I think Graves' model of Spiral Dynamics illuminates this question very well. Just as Kohlber, Fowler and Maslow, mapped out levels of development, Spiral Dynamics shows how people settle into cultural memes or value memes in an ever ascending spiral beginning with survival of self, and through...
I don't think it ultimately has anything to do with "deserving" though I understand your perspective on this.
I think it has everything to do with a shift in consciousness that allows others, in this case the parents, to simply be as they are, human, imperfect, forgiveable. If the pain and...
Apparently you haven't seen the US tax code for 07 :)
Actually Jaiket, your response has some interesting implications that I wouldn't necessarily ascribe to your core beliefs but are interesting from a linquistic perspective. Many books aren't literal and true but are of value anyway, this...
A very open question, I suppose it depends on the context in which it is asked. From a conventional perspective Mark's answer certainly makes sense. But since we are in the Mysticism forum and since you used the term self instead of Self I would say that it is indeed a structure and a limiting...
If we define the mystic as one who desires union with God, or the Absolute Reality, then a non mystic must lack or eschew this desire.
As Joseph Campbell once said " You can lead a man to Vassar, but you can't make him think"
Peace
Mark
I think to find the most accurate stats, go and look at what the marketing people are doing. I notice more and more that supermarkets, restaurants, etc.are offering vegetarian meals. I went veggie some years back and have noticed some significant changes in what is being offered out there...
Well, that started even before the council of Nicea, there is a perverse nature in man that tends to embrace black and white thinking, and eschews the mystic experience. It has been this way for thousands of years. People like A. Maslow, Kohlberg, Fowler, Peck and others have explored this...
Congrats Luna, you have made my online experience here warm and wonderful and deserve those awards!
(I promised myself I wasn't going to cry:sad4: )
Peace
Mark
So many wonderful points of view here! I so enjoy reading all of them, and I think to myself how great it is to fit the pieces together :)
Though we cannot step into the same river twice, we can return to it and see it anew. Forgiveness brings us closer to the creatures we once shunned in our...
Check out this interview with Laurie David the producer of the film on PBS's NOW
apparently the national association of science teachers wouldn't take 50,000 copies of the DVD provided free of charge to teachers because they get over 6 million dollars a year from oil companies. Hmmmm...
Thanks Phil,
Sometimes I get into a state where I know I'm not alone, when everything I see is infused with light and love, the very thoughts drifting into my mind are not my thoughts but come to me from another place. Once a few years ago I was downtown on a summer night walking past Jose...
I sometimes wonder why we choose to couch our conversations about mysticism is such erudite and objective lanquage. We could go on about the training and exposure to orthodoxy to mold the mystic or even argue that the average person could have a mystical experience. If we are really clever we...
I would have to agree with Noahide, Mavrik. If you haven't confronted God with your honest feelings, questions, rage and despair it might be time to do so. I remember, when I lost my Christopher to MD when he was 16 I thought my world was going to end, and two years into the grief cycle, riddled...