detours, rarely is anybody successful in recognizing their own identity and to live accordingly.

Meyer defines the criteria for Good and Bad as identical with the “learned” conscience or with the Ego. He sees the Ego as an acquired psychic authority based on childhood impressions, education, influence, and other environmental factors.

People who are good in the conventional sense determined by others and society’s rules are in reality bad to themselves (compare with Broken Open).

He claims, that the unconscious can easily make a distinction between real and unreal and he says that it is our responsibility to develop our abilities and skills.

He believes, that whoever wants to become an individual, must offend, otherwise we will remain a puppet of the norms.

Hi gives a few examples of the true nature of people: Joy in nice conversations, sumptuous food, need in mental warmth and love, safety, cuddling, own area, fun in sport, play, adventure of life, independence, creativity, research, analysis, have his/her own taste, goal and dreams.

He provides concrete example for expressions of identity:

Identity in sports

Identity in feeling

Identity in action

Identity in the creative

Identity in lifestyle

Identity in the representation of outward

Identity in relation to place of residence and neighborhood

Identity in terms of furnishing

Identity in children’s education

Identity in the diet

Identity in flavor

Identity of the erotic

Identity when choosing a partner

Identity in the form of relationship

Identity in sexuality

Identity in the sexual fantasy

Identity on the spiritual

Identity in the philosophy of life

Identity in professional

Identity in the leisure

Identity in the choice of hobbies

Identity in the choice of friends

Identity in wishes and dreams

Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Carl Jung

Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of the school of analytical psychology. He proposed and developed the concepts of the extroverted and introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious.

The issues that he dealt with arose from his personal experiences. For many years Jung felt as if he had two separate personalities. One introverted and other extroverted. This interplay resulted in his study of integration and wholeness. His work has been influential not only in psychology, but in religion and literature as well.

In the spring of 1957, when he was eighty-one years old, C. G. Jung undertook the telling of his life story. At regular intervals he had conversations with his colleague and friend Aniela Jaffé, and collaborated with her in the preparation of the text based on these talks. He continued to work on the final stages of the manuscript for “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” until shortly before his death.

Carl Jung sees his life as a story of the self-realization of the unconscious which he describes in this book. He starts out with “First Years” and describes his outward memories on how he became conscious of smelling, when he saw the Alps the first time, how he found pleasure in water and how he became aware of his parents’ troubled marriage. He continues with his inward memories and recalls his very first dream and describes why a number of childhood memories have made a lifelong impression on him.

He continues to describe his “School Years” including a very important event at the age of twelve which made him understand what a neurosis is.  In this chapter he also shares that he was convinced from childhood that he had two personalities — a modern Swiss citizen and a personality more at home in the eighteenth century. “Personality Number 1,” as he termed it, was a typical schoolboy living in the era of the time, while “Personality Number 2” was a dignified, authoritative and influential man from the past.  He further discusses his thoughts about God and said that it seemed to him that it is one’s duty to explore daily the will of God. He shares with the readers that in the course of his life it has often happened to him that he knew suddenly something, which he really could not know at all, and that the knowledge came to him as though it were his own idea.

In the chapter about his “Student Years” he says, “Although we human beings have our own personal life, we are yet in large measure the representatives, the victims and promoters of a collective spirit whose years are counted in centuries”.  Here he also explains how important “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” by Nietzsche and “Faust” by Goethe were for him and why. He explains when and how it became clear to him that the only possible goal to him was psychiatry and that it was his “fate” even though this area of medicine was looked down upon at that time.

In the chapter about “Psychiatric Activities” he recalls the most interesting and most important cases for him and his realization that he “could not treat latent psychoses if he did not understand their symbolism.” That was why he began to study mythology.  In addition he emphasizes that a psychotherapist has to understand himself and that a doctor will only be able to teach a patient to heal himself if he knows how to cope with himself.  He shares some of his dreams here as well.

He dedicates a whole chapter to “Sigmund Freud” and their relationship and explains in detail why he broke with him.  In the appendix some of the letters Freud wrote to Jung can be found.  In this chapter he recalls a dream that led him for the first time to the concept of the “collective unconscious”.

In the chapter “Confrontations with the Unconscious” he explains the concepts of anima and animus, as well as individuation – a psychological process of integrating the opposites including the conscious with the unconscious while still maintaining their relative autonomy, necessary for a person to become whole. In his opinion, people who have advanced towards individuation tend to be harmonious, mature and responsible. They embody humane values such as freedom and justice and have a good understanding about the workings of human nature and the universe.

In the chapter “The Work” he shares his research and findings about alchemy and his thoughts about Jesus. It is his belief that “it is God who created the world and its sins, and who therefore become Christ in order to suffer the fate of humanity.”

In the next chapters he tells the readers about the “Tower” he built and lived in, his “Travels” to the U.S., India and Africa.  For me the most important statements were “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves” (compare with Romancing the Shadow) and that “The longing for light is the longing for consciousness”.

My favorite chapter was “Visions” which starts with a description of an illness and a near death experience. He had visions after that followed by a fruitful period.  At that time he also had an affirmation of things as they are: “an unconditional acceptance of conditions of existence as I see them and understand them, acceptance of my own nature, as I happen to be.”  He also realizes “that when one follows the path of individuation, when one lives one’s own life, one must take mistakes into the bargain; life would not be complete without them”. And it was only after the illness that he understood how important it is to affirm one’s own destiny.

In the next chapter he elaborates about “Life after Death”. He sees rationalism and doctrinism as a disease of our time because they pretend to have all the answers and admits that he does not know for what reason the universe has come into being.  He points to the fact that the unconscious helps by communicating things to us and explains that he speaks of inner promptings when it comes to things after death and that he can go no further then to tell us dreams and myths that relate to this subject.  Based on dreams he understands that the souls of the dead “know” only what they knew at the moment of death, and nothing beyond that. He defines myth as the natural and indispensable intermediate stage between unconscious and conscious cognition.  He also discusses the concepts of reincarnation and karma but is not sure if karma is the outcome of past lives or maybe the achievement of ancestors. He is convinced though that it is important that we “do not stand at the end with empty hands.” He sees the purpose of human existence to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.

He ends the book with “Late Thoughts” and “Retrospect” and tells us that he led his life by obeying an inner law which was imposed on him and left him no freedom of choice and that he was satisfied with the course his life has taken.

My favorite statements are from the chapter  “Late Thoughts” in which he says that the individual has need, “first and foremost of self-knowledge, that is, the utmost possible knowledge of his own wholeness.  He must know relentlessly how much good he can do, and what crimes he is capable of.” He adds “such self-knowledge is of prime importance, because through it we approach that fundamental stratum or core of human nature where the instincts dwell. Here are those pre-existent dynamic forces, which ultimately govern the ethical decisions of our consciousness” and that deepened self-knowledge requires psychology.

Laws of Destiny by Herman Meyer

Herman Meyer (* 1947) was born in Germany.  He is a psychologist and naturopath and focuses on alternative medicine.  He is a partnership and destiny researcher.  He founded the Institute of Psychological Astrology in Munich, Germany.

He has written many books in German, among them Your Own Identity (Die Eigene Identität), Laws of Destiny (Gesetze des Schicksals) , Liberation of Forced Destiny (Befreiung vom Schicksalszang – Astropsychotherapy), Astrology and Psychology, and Death is not a Coincidence (Der Tod ist kein Zufall).

This book is about the laws of destiny. There are many people who complain about their fate and Herman Meyer claims that they have not been condemned by a higher power to their lives, but have chosen their fate. Hermann Meyer states that there are 10 laws that determine our existence here on earth, each of which can be influenced by us. The author presents practical examples and describes negative situations and shows how these situations could have been avoided if other steps would have been taken – in other words he shows in what manner the person just brought the bad situation on himself/herself. Tables illustrate the transformation of the society from the Stone Age culture, to a possible future with concrete examples on how to improve/change things. The development of Oneself is in the foreground. Meyer explains that every person can develop his assets which would lead to more harmony among humans.

These are the main ideas explained by the author:

The unconscious remains mostly unnoticed and rarely influences our decisions. Life as a whole however can only be understood if we include the unconscious. Each of us has the task to develop specific skills such as assertiveness, setting boundaries, communication skills, technical skills, the ability to discover our own identity, independence, analytical skills, ability to develop our own life program and to implement it, and the ability to overcome traditional and established rules that are outdated.

Each skill in the patriarchic culture is divided into two poles – a negative pole and positive pole.

Negative pole: Skills in the negative pole are inhibited; Meyer characterizes people who have their skills in the negative pole as people who play the role of a child. These are people who are constantly attacked, manipulated, exploited, or need a shepherd. People like that repeatedly react to situations and follow rules. Because they react instead of acting they don’t live their own lives and other people determine how they have to live.

Plus pole: Meyer characterizes people, who have most of their skills in the plus pole as people who play the role of a parent. The skills of these people are to a certain extent also inhibited, but they compensate this inhibition by trying to embody these skills as ideal. Those people have not developed their own identity either because they try to develop those skills based on cultural norms.

Adult: Meyer calls people who develop their skills inherent to their own nature as adults. In his opinion these adults can perceive both poles and can grasp the entirety of life. Because these people have an understanding of both poles, they can broaden their perspective and develop their own identity.

He explains further that everybody’s laws of destiny are neutral and cannot be influenced unless we learn to integrate them into our lives.

He continues by going over the development cycles of humanity and pointing out that we are currently in the patriarchic (anal) phase and that this phase is coming to an end (this phase is equivalent to the mental structure of consciousness described by Gebser) . We are developing currently equal rights; women up till now have been oppressed, as well as everything feminine such as nature and wholeness, which has been leading to lifelessness (living without a soul). This can be seen in our current ideology in all areas of life – in academic medicine (the human being is not seen as a whole), in pedagogy (by demanding obedience), in religion, in agriculture (by using pesticides) and in politics (by damaging the environment).

In all areas of life everything concerning our soul, everything that’s lively and natural is devalued. In this respect illness is an attempt to compensate (compare with Heal Thyself)and depicts a recovery process. Politics preaches constant economic growth and destroys the environment, which in turn endangers our health. Patriarchs think everything is doable and they pay no attention to problems.

We have to change on an individual as well as a collective level. We should not fight and be reactive but instead create something new.

In psychology we have to understand how the soul functions and the “new” person must be concerned on a personal level with every aspect of life, among them nutrition, religion, politics, medicine, economy, ecology, and gardening.

He also addresses in this book the laws of harmony. The “new” people have to find balance between work and leisure. Health means leading a balanced life. He also points out that being good as determined by the moral people means often that one is bad towards the laws of life.

The author believes that everybody who can find his own identity will feel safe. People who are afraid to express themselves through their work will never find fulfillment in what they do.

In his opinion we live in a collective neurosis and must free ourselves from it and the patriarch system. Patriarchy in the form of divided and per-determined roles between women and men leads to developing different sets of skills. He explains that partnerships have a crisis if the original positions or roles “played” are changing. In addition, if we try to reach an “ideal” we suppress the energies of the physical, mental and spiritual plane and that makes sick and leads to addiction.

If we do not find ourselves and take advantage of the right to live our own lives, we give other people the permission to run our lives. Whoever wants to be “good” by living his live based on the rules established by others, is “bad” against himself and will be punished (compare with The Four Agreements).

Among the examples he provides are people who develop illnesses or develop a crisis because they play sports that are “in” or part of the countries culture instead of choosing sport activities that fit their personality; people who choose jobs, partners and houses for materialistic reasons; people who only buy designer clothes; people who don’t listen to their inner voice; people who pick furniture from magazines instead of developing their own taste.

An Introduction To Astropsychology by Glen Perry

Glenn A. Perry is a professional astrologer since 1975 and a licensed psychotherapist in private practice since 1979 . He is a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and a board member of the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR).

Perry is a graduate of Saybrook Institute with a doctorate in psychology/consciousness studies.

The book Introduction to Astro-Psychology represents a psychologically sophisticated astrology that goes beyond the usual approaches to the subject. All the parts are there—signs, planets, houses, aspects—but they are integrated with the latest developments in personality research and psychotherapy.

The result is an astrological model of consciousness that is solidly grounded in psychological theory. Motivation for behavior is related to the specific needs that the signs of the zodiac symbolize. A central theme of the book is that the astrological chart depicts a personal narrative or life script. Each element of the chart symbolizes both an inner and an outer reality, the interaction of which fuels the process of soul development. By using the chart to gain insight into one’s unique personal mythology, the individual is empowered to consciously participate in his or her own evolution.

The Zodiac is the foundation of the astrological language. The signs are symbols of life processes reflected in nature. Similar to Plato’s forms, Carl Jung’s concept of archetypes also applies to zodiacal signs. Archetypes are structural elements of consciousness; they are not limited to human consciousness.

Planets are described as psychological processes geared toward satisfying the needs of the signs they rule. The context, or setting, within which these processes play out are the houses.

As Jung points out, at root our consciousness is collective, at our deepest strata we are all composed of the same fundamental energies.

The first six signs are where the days are longer; they are about the individual, the emergence of the self from the whole.

The second six signs are where the nights are longer; they are about the participation toward a larger network.

These two groups are related through the interplay of complementary opposites.

He describes the four elements Fire, Earth, Air and Water and points out that they parallel Jung’s Intuition, Sensation, Thinking and Feeling. Fire gives faith in oneself, in others, and in the Universe. Earth represents our capacity to be practical, realistic, and productive. Air gives us objectivity t make distinction, separate ourselves from our experience, and make the compromise necessary to live harmoniously with others. Water is the unifying element that binds us all together on a “gut” level. It is the urge to love and the need to be loved.

After talking about the modalities (Cardinal, Fixed, Mutable) and the polarities (Yang, Yin) he points out the relation to Jung’s belief that the constant interplay and tension between opposite poles of conscious and unconscious makes for the integration of the psyche – individuation.

He explains that every individual is a replica in miniature of the entire Universe. He sees the task of evolution to integrate the parts into a balanced and functional whole, and in so doing become one with the whole.

After explaining the conjunctions in detail he describes the planetary aspects as core beliefs that relate to the individual’s convictions about the relative likelihood of meeting basic needs. In other words, they are dialogues between the different needs and drives that make up the whole of the human being.

The goal of the psyche, as symbolized in the zodiac, is the ever more effective and balanced integration of these energies into an dynamic and unified whole. In other words, the goal of the psyche is to integrate the self with others, the individual with the collective, in order to achieve psychic balance and wholeness

He also talks about Buddhism and explains in this context the Conscious as the relation between subject and object or self and not-self. The subject cannot exist without object and vice versa. The ego exists because it accepts this polarity. Buddhism holds that liberation from duality is contingent upon the ability to recognize that such opposites are ultimately a trick of the mind, a self-created illusion (maya), the reconciliation of which allows for unitive consciousness an liberation. By neutralizing opposites through awareness, the illusion of duality is extinguished and the individual attains nirvana.

Perry writes about Jung’s discovery that much of the content of individual consciousness such as dreams, fantasies, and thoughts see rooted in a collective consciousness shared by all human beings. In addition he explains Jung’s concept of synchronicity – simultaneous occurrences of a certain psychic state with one or more external events that appear as meaningful parallels to the momentary subjective state.

Perry says that as an integrated totality, the zodiac symbolizes the potential for wholeness.

An archetype can manifest externally as a character in three different ways – as a personality type, a role or an occupation.

A core principle of astrology is that character produces events consistent with itself. This is supported by Jung’s concept of synchronicity, which implies that any idea held long enough will attract whatever conditions it needs for its expression.

A planet’s sign position not only tells us how the planet is doing its thing, it also tells us what the outcome might be.

Five criteria for interpretation:

1) Psychological function of the planet

2) Motivation behind the behavior

3) The behavior itself should be described

4) A planetary affect state should be related to the domain of its sign position

5) Empirical consequences of a planet’s action

Jung’s theory about marriage as a psychological relationship emphasized how each person’s unconscious image of the opposite sex is projected onto the partner for purposes of bringing the unconscious into view. Marriage was a vehicle for healing and transformation.

The ideal of wholeness is something that one approaches gradually, possibly even over a succession of lifetimes.

While each archetype has its part to play in the life story, it is the task of every human being t integrate these parts into a unified whole. The ego initially thinks it is separate from its parts, yet it must incorporate them to become the Self – a complete, balanced integrated human being capable of expressing all the archetypes (Hero’s journey).

The Zodiac can be thought of as the archetypical structure of the psyche.

Therapeutic intervention should help the client to integrate repressed needs, develop more constructive beliefs and behave in a more positive and successful manner.

The Ever Present Origin by Jean Gebser

Jean Gebser (1905 – 1973), born as Hans Gebser in Posen in Prussia (now Poland), was a philosopher, a linguist, and a poet. He left Germany in 1929, living for a time in Italy and France, then in Spain and again in France until he fled to Switzerland in 1939. He spent the rest of his life near Bern, where he did most of his writing.

Gebser’s major thesis was that human consciousness is in transition, and that these transitions are “mutations” and not continuous. These jumps or transformations involve structural changes in both mind and body.   His thesis of the failure of one structure of consciousness alongside the emergence of a new one led him to inquire as to whether such had occurred before. His work, Ursprung und Gegenwart is the result of that inquiry. It was published in various editions from 1949 to 1953, and translated into English as The Ever-Present Origin.

The Ever-Present Origin is an immense exploration into an insight—a “lightning-like inspiration” as he called it—that first came to Gebser in Spain in 1931. This insight, that a new kind of consciousness was beginning to appear in the West, came to Gebser through his study of poetry, particularly that of the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke. As Gebser unraveled it, he soon saw that evidence for this new consciousness could be found in developments in science too. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more Gebser discovered signs of this new consciousness in practically all aspects of Western culture. For the next eighteen years, he gathered and organized his thoughts on what he called an impending “mutation” in consciousness, the most immediate manifestation of which was what he called the breakdown of the “mental-rational structure” of consciousness, the dominant “scientistic” rationalist reductive paradigm that has held sway over the West for the last few centuries.

He explains in the book that we are at the brink of historical chasm and that the new millenium will bring peace, if we find a realistic response to the global crisis we are in. He described it as a crisis of consciousness and said that we have to work on a solution individually and collectively.

In his exploration about human consciousness Gebser was able to identify four major configurations in our consciousness and illustrates them through cultural data. He believed that consciousness has moved through four previous “structures,” each achieving a further separation and distinction from an atemporal, immaterial, spiritual source that he called “origin.” According to Gebser, each major configuration of consciousness always changed through a mutation hereby reaching the next level of consciousness.

Archaic (almost completely instinctual):

  • Zero-dimensional (total absence of differentiation; e.g. between the individual and the universe)
  • Non-perspective (like deep sleep)
  • Total absence of any sense of separation

Magical (principal of identity as expressed in analogical thinking):

  • One-dimensional
  • Perspectival state of timelessness and spacelessness (like a state of sleep)
  • The magic man was part of his environment and felt secure only with his group

Mythical (cognitive structure):

  • Two-dimensional
  • Unperspectival state of consciousness (like a dream)
  • Imagination and attunement with natural rhythms became important factors
  • Unfolds symbols rather than calculus
  • Intuition rather than hypothesis and abstract thinking

Mental (the domain of men’s thinking mind):

  • Three-dimensional
  • Perspectival world (wakefulness)
  • Cognitive and operates on the principle of duality [tooltip title=”” content=”Compare with Broken Open under Spiritual Development” type=”classic” ](either – or)[/tooltip]

Through his research he came to believe that we are on the threshold of a new structure of consciousness, namely the Integral. This integral consciousness structure was made evident by a new relationship to space and time and it consists in part in its ability to integrate the preceding consciousness structures rather than suppressing them as the mental structure does.

Integral:

  • Four-dimensional
  • Aperspectival world of transparency
  • Time free, space free, subject free, object free world
  • Total integration of all parts
  • Grasp by mind and spirit
  • Liberation understanding of the whole

Gebser noticed that the integral structure of consciousness was largely witnessed as the irruption of time into the “fixed-reality” of the mental structure and explained in detail the incorporation of time in physics and the attempts to “paint” time in the visual arts and the like. This structure will enable the human mind to transcend the limitations of three-dimensionality. The supersession of time is a theme that will play an extremely important role in this structure. In fact, the ideas of arationality (as opposed to the rationality of the current structure), aperspectivity (as opposed to the perspective, spatially determined mentation of the current structure), and diaphaneity (the transparent recognition of the whole, not just parts) are significant characteristics of this new structure.

In his book “Verfall und Teilhabe” (Decline and Participation) that has not been translated into English yet, he supplies the readers in the chapter “In Search of the New Consciousness” with the present mutation of consciousness. Some of them he mentions are:

  • Haste is replaced by silence and the capacity for silence;
  • Goal-oriented, purposeful thoughts are replaced by un-intentionalness (Absichtslosigkeit);
  • The pursuit of power is replaced by the genuine capacity for love;
  • Quantitative idle motion (Leerlauf) is replaced by the qualitative spiritual process;
  • Manipulation is replaced by the patient acceptance of the providential powers;
  • Prejudice is replaced by the renunciation of value judgments;
  • Action is replaced by poise/attitude (Haltung)
  • Homo faber is replaced by homo integer
  • The divided human being is replaced by the whole human being
  • The emptiness of the limited world is replaced by the open expanse of the open world.

For me, one of the most important messages from Gebser is, that the arational structure of consciousness, which in his opinion has been in the process of “constellating” itself since the turn of the century, does indeed depend for its full emergence on each individual person. We all have to do  the work of self-transcendence which, as Gebser freely admits, is the most difficult of all human tasks.  He said:

All work, the genuine work which we must achieve, is that which is most difficult and painful: the work on ourselves. If we do not freely take upon ourselves this “acceptance” of the pain and torment, they will be visited upon us in otherwise individual and universal collapse.” (Kulturphilosophie als Methode und Wagnis, p. 409)

Gebser’s “The Ever-Present Origin” is not easy to read. If you want to find out more about him and his work you can find an overview of his work on the Internet.

Ken Wilber named Georg Feuerstein, a German Indologist who authored over 30 books on mysticism, Yoga, Tantra, and Hinduism, as “probably Gebser’s foremost American interpreter”. Feuerstein shows in Structures of Consciousness why Gebser’s comprehensive work is one of our century’s most important intellectual contribution to a new self-understanding and profound spiritual reorientation. This book is for those who do not have the time or patience to work through “The Ever-Present Origin”; Feuerstein gives a terrific overview of the basic framework of Gebser’s thoughts and concepts.

In the chapter “The Play of Consciousness” in his book “Structures of Consciousness” he provides a list of integral features and their mental-rational counterparts:

self-consciousness – mind-transcending freedom
ego-fulfillment – ego-transcendence
search for perfection – present happiness
self-opacity – self transparency
obsession with and fear of time – time-freedom
past- or future-orientedness – presentiation
now-orientedness – living in the full continuum of time
boundedness, maskedness – openness
rigidity, defensiveness – fluency, availability
intolerance/toleration – playful tolerance
control – letting -be
hesitancy – immediacy
anxiety – enjoyment
alienation – participatory freedom
internalized responsibility – personal responsiveness
emotional dependence/independence – freedom of feeling
observer consciousness – participatory consciousness
forced action – responsive doing
purposive orientation – humorous participation
categorization – name-transcendence
abstraction, obsession with thinking – bodily presence
knowledge – understanding, wisdom
dogmatism – acknowledgement of the multivalency of life
fear of intimacy – freedom for intimacy
doubt – reverence for life
guilt – freedom from the superego
ennui – equanimity
exploitative orientation – service
falling in or out of love – being love

Many concepts discusses in Gebser’s work can be found in Theosophy, especially in The Secret Doctrine.

What The Buddha Taught by Walola Rahula

The venerable Prof. Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera (1907–1997) was a Buddhist monk,scholar and writer. He is considered to be one of the top Sri Lankan intellectuals of the 20th century. In 1964, he became the Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University, thus becoming the first Buddhist monk to hold a professorial chair in the Western world.

In this book Walpola Rahula tries to address those readers, who would like to know what the Buddha actually taught. He aimed at giving briefly, and as directly and simply as possible, a faithful and accurate account of the actual words used by the Buddha as they are to be found in the original Pali texts of the Tipiṭaka, universally accepted by scholars as the earliest extant records of the teachings of the Buddha.

This book is available free online.

Here are the most important points:

  • Buddha claims no inspiration from any God or external power.
  • Man is his own master and there is no higher being or power that sits in judgement over his destiny.
  • Man has the power to liberate himself from all bondage through his own personal effort and intelligence.
  • Man’s emancipation depends on his own realization of Truth, and not on the benevolent grace of a God or any external power as a reward for his obedient good behavior.
  • The root of all evil is ignorance and false view.
  • This spirit of tolerance and understanding has been from the beginning one of the most cherished ideals of Buddhist culture and civilization (no shedding of blood). What is essential is seeing the thing, understanding it.
  • But in Buddhism emphasis is laid on seeing, knowing, understanding, and not on faith or belief.
  • The moment you see, the question of belief disappears.
  • To be attached to one thing (to a certain view) and to look down upon other things (views) as inferior – this wise men call a fetter.

In Buddhism it is important to understand the question of suffering, how it comes about, and how to get rid of it, and then to work accordingly with patience, intelligence, determination, and energy.

The central tenants of Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths.

The First Noble Truth: “The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha)”

Happiness is a part of life, a part of dukkha, but like everything else it has no permanence.

The Five Aggregates of Attachment or Suffering:

  • Aggregate of Matter
  • Aggregate of Sensation
  • Aggregate of Perception
  • Aggregate of Mental Formation
  • Aggregate of Consciousness

The Second Noble Truth: “Arising of Suffering”

This addresses man’s desire or craving. All the evils in the world are produced by selfish desire. This “thirst” or attachment is not only for wealth, power, and sense-pleasures, but can also manifest itself in attachment to ideas, opinions, theories and beliefs. This arises from an organism’s “desire, the will to be, to exist, to re-exist, to become more and more.”

According to the karma theory, the effects of a volitional action may continue to manifest themselves even in a life after death.

The Third Noble Truth: “The Cessation of Dukkha

There is liberation, freedom from suffering (compare with The Yoga Sutras and The Bhagavad Gita, from the continuity of dukkha. It eliminates the root cause of suffering, and leads to liberation which is known as Nirvana.

The author explains that language is too poor to express the real nature of the Absolute Truth or Ultimate Reality which is Nirvana. One could describe it as cessation of the very “thirst”.
Absolute Truth: Extinction of desire, hatred and illusion. Absolute Truth is beyond duality and relativity.

Absolute Freedom is freedom from all evil, craving, hatred, and ignorance; from all terms of duality, relativity, time and space.

Absolute Truth: There is nothing absolute in the world; everything is relative, conditioned and impermanent, there is no Self or Soul (note: this has to be understood as “Self” as an “autonomous entity” because we are not really separate, autonomous beings – this website is somewhat helpful about this topic).

To see things as they are without illusion or ignorance is the extinction of craving “thirst”.

The Fourth Noble Truth: The Way leading to the cessation.

This Truth is the path that leads to Calm, Insight, Enlightenment, Nirvana. By taking the Middle Path we avoid two extremes. The one extreme being the search for happiness through the pleasure of the senses (low, common, unprofitable and the way of the ordinary people) and the other being the search for happiness through self-mortification in different forms of asceticism, which is painful, unworthy and unprofitable.

This Middle Path is generally referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path:

  1. Right Understanding
  2. Right Thought (self detachment)
  3. Right Speech (no lies)
  4. Right Action (moral conduct)
  5. Right Livelihood (no harm to others)
  6. Right Effort (preventing evil, bringing good)
  7. Right Mindfulness (awareness of body and feeling, mind and ideas)
  8. Right Concentration

They are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others. The eight factors aim at perfecting the three essentials of Buddhist training and discipline: Ethical Conduct, Mental Discipline and Wisdom

One should develop compassion (love, charity, kindness, tolerance) and wisdom (qualities of the mind) .

The way of life is self-discipline in body, word and mind, self-development and self-purification.

You have to rely on yourself and not on others.

6 Directions:

  • East (parents are sacred to their children)
  • South (a pupil should respect and be obedient to his teacher)
  • West (relationship between husband and wife – respectful, faithful, devoted)
  • North (be hospitable to friends, relatives and neighbors)
  • Nadir (Master should pay adequate wages, medical needs should be provided, occasional bonuses – Servants should be diligent, honest and obedient)
  • Zenith (Lay people should look after the material neeeds of the religios with love and respect).

Minimum moral obligations of a lay Buddhist:

  • Not to destroy life
  • Not to steal
  • Not to commit adultery
  • Not to tell lies
  • Not to take intoxicating drinks

Ten duties of the King:

  • Liberality, generosity, charity
  • High moral character
  • Sacrificing everything of the good of the people
  • Honesty and integrity
  • Kindness and gentleness
  • Austerity in habits (no luxury)
  • Freedom from hatred, ill-will, enmity
  • Non-violence (promoting peace).
  • Patience, forbearance, tolerance, understanding
  • Non-opposition, non-destruction (don’t oppose the will of the people)

The Universality of Golden Rules in Religion

While religions and religious groups may vary in their practices and beliefs, the Golden Rule, also known as the Ethic of Reciprocity, is routinely a part of their philosophies and beliefs.

Buddhism Hurt not others in way that you yourself would find hurtful. Udana-Varga 5,1
Christianity All things whatsoever ye would that mean should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets Matthew 7:1
Confucianism Do not do to others what you would not like yourself. Then there will be no resentment against you, either in the family or in the state Analects 12:1
Hinduism This is the sum of duty; do not onto others what you would not have them d unto you. Mahabharata5,1517
Islam No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself. Sunnah
Judaism What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. Talmud
Native American Spirituality All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One. Black Elk
Taoism Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your own loss. Tai Shang Kan Yin P’ien
Zoroastrianism That nature alone is good which refrains from doing to another whatsoever is not good for itself. Dadisten-I-dinik, 94,5

Adapted from “The Christopher Newsletter”