"All the World's a Stage We Pass Through" R. Ayana

Showing posts with label awakening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label awakening. Show all posts

Thursday, 2 June 2016

Above the Blight


Above the Blight




by Chautaqua



…You don't have to be "spiritual" to rise above the morass of negativity that currently passes for normal; but it sure helps.  One of the first things we learn when embarking on the spiritual path is beware of distractions & diversions that will pull you off the path.  One of those easier said than done things.  That's the trick to living your spiritual beliefs; being able to balance the various aspects of your life into your spiritual practice.  A place and purpose for everything.

Having your ship together is only half the battle, you also must navigate your way thru whatever (consensus) reality throws in your way.  It isn't at all easy making plans for the future when the powers that shouldn't be are busy setting everything on fire; and every  screen in sight is screaming for your attention and disposable income.   That is why it's called a spiritual practice, because we must practice the things we've learned, to keep order within our life and perspective on the world around us.  To see things and people for what they truly are, and not as they may seem.  There's also a reason why nobody ever says walking the spiritual path is easy.




The demands of everyday life are often enough to play merry hob with our spiritual progress, for the width of said path is not a constant, and indeed, at times it can be obscured by all the ground clutter of negativity.  Focus and concentration are key skills to cultivate, and will serve well under any conditions.  Indeed much time & treasure has been spent crafting the "reality" you see today in the "real" world.  Exactly what is it the powers that shouldn't be so desperately want to conceal from us with all the death & violence?  Consensus reality is a ravenous beast which thrives on a steady diet of tasty hopes & dreams; and that can also rain mud on following your spiritual path.  The whole idea is to pay us almost enough to get by on, and teach us just enough to run the machinery; leaving no spare time for learning or doing other things.

They say the spiritual path can also be a lonely one; as we seek to become better versions of ourselves thru a dedicated spiritual practice.  Being on a spiritual path is by no means easily categorized or pigeon-holed by definition; as it means different things to different people.  Some very enlightening conversations have been had by spiritual people who believe different things, dogmas, or concepts.  Oddly enough more often than not, spiritual folks tend to emotionally defend their beliefs just like everybody else.  Growing beyond that trap is supposed to be why we're on a spiritual path to begin with.

Something an awful lot of folks have been experiencing during this great awakening are the less than supportive attitudes and actions of family & friends towards their spiritual quest for enlightenment.  It's enough to test your conviction; you don't want to lose friends or family but you don't want to stagnate either.  That's exactly why Stuart Wilde used to say; "When you're going-don't tell anyone, it's easier that way."  Your situation may call for you to keep your travel along the spiritual path a secret from those who would only seek to hold you back thru disapproval & ridicule.




Even without cross words or heated exchanges between friends, ties can be eroded away to nothing thru attrition and a lack of empathy.  People and things can be taken for granted.  As for our circle of spiritual friends, turns out they're often the first to misunderstand our behavior, and just as often first to think judgmentally; and when they're done with you for whatever reason you never hear about it.  They just put you on the slow drip for a while then it's scrub-a-dub-dub & they wash their hands of you. It's just way easier that way.  Of course, truly spiritual folks don't behave this way, but people wearing a spiritual cloak do.  Not by words, but by actions you will know them.


"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hate so stubbornly is because they sense once hate is gone they will be forced to deal with pain."

                                                                                       James Baldwin


The great spiritual awakening taking place around us is a many faceted thing, not always easily understood by those relatively new to it  Things can seem mighty confused to even the seasoned spiritual traveler these days.  This is where the heart-centered folks might have a bit of an edge when it comes to trust, and navigation, as we've learned to trust and listen to our hearts. 

Unfortunately for the powers that shouldn't be, the great awakening of the Aquarius era has bloomed despite all their efforts to forestall and prevent it; and they are in full scramble mode with damage control as their paradigm continues to crumble around them.  This is why we've seen so many horrendous false flag events in quick succession, and so much banality and fake hype with the "election" process.  




Pacification technologies like chemtrails, GWEN towers, HAARP, "vaccinations" and fluoridated water are all being used to keep the population lethargic and apathetic; to prevent a return of the street-filling protests of the 60s & 70s.  This bunch in control of things didn't stop there of course, and today their influence is seen simply everywhere. Like the world's largest manufacturer of pesticides now also making the GMO food-like-products that fill your cupboards.   It never ceases to amaze me just what lengths they will go to stay in control & the extremes they go to in order to deceive us and maintain a construct reality.  One really spooky example is this "Face2Face" technology that hijacks a speakers facial expressions with a webcam and an app... [see video below]*
 







 The powers that shouldn't be remind me of spoiled brats & schoolyard bullies.  First they intimidate and cheat their way to the top in order to get what they want, (power & wealth),

then whenever things don't go their way they obstruct, obfuscate, alienate and cheat in order to do what they want, despite losing.  Such as the slurry of "bathroom laws" designed to discriminate against the LGBT community - flying in face of the law of the land, and what is morally right!

The blight that is the military-industrial-complex has its tentacles into simply everything, not the slightest detail is left to chance.  The rivalry between political parties is for the most part just so much street theater, they're all in the same mob with the same job; and there are some internal power struggles for control.  What cannot be owned & controlled is destroyed.


The voters are supposed to pick the politicians, not the other way around!



Since the invention of gerrymandering; politicians have sought to control ever-increasing aspects of the "voting" process.  Stealing votes, rigging elections, stealing elections; all commonplace, but not good enough, hence the hated Diebold voting machines were rolled out as the new way.  We didn't even get to vote on whether we wanted them or not!  If voting really changed anything it would be illegal.  Right wing & left wing are connected to the same vulture & the flight plan never changes.





When the demographics don't agree with them they invoke impossible to obtain "voter ID cards" or similar requirements.  Failing that, they simply remove 70% of a precincts voting machines, to force long lines & long waits to vote, trying to further discourage  those who the elite don't want to vote.  Bringing up the rear is their failsafe, the Diebold voting machines. "Voting" has long been relegated to choosing which criminal gets to fleece us for the next 8 years and not much more.  No qualified, or desirable candidates are ever even allowed to partake in the charade because it's just too messy when they have to be assassinated.  How come it always comes down to the lesser of two evils, isn't that still evil??  Why do we still tolerate this bullshit?  You'd think we'd learn to see thru it, right? […]


"Is it just Me, or is the human race armed with religion; poisoned by prejudice and absolutely frantic with hatred & fear ... galloping pall mall towards the dark ages?"

~ Raymond Reddington~

                                                                                                

 The now familiar 24-hour news cycle was developed for marketing the apocalypse, and keeping us in a constant state of fear; with a never ending litany of deception and illusion.  Think Ebola & Zika virus scares just for starters, not to mention Al Qaeda & ISIS, or ISIL or whatever the hell they call them this week~ all created by the powers that shouldn't be for your entertainment, and entrainment. They're playing 3-card Monty with truth & facts, spinning everything on its head to keep everyone confused and apathetic all the time.

The New York primary is on April 19th; and there is a long list of violent events occurring on or near that day. [Waco-4.19.93~OKC Bombing-4.19.95~Columbine-4.20.99~Virginia Tech-4.16.07 etc.]

It has been said that date is important to dissident 'militias' who strike on or near 4-19 in remembrance of the Waco victims.  With the escalating rash of pro-violence political rhetoric we've witnessed recently, it's altogether likely that something dastardly might occur somewhere on or around 19 April.  To keep it interesting, April 19th is also a big deal with the occult loving new world order bunch as well.  Might be a good day to stay home and get caught up on your sleep!

It certainly seems that wherever we look we see those who seem obsessed with sparking the apocalypse and seeing a world engulfed in chaos.  Las Vegas is even doubling down on all the debauchery; once you lose all your wages you can take in a Penis puppet show!  Ever notice how everything is being reduced to the lowest common denominator?   Whatever happened to excellence?





You can rise above it.  Elevate your thoughts, and by them, your energy to ever higher levels.  Strengthen your focus & concentration, and by them, your ability to more clearly see your path amid all the smoke & mirrors.  Turn away from all that makes your soul sick; stop giving your attention to the street theater of consensus reality.


 Stop ignoring the horrendous, despicable things threatening our collective future! 



I know, another one of those easier said than done things, and it's true, it takes some degree of determination to break free of the rhythmic, lilting speech patterns of the talking heads: they talk that way to hypnotize their audience, put them into an alpha state (like when watching TV) to better assimilate the programming, deception and illusion.  This is where having a spiritual practice comes in handy.  Try the Buddha Mind thing, where you focus on some aspect of the divine, to the exclusion of all else...letting mundane earthly matters, noise and hype fall away for a time.  While not an ideal way to go thru life, it does bestow clarity of purpose as a meditation technique.  Then when you return to the mundane focus; things won't seem so confusing or impossible to overcome, and knowing what to do will come easier.  It's all about the energy.



 


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Thursday, 17 March 2016

Bringing Yourself Back to the Present


Bringing Yourself Back to the Present
From Abstraction and Absorption to Awareness


Feral Nude by R. Ayana




Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, there are always three different things you can do with your attention. Firstly, you can give it to the thought-chatter in your head - the stream of mental associations (images, memories, future projections, worries etc.) that runs through our minds when our attention isn’t occupied. Secondly, you can choose to immerse your attention in tasks or distractions, such as TV programmes, magazines, the Internet or a hobby. Or thirdly, you can give your attention on your actual present experience - that is, focus your attention on your actual surroundings, and the experiences you have in those surroundings.

For example, if you’re in waiting room at the doctor’s surgery, you can either daydream (perhaps think about what you’re going to do at the weekend, or mull over some problems you have at work), immerse your attention in a magazine or your I-phone, or observe the other people around you and the objects and décor of the room itself. Or when you go for a jog, you can either daydream, listen to an audio book on your I-pod, or give your attention to your surroundings, the scenery you pass and the nature around you. 

In shorthand, you can think of these three states as ‘the three As’: abstraction (i.e. immersion in thought-chatter), absorption (i.e. in activities or distractions) and awareness (i.e. conscious attention to our experience). It isn’t completely cut and dried, of course – in a state of abstraction or absorption, you’re usually still in a state of partial awareness too. For example, even if you’re daydreaming or listening to an audio book while jogging, you’re obviously still aware of your surroundings to a degree - enough to pay attention to the traffic, or to keep to your normal route. But usually this is only a very basic and functional awareness; the largest proportion of your mental energy is given up to absorption or abstraction.

Every moment of our lives, we unconsciously evaluate these three options and choose one of them - and it’s usually one of the first two that we prefer. 

Think about how much time you spend in each of these three states. As a percentage, estimate what proportion of a typical day you spend in a state of abstraction, a state of absorption and a state of awareness….

I have asked many people this question in workshops and on-line courses, and people almost always estimate that they spend by far the least proportion of their days in a state of awareness. As a rough average, people say they spend 5-15% of their time in awareness, 50-60% of their time in absorption, and 25-35% in abstraction.  

This is a great shame, because living in a state of awareness is by the far the most beneficial state. Being present equates with a state of well-being. It enables us to perceive beauty and wonder in the world around us. And in a sense, being present means being truly alive. Our lives only consist of the present - the past and the future are only abstractions, which don’t really exist. There is never anything except our experience in the present moment. So if we’re not aware of our experience in the present - if we’re in a state of absorption or abstraction - then in a sense we’re not really living. 

This doesn’t mean that we should spend all our time in a state of awareness, with our attention focus on our experience and our surroundings. Both abstraction and absorption can be enjoyable, useful and necessary sometimes. But we should certainly try to increase the amount of time we spend in awareness. In terms of the percentages above, we should try to decrease the amount of time we spend in abstraction and absorption, and transfer it into awareness. 


The Gentle Mental Nudge


Feral orchid boy by R. AyanaAwareness often occurs spontaneously - for example, when we’re in beautiful countryside, on holiday in unfamiliar surroundings, or when we see a beautiful piece of art - but it can also be consciously cultivated.  

This means making a conscious effort to focus your attention on the here and now. Whenever you realise that you’re in abstraction or absorption, try to make a habit of bringing yourself back to the present - not too rigidly or harshly, but with what I call a ‘gentle mental nudge.’ Whenever you realise that you’ve become immersed in thought-chatter, gently withdraw your attention from it and re-focus on your surroundings and your experience. Focus on the room you’re in and the objects and other people around you, and on the sounds you can hear. Look at the colour and shape of the objects and their relationship to each other. Feel the texture of the table you’re sitting at, the pen you’re writing with or the carpet your feet are on. Make a conscious effort to smell – perhaps the room or the street is filled with smells you weren’t aware of but which are quite perceptible. Do the same whenever you feel the impulse to immerse your attention in distractions or activities. 

If you don’t do this gently, and jolt your attention away from thought-chatter, you’ll generate resistance, which will make it difficult for you to be present. Rather than forcing yourself, just gently guide  yourself back into the present, and re-orientate yourself there. It’s like walking in the park with a toddler who doesn’t understand the concept of a straight line and keeps veering off the path in different directions: every few steps you have to gently pick him up and point him in the right direction again. 

For example, when you’re walking to the tube station in the morning with your mind buzzing with thoughts about what happened last night or what’s ahead of you today – give yourself a gentle mental nudge and bring your attention away from those thoughts and into the present. Transfer your attention away from your thought-chatter towards the sky above you, the trees and buildings and the cars around you, and the awareness of yourself inside your body, walking in the midst of these surroundings. When you’re eating your evening meal and realise that you’re reading a newspaper, give yourself a mental nudge and transfer your attention to the taste of the food and the chewing and swallowing. Or when you’re in a meeting at work: take your attention out of the discussion for a moment and be aware of the room you’re in, take in its shape and its colours and its furniture. Be aware of yourself sitting there, of your bottom against the surface of the chair, your back against its back and your feet on the floor. 

We usually assume that activities like driving or eating or cooking aren’t enough in themselves, because they’re essentially mundane and dreary. We feel as though we need to combine them with distractions – like reading the paper while you eat or having the TV on in the kitchen while you cook – to make them more bearable.  But when we actually do give ourselves wholly to the activities we find the opposite: these activities are sufficient in themselves; in fact, they provide a sense of ease and harmony which no distraction or daydream ever could.

In awareness the whole world becomes much more fascinating and beautiful. We realise that objects and scenes are only beautiful or fascinating in proportion to how much attention we give to them. Beauty isn’t just something innate, a quality which some objects possess – much more than that, it’s something that we create. The more attention we invest, the more beauty and fascination we perceive. Everyday objects and scenes only seem mundane because we don’t give them real attention. When we do consciously attend to them, we realise that they’re just as attractive as ancient artefacts that we go to museums to look at, or unfamiliar foreign scenes that we travel across the world to see.  

Once you get into the habit of bringing yourself back to the present you’ll be surprised how easy it is to do. It quickly begins to feel natural, and makes our normal state of abstraction seem absurd. Why should I let these crazy whirls of memory and association take up my attention when there is this endlessly rich and intricate world in front of me, filled with layer after layer of is-ness and wonder? you might ask yourself. Being immersed in thought-chatter instead of living in awareness is like travelling to a beautiful city – like Paris or Venice – and spending all your time there in your hotel room watching television. 


Breakdowns and ‘Shift-Ups’

The relationship between psychosis and spiritual awakening



 Goldenwing by A. Al Kohn



Over the last ten years, I’ve spent a lot of time investigating the phenomenon of spiritual awakening. In my PhD thesis, for example, I investigated the cases of 25 people who believed that they had undergone spiritual awakening. I examined the apparent causes or triggers of their transformation, the characteristics of their new state, and what kinds of changes it had generated in their attitudes and lifestyles. Since then, I’ve investigated many other cases, including a group of around 32 people who had powerful transformational experiences following periods of intense psychological turmoil, the majority of which could be classed as a permanent, ongoing ’awakening.’

The term ‘spiritual awakening’ is quite slippery, so let me clarify what I mean by it. I see it as a psychological shift - or transformation of being - which doesn’t necessarily have to be interpreted in religious or even spiritual terms. I actually prefer to term it simply ‘awakening’ (as a process) and ‘wakefulness’ (as a state), to emphasise that it can occur outside spiritual traditions. In fact, I have found that it occurs most frequently amongst people who have little or no knowledge of spiritual practices or traditions.

In the light of these factors, I define spiritual awakening as a shift into a different, higher-functioning state in which a person’s vision of the world and relationship to it are transformed, along with their subjective experience and sense of identity. This shift brings a sense of well-being, clarity and connection. The person develops a more intense awareness of the phenomenal world, and a broad, global outlook, with an all-embracing sense of empathy with the whole human race, and a much reduced sense of for group identity.

There are three main different types of ‘wakefulness.’ There is ‘natural wakefulness’ , when the state is simply innate to people,  without them making any effort to cultivate it. (The poet Walt Whitman is a good example of this.) There is ‘gradual wakefulness’, which is usually cultivated by certain techniques (such as meditation) and lifestyles (such as following the eight-limbed path of yoga, or a monastic lifestyle). Finally, there is ‘sudden wakefulness’, which involves an instantaneous and dramatic identity shift, and occurs most frequently in response to intense psychological turmoil, such as bereavement, loss, failure or severe stress.

In my research, I have found that sudden awakening in response to turmoil (or ‘transformation through turmoil’ as I sometimes call it) is far from uncommon. Unfortunately, however, it is often undetected or misinterpreted. This is because sometimes sudden awakening occurs in an intensely energetic and explosive form, and causes some psychological disturbances. The shift sometimes creates a psychological earthquake which temporarily disrupts functions such as concentration, cognition and memory. A person may find it difficult to think clearly or focus their attention, because their minds are overwhelmed with new impressions and thoughts and visions. They may have difficulty organizing their lives, making plans and decisions, or solving problems. In extreme cases, they may even temporarily have problems speaking, and find any social interaction difficult.

As a result, ‘sudden energetic awakening’ (as I call it) is frequently misdiagnosed as a form of psychosis. For example, in my PhD research, there were 5 clear cases of ‘sudden energetic awakening’, four of whom were seen by psychiatrists, given medication and/or confined to psychiatric hospitals.

This misinterpretation is a great shame, for two reasons. On the one hand, it means that the awakening process is pathologised. It is ‘officially’ confirmed that the awakening person has ‘something wrong’ with them, or is ‘going mad.' Any doubt and incomprehension they may have had from their friends is substantiated by the medical profession. This means that they are more likely to try to deny or suppress their awakening, and that they are less likely to receive support and understanding. The second problem is that, if an awakening person is given medication, this may interfere with the organic process of re-stabilisation and integration that should follow awakening. Ironically, although medication may suppress some of the psychological disturbances that sometimes arise with sudden awakening, in the long term it may actually perpetuate them - that is, stop them fading away naturally.

However, although this is very unfortunate, it’s perhaps not so surprising, since sudden energetic awakening can certainly resemble psychosis. Unless a psychiatrist is aware of spiritual awakening as a process - which is unfortunately still quite rare - then it’s all too easy for them to mis-read its symptoms.


Camouflaged Tortoise by R. Ayana


Differentiating Psychosis and Awakening



Some researchers believe that there is no fundamental difference between psychosis and spiritual awakening, but  simply a fundamental experience of going beyond the boundaries of the normal self, which can become either a psychotic or a spiritual experience depending on different factors. For example, one of the UK’s leading researchers on 'spiritual crisis,' Isabel Clark, believes that the most important factor in determining whether a transpersonal experience becomes ‘a life-enhancing spiritual event’ or a ‘damaging psychotic breakdown from which there is no easy escape’ is how strong and stable a person’s sense of self is - or in her terms, the ‘well-foundedness’ of the self, or ‘ego-strength.’

In other words, if a person doesn’t have a strong sense of self, they are more likely to have a psychotic experience. Clark believes that, rather than making a distinction between spirituality and psychosis, we should think of a whole spectrum of ‘transliminal states of consciousness.’ Another researcher, Caroline Brett, also argues that there is no categorical difference between spiritual awakening and psychosis, and that any apparent difference results from how the experience is contextualised and labelled - that is, whether it is supported or pathologised by the person’s peers or wider culture.

However, most researchers - including me - take the view that there is a basic difference between psychosis and awakening. They aren’t just two variations of the same fundamental experience, but two fundamentally different experiences which have some similarities, or overlap to some degree. The transpersonal psychologist Stan Grof, for example, acknowledges that what he calls a ‘spiritual emergency’ can resemble psychosis in that there may be a sudden eruption of new spiritual energies and potentials which may feel threatening - even overwhelming - and cause disruption to normal psychological functioning.

However, Grof believes that a spiritual emergency is fundamentally different in that it usually features an ‘observing self’ who stands apart from the psychological disturbance, so that the person can rationalise and understand their experience to some degree. In psychosis, however, there is no observer; the self is completely immersed in the experience and so cannot control or integrate it. A person who is having a spiritual emergency has a sense of grounded detachment which is absent from psychotic episodes.

Another leading researcher into spiritual emergencies, David Lukoff, identifies a number of essential differences between psychotic disorders and what he calls ‘visionary spiritual episodes.’ His research shows that people who have visionary spiritual experiences have ‘good pre-episode functioning’ - that is, unlike people who have psychotic disorders, they tend to be well-adjusted and integrated personalities who were free from psychological problems before. The onset of their symptoms also occurs more quickly - usually during a period of three months or less - and they usually have a ‘positive, exploratory attitude towards the experience.’ In addition, people who have VSEs are more likely to have a sense of ecstasy and revelation, and have a much reduced risk of homicidal or suicidal behaviour.

However, perhaps the difference between psychosis and spirituality is more simple and fundamental than these researchers suggest. The similarity between them lies in the fact that they both involve a disruption of a the normal ‘self-system’, and its normal functioning. When the normal self-system is disturbed by spiritual awakening, its functions become disrupted too, in the same way that an earthquake disrupts the basic infrastructure and amenities of a city. But this isn’t strictly a breakdown, because a new self-system emerges - however problematically - to replace the old one. There is usually only a temporary disruption to psychological functioning, since the new self-system soon takes over (again, even if this ‘takeover’ is a difficult process), and the awakened person soon re-learns to conceptualise, to concentrate, to communicate, and so on. What might have appeared to be a breakdown is now revealed to be a shift-up, the birth of a latent higher-functioning self-system.

But in psychosis, no latent self-structure emerges. There is simply a breakdown, without a shift-up. The normal self-system dissolves into a vacuum. There is nothing to take over the psychological functions which have been disrupted. We could make an analogy with politics. In psychosis, it’s as if a government dissolves itself, without arranging for anyone else to take over. As a result, the country descends into chaos. Its infrastructure begins to fall apart, and basic amenities and systems no longer function. Whereas in awakening, of course, a new government takes over power.

This isn’t to say that there are no similarities between psychosis and spirituality, besides the initial psychological disturbances that sudden awakening can cause. The main point of similarity between psychosis and awakening is that they are both states in which we ‘step outside’ the normal self-system. They are both states in which a person does not experience reality through the psychological structures and functions of this self-system. As a result, there are a few characteristics which are shared by both states - the main one being the intensified perception or heightened awareness which is often associated with schizophrenia. But even here there is a difference in that, for a person with schizophrenia, heightened awareness may not necessarily be a positive phenomenon. It’s likely that they will lack the ability to control it, so that it constantly intrudes on their attention. It’s also very possible that, because of the general sense of anxiety they feel, they will interpret this heightened reality as threatening. Another similarity is the heightened energy and creativity which is sometimes associated with schizophrenia, as it is with wakefulness. But again, there is also a difference here in that a person in psychosis usually isn’t able to control their energy, and may feel overwhelmed by it.

Finally, an altered sense of time is also usually shared by both the psychotic and the wakeful state. In wakefulness, this appears as a sense of transcending the past and future, and becoming intensely present, or as an expansive sense of time, in which we feel that we have more than enough time, or time may not even seem to exist. But in psychosis, this often appears as a sense of being ‘lost’ in time, being unable to estimate it or control it. It seems therefore that some of the same basic characteristics appear in both states, but in a different guise - in a positive manifestation in wakefulness, and in a negative manifestation in psychosis. (I don’t want to stretch these similarities too far though. Most of the major characteristics of the wakeful state - such as heightened well-being, empathy, mental quietness, a reduced need for group identity - do not occur in psychosis at all.)

This also doesn't mean that psychosis and spiritual awakening may not sometimes overlap and merge. In some situations, the relationship between them may be more complex than I suggest here. For example, it may be that there is a period of breakdown or psychosis before a new self-system begins to establish itself. Or perhaps there may be occasions when an emerging self-system is overwhelmed by psychotic disturbances, and so temporarily dissolves away before returning and establishing itself properly later.

Overall though, I believe it’s imperative that more and more psychiatrists become aware of awakening as a phenomenon in itself, rather than treating it as a form of psychosis. There are actually some signs that this is happening - here in the UK, for example, there is now a ‘Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group’ within the Royal College of Psychiatry. So hopefully it won’t be too long before misunderstanding and misinterpretation fades away, and wakefulness begins to be accepted as a natural and healthy state - one which is actually much healthier and higher-functioning than our normal state, and which represents the future direction of the evolution of consciousness, and a movement towards a positive, more harmonious future.


Steve Taylor PhD is a senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University, UK. He is the author of Back to Sanity: Healing the Madness of our Minds.

 Python Friend: R. Ayana by A. Al Kohn




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