Welcome!

All new posts are below this welcome message.

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Hi!  - Soul Needs = my flow of  life-journey moments – with a focus on celebrating the human spirit, via 6 projects that continue the work of my PhD – HERE

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Use the search box (1800+ posts) on the left on any topic that interests you.  In my head the 6 projects in my life are now;

 1) PERENNIAL WISDOM 

2) NATURAL HEALTH matters (inc surviving IPF), 

3) SOCIAL JUSTICE matters, 

4) ART matters,  inc photography

5) RE-HUMANIZING EDUCATION (including Holistic Education)

6) PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT

“Behind every moment, behind every particular, is the enveloping Whole.”

My daily Quotations Treasury blog is HERE

Enjoy – please send in a ‘like’, comment, discussion point or question! – Roger.

One Garden InSpirit – interfaith interspirituality is HERE            

My photography HERE - use your left & right arrows to view!

Star Wars and Doctor Who fans clash at Norwich convention

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-22542222

The police turned-up ……….let the force be with you – in this case the Norfolk constabulary!

An invitation to join me in a series of projects

The SunWALK model applied to all Professional Studies

within the evolution of human-centred studies


Dr Roger Prentice – onesummit AT gmail DOT com

My PhD and subsequent work such as the One Garden groups is about deepening our understanding of what it is to be human.

The PhD applied my SunWALK model to education – particularly from the teacher’s-eye view. I am inviting you to do an applied version for educating other groups in a human-centred way – politicians, barristers, judges, architects, scientists, engineers – all the Humanities, all the Arts, all the Sciences – any and all professions. I believe deepening understanding of what it is to be human is the only way to end the nightmare of suffering in which so many of the world’s people are enmeshed.

All professional studies need to take account of what it is to be human and of how human beings function, in the world with others. Here it is presented in broad and holistic terms.

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Being human is seen, intra-personally, i.e. within the interiority of the heart-mind, as the flow of the life-force as it passes through each individual – which metaphorically we might view as white light. You don’t have a life, you are life as Eckhart Tolle says. Please pay particular attention to 17 below which constitutes a major update!

The singleness of the human spirit shaped by parents, family, local community, school and the wider society then trifurcates into into the three ‘primary’ modes of being of Caring, Creativity and Criticality – presented here as the three primary colours; yellow blue and red.

Interpersonally, in society Caring, Creativity & Criticality = the institutions of the Humanities, the Arts and the Sciences.

‘Sun’ = whatever source/s of higher order values, insights and inspirations lights the path of your life-journey. Except in the case of sociopaths or psychopaths everyone has such a ‘Sun’ – a loving grandmother, an inspiring teacher etc. WALK = Wise, and Willing, Loving and Action as a simple representation of the inner dynamics of being human – what we are and what we do. You are going to ask me about evil. Darkness is the absence of light – for all virtues there are the shadow-side opposites.

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SunWALK logo – The 3 ways of expressing our humanity – Caring, Creativity and Criticality – in Community – the 4Cs.

Caring – the ‘WE’ voice of caring and the moral sense, – giving rise to the Humanities

Creativity – the ‘I’ voice of subjective expression – giving rise to the Arts

Criticality – the ‘IT’ voice of objective engagement – giving rise to the Sciences.

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These are seen as modes of being and doing, which we express, inter-personally, in Community with others.

Hence the ‘SunWALK 4Cs model’ in answer to the most fundamental of all questions, “What is it to be, positively and fully, human?”

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In constructing the model I gradually acquired a large set of concepts.

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These I sifted through three levels roughly relevant to ‘important’, ‘very important’ and ‘indispensable’.

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The indispensable concepts constitute the core model SunWALK, along with the model of what it is to be human.

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The SunWALK model (of human-centred studies) combines the following elements;

1 the storied development of

2 meaning, which is

3 constructed, and de-constructed,

4 physically, mentally and spiritually, through

5 Wise &

6 Willing

7 Action, via

8 Loving and

9 Knowing – developed in

10 Community, via the

11 ‘Dialectical Spiritualization’ of

12 Caring,

13 Creativity &

14 Criticality processes, all undertaken in the light of the

15 ‘Sun’ of (chosen) higher-order values & beliefs, using best available, appropriate

16 content and…..

UPDATED WITH THIS 17 …….and like Maslow in later life I would now (2013) add something – the transcendence of that storied meaning – except I see no choice or conflict between two. The ‘storied meaning’ and ‘the transcendence’ are as two wings through which we function and fly as human beings.

The beloved Heschel says this in at least three ways;

Concepts and amazement

“Concepts are delicious snacks with which
we try to alleviate our amazement.”
Abraham Joshua Heschel – Who is Man p.88

We are citizens of two realms;

The search for reason ends at the shore of the known;
on the immense expanse beyond it only the sense of the ineffable can glide.
It alone knows the route to that which is remote from experience and understanding.
Neither is amphibious: reason cannot go beyond the shore,
and the sense of the ineffable is out of place where we measure, where we weigh.
Citizens of two realms, we must all sustain dual allegiance:
we sense the ineffable in one realm;
we name and exploit reality in another.
Between the two we set up a system of references,
but can never fill the gap.
They are as far and as close to each other…as life and
what lies beyond the last breath. Man is Not Alone p8.

The world of things and the world of no-thing

To become aware of the ineffable is to part company with words. …The tangent to the curve of human experience lies beyond the limits of language. The world of things we perceive is but a veil. Its flutter is music, its ornament science, but what it conceals is inscrutable. Its silence remains unbroken; no words can carry it away.

Sometimes we wish the world would cry and tell us about that which made it pregnant with fear-filling grandeur.

Sometimes we wish our own heart would speak of that which made it heavy with wonder.
–Abraham Joshua Heschel

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This SunWALK framework can be applied to create sub-models for any professional studies. This ‘one-sentence’ version of the frame extends the 4Cs a little further and constitutes the shortest and most highly condensed version of SunWALK.

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At this ‘third level’ the concepts are ‘organizing elements’, and we have a model as opposed to simply a list of concepts. To this set of core concept-categories all other concepts are related, but I have separated them out into important (first level) and second level (very important).

The concept list are not seen as absolutely fixed and concept-categories can be increased or decreased in importance – especially in application to fields other than education for which the model was originally developed. But since the core of the educational model was a model of what it is to be human it must have application to other fields of professional studies.

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The two following sections are:

The second level – the sixty odd concepts of ‘main importance’, and

The first level – the 400+ concept list (still open to growing) – merely important!

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LEVEL 2: THE CONCEPT-ELEMENTS IN SUNWALK’S CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

THREE ‘LEVELS’ OF CONCEPT-ELEMENTS A) ORGANIZING, B) MAIN AND C) SECONDARY

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NB SunWALK is the mnemonic for the ‘what’ of the model, as well as its overall name The model has a conceptual framework of some 400 concepts. This list is of the main concepts, some sixty odd. The 4Cs, caring creativity, criticality + community & the name (& mnemonic) ‘SunWALK’ provide the central & organizing concepts of the whole model. WALK = Wise, & Willing, Action through Loving and Knowing. ‘Sun’ = light of spiritual source/s

The model as core process consists of four elements – the 4Cs Human spirit is seen as light – the 3Cs are the intrapersonal ‘primary colours’ of the human spirit (and correspond to the Greek’s truth, beauty and goodness) + the interpersonal dimension of ‘Community’. Corresponding to the 3Cs are three forms of knowing: ‘social-others-centred’, the ‘subjective-creative-mystical’ and the ‘objective-reasoning-scientific’. The 4Cs are seen as the dynamic ‘how’ dimensions of the model. The one sentence version of the model is above.

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In addition to the concepts categories/themes in the ‘one-sentence’ version of the model above there are there are two more lists – one of 60+ concepts and one of 400+ concepts, from which the model emerged via the sifting process.

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THE SIXTY+ LEVEL 2 CONCEPT-ELEMENTS

1 Abilities

Action

Aims & Objectives & Goals

Authentic

5 Autonomy

Awe, wonder & amazement

Balance

Being & becoming

Belief/s

10 Certainty

Compassion and empathy

Content

Curriculum

Democracy

15 Dialectical Spiritualization

Dialogue see Dialect Spiritualization

Education, ed. as an art c.f. a science

Encouragement

20 Energy see spirit & chi

Engagement

English the teaching of & as an art

Environment/ecology/inner being

Experience

25 Faith

Group process-PFC/Consultation/dialogue

Healing

Heart-mind

Imagination

Intuition insight/inner develop/. Holism/whole/Holistic Ed

30 Human being -

h. nature/

h. spirit

Humanization & de-humanization

Identity

35 Justice

Knowledge & Knowing

Learning & Teaching

Life-force/energy/spirit/chi/inochi

Love – affect/spirit – see caring and

compassion and empathy

40 Maturation

Meaning & Meaning making

Meditate/meditation

Metaphor

Mind

Modes of experience & engagement

45 Moral ed. + m. sensibility

Mystery transcendentally & in human

nature

Personhood authenticity/autonomy

Philosophy & philosophical inquiry & Philosophy for children PFC

Process & process philos & theology

50 Purpose and identity

Real/ity

Science as criticality & objective knowing

Soul see also human spirit, mind

Spiritual/ity/ization/ s. qualities

55 Story & Autobiography

‘Sun’ as source of spiritualization

Teacher Education

Teaching & Learning

Text and Context

60 Truth/beauty & goodness – correspond

to Criticality, Creativity & Caring

Will volition and motivation

Wisdom

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LEVEL 1: THE MASTER LIST OF 400+ ELEMENTS’/THEMES/ CONCEPTS FOR THE SunWALK model & One Garden groups

Aesthetic/s see Creative

Abilities

Action see Behaviour

Affective see feelings

Attitudes

Adulthood

Alienation

Aims & Objectives & Goals

Appearance & reality

Authenticity

Authority

Autobiography see story

Autonomy

Awareness

Beauty – see the Creative

Behaviour see Action

Being & becoming

Belief/s

Brain – ‘left brain’ & ‘right brain’

Caring

Certainty

Change

Childhood

Cooperative learning – see

community

Commitment

Communication

Community

Compassion and empathy

Conceptual development

Conflict resolution

Conformity

Connectedness see holism

Conscience

Consciousness & c. raising/expanding

Consultation – group process

Contemplation

Control

Creative thinking

Creative /ity

Crisis

Critical thinking

Criticality

Culture

Curriculum

Decision-making

Democracy and democratic process

Detachment

Development

Dialectical = problematization + dialogue

Discipline

Discovery

Discrimination

Doing

Dualism

Discovery (inc. curiosity)

Ecology see environment

Education

Educational environment

Emotion/s see affect

Empathy see compassion

Energy see spirit & chi

Engagement – see modes

Environment/ecology/inner being

Essence

Ethics – see moral/ity education

Ethos/Atmosphere

Existence

Existential/ism

Experience

Experimentation

Faith

Falsity

Feelings see affect

Free will- see will

Freedom

Global development

Goodness – see caring

Group process-PFC/Consultation

Team work/co-operation

Growth see development

Habit

Harmony – h. in diversity

Having c.f. being/doing/becoming

Holism/whole/Holistic Ed

Human being – h. nature/spirit

Humankind – humanity

Human Rights

Ideals

Imagination

Independence see autonomy

Individual/ity c.f. individualism

Indoctrination

Indwelling/intuition/inner being

Information – i. and knowledge

Initiation – education as

Inner being/spiritual/insight – see

interiority

Insight see intuition &

Interiority

Integrity

Intuition – insight/inner development

Insight

Instinct

Intelligence

Judgement

Justice

Justification – see knowledge

‘Know that’ – see Knowledge

Knowledge I WE IT voices

Language

Learning & Teaching

Life-force/energy/spirit/chi/inochi

Literature

Love – affect/spirit – see caring

Management

Materialism

Mechanistic models

Meaning & Meaning making

Meditation c.f. contemplation

Memory

Men/gender – see left brain/right brain

Metaphor

Methods in learning

Mind

Modes of experience & engagement

Moral development & sensibility

Moral sensibility

Mystery (in human nature)

/potential/subconscious/unknown

Narrative see story

Nature

Needs

Negotiated learning – see democratic

process

Non-reflective learning

Norms

Objectivity

Openness

Paradigm

Paradox

Participation

Perception/attention/forms/field

Person/hood see human being

Personal history see story autobiography

Personhood – see also

authenticity/autonomy

Philosophy

Philosophy for children PFC

PhotoBlogs: modelElizRex 2newdogs current

Physical self

Planning

Play

Poetry

Politics

Positivism

Potential

Power & empowerment

Principles

Problem-solving v posing

Qualitative the

Qualities, spiritual e.g. empathy

Questioning

Rationality/reason/able/ness

Real/ity

Reductionism

Reflection – reasoning/meditation

Reflective learning

Rejection

Relationships

Relativity

Religion

Science – see also objective knowing

Self

Self-esteem

Self-image

Self-knowledge

Sensitivity

Service to others

Socialization

Society

Soul

Spiritual/ity/ization/ see energy

Spiritual qualities (e.g. empathy)

State

Story & Autobiography

Subjectivity

Tacit knowledge – see knowledge

Teacher Education

Teaching & Learning

Teacher thinking

Teacher thinking about the child’s

spirituality/holistic development

Thinking /caring /creative /criticality

see mind

Time

Tradition

Training (v. education)

Transformation

Truth/beauty & goodness

Understanding

Utilitarian

Validity

Values

Vision

Volition – see will

Wholeness – see holistic

Will

Wisdom

Women/gender – see left & r. brain

Work – re identity & purpose

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The Great Illusion of the self/Self

It would be interesting to compare this;

http://www.newscientist.com/special/self

with the teachings of Eckhart Tolle & Thich Nhat Hanh.

That task might take a while!

Frithjof Schuon – Transcendent Unity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcnNTB-QXDs

 

ABORTION or NO ABORTION -’Whose rights? The Paradox of Moral Relativism

I came across this article put up by CERC the Catholic Education Research Council. It provides one starting point to look at moral relativism.

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Whose rights are protected in a relativistic culture?

It is precisely on this point that relativistic societies face a serious dilemma: How does a community arbitrate various individuals’ competing interests? There is much rhetoric in our modern world about protecting human rights and every individual’s freedom, but what if one person or group wants to do something that is directly opposed to someone else’s values or interests? How does a society decide whose "right" or whose "freedom of choice" will be protected?
Take, for instance, the following moral debates in our own times:

Does a child in the womb have the right to life? Or does a mother have a right to abort her baby? Does a business owner have the right to say publicly that he believes marriage is between one man and one woman? Or does a homosexual person in the community have the right to be protected from such public statements which he or she might consider to be "hate speech"? Do women have the right to receive contraceptives through their health insurance, even if they work for the Catholic Church? Or does the Church have the right to adhere to its moral teachings and not provide contraception to its employees?

How does a relativistic society determine whose freedom of choice will be safeguarded and whose will be limited? In a culture that has no reference to a common good — that has no shared vision about the good life for man — these questions are not resolved in any fair way. They remain constantly up for debate and completely up for grabs………………….

Click HERE to read this paper by Edward P. Sri

WHY CRY? – Crying can help relieve stress but….

……. for Optimal Health You Need Better Stress-Relieving Tools

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Story at-a-glance

• Tears that are shed due to an emotional response, such as sadness or extreme happiness, contain a high concentration of a chemical linked to stress. One theory of why you cry when you’re sad is that it helps your body release some of these excess stress chemicals, thereby helping you feel more calm and relaxed
• According to recent research, higher heart rate is tied to earlier death, even in those who exercise regularly
• Compared with those who had a resting heart rate of 50 beats a minute or less, men with resting heart rates of 71 to 80 beats per minute increased their risk of early death by just over 50 percent. Those with heart rates between 81 to 90 beats doubled their risk, and a heart rate over 90 was equated with triple the risk
• Energy psychology techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) can be very effective by helping you to actually reprogram your body’s reactions to the unavoidable stressors of everyday life

Check out Dr Mercola’s page HERE

The science of lucid dreaming

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Please support the Robin Hood Tax

What does a rubber duck have to do with Barclays?

Well yesterday, everything.

As shareholders gathered for Barclays Annual General meeting they were greeted by a couple of jaunty bankers swigging champagne whilst relaxing in a bath full of money. Why were they there? To highlight the fact that Barclays and the banking sector are still getting ‘filthy rich’ at our expense.

Whilst the UK public is suffering from job losses and cuts to public services, the banks continue to rake in huge profits and hand out obscene bonuses. Last year, if you subtract all the regulatory fines and other restitution payments, the banking sector actually made a whopping 45% increase in core profits. Hardly a sector that can’t pay up.

Barclays in particular continues to court controversy. Recently a review showed that in 2012, despite top line profits of £7bn they paid just £82m in corporation tax. Then a few days later the head of their investment bank, (aptly named) Rich Ricci, sparked protest when he retired after pocketing £18million just weeks before.

The evidence just keeps stacking up. The banks are completely out of sync with the rest of the country.

On top of all this George Osborne is intent on keeping the money rolling in for bankers when he could do much more for the wider interests of society.

As we can see, little has changed in the banking sector since the crisis. So much more needs to be done to ensure that they clean up their act and pay their fair share towards covering the on going costs of an economic crisis of their making. That’s why we want a Robin Hood tax: a small tax on the banks with the power to raise hundreds of billions every year globally to go towards poverty and climate change, at home and abroad.

Click HERE

Interview: Claudio Naranjo on the Human Approach to Edcuation - from guninetwork.org |

Reblogged from The RunningFather Blog:

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Claudio Naranjo

on the Human Approach to Edcuation

guninetwork.org

In this article, Claudio Naranjo refers to the relevance of including a human approach to all levels of edcuation, from primary to higher education worldwide.

1. What is the main thing that the new generations need to learn in order to contribute to a more sustainable and, thus, more equitable and compassionate world?

Read more… 3,510 more words

I'm so pleased that Jim has introduced us to Claudio Naranjo - I'm sure others will echo the idea of human-centred education - Roger

The State of Education in the USA – WIlliam J Bennett

Former Secretary of Education William J. Bennett points to 20 statistics which show that, despite thirty years of almost continuous reform, public education in the United States is still not doing an adequate job.

William J. Bennett

 

Student performance

 

1. American 12th graders rank 19th out of 21 industrialized countries in mathematics achievement and 16th out of 21 nations in science. Our advanced physics students rank dead last.
2. Since 1983, over 10 million Americans have reached the 12th grade without having learned to read at a basic level. Over 20 million have reached their senior year unable to do basic math. Almost 25 million have reached 12th grade not knowing the essentials of U.S. history.
3. In the same period, over six million Americans dropped out of high school altogether. In 1996, 44% of Hispanic immigrants aged 16-24 were not in school and did not hold a diploma.

 

GO HERE

 to read the article

Just look at what this nervous lady has achieved as a peace-maker – wow!

“Anger is like gasoline. If you spray it around and somebody lights a match, you’ve got an inferno. [But] if we can put our anger inside an engine, it can drive us forward.”

How do you deal with a bully without becoming a thug? In this wise and soulful talk, peace activist Scilla Elworthy maps out the skills we need — as nations and individuals — to fight extreme force without using force in return. To answer the question of why and how non-violence works, she evokes historical heroes – Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela — and the personal philosophies that powered their peaceful protests. (Filmed at TEDxExeter.)

Scilla Elworthy founded Oxford Research Group in 1982, to promote effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers and their opponents.

When Scilla Elworthy was 13, she sat in front of her television set watching as Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest. Immediately she started packing her bags. “What are you doing?” her mother said. “I’m going to Budapest,” she said. “They’re doing something awful and I have to go.” Years later, Elworthy is a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and a recipient of the Niwano Peace Prize. In 2002 Elworthy founded Peace Direct, which supports local action against conflict, and in 1982 founded Oxford Research Group, a think-tank devoted to developing effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers and their critics. Beginning in 2005 she helped set up The Elders initiative as an adviser to Sir Richard Branson, Peter Gabriel and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

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TAGS; peace, peace-makers, great peace-makers, Scilla Elworthy, non-violence, non-violent communication, force, violence, anger, overcoming anger, meditation, peace activist, peace activism, dialogue, The Elders, Richard Branson, Peter Gabriel, Desmond Tutu, reconciliation, conflict, conflict resolution, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, protest, peaceful protest, bullying, disarmament, meditation, courage under fire, self-knowledge, Quakers, Friends,

Holistic Education International Conference Mexico

I had the privilege of presenting at this conference some years ago.

There is another this year

For more information on the work in Mexico by Dr Ramon Gallegos see HERE

Stress reduction for better health using tapping – Julie Schiffman (Dr Mercola)

Story at-a-glance

• Research has linked emotional stress to a wide variety of health problems, including physical pain, chronic inflammation, stillbirths, lowered immune function, increased blood pressure, altered brain chemistry, increased tumor growth and more
• Ruminating on a stressful incident can increase your levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation in your body. Increasingly, chronic inflammation is being associated with various disorders and conditions
• According to a recent survey, work topped the list as the most stressful factor in people’s lives, followed by financial problems and poor health
• While you cannot eliminate stress entirely, energy psychology tools such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) can help your body compensate for the bioelectrical short-circuiting that can disrupt many of your body’s important systems, thereby causing disease

Dr Mercola’s article is HERE

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) & a view from Dr Mercola

If only……

The three women should be called The 3 Intensities! (being a bit obtuse it took me a while to work out why they weren’t in sync!)

Story at-a-glance

• High-intensity interval training (HIIT) gives a natural boost to human growth hormone (HGH) production, which is essential for optimal health, strength and vigor. HIIT has also been shown to significantly improve insulin sensitivity, boost fat loss, and increase muscle growth
• According to Japanese research, a mere four minutes of exercise performed at extreme intensity, four times a week, can improve your anaerobic capacity by 28 percent, and your VO2 max and maximal aerobic power by 15 percent in as little as six weeks
• Study participants who performed an hour of steady cardiovascular exercise on a stationary bike five times a week only improved VO2 max by 10 percent, and their regimen had no effect on their anaerobic capacity after six weeks
• Previous research showed that just three minutes of HIIT per week for four weeks improved participants’ insulin sensitivity by an average of 24 percent

SEE Dr Mercola’s article HERE

Dr Mercola on allergies and Hay Fever;

Story at-a-glance

• Spring allergies affect an estimated 25 million Americans. Airborne pollen is the most common cause of seasonal allergies, also known as hay fever or allergic rhinitis
• An estimated 80 percent of your immune system is located in your gut, so supporting your digestive health is essential to also supporting your immune system, which is your primary defense system against ALL disease, including allergies and asthma
• Processed food, GE ingredients and synthetic additives all decimate the beneficial bacteria in your gut, thereby having a negative effect on your immune system. Ideally, you’ll want to avoid processed foods, focusing on organic, locally-grown foods instead, and include fermented foods in your diet to optimize your gut flora
• For short-term relief of allergy symptoms, acupuncture has been found to be effective. Irrigating your sinuses with a neti pot is also recommended
• A number of foods and herbs can help alleviate allergy symptoms, including hot pepper, quercetin, butterbur, goldenseal and eucalyptus oil
• For more long-term relief, consider provocation neutralization treatment, or sublingual allergy drops, which work just as well as inhalers. Sublingual immunotherapy has not been approved by the FDA but is widely used in Europe, and some American doctors prescribe it off label

I’m particularly interested in points 2 & 3

To read his article go HERE

Eckhart Tolle on ‘compassion’ at CCare Stanford

One Garden (Brighton) Session 1

One Garden (Brighton) SESSION 1 The Perennial Philosophy model – HERE

Anger 1 – inner turmoil and your emotions?

The most stunning piece I have seen over the last few weeks – by Todd Lohenry – is HERE. At his open invitation I have re-blogged the article that had a really powerful effect on me.

Todd’s accounts of himself are remarkable for their openness and courage and for the light they shed – not least for me.

Go to his site Todd Lohenry – HERE. and see some more and let him know of any good his article/s do for you.

HERE IS TODD’s PIECE:

For most of my life, I have been a bitter, resentful, angry person. The story that I tell myself is that I came by it honestly. I’m a classic case of a person who suffered early childhood trauma around abandonment and rejection issues and much of my life has been spent in trying to get the people in my life now to make up for the things done by the people in my past. When this plan didn’t work [for reasons that are obvious to me now] I reacted with resentment and Anger; first toward myself and then toward others…

Slowly slowly slowly through the work I have been doing in Celebrate Recovery and through the teachings of Brené Brown, Kristin Neff, and Tara Brach, I have been finding the things I need to reject shame and treat myself with compassion. As a result I have much more compassion to share with the people in my world!

Here is an excerpt from Tara Brach’s book True Refuge that typifies the kind of thinking that is helping me be more mindful and present in my own life:

After the September 11, 2001, Attacks, as many people feared an ongoing and Vicious Spiral of retaliation and global violence, a wonderful Cherokee legend went viral on the Internet: An old grandfather is speaking to his grandson about what causes the violence and cruelty in the world. “In each human heart,” he tells the boy, “there are two wolves battling one another— one is fearful and angry, and the other is understanding and kind.” The young boy looks intently into his grandfather’s eyes and asks, “Which one will win?” His grandfather smiles and quietly says, “Whichever one we choose to feed.” It’s easy to feed the fearful, angry wolf.
Especially if we’ve experienced great wounding, the anger pathway can become deeply ingrained in our nervous system. When our old sense of injury or fear is triggered, the intolerable heat and pressure of anger instantly surges through us. Our attention gets riveted on the feelings and thoughts of violation and all we want is revenge. Often before we have any sense of choice, the nasty comeback is out of our mouth, we’ve slammed a door, hit send on an ill-advised e-mail, put someone down behind his back. Yet we do have a choice. Meditations that train the heart and the mind directly deactivate the anger pathways that propel our habitual behaviors. While the limbic system acts almost instantaneously, we can develop a response from the frontal cortex— which includes the social centers involved with compassion— that interrupts and subdues the reaction. This is where cultivating mindfulness comes in. Mindfulness is the “remembering” that helps us pause and recognize what is happening in the present moment. Once we have paused, we can call on the higher brain centers to open new possibilities. We can soothe ourselves, we can recall another person’s difficulties and vulnerability, we can remember our own goodness and strength. No matter how painfully we are triggered by the world’s violence and insensitivity, we can direct our attention in ways that carry us home to our intrinsic sanity and good-heartedness.
Brach, Tara (2013-01-22). True Refuge: Finding Peace And Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart (pp. 182-183). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

If you feel like you have no choice and that the fearful and angry wolf is far too big for you to handle encourage you to start by realizing that you do have a choice and then to find the tools you need to learn how to feed the understanding and kind wolf.

Questions? Feedback? Whatever I have to offer is yours…

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Go thank Todd – Todd Lohenry – is HERE.

Dr Mercola on breakfast mistakes

picture source WikiPedia

Dr Mercola’s recent breakfast article has wide implications;

His story-at-a-glance;

Story at-a-glance

• Some of the media and health “experts” claim that the most common breakfast mistakes include eating too little protein, fiber and fat; not eating enough food; and eating too late in the morning
• However, compelling emerging research suggests skipping breakfast altogether may be more beneficial for you, and may help reduce your hunger
• Conventional breakfast foods like waffles, cereal, toast, muffins, bagels and other breakfast sandwiches are among the absolute worst foods you can eat. They make you hungry soon after eating, and fuel excess body fat and obesity-related diseases
• Fat is far more satiating than carbs, so if you have cut down on sugar yet still feel ravenous, this is a sign that you haven’t replaced the carbs with sufficient amounts of high quality fats
• Eating first thing in the morning coincides with your circadian cortisol peak, which leads to a rapid and large insulin release and a corresponding rapid drop in your blood sugar levels. Omitting breakfast could make it easier for you to control food cravings and hunger throughout the day

Go HERE to read the full article

Why we need the other religions – Paul Knitter

Christian theologian, Paul Knitter talks about the urgent need for inter-religious dialogue, and the increasingly common experience of dual religious belonging where believers follow more than one religious path. The interview was commissioned by Eureka Street, and sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Centre for Inter-Religious Dialogue in the Australian Catholic University.

‘Stroke of insight’ – into nirvana

http://www.sporf.net/

Jill Bolte Taylor: STROKE of insight: TED TALKS: documentary, lecture, talk:

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions — motion, speech, self-awareness — shut down one by one. An astonishing story.

Brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor studied her own stroke as it happened — and has become a powerful voice for brain recovery.

http://www.ted.com
TED shares the best ideas from the TED Conference with the world for free, licensed under Creative Commons.

“This is not my sperm.” (art by Marion Prentice)

This is part of an exhibition by an amazing artist – who also happens to be my wife!

To see the rest of this stunning work go HERE

What are the relationships between Taoism Confucianism and Buddhism?

I was wondering what are the relationships between Taoism Confucianism and Buddhism.

As a lover of Oneness I love the idea of the three ‘men’ laughing by a stream.

The extract below is a start in answering the question – but of course if we let the differences fall away we can in the state of Oneness join in the laughter of the three by he river.

Relations with other religions and philosophies

See also: Vinegar tasters

Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhismare one, a painting in the litang styleportraying three men laughing by a river stream, 12th century, Song Dynasty.

The terms Tao and De are religious and philosophical terms shared between Taoism and Confucianism.[116] The authorship of the Tao Te Ching is assigned to Laozi, who is traditionally held to have been a teacher of Confucius.[117] However, some scholars believe the Tao Te Ching arose as a reaction to Confucianism.[118]Zhuangzi, reacting to the Confucian-Mohist ethical disputes in his "history of thought", casts Laozi as a prior step to the Mohists by name and the Confucians by implication.

Early Taoist texts reject the basic assumptions of Confucianism which relied on rituals and order, in favour of the examples of "wild" nature and individualism. Historical Taoists challenged conventional morality, while Confucians considered society debased and in need of strong ethical guidance.[119]

The entry of Buddhism into China was marked by interaction and syncretism, with Taoism in particular.[120] Originally seen as a kind of "foreign Taoism", Buddhism’s scriptures were translated into Chinese using the Taoist vocabulary.[121] Chan Buddhism was particularly modified by Taoism, integrating distrust of scripture, text and even language, as well as the Taoist views of embracing "this life", dedicated practice and the "every-moment".[122] Taoism incorporated Buddhist elements during the Tang period, such as monasteries, vegetarianism, prohibition of alcohol, the doctrine of emptiness, and collecting scripture in tripartite organisation. During the same time, Chan Buddhism grew to become the largest sect in Chinese Buddhism.[123] Christine Mollier concluded that a number of Buddhist sutras found in medieval East Asia and Central Asia adopted many materials from earlier Taoist scriptures.[124]

Ideological and political rivals for centuries, Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism deeply influenced one another.[125] For example, Wang Bi, one of the most influential philosophical commentators on the Laozi (and Yijing), was a Confucian.[126] The three rivals also share some similar values, with all three embracing a humanist philosophy emphasizing moral behavior and human perfection. In time, most Chinese people identified to some extent with all three traditions simultaneously.[127] This became institutionalised when aspects of the three schools were synthesised in the Neo-Confucian school.[128]

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Enlightenment – don’t try for it realize it!

SOURCE

In (Zen) Budddhism there is no hope!

I loved this when I came across it;

 

“In Buddhism, there is no hope.” That was my formal introduction to Zen, a remark made by a monk teaching an introductory class at Kanzeon. What a relief! Nothing to do. Just this! Hearing that, I never looked back. I wholeheartedly entered Zen practice.

For me, the central attraction and the essential challenge of Zen is the same: To constantly realize that my sense of who and what I am, my expectations of myself and others, my ingrained habits of mind, are all perspectives–all are true, all are partial. The same can be said of other, non-dual perspectives I attain through my practice, perspectives from which the separate “I” is seen as essentially illusory, like a circle drawn on the surface of a swift-flowing stream, a frame for a picture that is never the same from moment to moment, an arbitrary demarcation separating that which is not separate.

via Michael Mugaku Zimmerman, Sensei | Still Mountain: A Guide to Retreats.

Ordinary jam-maker mum beats Euro rules nonsense!

Click HERE to read this Daily Mail story

It’s sweet, sticky and sold in jars – but refer to it as jam at your peril.

Strict EU rules on food labelling have left a preserve maker in a quandary over what to call its British Bramley apples products.

Because the fruit does not yield as much sugar as strawberries or raspberries, Michelle McKenna’s Clippy’s range cannot be ‘jam’.

However, her jars also do not qualify as fruit spread, conserve or reduced sugar jam.

Sticky situation: Trading standards bosses said Clippy McKenna’s conserve could not be labelled a jam as it contained too much fruit

Stumped: The 38-year-old’s delicious Bramley apple products have come under the microscope of the EU – leaving her small business trapped in ‘no-man’s land’

Michelle McKenna, who runs the business with fiance Paul Gorman, began selling her products – labelled ‘Jam’ – to outlets such as Harvey Nichols and Ocado in 2010.

Click HERE to read this Daily Mail story

To become aware of the ineffable is to part company with words.

Heschel (2nd from right) marching with MLK at Selma

To become aware of the ineffable is to part company with words. …The tangent to the curve of human experience lies beyond the limits of language. The world of things we perceive is but a veil. Its flutter is music, its ornament science, but what it conceals is inscrutable. Its silence remains unbroken; no words can carry it away.

Sometimes we wish the world would cry and tell us about that which made it pregnant with fear-filling grandeur.

Sometimes we wish our own heart would speak of that which made it heavy with wonder.

–Abraham Joshua Heschel

The Mindful ART of Thich Nhat Hanh – Calligraphic Meditation

Eckhart Tolle including Biography and money

Love and expanding consciousness via a mantra

Two people have expanded my understanding of Mantra/s.

The first is Eckhart Tolle;

MANTRA: “Can I be the space for this?” (Perhaps “I can be the space for this!” is even better?   Or better still  - “I ……….. am the space for this – right now!”)

The second is Thich Nhat Hahn;

This extract is via Oprah – HERE

Oprah: Do you meditate every single day?

Nhat Hanh: We try to do it not only every day but every moment. While drinking, while talking, while writing, while watering our garden, it’s always possible to practice living in the here and the now.

Oprah: But do you ever sit silently with yourself or recite a mantra—or not recite a mantra?

Nhat Hanh: Yes. We sit alone, we sit together.

Oprah: The more people you sit with, the better.

Nhat Hanh: Yes, the collective energy is very helpful. I’d like to talk about the mantras you just mentioned. The first one is “Darling, I’m here for you.” When you love someone, the best you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?

Oprah: That’s a lovely mantra.

Nhat Hanh: You look into their eyes and you say, “Darling, you know something? I’m here for you.” You offer him or her your presence. You are not preoccupied with the past or the future; you are there for your beloved. The second mantra is, “Darling, I know you are there and I am so happy.” Because you are fully there, you recognize the presence of your beloved as something very precious. You embrace your beloved with mindfulness. And he or she will bloom like a flower. To be loved means to be recognized as existing. And these two mantras can bring happiness right away, even if your beloved one is not there. You can use your telephone and practice the mantra.

Oprah: Or e-mail.

Nhat Hanh: E-mail. You don’t have to practice it in Sanskrit or Tibetan—you can practice in English.

Oprah: Darling, I’m here for you.

Nhat Hanh: And I’m very happy. The third mantra is what you practice when your beloved one is suffering. “Darling, I know you’re suffering. That is why I am here for you.” Before you do something to help, your presence already can bring some relief.

Oprah: The acknowledgment of the suffering or the hurting.

Nhat Hanh: Yes. And the fourth mantra is a little bit more difficult. It is when you suffer and you believe that your suffering has been caused by your beloved. If someone else had done the same wrong to you, you would have suffered less. But this is the person you love the most, so you suffer deeply. You prefer to go to your room and close the door and suffer alone.

Oprah: Yes.

Nhat Hanh: You are hurt. And you want to punish him or her for having made you suffer. The mantra is to overcome that: “Darling, I suffer. I am trying my best to practice. Please help me.” You go to him, you go to her, and practice that. And if you can bring yourself to say that mantra, you suffer less right away. Because you do not have that obstacle standing between you and the other person.

Oprah: “Darling, I suffer. Please help me.”

Nhat Hanh: “Please help me.”

My under-lining.
To read the full interview go here –

http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Oprah-Talks-to-Thich-Nhat-Hanh/7

One of Eckart Tolle’s wonderful videos relevant to his mantra “Can I be the space for this?” here;

http://youtu.be/Lx526pO9UV0

Photos from wikiPedia