Wednesday, August 29, 2007

the divine within.

http://www.gardinersworld.com/

carl jung believed that we are able to naturally recognise the divine within ourselves, and that the christians had hid this knowledge in thier stories by making people afraid of certain images and practices.

our natural want to meditate and to explore imagery has been usurped by the church as evil and the temptation of the devil.

jung believed that the divine in man is represented by the snake, or serpent.......and of course the bible makes the serpent into something trecherous.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

However, all of this is still there in the books of the bible. Moses' staff-turned-serpent, ate the eqyptian priest's serpent staffs. Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a metal support to heal the community, at God's command. This foreshadow's Jesus being lifted up, and is described that way by a NT writer, who calls Jesus "the serpent lifted up in the desert."

I think the problem with the serpent in Abrahamic tradition, is that while it is most beautiful, it is full of deceit. This is the spiritual dilemma for all. We can grasp for spiritual beliefs, yet still be caught in utter delusion, settling for a pragmatic rationale for belief structures. Not all paths lead to God. "Not all who cry "Lord, Lord" will be saved." They are still caught up in the "old man" which must die and be put away, for the new creature to be reborn.

In the kingdom, "a small child can put his hand in the serpent's hole, and not be bitten."

As for meditation/contemplation, Jesus modelled the man who goes off alone to a lonely place to think and pray. Paul urges all likewise to lock oneself in their prayer closet.

Alistair - do you employ any type of sedentary/sitting meditation? Do you think kinesthetic/sports methods can challenge the innerworld enough, and not suffer from outer distractions??

Dr.Alistair said...

the kinesthetic/sport modality isn`t for everyone. i suppose i am fortunate that i can "slip between" as i ride or play the guitar.

there are occasions where i sit and focus within.

i live on the seventh floor overlooking treed houses and so i the evening the view is conducive to unfocusing one`s eyes and staring out into the middle distance.

i have been doing this since i was a child......along with attention to my breathing and attention to the slowing of my heart to further relax and deepen the shift in attention.

also watching the shift in energy within me as i sit is helpful.

reading castenada made me aware of the assemblage point as he calls it. a nexus of chi that can be shifted in awareness that brings profound shifts in awaereness with practice.

it wasn`t until i began reading and practicing nlp that i found technical instruction in what the naguals are teaching in mexico.

all of this "stuff" is an outer distraction. the shifting of perception, the chi, the relaxation........

i question the will to want to still all of this stuff anyhow.

i find it most enjoyable.

Anonymous said...

"i question the will to want to still all of this stuff anyhow."

That's a bold, worthy statement!

The whole inner dialogue, meditation, contemplation, prayer, etc. is all about communication - inward and spiritual. After some practice I think it becomes self-regulating.

Aren't the naguals into totemistic animal spirits? I think it was Terrance McKenna who said if humans patterned themselves more after plants and trees (as opposed to animals) we'd be in a better place.

Dr.Alistair said...

a bold, worthy statement....?

thanks greg. i truly appreciate you saying that.

the inner dialog is about well-being.

this trip is about joy.

joy.

not dogma and ritual for deprivation and chastising and flagillation.

joy.

laughter.

terence said a lot of very interesting things and i won`t disgrace his memory through criticism because i feel he was the complete prophet, and so if he felt that we would be better off acting like a plant or a tree then i`m sure he meant it in the best of ways......

personally, i lie about like a lion waiting for opportunity, thankful that nature made me who i am.

and i thank the naguals for helping me see that.