In Marsha Linehan’s formative therapy manual, DBT Skills Training, mindfulness is one of the 4 core nodes of dialectical behavior therapy. The goal of mindfulness practice in the context of DBT is developing Wise Mind, which is characterized as the inner wisdom within each person which seamlessly blends reason and emotion in taking skillful action. Arguably, the eightfold path of Buddhism is also about cultivating this mind state. Central to this endeavor is the distinction between pain and suffering and the truth of impermanence. In this context, it is called the Middle Way.

Linehan’s manual describes three “What” skills (Observing, Describing, Participating) and three “How” skills (Nonjudgmentally, One-Mindfully, Effectively) to use when practicing mindfulness. I have used all of these fairly regularly and some of them quite extensively over the last few years. However, one that I have not practiced much outside of the context of meditation is behaving one-mindfully.

Acting one-mindfully involves riveting oneself to the present moment and doing ONE and ONLY ONE thing at a time. This involves letting go of distractions by not feeding or fighting them. Just acknowledge their presence and then return the attention back to the present action. It also involves concentration to ensure you don’t lapse into multitasking, as simple as the other action may be. Again, acknowledge the shift in attention and then return to the one thing that you are doing.

In the context of one-mindfulness, I am a default multi-tasker. I don’t mean this in the traditional sense of a person doing two different physical processes or two different mental processes at the same time. A physical multitasker could be someone that is balancing their books at the same time that they are in a zoom business meeting with a client. A mental multitasker could be someone that is estimating their grocery bill at the same time as they are seriously pondering the ethics of eating meat.

I’m genuinely skeptical of whether true multitasking in this context is even really possible, and in the few cases where it is possible, if it is truly effective. However, the multitasking I am terminally guilty of is the part-mental, part-physical kind. This is where I am walking to my car but my mind is totally occupied with worrying about something I said earlier in the day. Or I am brushing my teeth but fixedly ruminating on a specific emotion I am feeling.

This is the type of multitasking I do the vast majority of my waking hours, unless I am involved in a project that demands my full and undivided attention, and even then this brand of multitasking generally finds a way to manifest. I don’t know if this is because of my borderline-bipolar, highly sensitive person attributes or if this is generally true of most people.

What I do know is that although this behavior can sometimes be productive and effective, it more often has the tendency of just cluttering up my mind with unskillful thoughts, emotions, and urges. Living one-mindfully means actively courting the opposite of this type of multitasking. It means using practice and concentration to actively be involved in only one thing at a time, at least where this is attainable.

I may not be able to do this when I am actively teaching, which usually involves a combination of effectively communicating the lesson, monitoring for discipline issues, and scanning for student engagement to recalibrate my lesson as needed. However, I can practice acting one-mindfully the moment I stop actively teaching, and definitely all those moments throughout the day where I am just doing normal everyday routines (taking a shower, brushing teeth, driving the car, walking, eating, practicing yoga, etc.).

Because adopting this mentality is so foreign to me, this month’s challenge will be small and manageable. My commitment is to take three actions every day and complete them one-mindfully. These may end up being the same three actions every day, or they might vary from day to day. Below are the specific parameters:

• Begin each meditation practice with at least 2 minutes of mindfulness – My normal daily meditation practice, whether 5 minutes or 45 minutes, generally starts with body scanning, breathwork, and lovingkindness meditation before getting to pure mindfulness. To help me initiate this more effectively with physical actions throughout the day, I want to start all my meditation practices with the same mindset.
• Add one-mindfulness planning to New Day Protocol – Every night at 8:30pm, I begin what I call ‘New Day Protocol.’ I have found it very effective and empowering to view days as beginning in the evening instead of the morning. This usually involves a quick cold shower followed by some body conditioning and exercise, followed by a planning and reflection period. To this last section, I want to purposefully pick out 3 activities for the following day that I will approach one-mindfully.
• Engage one-mindfully for at least 5 minutes at the start of the activity – I am not committing myself to more than I can handle. If after 5 minutes, I want to revert to my default of either mindful distraction or just cluttered thoughts, that is perfectly acceptable.
• Encourage spontaneously adopting a one-mind attitude – I want to allow and foster initiating one-mind in activities I didn’t plan for. This can be substituted for one of the ones I had scheduled beforehand or better yet can be an additional practice.
• Initiate a non-routine activity once during the weekend – Sometime between when I start PAT on Saturday and before 7PM on Sunday, I want to do something I don’t normally do for the express purpose of living one-mindfully.

I think this month’s challenge might have a somewhat unrelated upside: helping to balance out my personality. As an INTJ, my default is to constantly be perspective-shifting, known in the Meyers-Briggs system as introverted intuition. I obviously can’t (and don’t want to) get rid of this baseline, but I would like to have it be more physically and emotionally grounded and less cerebral in origin.

Namaste.

Today I want to review the last 2 Scriptures I read the beginning of this year: the Apocrypha (Catholicism) and the Shri Guru Granth Sahib (Sikhism), hereafter abbreviated as SGGS.

APOCRYPHA:

The first wrote, Wine is the strongest. The second wrote, The king is strongest. The third wrote, Women are strongest: but above all things Truth beareth away the victory.

I honestly don’t have a lot to comment on about this quote. All of these things (wine, government, women, and truth) can have tremendous power. The truth definitely survives longer than the others, so in that since it is the victor. This is one of those phrases or sayings that can seem super profound, but I think the main reason some people might view it that way has more to do with it being in some ancient book of Scriptures than anything else.

The following four excerpts are either events that are spoken of in a positive light or direct commentary/instruction. In all cases, the moral being espoused or the general truth arrived at seems quite bizarre.

All these had taken strange wives, and they put them away with their children. (Esdras)

This follows Esdras returning to Jerusalem and being shocked at the Jews intermarrying with non-Jews. I am definitely a proponent of conscious uncoupling in certain situations. However, putting away the children? I have no words.

He ran, and slew him upon the altar.
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Thus dealt he zealously for the law of God like as Phinees did unto Zambri the son of Salom. (Mattathias)

This describes the actions of Mattathias upon seeing a fellow countrymen going to sacrifice something (possibly a pig) upon an altar dedicated to an idol. Now let’s just grant that what his fellow countryman did was the most despicable thing imaginable (something I don’t accept). Even in this case, does it justify murdering him? In actuality, the man was either an unwilling hostage to a decree from a hostile king or someone who actually believed in worshipping idols. In either case, not someone deserving of the death penalty.

He that is honoured in poverty, how much more in riches? and he that is dishonourable in riches, how much more in poverty?

The tyranny of merit on full display here. Why the random dissing of the poor? Baked into the cake is the assumption that being poor is due to moral failing instead of just the economic reality of the situation.

Receive a stranger into thine house, and he will disturb thee, and turn thee out of thine own.

Here we have a random dissing of hospitality. Sure, the above could happen. But couldn’t the opposite happen as well? And isn’t their virtue in helping others for the principle of it, regardless of the consequences?

The following 2 excerpts are included just because they are bitingly memorable ways to die. The first one is about a soldier named Eleazar. The second is about an elder called Razis.

He crept under the elephant, and thrust him under, and slew him: whereupon the elephant fell down upon him, and there he died.
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Though his blood gushed out like spouts of water, and his wounds were grievous, yet he ran through the midst of the throng; and standing upon a steep rock, When as his blood was now quite gone, he plucked out his bowels, and taking them in both his hands, he cast them upon the throng, and calling upon the Lord of life and spirit to restore him those again, he thus died.

The last passage talks about the fear of God. This is a common refrain in the Bible at large.

The fear of the Lord is a crown of wisdom, making peace and perfect health to flourish.

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The root of wisdom is to fear the Lord, and the branches thereof are long life. The fear of the Lord driveth away sins: and where it is present, it turneth away wrath.

Obviously, in order to comment on these passages, the words ‘fear’ and ‘wisdom’ have to be defined. To steel man the passage, I will assume that by ‘fear’ what is actually meant is ‘awe.’ I take it to be apparent that anxiety, terror, or trepidation is NOT the root of anything approaching wisdom (thought it DEFINITELY could prompt action). I believe a necessary part of wisdom is the ability to make sound judgment.

So, the passage could be rewritten as, “Being in awe of God is the most critical component of making sound judgments.” Again, to steel man this, I could say that without belief in something beyond the material existence we inhabit, it is much more likely someone will give in to some sort of nihilism, which could mute their judgment-making capacity. While I grant that this could be true (it definitely was in my life), I still would say that at best having a sense of spirituality can be a great supplement to wisdom. On the other hand, I think everyone can think of someone who used their “fear of the Lord” to become moral monsters or close-minded bigots.

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SGGS:

Every soul was once part of God, the Supreme Soul. He separated each soul from Himself for its individual journey to experience various realms in different reincarnations.
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As the water merges with water, the individual soul merges with the Supreme Soul. The wanderings are over and you attain an ever restful state.

I find it to be an incredibly empowering belief to view our lives as streams of consciousness originating from an ultimate consciousness source. I love the imagery invoked in this passage of small streams of water merging with the ocean of water referred to here as the Supreme Soul (my preferred term is Universal Self). I don’t believe in a permanent “soul” and thus also reject the concept of reincarnation (I subscribe to rebirth), but I also realize that this can get somewhat semantic, so am less allergic to these terms than I have been in the past.

The only way to tackle these ‘others’ is to make them our own – embrace Oneness. With this shift in thinking the others become our ‘own.’ Now their success is our success and their defeat our defeat. There is no enemy now, no competitor. We are all part of Oneness.

There is a beautiful passage in the Bible which reads, “Rejoice with those rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” However, I have found that this practice can be incredibly difficult without a sense of Oneness: that we are inextricably connected to others, such that we experience their happiness as our own, and their pain as our own. This is also a great way to avoid getting sucked into a zero-sum-game mentality about our success versus the success of others. How can this sense of Oneness be cultivated? For me, one extremely helpful tool is lovingkindness meditation.

To be able to say that you are nothing, or that you know nothing is the hall mark of real humility. The more frequently a person says, “I know nothing” the more spiritually enlightened he is likely to be.

Humility is a greatly undervalued virtue in our society. Confidence is a phenomenal skill to possess, but without the bedrock of humility, it all just becomes a lot of hot air without any substance.

Truth is high, but even higher is truthful living.

This sentiment I resonate with deeply. Truth in the abstract to me is almost entirely meaningless. If it doesn’t translate into a fuller perspective of the world around me, or a more informed decision-making process, I think a fixation on truth can sometimes do more harm than good.

CONCLUSION: The Apocrypha read very similarly to the Old Testament both in content and structure. I have about the same level of respect for it as I do the Old Testament, which is to say, not much. The SGGS had some truly beautiful passages, but ultimately its insistence on the SGGS as being the only true path to holiness, its validation of intercessory prayer, and its belief in an interventionist deity count as huge marks against its usefulness.

Namaste.

I have completed monthly challenges in the past that have been extremely physically difficult or time-consuming. Last month’s challenge wasn’t either of those, and yet it was one of the best challenges I have completed successfully to date. Sometimes the best things really are the simplest ones.

What I learned from the challenge:

• Writing down positive beliefs about yourself has intrinsic benefits. This is the first and most basic lesson from this month. The simple act of writing down these affirmations imparted value, irrespective of whether I verbalized them or used them as a motivation for particular actions. Beliefs have tremendous power over our lives, even in the abstract.
• Verbalizing intellectual beliefs can transform them into felt beliefs. Whatever power beliefs have in the abstract, they are 100x more impactful when they reside at the core of our being. These are the ones we don’t have to repeatedly convince ourselves of intellectually, because we live and breathe them on a daily basis. The easiest way to acquire felt beliefs is to have a powerful set of experiences or the general validation of our social group. However, repeated verbalization can be a great supplement to these interactions OR a stand-in when they aren’t available.
• Utilizing the progressive tense in affirmations promotes skillful action. First, let me explain what progressive tense means for those of us that don’t remember English class (like me!). Progressive tense is a type of present tense which involves an action that is currently ongoing. For example, consider the two statements below:
  

  I give myself space to grow and learn.
  I am giving myself space to grow and learn.

  The first of these utilizes simple present tense. It describes the general state of being for something. “I give myself space to grow and learn” means I am the type of person that does this but doesn’t necessarily mean I am doing this right now. The second statement utilizes progressive present tense. It describes what is happneing right now! The most powerful affirmations are ones that actualize the moment you are currently in, not just ones that generally desribe you.

What I want to continue going forward:

• Continue using affirmations at night. This seemed to be the time I could most consistently utilize them. I have reserved the last few minutes of the day, right before I go to bed, to be used either for affirmations, gratitude journaling, or Buddhist discussion groups. I want to utilize affirmations at least twice per week.
• Take a closer look at one affirmation each weekend. Affirmations are only as powerful as the understanding and appreciation we have of the words being used. For example, I have a couple affirmations that begin with the words:
  

  I am worthy…

  Of course, for these affirmations to have any real meaning and worth (pardon the pun), there needs to be a clear definition of the word ‘worth.’ Is worth intrinsic or contingent? If intrinsic, would this mean that everyone has the same worth regardless of their actions or beliefs? If contingent, what factors is it based on? For the record, my current line of thought is to view worth as contingent, but based solely on a person’s true intention, not their actions.

The last thing I will say with respect to affirmations is that they can be ANYTHING you want them to be. If you find the a lot of the pre-made ones on positive thinking apps or websites too hacky, too general, or too woo, then create your own and use whatever wording speaks to you. If nothing else, it should provide some clarity on your deepest desires, thoughts, and feelings.

Namaste.

I think I have disliked downtime since I was 12 years old and had no idea what to do with my racing thoughts and crippling emotions. My adolescent solution: constantly be doing something so I didn’t have to sit with them. Since that time, and after much therapy and meditation, my ability to sit with my thoughts and emotions has greatly increased. However, I still often feel this baseline of restlessness.

Sunday was the first day of a new month. My goal this month involves my attitude towards downtime and has three objectives.

1. Take a moment to OBSERVE – What this means is to just acknwoledge and fully feel my emotions and sensations without acting on them or identifying with them when in downtime situations. I can even set a timer for this purpose if that helps.
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2. Don’t just wait – After I have given myself some space to just be with my thoughts and emotions (and taken some deep breaths), I would like to use skillful action. I don’t have specific actions I want to take or thoughts I want to think, but I do want to involve my mind or body in something skillful – skillful being the key word here. Some obvious options include:
   • Daily thoughts: create mind castle that I am periodically adding to
   • Meditation
   • Yoga pose: the best candidates are standing deep breathing, half moon pose, awkward pose, and eagle pose
   • Push-ups
   • Planks
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3. Create daily downtime – In order to maximize what I learn from this challenge, I need to ensure I have plenty of opportunities to practice. In case I don’t have a specific circumstance that involves downtime during the day (and this excludes my daily commute), I need to be creative in giving myself these opportunities, which is generally the opposite of my natural instinct. Ways of doing this can include:
   • Buying something at Walmart and waiting in line
   • Showing up for dinner early
   • Immediately going down to get printouts from printer before it has finished
   • Bringing work over to ISS room without calling and waiting for them to get back
   • Utilize downtime protocol instead of doing other things while waiting for ads to finish

I am not including larger segments of downtime in this challenge specifically. Usually these situations, like waiting for an appointment, will involve reading a book or listening to an audiobook or podcast. For this month, I am more concerned with the smaller chunks of downtime during the day where I cannot easily just turn on something to listen to or pull out a book.

May you find a sense of peace and purpose in the in-between periods of your life and daily existence.

Namaste.

Today I would like to review the two Taoist books I read along with the Seventh-Day Adventist supplement. There are three principle Tao texts: the Tao Te Ching, Lieh Tzu, Chuang Tzu. Authorship of the Tao Te Ching (or Dao De Jing) is credited to the sage Laozi; I commented on this work during my philosophy book skimming challenge a couple years ago. The other two texts are named after their primary authors.

I have found all three Taoist works I’ve read to be fascinating, if somewhat esoteric and vague at times. This lack of verbal clarity, however, may be a feature and not a bug according to some of the quotes I will share and comment on. Of all of the various religious texts I have read, these are the only ones I might go back and read again, perhaps even in their entirety. The quotes below are taken from both the Lieh Tzu and the Chuang Tzu.

From what I have heard the Master say,’ replied Tzŭ Hsia, ‘the man who achieves harmony with Tao enters into close unison with external objects, and none of them has the power to harm or hinder him. Passing through solid metal or stone, walking in the midst of fire or on the surface of water — all these things become possible to him.’

The description given above sounds an awful lot like some of the feats that are attributed to Jesus, like passing through walls or walking on water. Maybe Jesus, Buddha, and many other iconic religious founders were infused with Tao, whatever that may mean.

The perfect man ignores self; the divine man ignores action; the true Sage ignores reputation.
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For the perfect man employs his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing: it refuses nothing. It receives, but does not keep. And thus he can triumph over matter, without injury to himself.

This analogy is a beautiful description of non-attachment. Non-attachment to identity, non-attachment to action, non-attachment to reputation. A mirror reflects anything that has light bouncing off of it, but doesn’t hold on to any of these things. It’s true nature is beyond the things it reflects, so those objects cannot harm it.

Only from subjective knowledge is it possible to proceed to objective knowledge.
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When subjective and objective are both without their correlates, that is the very axis of TAO. And when that axis passes through the centre at which all Infinities converge, positive and negative alike blend into an infinite ONE.

I called in to an atheist talk show featuring Matt Dillahunty a couple of weeks ago. One of the things I tried to argue was that truth at its most foundational level has to be subjective. Everyone is inevitably trapped by their own perception – cue Decartes. What does the second part of that quote mean? I’m not sure, but it gives me the feels. I deeply resonate with the prhrase ‘infinte ONE.’ Guess I’m going woo after all this time.

Once upon a time, I, Chuang Tzŭ, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of following my fancies as a butterfly, and was unconscious of my individuality as a man. Suddenly, I awaked, and there I lay, myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.

I could not talk about the Tao scriptures without referencing this quote. I’ve heard this several times before but never knew where it came from. It does such a beautiful job of highlighting how much we are inextricably bound by perception. However, if we can release our attachment to aboslute truth, this doesn’t have to be disturbing. In fact, in can be quite liberating.

Those who discuss it, speak of it as ‘the obscure.’ But the mere fact of discussing Tao makes it not TAO.” TAO makes things what they are, but is not itself a thing. Nothing can produce TAO; yet everything has TAO within it, and continues to produce it without end.
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TAO is something beyond material existences. It cannot be conveyed either by words or by silence. In that state which is neither speech nor silence, its transcendental nature may be apprehended.

This is almost exactly my sentiment and language when asked to define and/or describe my spiritual beliefs. I would say the central purpose of the Taoist scriptures is to expound on the Tao. However, you can peruse them all you wish and will be hard pressed to give a coherent description of exactly what is the Tao. Is it a fundamental force of the universe? Is it the ultimate dialectic? Is it a state of non-attachment with individuality and union with the infinite?

I have a sense of the divine but the more I talk about it the less it sounds like what I actually feel and believe. Perhaps this is the nature of things that are trully transcendental in nature. They are things which can be experienced far better than they can be explained.

Those who devote themselves to cultivation of the inner man, though occupying no position, feel no shame.

Shame has been my constant companion ever since I dropped out of med school. Shame while talking about my past with others. Shame in my current job. Shame about my finances. One of the best and only ways I have found to effectively deal with shame is to rewrite the narrative of my life from the lens of the inner man, not the external trappings. It isn’t always effective, but at least it provides a perspective independent of current circumstances or feelings.

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The Seventh-Day Adventist book I read was Steps to Christ by Ellen G. White. I only made a handful of highlights from this book. Below are two fragments from different passages that seemed to go together.

Beware of procrastination. Do not put off the work of forsaking your sins.
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Many are quieting a troubled conscience with the thought that they can change a course of evil when they choose; that they can trifle with the invitations of mercy, and yet be again and again impressed. They think that after doing depsite to the Spirit of grace, after casting their influence on the side of Satan, in a moment of terrible extremity they can change their course. But this is not so easily done.

I have lived the painful reality of these words.  Let me clarify. I don’t believe Satan exists. However, I thought for a long time that I could willpower myself out of an attachment when I really needed to do so. That belief nearly ended me, somewhat literally. I now choose to address each of my “sins,” if you want to call them that, as promptly as possible, but always with self-compassion and utilizing middle path.

CONCLUSION: I found all of the Taoist scriptures fascinating reads and will definitely peruse them again at some point. Steps to Christ by Ellen White I just found overly preachy for the most part, but with a few apt adomitions.

Namaste.

Today, I would like to give my thoughts on the Rig Veda and the Book of Mormon. First off, some general thoughts. The Rig Veda was an EXTREMELY repetitive tome that continuously entreated 33 different devas (or gods) to defeat enemies, bring prosperity, and deliver wisdom.

I read a primer on the Book of Mormon for this project. Honestly, the most valuable thing I gleaned from it was not from the Book of Mormon itself but from a quote that was used in the commentary, “The chains of habit are too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” Otherwise, it felt like a less poetic version of the Bible.

The most prominent aspect of the Rig Veda is the Soma, which can confusingly refer to a plant, a ritual drink, or a deity. Below are a selection of passages highlighting the essence of the Soma.

Sit on the sacred grass to drink the Soma juice.

Drink boldly of the Soma juice.

O Soma flowing on thy way, win thou and conquer high renown; And make us better than we are. Win thou the light, win heavenly light, and, Soma, all felicities; And make us better than we are. Win skilful strength and mental power. O Soma, drive away our foes; And make us better than we are.

Flow onward, Soma, flow to bring prosperity: cleansed by the men, invest thee with the milky draught. What gladdening drinks thou hast, foaming, exceeding strong, even with these incite Indra to give us wealth.

Flow on, Sage Soma, with thy stream to give us mental power and strength, Effused for Indra, for his drink, for Mitra and for Varuna.

Drink of this meath, O Indra, thou, and Visnu; drink ye your fill of Soma, Wonder-Workers. The sweet exhilarating juice hath reached you. Hear ye my prayers, give ear unto my calling.

The draught made swift with rapturous joy, effectual with its mighty strength, All-conquering, distilling transport, let him drink: for he in ecstasy gives us gifts.

In Soma‘s ecstasy Indra spread the firmament and realms of light, When he cleft Vala limb from limb.

Now, verily, will I declare the exploits, mighty and true, of him the True and Mighty. In the Trikadrukas he drank the Soma then in its rapture Indra slew the Dragon. High heaven unsupported in space he stablished: he filled the two worlds and the air’s mid-region. Earth he upheld, and gave it wide expansion. These things did Indra in the Soma‘s rapture.

The Soma referenced inthe Rig Veda was most likely a mushroom, specifically the Amanita muscaria. This is one of the most iconic toadstools in existence, used to great effect in the Mario franchise. Below is a picture of this psychedelic fungi perhaps used by the Hindu authors.

I would not be suprised to find that most religious origin stories have a psychedelic component to them. This seems to definitely be the case here. Some might think this denigrates the religion. However, I choose to take the opposite conclusion: that it venerates the appropriate usage of mind-altering substances, many of which can be found organically in nature.

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For the selected verses from the Book of Mormon that I read, there is only one I want to quote here. It sounds strikingly similar to Galatians 3:28.

There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of      -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.

I love hearing expressions of unity that cut across socio-political lines. Unfortunately, in the context of a religious book, it probably is NOT meant to cut across religious lines. However, I will still take it. The more religions sound like this, the better they become in my opinion.

Other than the opportunity to take a glance into the thoughts behind these two religions, I didn’t find either of them particularly insightful. I’m looking forward next week to commenting on the two Taoist works I read. More to come.

Namaste.

I started my ‘gleaning insights from holy books’ challenge last September, but got derailed and ended up finishing it up in 2024. The next few posts will be excerpts I found interesting or informative from these ancient works.

I used Kindle Unlimited for the challenge, which I highly recommend for anyone wishing to extract notable quotes or stories from a book. There is a handy highlighter tool which allows you to quickly mark the parts you find interesting. These notes and highlights stay available even if you later cancel your subscription.

Let me start with the first text I read: The Quran. I am not going to give the specific location of these passages, because honestly I do not care. If you really want the exact reference, feel free to copy and paste the quote into google and you can probably locate it fairly easily.

Observe the ˹five obligatory˺ prayers—especially the middle prayer—and stand in true devotion to Allah.

I don’t believe the words ‘five obligatory’ are in the original Quran, but this is the principal passage from which the second pillar of Islam, Salat, is derived. I completed a challenge based on this practice. I found it to be a very grounding ritual and would like to install a modified version into my life going forward at some point.

Let there be no compulsion in religion, for the truth stands out clearly from falsehood.
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They wish you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so you may all be alike. So do not take them as allies unless they emigrate in the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them.

I found quite a lot of this in the Quran:  two injunctions that seem to be diametrically opposed to each other. It is similar to the Bible in this respect. Maybe texts this large that are compilations of smaller segments are bound to clash in this respect – I don’t know. I guess this is why depending on which passage you quote, you can say that Islam is a religion of peace, or a religion of piece – as in ‘there’s a piece of you here, a piece of you over there’ (pun borrowed from Bill Maher).

And whoever rejects the faith, all their good deeds will be void ˹in this life˺ and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers.

This word ‘loser’ was used quite a lot for a holy book. Maybe it was the nature of the translation. There seemed to be quite an attachment to being ‘the winners’ and ‘vindicated’ throughout the book. I find the attachment to ‘winning’ to be a major factor in causing suffering, so I avoid framing life in this context whenever I can.

As for male and female thieves, cut off their hands for what they have done—a deterrent from Allah.

There can definitely be progressive Muslims. In fact, Muslims in America are one of the religious groups most likely to be tolerant and accepting of the beliefs and practices of others. However, passages like this do their cause no favors!

Indeed, the worst of all beings in the sight of Allah are those who persist in disbelief, never to have faith.

Really? The worst of all beings are not the Hitlers and Pol Pots of the world. No, it is those that don’t believe in a deity? Give me a break (and this is from someone who DOES believe in transcendence)! The Quran and other holy texts like it can yell at its readers all it wants to, but that doesn’t make what it says true. You’d need actual evidence for that.

Inform My servants ˹O Prophet˺ that I am truly the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful, and that My torment is indeed the most painful.

The phrase All-Forgiving, Most Merciful or something similar was used in almost every chapter of the entire book. But what followed in the passage would often directly undermine this in its content. It was almost as if they had to keep saying this over and over again, because it is the only possible way you could believe it.

So whoever believes in Allah and does good, He will absolve them of their sins and admit them into Gardens under which rivers flow, to stay there for ever and ever. That is the ultimate triumph. As for those who disbelieve and reject Our revelations, they will be the residents of the Fire, staying there forever.

I find the Muslim concept of Heaven and Hell to be slightly superior to the Christian one since it isn’t entirely about belief, but also requires “doing good.” However, this dichotomous afterlife framework in general is deeply disempowering and frankly (to me at least) the most unlikely of all possible scenarios.

CONCLUSION: So, all in all, the Quran was a very uninspiring and heavy-handed tome, but sprinkled with the rare progressive idea or enlightening thought.

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For the second text I want to review today, we will switch gears and look at Shinto. I read an introduction and not the actual Kojiki, so this will be much briefer.

However, the reality is that Kami is an omnipresent existence in Shinto. Kami is present inside the water and the air. It blends in with Nature. It is an existence which does not need to be emphasized nor highlighted.

Shinto embraces a version of pantheism or animism. Though I don’t subscribe to either of these philosophies, my perspective is closely related to them, so I feel a kinship with a lot of Eastern religions that seem to adopt this concept in some fashion. I believe the most empowering belief in transcendence is much more of a visceral sensation or feeling than a spoken belief or argued thought.

One senses the existence of Kami and receives intuition through gratitude.
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One should check that the intuition is not expressed in a strong imperative tone, and that it is not detrimental nor threatening to others.

I powerfully resonate with this! Not suprising I suppose considering my New Years intention is choosing gratitude. I think I used to view gratitude as a response to intuition, but I think the reverse is the more proper relationship. However, these intuitive insights are not infallible and should be calibrated with humility and empathy.

It starts with the repetition of the words “I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you”, said with a compassionate intention to the inner child as if to comfort a baby. This leads to the dissolution of core memories that are at the origin of issues, and enables to create a perfectly balanced state. This method’s advantage is that one is able to work directly on the core reasons of issues without wasting time.

This is an excerpt dealing with a process in Shinto of “cleaning” the mind.” Consciousness is divided into 3 phases: regular (surface) consciousness, sub-consciousness (deep), and super-consciousness (divine). By utilizing the 4 phrases above, one can bypass the subconscious and directly tap into Divine inspiration and healing. I am definitely interested in trying this out!

CONCLUSION: Shinto seems like a lovely, if somewhat quaint religious tradition. I’m fairly certain I would hit it off well with its followers and would love to meet some. Maybe I already have and just didn’t know it.

More reflections to come soon.

Namaste.

I haven’t done a monthly challenge since last Fall. Today is the first day of the second astronomical month of this year and the perfect time to get back into a challenge-minset with something that should not be a time sink. Affirmations are a great way to realign oneself with thier core values and identity when in the midst of a challenging circumstance.

I already have 12 affirmations which resonate with me saved on the Gratitude app. These are:

• I love and care for my body and it cares for me.
• I am worthy of beautiful endings and exciting beginnings.
• I will be my own best advocate.
• My mind is strong and disciplined.
• I am ready and open to receiving good things in my life.
• I am capable and calm in any situation.
• I am worthy of being loved, being happy, and doing what brings me joy.
• I am always finding something to appreciate around me.
• Every person I meet can teach me something; I am grateful for their wisdom.
• I am loving myself to the fullest.
• I am giving myself space to grow and learn.
• I am passionate about my goals and have a burning desire to fulfill them!

My challenge this month is very simple:

Say all of the affirmations OUT LOUD at least once per day!

This can be done all at once either by utilizing the Gratitude app or just remembering them on my own. I can also do a couple here and there throughout the day.

Some ideal times I think I will try to utilize are:

• First thing in the morning – This is often the point of greatest struggle for me right now. Once I have momentum, I have developed a lot of skills to maintain that momentum and increase it when possible and appropriate. However, getting out of bed almost invariably feels like a chore. My back is incredibly achy from being immobile for 8ish hours, and my mind is often cranky, espeically if I kept drifting into and out of sleep.
• Last thing before bed – I know that setting a positive tone heading into sleep is more likely to allow my to drift off sooner and enjoy more restful sleep and dreams. Sometimes when I have a lot of things to take care off at the end of a day, my mind can feel overactive and ill-suited for rest. Affirmations could be a great way to reestablish a sense of equanimity.
• In the car to and from work – Even if I just picked a couple to do during this time, I believe it could be very beneficial in grounding me. If I am driving at the start of my day, accept the day for whatever it will be. If I am driving at the end of my day, accept the day for what it was. Breathe.

This is a fairly simple challenge, but one I am looking forward to actualizing. If you are interested in creating some of your own affirmations, this blog post has some hints for how to craft them. You can also find plenty of ready-made ones online or in a variety of positive thinking apps.

Namaste.

It has been ages since I posted. Toward the end of September, I fell into major depression again. Why that happened is not the purpose of this entry. One thing I will say about my experience with depressive states is that even though their incidence hasn’t decreased all that much since a few years ago when it was REALLY bad, their duration and my utter confusion in the midst of them has declined significantly. I sometimes tell people that I have become skilled at navigating these states more gracefully, and maybe that has to be enough, at least at this point.

A new year is already upon us in earnest! My new year actually started on January 12th and not on the 1st. Read an earlier post on my calendar here. Anyone who knows me well knows that over the past 5 years, I have struggled immensely with chronic pain and depression. In 2020, I dropped out of med school after experiencing two successive mental breakdowns.

Since that time, simply navigating daily life has often been a challenge. I still suffer from chronic pain which wasn’t helped a couple years ago by my major bike accident which basically tore off my left calf muscle. I still suffer from drop foot to this day. On top of that, I have been plagued with major identity crises and a general dissatisfaction with life.

One of the tools I have tried to use on and off in dealing with depression and shame is gratitude. I even did a monthly challenge on it a few years ago. I experienced more restful sleep and sustained a more positive attitude throughout the month – seemingly a great success! However, since getting off the challenge, I have hit some major roadblocks being grateful on a regular basis.

• Guilt/resentment – I have felt envious of friends or family that expressed thanks over something in their life which I lacked and didn’t want to be the cause of this for someone else. Also, if the blessing I was expressing gratitude for was not something universally available, I felt a bit elitist acknowledging it (almost like I was saying, “I’m glad I’m not them”).
• Fear of complacency – Sometimes I felt like being grateful for something implied a level of acceptance with the status quo that I internally rebelled against. “I’m grateful I have a job,” felt like settling for less than my potential.
• Lack of a “good” reason – By far, this was the biggest hang-up. I viewed gratitude as a response to something “good” in life. However, sometimes life just sucked! In fact, I found this to be the rule more than the exception. Then I would have this guilt attack:
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  “REALLY! You can’t think of ONE thing to be thankful for?”
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  I could, but that didn’t feel like genuine gratitude and came without the positive benefits I had experienced previously.

My intention this year is to choose gratitude. The wording of this combats the last of the roadblocks mentioned above. I choose to view gratitude as an intention and not a response. I don’t have to wait for something “good” to happen; I can choose gratitude when life is just neutral or even really sucky!

How do I accomplish this? Well, there is the shallow explanation and the deep explanation. Let’s start with the surface-level. I choose to view everything in life as either a blessing or a challenge. If a blessing, recognize the uniqueness of my life and experience and embrace the experience with gratitude without getting attached to it. If a challenge, acknowledge that all major growth and development occurs by overcoming challenges and be grateful for the opportunity to build resilience and character.

Now, this is all fine and dandy, and is simple enough you might see similar sentiments written on an inspirational card or in an affirmation deck. However, there comes a point of stress/pain/shame beyond which I find it impossible to keep up this “challenge mindset.” My chronic pain having a huge flare-up is a good example. I can manage it and it will subside some, but it will never go away. It doesn’t feel like a “challenge;” it is just a burden.

There is only so far this surface rationale for gratitude can take me. To go farther, I have to swim into the deep waters. These deep waters should not be trod in lightly, so I will save my extensive thoughts on these for a follow-up post. For now, just know that it involves adopting 2 empowering beliefs:

1. Nothing is lost in the universe. Everyone generally accepts this when it comes to matter and energy. As a science teacher, one of the biggest concepts I hope my students walk away with is that both matter and energy can be changed, altered, and transformed; but never created or destroyed. The empowering belief I adopt extends this principle to consciousness as well. I realize this is not a minor assumption – whole schools of philosophy are built around arguing this point, so I will reserve my exposition for later.
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2. We reap what we sow. Again, everyone generally accepts this on a physical level: you are kind to someone, they are more likely to be kind to you in return. You work out, you are more likely to have greater fitness. The empowering belief I adopt extends this principle to the ongoing consciousness stream that is eternal (per the above assumption). How our current intentions and actions affect the flow of consciousness both in our current existence and beyond is what I call ‘karma.’ Again, a huge topic which I promise to address more formally.

The key thread that gives these beliefs their real power is that greater karma is directly linked with greater difficulty. Live consciously when it is “easy,” get a little bit of positive karma. Live consciously when it is “hard,” get a lot of positive karma.

Viewed in this way, everything truly becomes something I not only can be grateful for, but WANT to be grateful for! As with all good ideas however, experience is the real test. My intention this year is to fully embrace this mindset and then observe the results.

Namaste.

Close to a year ago, I did a challenge that involved skimming a lot of classic philosophy texts from the very ancient to the contemporary. Some of the most enduring and insightful concepts that I gathered were from the books on the list that might fit easier into a religious studies course than a philosophy course. The 2 books I am thinking about specifically are the Upanishads and the Dao De Jing.

The Upanishads introduced me to the dialectic of the personal self and the universal self, which allowed a reimagination of one of my purpose statements in a way that deeply connected me to the universe and all conscious entities therein. The Dao De Jing describes the Tao: a term that eludes any frozen definition, but which denotes the highest principle of the Universe, or “that which exists through itself.” Both of these texts allowed me to better grapple with my understanding and application of panendeism.

I have no desire or inclination to become a Hindu or a Taoist, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t benefit tremendously from reading some of the principal texts associated with these belief systems. I figure the same could be true of the other major religions that exist as well. The next 40 days then will be a journey through 9 of the largest world religions or sects.

Two notable omissions from the following list are any Buddhist texts and, of course, the Bible, as I have already spent a large amount of time with these. Without further ado, here is the list of religions ordered by number of adherents, and the holy book I will be perusing:

• Islam (1.9 billion) – Quran
• Catholicism/Orthodox Christianity (1.4 billion) – Apocrypha
• Hinduism (1.2 billion) – Rig Veda
• Sikhism (26 million) – Shri Guru Granth Sahib (An introduction)
• Seventh-day Adventism (22 million) – Steps to Christ (by Ellen G. White)
• Mormonism (17 million) – Book of Mormon (An overview)
• Judaism (15 million) – Talmud (2 books: one, an introduction; the other, a biography)
• Taoism (9 million) – Lieh Tzu and Chuang Tzu
• Shinto (4-88 million depending on source!)- Introduction to Shinto (by Yoshikawa Katsumi)

Like previously, I am utilizing Kindle Unlimited, which allows free access to all of the above works. The Sikhism holy book and the Babylonian Talmud were too lengthy, so I chose introductions to each of these for this challenge.

There are 3443 total pages I want to read by the end of the challenge.
For weekdays (70 pg/day):

• 10 pages first thing upon rising
• 5 pages right before lunch
• 15 pages before leaving for home (or before dinner)
• 30 pages after finished with yoga for the day and before bed
• 10 pages right before retiring for the day

For weekends (125 pg/day):

• 10 pages first thing upon rising
• Average 15 pages per hour during PAT segments

Like I did with my philosophy book skimming challenge, I will provide weekly reflections on things I’ve gleaned from reading these texts.

Namaste.