Shaahayda Rizvi
Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Continued:
I’d like to end by telling you about the experience of an old friend of mine, the violinist Paul
Robertson, who was leader of the Medici Quartet. About six years ago Paul had an aortic
aneurysm. During a half-hour operation to repair a tear in his aorta, Paul was under general
anaesthetic and unconscious. His heart was stopped and his head cooled to prepare his brain for a period of brain oxygen starvation.After his recovery, he wrote a book. Paul writes that he was fully aware that he was dying, moving from this state to experience of the potential unification of his consciousness with that of the universe. ‘As I lay there waiting,I felt myself die – beautifully, ecstatically, transcendentally. I saw Eternity and shed the whole of myself joyfully in order to become unified with it.’
Paul recovered, and despite all medical predictions that he would be badly damaged and
would certainly never play the violin again, he did eventually manage this too. He lived
another five years and during this time we talked a great deal about death and dying. His
description of what it felt like to die was, I thought, beautiful and void of fear. When he did
actually die, in 2016, his wife and family were with him and his wife told me what happened
shortly before he died. ‘Paul woke up (slightly) from a deep ‘sleep’ and told me I must let
Peter Fenwick know that ‘there is nothing new – we’ve all been there before!’’
So what is my final conclusion? Are these experiences, so widely reported and with so many features in common, hallucinations? They are so widespread and similar that we need to go
beyond our reductionist materialistic science to find an explanation. What can we say about
the consciousness that seems to transcend and go beyond human life? Only that it appears
to be a multi-dimensional space, full of energy, positive emotion and information.Source (Perceptions of Beyond the Near Death Experience
and at the End of Life Dr. Peter Fenwick)Hello Stephen,
Your question on transition to the next world — Is there a next world? This topic is quite close to my heart for a number of years and I have been immersed in the books, lectures, other research by one Neurologist who is convinced that there is life after death. His conviction is based on experiments and research on patients who had NDE, and his name is Peter Fenwick. He links NDE with what the next world possibly is.
Results of the experiments:
“We found that these experiences were not psychotic, not drug induced and there seemed to be no unitary brain pathology. Neither did they necessarily occur when the subject was, in actual fact, close to death……. But from the point of view of scientific research, the most
interesting were the 9% that occurred when the patient was being resuscitated after a heart
attack, at a time when the patient was unconscious and should therefore have been quite
unaware of their surroundings. And yet in a few cases the patient reported having ’seen’ what was happening to them and was able to recount verifiable facts about their situation.”There are so many common features between near-death experiences and end-of-life
experiences that one can only conclude that the former are giving us a glimpse of another,
different reality, one which we can hope to experience when we do actually die. For example
the dying often talk about a strong spiritual light which draws them towards it, very similar to
the light at the end of the tunnel seen in an NDE.The feeling of peace, including awareness of the presence of dead friends, relatives or
spiritual beings, also seem to be common features in both experiences. In the NDE, visions of
a paradise-like place, a beautiful pastoral landscape are common, and evoke the same feelings
reported by the dying who seem, in their final hours or days, to go in and out of ‘another
reality’ – one that is full of light, love and compassion…The ELE which the dying most often describe in the days or hours before death are the visitors
who often come into their room and will stand around or sit on the deathbed in the room.
Occasionally unknown people wait at a distance and come closer as death approaches. These
deathbed visitors appear to be in real space as even if the dying person cannot speak, they
can often indicate their presence by becoming more animated, or directing attention to a
particular part of the room. Usually the visitors make it quite clear that they have come to
take the dying person away, and they may be quite specific about the departure date (‘I’ll be
back on Tuesday…’) ”Source (Perceptions of Beyond the Near Death Experience
and at the End of Life Dr. Peter Fenwick)Hello James,
Thank you for another powerful post which touches on many topics especially the Jung lecture series in which Dennis, Hollis and others participated as well. Through you, James, I learned of the lectures and heard them with much attention and enthusiasm. The section of your post that caught most of my attention was the matter of ‘being heard’. You wrote:
“Meade said that there is an inner desire to not only “Witness” our inner self; but also it is just as important – “to be Heard”! I think here is one of the greatest gifts humanity has to offer itself; because by entering into a dialogue with our inner personhood and sharing it with both with oneself as well as others we allow others to also become vehicles of healing and wholeness; and the raising of consciousness” itself.”
I’ll expand on why it caught me so, and in doing so, I’ll give a brief outline of the events here in Canada.
Background
A sad, cruel and macabre part of Canada’s hidden history made headlines during the first week in June after ground-penetrating radar located the remains of 215 First Nations children in a mass unmarked grave on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS). The discovery of Indigenous children found in KIRS shook Canada to its core. Calls for a public apology from the federal government and the Catholic Church came pouring in. But first, what is KIRS?
Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS)
“The term residential schools refers to an extensive school system set up by the Canadian government and administered by churches that had the nominal objective of educating Indigenous children but also the more damaging and equally explicit objectives of indoctrinating them into Euro-Canadian and Christian ways of living and assimilating them into mainstream white Canadian society. The residential school system officially operated from the 1880s into the closing decades of the 20th century. The system forcibly separated children from their families for extended periods of time and forbade them to acknowledge their Indigenous heritage and culture or to speak their own languages. Children were severely punished if these, among other, strict rules were broken. Former students of residential schools have spoken of horrendous abuse at the hands of residential school staff: physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological.
The Kamloops Indian Residential school was Canada’s largest such facility and was operated by the Roman Catholic church between 1890 and 1969 before the federal government took it over as a day school until 1978, when it was closed. Nearly three-quarters of the 130 schools were run by Catholic missionary congregations.”
PRESENT DAY
For almost a decade, the indigenous groups led by their Elders had been requesting the federal government to investigate and address the disappearance of their children and the abuse of those that attended and survived. Those million prayers and requests were heard last month in May 2021, with the discovery of the bones, and the reports made headlines in June 2021.
“The discovery sent shock waves through the nation, prompting communities from coast to coast to lower their flags to half-staff and hold moments of silence in honor of the children. From Vancouver to Ottawa, children’s shoes, toys and candles have been left at makeshift memorials.” (Source: NBC news)
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Canada’s government called on Pope Francis to issue a formal apology for the role that the Catholic church played in Canada’s residential school system. The government also offered compensation. Flags were lowered, prayers said, shoes and toys left on the steps of KIRS.
Justin Trudeau’s government also pledged to support efforts to find more unmarked graves at the former residential schools which held Indigenous children taken from families across the nation.
“The U.N. Human Rights Office said in an email that Canadian authorities should ensure “prompt and exhaustive investigations” into the deaths of Indigenous children and “redouble efforts” to find their bodies, including by searching unmarked graves.” Source: CBC News
One Example of what the First Nation’s request –
“Stop asking how you can help — and listen, says B.C. residential school survivor. Eddy Charlie, a survivor of the Kuper Island Residential School, doesn’t want people to ask how they can help. Instead, he would like them to just listen to the stories of survivors like himself.”
(It’s been 50 years since Eddy Charlie left the Kuper Island Residential School, just off the east coast of Vancouver Island, and the pain he experienced while forced to attend, he says, has stayed with him throughout his life.
He turned to alcohol as a way of coping, which led to anger and damaged relationships — with his community and his family.
As the discovery of the remains of 215 children buried at the Kamloops Indian Residential School makes headlines around the world, political leaders, activists and allies have taken to social media to offer support and ask how non-Indigenous people can help.
But Charlie says he would rather people just listen.
“I just want people to sit, hear the story about residential school, don’t try to respond,” he said during an interview with All Points West host Kathryn Marlow.
“Don’t try to see what can [you] do. We want people to hear this story for us. It’s not a fairy tale. It’s not something from one of the Stephen King novels. This truly, really happened to 150,000 children.”
“Finding these 215 children buried at Kamloops residential school is one of the biggest wake-up calls in all of Canada,” Charlie said. “It’s time for [people] to take their turn, to listen and hear the stories of residential school survivors.”
Charlie said survivors often carry so much shame and anger that it makes it impossible to talk about their experiences. And if they do talk about it, Charlie said, they’re worried how others will react.) Source: CBC News
“Stop asking how you can help — and listen, says B.C. residential school survivor. Eddy Charlie, a survivor of the Kuper Island Residential School, doesn’t want people to ask how they can help. Instead, he would like them to just listen to the stories of survivors like himself.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/eddy-charlie-residential-school-survivor-1.6049423
“Yet, soul often awakens in the darkest hours as something deeper and wiser stirs within us. “
Shaheda
Hello Lee,
What a powerful mystical experience! I love your narration, you’ve penned your thoughts, emotions, actions, and reactions just perfectly. I was going to write a few paragraphs on my view of your experience with the homeless man on a SF – street, without a blanket and there you were debating whether or not to part with your one blanket and then you wondered as to what others would say. But then came along a perfect youtube video of a Joe Campbell talk on mystical experience and “joyful participation with the sorrows of the world”. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Ah, that ‘what others would say‘ is such a dragon, and by now you might know what Joe Campbell said about ‘what others would say’. According to Joe, ‘what others would say‘ is their problem not yours. You just follow your bliss. When you follow your bliss, doors open where there were no doors.
Your particular adventure ties really well with Joe’s explanation of a mystical experience. Joe says, in a mystical experience the individual no longer identifies with the body but with the consciousness …..the bondage of the body has nothing to do with the bondage of your consciousness. You write, “Then, out of the blue, a wave of sadness too descended over me and my heart opened. In that holy moment, I felt compassion, and I found myself not just caring for this man but all the homeless in the city and I started crying because I knew that there are probably hundreds of other homeless “brothers” in the city and there was nothing at that moment that I could do for them. ” Mythologically, the shackles fell without leaving your wrists, and you participated joyfully with the sorrows of the world.
Here is that Joe Campbell clip: https://youtu.be/Zzj8aE1KPPQ
Hope you will write and share some more, Lee.
Shaahayda
Thank you for your beautiful concise answer Dr. Slattery, and for Jung’s words that no process of individuation can begin without an initial crucifixion. Thank you also for your generous time accorded to my simple question. If I may ask another question. You write, “(shame) It can arise from feelings of unworthiness, of being dirty, of being enslaved to many forms of addiction.” Indeed so. That is the inner shame. What about the outer shame? The one where societal institutions inflict shame on the individual, as in ordering psychotherapy for young children without some good cause, as the judicial system is known to do in cases of juvenile delinquency. Instead of getting to the root cause of the issue, the courts appoint a psychologist to probe and label the already traumatized child. The reasons vary. In some cases it’s to shame the child and the parents, and in some cases to demonstrate control, and of course many other reasons too. These children are often very bright, not marked with innumerable mental and emotional deficits that the courts demonstrate.
The very term Juvenile delinquency is a term used for a young person who has committed a criminal offence. Referring to a young child as delinquent, hence a criminal, is tantamount to shaming him/her. There are countries that are trying to refine the term because there is recognition of harm done to the young just by labelling thus. This sort of shaming by institutions is quite problematic. Scandinavian countries have worked hard to move away from harsh labels because of the overall damage such shaming causes. The UN has used the phrase ‘children in conflict with the law’ to describe the situation with school attendance and has urged others to use these terms with care.
Quoting Shultz on outer shame, “Shame in the presence of other people, gives us the impulse to run away and hide. We don’t belong, we don’t deserve to be here, we are no good. We are exposed, to be condemned and expelled from the others, be they individuals, groups, or the whole human race. We are cast out, alone, and cut off, and the cause of our dismemberment is our own deficiency or deformity or constitutional inadequacy, perhaps our exhibitionism.”
Delinquency trials in court rooms end up hurting young children by publicly shaming them in front of a large number of people. My view is that juvenile delinquency does not belong in court rooms, but requires a civil discourse between teachers, student, parents and guardians. The young mostly need compassion, not shame. Your thoughts?
Thank you very much
Shaahayda
Dear Dr. Slattery,
Actually, initially I addressed my questions to both you and James, then deleted your name, thinking you’d be so busy and I might be taking up your time. So now, thank you ever so much for responding anyway. Let’s wait for James.
Shaahayda
Hello James,
I read James M. Shultz’s article, and contemplated on many aspects of shame which he elaborates so well. I can relate to those many ways of being shamed, and feeling the shame when reflecting on those moments. As Shultz writes, “Shame is an inner experience. It can come when no one else is around. There’s a physical sinking sensation that’s something like falling into a pool of our own water, like we are dissolving. ”
My question to you is, could one equate ‘being shamed’ to ‘being crucified’…. Then I would like to take the high road that Joe talks about, “If you want resurrection, then be prepared to be crucified”. It’s difficult to prepare for resurrection when you are a high school student and are being shamed and teased. It’s difficult at any age, but especially difficult for teens who are shamed in schools. As Schultz writes, ” We are cast out, alone, and cut off, and the cause of our dismemberment is our own deficiency or deformity or constitutional inadequacy, perhaps our exhibitionism. This is humiliation–when the shame is most severe and when it has to do with others. (And in front of others – as some parents shamed their children)”
Hello James,
Thank you for your awesome post. Joe Campbell’s interpretation of the Star of David, is an absolute masterpiece and my all-time favorite. At one time, I wore the star of David, hoping to get some insight as to what the impediments were in my life, or what was blocking my path to where I wanted to go. The realization did come through a synchronistic moment, and eventually I was able to dissolve the symbol, and thus the roadblock.
“I see shame as one of the major manifestations of personal tragedy; which like the Dragon guards a gateway that holds people hostage. Carl Jung called it: “a soul-eating emotion”; and I think it would be almost impossible to count the number of suicides that have been caused by it’s overpowering effects throughout human history. Who among us have not lost someone from this crippling and devastating condition that it causes.”
So true James. Thanks for sharing the article, “Shame” by James M. Shultz. It’s on my reading list after I finish the ‘Second Wind’
Sincerely,
Shaahayda
Dear Dr. Norland Tellez,
Thank you for another formidable Mythblast article. I very much appreciate your analysis of Campbell’s work and highlighting the difference between the institutional religions and spiritual philosophy. Would it be fair to say that essentially, it’s similar to concretizing a symbol, when we are in the womb of myth, and we become spiritual adults after we learn to dissolve the concretization — And, it’s Reason- the thinking mind that helps us dissolve the symbol? In my mind, James’ piece on Joe’s interpretation of the Star of David fits right in. “To dissolve such a concretization as an adult, you need to find what the reference of the symbol is. When that is found, you will have the elucidation.”
You write,
“Rather than reducing human reason to some kind of ridiculous narrow-mindedness as if it were some ideological fantasy among others, depth mythologists like Campbell help us recognize the greater archetypal logos of the psyche in the inner workings of myth and dream. Reason is indeed a sign of the divine spark of the human soul in the unfathomable history of the cosmos” — Yes indeed.
Additionally, I see Reason as the basis of mythic motifs — Myths of gods and goddesses, myths of death and resurrection, myths of the hero/heroine’s quest, all arise because of needs and reasons. So, reason is in the making of a myth, reason is in the making of a particular myth, that is, myth of a planetary society vs. myth of a hunter gatherer society, and also in finally comprehending it.
Also would it be fair to say that the four functions of Mythology grew out of societal need and the contents of the functions depend wholly on Reason. Take for example the sociological function of the myth which is to justify and account for the existing social order of a given society. Yes indeed, Constitution of a country can’t be written without reason. Here “Reason assumes its proper ‘equiprimordial’ role and archetypal status; it becomes, like the Heraclitean fire of becoming, constitutive of the universal order of the world—the fiery spark of a cosmic consciousness of being and time.”
Thank you for being the reason for this rational journey.
Shaheda
Hello James,
You wrote, “Disagreeing with Joseph is a difficult question for me since I have been so influenced by his ideas; (especially concerning with the unlocking of Carl Jung’s ideas as applied to my own life which is now forever changed);”
Quite well put James, disagreeing with even a particle from Joe seems impossible, especially in the area of myth. Times are changing, and as you quoted above, “We can’t have a new myth for a long time because things are changing too fast. So the individual has to find his own way”.
New issues, new challenges, not just the pandemic, are all around us. I think one great issue is the ‘rise of the billionaire class’ – a result of the success in cyberspace, and how can this billionaire class begin to share some of their wealth with the disenfranchised of our society. So, take for example, the issue of homelessness (James, it’s the topic you touched upon in another post) —- What happens to the homeless who die, with no one to claim the body?. Much work is needed in this area, and perhaps a new myth? A myth of a billionaire class that lives alongside the homeless, the very hungry, and the disenfranchised?
In our times, we are so very advanced when it comes to finding ancient burial sites, and vast sums are spent on excavations, identification and cataloging the remains, but what happens to the homeless and the friendless who die on the streets, with not a soul to claim their remains?
“It is not only the homeless or unidentified whose bodies go unclaimed, it can also include people who have no living relatives and no estate plan in place. There are also situations where the next of kin will refuse responsibility for the body” (Source: Culture & Politics in Canada- By TalkDeath)
“In a city of three million people, nobody comes except for us who are paid to be here,” said Whissell, who became a priest nearly 30 years ago. “Society is like an apartment building. Everybody has got their little cubicle and they just go to work or do their thing and then just lock themselves away.” (Source: Global News Canada)
(Referring to the homeless) Sometimes they do find friends or family members, she said, “but they are not willing or are not in a position to take responsibility for disposition.” Quebec’s ministry of health and social services says that “financial reasons seem to be a factor” in some cases.
And sometimes a person just doesn’t seem to have any ties. So what will be our new myth?
Shaahayda
Nandu, Stephen, James, Robert et al,
Such a fascinating thread. Nandu, I just came across your initial dissent of Joe’s view of Hinduism, and works you have read and your own experiences with Hinduism. Thanks for sharing, and all the posts that followed brought fresh new blood to this topic. I too have experienced the dark side of Hinduism, BUT NOT the Hindu mythology and its gods, but the Hindu religion, and the religious zealots who used religion for political purposes. I have not read the books that you cited, so I shall wait for you to cite a few passages from there. Well, we can say, Hinduism is a myth within a myth.
From Arundhati Roy’s essays, I have gathered that the practitioners of Hindu religion are not what the rest of the world thinks of them. As a matter of fact, I attended one of her ‘Author-Talk” series done in conjunction with signing her book, (The Ministry of Utmost Happiness) and she started the talk by these very words, “Westerners think of India as this great land of spirituality but it’s far from it…” Then she proceeded with providing the tragic treatment of the Dalits, and there was pin-drop silence in the auditorium.
Thanks for the courage in sharing your thoughts.
Shaahayda
Dear Kristina,
Thank you for your thoughtful response. For me, your last paragraph nailed the issue of a fair and just society. You wrote, “But for another reason, a poetically rich perspective honours the sacredness of all things – the earth and all her creatures – and holds an increasingly expanding vision of the wider cosmos.”
Thoughtful of earth and all its creatures takes me to the time when oil was discovered in the Norwegian continental shelf in 1969, Norwegians working within a constitutional monarchy, sat down and planned a long-term wealth, that would benefit their entire society and make them competitive beyond just a commodities exporter. Their universal health coverage, free university education (for international students too), a year’s worth of maternity and paternity leave, senior care for life, plus a lot more, were all a result of careful ‘sacred thinking for all’ and also sound planning to invest the ‘sovereign wealth fund’ for the wellbeing of all, not just for the king’s coffers (as in some ME absolute monarchies) or as in countries with a free-market approach, where governments are discouraged from long-term public planning. Norway’s “oil and gas activities have rendered more than just revenue for the benefit of the future generations, but has also rendered employment, workplaces and highly skilled industries.”
Norway is not the only country that has so properly invested for its people, and thought of the land as sacred, there are many others. On the other hand, these Scandi countries have also discriminated against the Samis, but since the late 80s and 90s, the Scandinavian countries, have accorded special protection and rights to the Samis. They now have seats in the Parliament. They decide the area of activity of the country’s Sámi Parliament and the Sámi and Scandinavian languages have equal standing in the country.
All this to say that Joseph’s words tell me that revenues from country’s resources ought to be distributed fairly among the people. “Money is congealed energy and releasing it releases life possibilities …Money experienced as life energy is indeed a meditation and letting it flow out instead of hoarding it is a mode of participation in the life of others.” (Joseph Campbell Companion (P. 58)) http://www.jcf.org/quotes
Shaahayda (in gratitude)
Dear Kristina,
Thank you for your marvelous Mythblast essay. I am still reading and enjoying the many flavors of this essay, beginning with Campbell in Myths of Light; onto our longing for universality and how a poetic sensibility assists such endeavors and eternal truths are usually conveyed through myth metaphor and allegory. This ties me to Stephen’s second question, ” . . . all too often we’re trying to change the world through a linear mind, when in reality, it can only (ultimately) be transformed through the non-linear – metaphors, myths, dreams, symbols . . . ” Indeed this thought still baffles me. Can we? Have societies changed the world through mythic ideas, dreams and symbols, or did not the linear practical reality play a more emphatic role? Is not longing for universality also a longing for the physical and mental wellbeing of all or many?
Stephen’s question leads me to what James just brought about in his post on Synchronicity. In his deep and prolific post James outlined our societal issues, lack of genuine care and concern for the vulnerable population, homelessness, and the impact of Reaganomics on the needs and necessities of those suffering from hunger, disease or addiction.
One passage from James’ post is here,
“About a week or so ago I was watching the evening news covering a gathering commemorating the passing of the homeless who had died on the street. No one knew who they were; no family or friends to mourn them. And one woman being interviewed; with tears in her eyes defiantly said: “Everyone deserves to be remembered. And although I didn’t know them; I am here on their behalf to remember them.”
This city has a long history with cemeteries located all over town where family members are laid to rest that bear reverence to those who died. Military as well as civilians have special designated cemeteries that honor the memories of those who were either killed in battle or have passed on. We even hold special memorial services with parades commemorating public military events where their lives are celebrated. Yet the most vulnerable among us whose only crime was they were sick from a mental disorder are ignored and forgotten as though they never even existed. Every life has value; every life has meaning; and the way we treat those that are helpless as individuals is a reflection of who we are as a society.
Reading the history and development of Socialized Medicine in Europe, which began with State Socialism (German: Staatssozialismus) — “a set of social programmes implemented in the German Empire that were initiated by Otto von Bismarck in 1883 as remedial measures to appease the working class and detract support for socialism” And then the National Health System in the UK, and around the world, leading to universal care for all. To me and to many others, on the surface, it appears that the health care system evolved from the practical needs of the society, the economic necessities dictated by the aftermath of war, and also the aftermath of diseases. Thinking universally was more a pragmatic step, a more linear and well thought out process.
As recently as 2010, “The anti-austerity movement in the United Kingdom saw major demonstrations throughout 2010s in response to Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government’s austerity measures which saw significant reductions in local council budgets, increasing of university tuition fees and reduction of public spending on welfare, education, health and policing, among others. ” Similarly, Reaganomics of the 1980s,introduced austerity measures in the US, reduced public spending on health education and welfare — an economic process thought out through numbers and greater emphasis on reducing the size of public spending and increasing the private sector. These economic planners cite the need for higher profits so as to encourage production and investment (looking at the private sector of the society) while underplaying the realities of those who depend on their bread and butter on their fixed wages.
As a believer in myth and metaphor, the economics of social democratic states in Europe baffles me. A very negligible population in Europe is homeless, they think for the collective, they have fought for social justice and equal taxation for all (no privileges for the billionaires), they have protested and demanded rights to country’s land and resources like oil and gas, from their monarchs, and gone on to elect a government that oversees their well being.
Dear Kristina, I confess I have digressed a bit much, but would love to hear your thoughts on how a poetically rich society can help bring about social equality and justice for the many that have none. I love your concluding remarks, ” It’s crucial for us to engage our thinking, feeling and willing with all our senses to stimulate the head, hands and heart during this evolutionary moment for humanity. But will those who are driving economic and political policies around the world hear this? Jesus said many times throughout the Gospels, “He who has ears, let him hear.” So, how do we work towards a society that has sensitive ears, soft eyes, and a noble heart?
Shaahayda (with gratitude)
James,
What a fascinating piece. You write, it’s a ‘humble’ piece, and to me, it’s an epic – a gradual unfolding of events, their impact on your life, and your take on some of your blissful moments and some of your heart-wrenching times (like your mother’s unfortunate and untimely ending). And, was it after your mother’s death that you found Dr. Thomas’ books discussing new and unique approach to life? By the way, the book, “Second Wind: Navigating the Passage to a Slower, Deeper, and More Connected Life – By Dr. Thomas” should be arriving next week.
James, your beautiful stories of synchronicity in your life, like running into someone who offered you a job, to being saved from a life threatening accident affirm the sacredness of all lives. As your stories unfold, I am reminded of Joe Campbell ( Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation.) “I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” — Sometimes I wonder whether these moments that keep percolating in our heads, are there to remind us that there is an incredible mystery that we are living and the synchronistic phenomena is a way of reminding us of that enormous mystery that we too are a part of. That’s what my synch moment affirmed for me, that I am a tiny particle in an enormous mystery.
You wrote, (“The what if” narrative from childhood into adulthood because it has to do with life possibilities. You look at something and ask yourself: “What if I did this and what would happen afterward”) Ah I find great profundity in this, because the time of my first synch moment coincided with my fav mantra, and my fav mantra was, and perhaps in some ways, it still is, “What If?” especially, “what if I had spoken my truth then”, “what if I had not taken that route in life”, “what if I had packed up and left long long ago”…… Agree James, that our synchronistic experiences are related to this dynamic.
Thank you for these profound words from Campbell: ” One of the things that keeps coming back to me is where Joseph mentions along this line in my own words is this realization of: (that which you embrace will inform you and enrich you; but that which you deny will destroy you. And this embrace of the shadow; or your dragon if you will; takes on a difference tone of which instead of threatening you will show you in some kind of way how your difficulties may actually be your saviors in a different way.) This is similar to what Jung says about wounds — that our wounds are an opening to the subconscious mind, which also happens to be the birthplace of our creativity. When we face our wounds, we have access to a creativity not yet known to us.
On my long walks to the mountain, besides listening to Joe’s lectures, I also listen to John O’ Donohue, especially his words on suffering and wounds.
John O’ Donohue
(Beauty is the closest sister to that which is broken, damaged or soiled. This is also the beauty of “Paypos”(sp? I can’t find this word, is it Latin, is it Irish, what is it? ) He defines it as, the emotion that awakens in our hearts in the presence of loss…let’s say, it’s the loss of a relationship, and you realize that you will never be with your beloved in the same way, as you were then in that particular place in time…and the place fills your heart with a sense of paypos(sp?) a longing – a sense of deep deep loss. So one of the best ways to heal yourself is to go to that place with the beloved, the time you could hear the skin whisper, now direct a gaze inwards to your soul, and the kindness of that gaze in the paypos (sp?) of your inner loss, can TRANSFIGURE that loss and bring you whatever is missing from your life. And with going inward I find I am healing that loss, I am embracing it, instead of denying it or repressing, “what if I had spoken my truth” which only leads to a cycle of regrets and more regrets.
Just as I was closing my laptop, I ran across another great saying, you are free to take three guesses, “Wherever we are, whether tasting Paradise or enduring Hell, we are best off if we embrace each moment and experience the full range of emotions — the ecstasy AND the agonies of life. Embracing the experience includes acknowledging & fully experiencing negative feelings — frustration, rage, loss, fear, the emptiness of a broken heart — as well as the happy happy joy joy parts of life … saying “yea” to it all.” (???)
Again, James thank you ever so much for this beautiful piece. I do wish to cover a few more points on the issue of “homelessness” and “what happens when the homeless die”. All very deep topics, dear friend.
Shaahayda (with gratitude)
Stephen,
Such a fascinating essay and such a fun read too. What awesome and amazing experiences as a hitch-hiker. Are you really SIRIUS about running into a driver from the Pleiades and her companion from the Dog Star? Is there a book coming out on this topic, perchance? “Memoirs of a hitch-hiker..?”
One definition of Synchronicity resonates very deeply with me and it’s that “synchronicity is essentially direct insight” (Jung and Pauli)
Personal story: . (Pardon my repeating this story over and over again) But its through direct insight that I experienced my synch moment. The action was in outer space, that is on the dance floor graced by Jeanne Campbell and Bob Walter, and just as Jeanne bent down to pick up some lost object from the floor, a concomitant thought flashed inside me…The mystery that had grabbed me for a year, was suddenly, totally and completely resolved. It was BOTH a result of an image outside of me, combined with my imagination and memory…..imagination works on our stored memories too, does it not? The chance event on the dance floor met my inner necessity and made it meaningful. My synch moments have resulted in pleasant happy insights, a mystery solved, the inner necessity appeased. “ It is a parallelism that cannot be explained causally. Is it an invisible field effect linking multidimensional spaces? The operation of non-locality (Stapp, 2009)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277161877_Synchronicity_When_Cosmos_Mirrors_Inner_Events
You wrote, “Is there a scientific mechanism underlying synchronistic phenomena? Perhaps, and perhaps not. I’m quite comfortable viewing synchronicity as an upwelling from the unconscious. They remain very much a welcome part of my experience that provide invaluable information, though I don’t rely exclusively on synchronicity to chart my course any more than I do logic, emotions, or astrology.”
I came across a study (I am sure you and many others have come across it too) that explores many attempts to link natural science to Jung’s concept of synch, eg., the concept that states bio molecules involved in cell division esp . DNA, maybe material carriers of consciousness…Does that mean, there is more synchronicities among relatives, parents, siblings, cousins than with unrelated folks? Just wondering.
Shaahayda
