The Five Remembrances come from the Upajjhatthana Sutra, which means ‘Subjects for Contemplation.’ The Buddha recommended reciting these verses every day to help you remember that life is precious and time is short. The Five Remembrances are simple statements of the facts of life and death. So meditating on them is about accepting reality as… Continue reading Spiritual Glossary: the Five Remembrances
After my rant on Free Your Pen about censorship and ISP filters we come rather predictably to the TED controversy. TED is a non-profit organisation which runs conferences and talks about ideas that may end up changing the world. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and their stated mission is Ideas Worth Sharing. But recently TED was engulfed in an online spat over censorship… Continue reading The War on Consciousness
People have strange ideas about writing. Some of those people are writers. You can understand non-writers being baffled by the whole writing thing: the alchemy of transforming words into a world that transports the reader. From the outside it seems like magic. You open a book and begin to read: the ordinary world fades and into your… Continue reading Myths About Writing
Many people believe mystics are dreamers, out of touch with reality, or even full-on crazy. To understand the real world is to be rational and have your feet glued to the ground. You may look to the stars in wonder, but always remember the truth: the universe is meaningless and you don’t matter. There is… Continue reading The Mystics Are Coming!
We are living in interesting times. Multiple and interconnecting challenges are converging which threaten to overwhelm our capacity to adapt and survive. Climate change, mass extinctions, the collapse of ecosystems, pollution, soil erosion, overfishing, mountains of waste and land-fill, the rise of slums, increasing inequality and the growing chasm between rich and poor, the population… Continue reading The Global Spiritual Crisis
Think you have to be religious to experience a spiritual awakening? Think again. Many people, like me, start out entirely secular. I didn’t believe in anything, was a proud and apparently rational atheist until the rug was pulled from under my feet. All it can take is a little boredom, a little dissatisfaction with the… Continue reading How to Survive a Spiritual Emergency
Mystics have a bad reputation in our materialistic, scientific culture. Mysticism is seen as wishy-washy, irrational or infantile. A mystic is out of touch with reality, more interested in their visions and inner truth. For many people, their idea of mysticism is embodied by Maryann the Maenad in HBO’s True Blood season 2. A worshipper of… Continue reading True Blood Mystic
Our heroine has reached the end of her journey and returns transformed. This stage is about the ascension of the new mother. The heroine is changed and so the world is changed. She can now start a new life, establish a new family or community. Jane Eyre Returns with the Elixir Jane returns to Thornfield… Continue reading The Heroine’s Journey: Return with the Elixir
Our heroine has taken the Road Back to the Ordinary World and must now be resurrected. This stage is about purification and the purging of the past, and it takes us to the climax which requires another death. This is where the heroine must demonstrate what she has learnt. In the heroine’s journey this stage… Continue reading The Heroine’s Journey: Resurrection
Our heroine has survived the Ordeal and received her Reward. Now she must return to the ordinary world with her new knowledge or skills and face the consequences of confronting the darkness of the Ordeal. This stage marks a shift in focus and may give rise to new goals. In the heroine’s journey this stage… Continue reading The Heroine’s Journey: The Road Back
Our heroine has lived through the worst in her Ordeal and will now be transformed. The confrontation with death brings about the change necessary for her to move forward on her journey and Seize the Sword. In other words, she finally takes possession of what she was really after all along – her true self.… Continue reading The Heroine’s Journey: Reward
Our heroine has journeyed to the underworld and is now ready to confront her greatest fear. All could be lost as she is pushed to the edge in a life or death moment. In the heroine’s journey this stage is the descent into darkness and atonement with the Great Mother: a quest for integration and… Continue reading The Heroine’s Journey: Ordeal
Jessica Davidson 