Meaningful Connections

DEMYSTIFYING "THE SECRET" - NO PANACEA FOR HARD WORK

                            THERE IS NO MAGIC

So along has come another presumed shortcut to instant and lasting success. It has taken the form of a book and CD called The Secret. It is based on the core idea that if you focus all of your energies on what you want - you are likely to get it sooner than later based on the law of attraction.

The law of attraction is as old as the esoteric occult. In short it is based on the idea of likes attract likes. Leadbetter, Swedenborg with their concepts of thought-forms were some of the earliest proponents of what is recently repackaged as The Secret.

INTEGRATING SPIRITUALITY AND PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY

                     A GROUNDED SPIRITUALITY

I hope that I am not perceived as stepping on anyones "spiritual" feet but for me the experience of spirituality may be fruitfully integrated into the concepts of psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis when it is conceptualized as naturalistic and immanent rather than mystical and transcendent.

My ideas largely came about in my working with 5 ex - 12 step patients who I would describe as "God obsessed" but who left, unable to accept the 'higherpower concept." In the copious notes I kept I noticed that they were all preoccupied with what I will refer to as "spiritual" issues. These issues are: trust, faith, hope, love, and persistence. Note that all of these concepts are associated with a theme of primary motivation.

The Da VINCI CODE'S CHALLENGE TO MANKIND

                           WHO IS JESUS REALLY?

I believe that fictional works like the Da Vinci Code serve an important purpose. They stir people to think,  stretch their imaginations, dare as Socrates did to challenge the youth of Athens to question all first assumptions. I think there is much merit in considering the implications for mankind if Jesus - add into the mix Mohammed, Allah, etc - is just a plain human being who caught the public imagination.

REFLECTIONS ON VIEWING MY SECOND MUNCH EXHIBIT

                 AN ARTIST'S ARTIST      

                     

I remember being stunned when I went to see the first Munch retrospective in New York City probably over twenty years ago. In those days I was thoroughly identified with the themes of his content perhaps best described as pictorially exploring "the modern life of the soul."

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THE JUDAS GOSPEL

         THE JUDAS GOSPEL KINDA MAKES ME WONDER

The discovery of what is called the Judas Gospel appears to be striking for only one major fact. That fact is the fascinating pronouncement that Judas was asked by Jesus to betray him. So if accurate Judas has gotten a really bad name and there needs to be a serious review of the  implications of this startling action.

I remember reading a book called The Passover Plot decades ago. The book advanced the radical position that Jesus and his disciples were highly intellectual and knew every moment what they were doing and why they were doing it.

SO WHOSE GOD IS BETTER?

                                A PEACE PROPOSAL

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This  extreme Muslim versus the West thing is really tricky. It strains my mind to try to be objective but it seems to defy all my attempts to do so. But it is a relentless issue therefore it has to be dealt with. The apparent leaders - that is the extremists - seem hell bent on killing people like me. I have no other choice but to take a stand and protect myself. But how? To throw stones back will only incite them to feel justified in seeking revenge. And on and on it goes.

TRAGEDY at RED LAKE

                              DARK RESEARCH

Once again we collectively have to face the brutal fact that what should not have happened - certaintly not happen "here" - did, in fact, tragically occur "here" . "Here" is specifically Red Lake but it was Columbine {yesterday}, and could be Scarsdale {tomorrow}. The undeniable fact is that the tragedy at Red Lake can happen anywhere at any time to any one.

The central question is: what can we learn from these dark experiences to effectively  prevent them from happening rather than denying their complexity only to passively react in horror and confusion  the next time they happen. 

SOME SPIRITUAL OBSERVATIONS

                                Post # 2

The following are some observations I have made about what I refer to as a grounded spirituality as differentiated from conventional spirituality.

• I believe that you do not have to posit a transcendent deity to be  a spiritual person.
• Blind faith runs the risk of being a thinly veiled rationalization for projecting ones final authority onto external real or imagined authorities.

Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and Spirituality Abstract

                                 POST 1

I regard myself as a highly "spiritual" person. However my personal and professional experience reluctantly forces me to view spirituality from a naturalistic perspective. This means that I entertain no primary assumption that there is a conscious prime mover either in the background and/or the foreground of our earthly sojourns.

So Little Time, So Much Said

For me, it is rare to come away from a one hour TV program feeling energized even to the point of uplifted. This is particularly true subtracting ad time of approximately ten to fifteen minutes. And when the forty five minutes each week continually triggers gratifying feelings the source is notable. Once such source of unexpected but thoroughly appreciated gratification is Joan of Arcadia. I will cut to the chase.