Mara Schaeffer > Ed KoffenbergerJuly 26, 2013 at 10:51pm
I subscribe to two “TV from India” streaming Internet services: YuppTV and DishWorld. DishWorld has more than half the programs and most movies with English subtitles, carrying both “Swami Mukuanand” on TVAsia and “Devo ke Dev Mahadev” with English subtitles on LifeOK. Both have a few programs on YouTube. Be sure to add “English subtitles” if you search for “Devo ke Dev Mahadev”.
This is an article on the various Indian mythological series called "Gods on the Small Screen" (Many are on YouTube with English Subtitles):
i stare at this blank page, stumbling before it as i try to find the words to express my feelings of attachment and connection to this discussion on experiences of the sacred. i simply do not have words for such things as they for me are mostly experiences of the divine feminine who works in symbol and image rather than words. i spend each morning pondering or at least just being present to the images from my night time dreams and daytime imagination, fantasies, not asking whys but just gazing and absorbing. sometimes, i am so moved by this experience that i paint the symbol or image, feeling or fantasy, while listening to quiet music. the experience of these painting moments is one mostly of bliss. i spend my days swimming in the eyes of others as i listen to their stories of their moments as lived right then, sometimes feeling the connection to my story in the listening. listening to others, i find the soil we are all rooted in and am moved by the nature of us all. evenings find me tired and allowing my body, and my connections to the warmth and tenderness of the father archetype to chew and digest the day as i practice restorative yoga positions. i do not have words for what the morning and evening meditations consider. i only allow the body to chew the quail provided by the father in the evening of my desert life and i gather the manna like bread left from my night dreams in the morning. i am hoping this gives you some picture of my experience of the sacred and my practice of being nourished by it all..
To the Rumi quote: Who is 'we'? I don't wake up empty and frightened. As a writer I find great beauty in literature and musicality in well-wrought prose. As a storyteller I love stories; every good story leads the heroine through a moment of fear and/or loss which add to her growth as certainly as love and treasures do. Furthermore, I suck at playing the violin.
I'm very uncomfortable with generalisations and assumptions particularly when the assumption is somewhere in the vicinity of the human spirit habitually shackled to fear and emptiness. If the intention is 'to let the beauty we love be what we do', letting go of assumption is as good a place to start as any. Intentionally dedicating time to honour the Sacred each day - well, to me, a way to honouring the sacred is to meet people; meet another with openness, without generalising or assuming.
Rather than take for granted life in the beautiful Everglades, I pause at sunrise and sunset to gaze out across the lake behind our house at Nature's colorful show. When, after rainstorms, the egrets and herons flock to our yard, I try to consciously stop what I'm doing to watch them enjoying the outdoor insect buffet.We're fortunate to live where we do, yet after their first year here, Florida's newcomers tend to forget the beauty that surrounds us,
Nature reminds us that we live in a larger world beyond the confines of our own thoughts, one species among many inhabiting the earth. It's both refreshing and inspiring, our personal problems seem less significant when put in perspective.
Three questions: you say "I don't practice this daily ... don't know anyone who practices it daily..." Are you saying you don't know anyone who meditates daily, who apprehends the numinous daily or what?
Second question, does this beyond-Buddha friend of yours have a website? :)
And before you answer with the expected "no" my third more general question: what happens to all these fully evolved people that they lose all interest in writing? Jesus, for example, didn't write a thing down. Is this part of the requirement of "simply being ourselves" as seen from such a heightened point of view? We have to find our own way?
I have a friend who meditates five + hours a day, but he is as much a fan of Blake and Swedenborg as he is of Buddha, and he's also experienced possession by the Vodoun Lwa. (He is an anthropologist and the protege of Karen Brown.) So, needless to say, a very interesting guy: he hates writing. Meditates five hours a day and can't sit still to write.
Kerry, since this is a web site heavily weighted in Jungian psychology, Jung wrote multi-volumes, not to mention our poet who headlines this discussion. Now neither of these fashioned themselves (or were fashioned by others) as religious leaders. Of course there are a number of religious leaders who had someone else write their experiences and words down. I guess I'm not seeing the aversion to writing you speak about, except that the leader doesn't physically write things down her/himself.
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What are those sites you mentioned?
I subscribe to two “TV from India” streaming Internet services: YuppTV and DishWorld. DishWorld has more than half the programs and most movies with English subtitles, carrying both “Swami Mukuanand” on TVAsia and “Devo ke Dev Mahadev” with English subtitles on LifeOK. Both have a few programs on YouTube. Be sure to add “English subtitles” if you search for “Devo ke Dev Mahadev”.
This is an article on the various Indian mythological series called "Gods on the Small Screen" (Many are on YouTube with English Subtitles):
http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/Features/Gods-on-the-sm...
I would like to echo Ed's thanks. I was just making such compilation myself.
Nice summary. Wish more folks would do this periodically for long discussions. Thanks.
i stare at this blank page, stumbling before it as i try to find the words to express my feelings of attachment and connection to this discussion on experiences of the sacred. i simply do not have words for such things as they for me are mostly experiences of the divine feminine who works in symbol and image rather than words. i spend each morning pondering or at least just being present to the images from my night time dreams and daytime imagination, fantasies, not asking whys but just gazing and absorbing. sometimes, i am so moved by this experience that i paint the symbol or image, feeling or fantasy, while listening to quiet music. the experience of these painting moments is one mostly of bliss. i spend my days swimming in the eyes of others as i listen to their stories of their moments as lived right then, sometimes feeling the connection to my story in the listening. listening to others, i find the soil we are all rooted in and am moved by the nature of us all. evenings find me tired and allowing my body, and my connections to the warmth and tenderness of the father archetype to chew and digest the day as i practice restorative yoga positions. i do not have words for what the morning and evening meditations consider. i only allow the body to chew the quail provided by the father in the evening of my desert life and i gather the manna like bread left from my night dreams in the morning. i am hoping this gives you some picture of my experience of the sacred and my practice of being nourished by it all..
To the Rumi quote: Who is 'we'? I don't wake up empty and frightened. As a writer I find great beauty in literature and musicality in well-wrought prose. As a storyteller I love stories; every good story leads the heroine through a moment of fear and/or loss which add to her growth as certainly as love and treasures do. Furthermore, I suck at playing the violin.
I'm very uncomfortable with generalisations and assumptions particularly when the assumption is somewhere in the vicinity of the human spirit habitually shackled to fear and emptiness. If the intention is 'to let the beauty we love be what we do', letting go of assumption is as good a place to start as any. Intentionally dedicating time to honour the Sacred each day - well, to me, a way to honouring the sacred is to meet people; meet another with openness, without generalising or assuming.
I'm glad someone mentioned this "empty and frightened" business. That is also not true for me. I'm also a fan of books as well as music. :)
Rather than take for granted life in the beautiful Everglades, I pause at sunrise and sunset to gaze out across the lake behind our house at Nature's colorful show. When, after rainstorms, the egrets and herons flock to our yard, I try to consciously stop what I'm doing to watch them enjoying the outdoor insect buffet.We're fortunate to live where we do, yet after their first year here, Florida's newcomers tend to forget the beauty that surrounds us,
Nature reminds us that we live in a larger world beyond the confines of our own thoughts, one species among many inhabiting the earth. It's both refreshing and inspiring, our personal problems seem less significant when put in perspective.
Three questions: you say "I don't practice this daily ... don't know anyone who practices it daily..." Are you saying you don't know anyone who meditates daily, who apprehends the numinous daily or what?
Second question, does this beyond-Buddha friend of yours have a website? :)
And before you answer with the expected "no" my third more general question: what happens to all these fully evolved people that they lose all interest in writing? Jesus, for example, didn't write a thing down. Is this part of the requirement of "simply being ourselves" as seen from such a heightened point of view? We have to find our own way?
I have a friend who meditates five + hours a day, but he is as much a fan of Blake and Swedenborg as he is of Buddha, and he's also experienced possession by the Vodoun Lwa. (He is an anthropologist and the protege of Karen Brown.) So, needless to say, a very interesting guy: he hates writing. Meditates five hours a day and can't sit still to write.
Kerry, since this is a web site heavily weighted in Jungian psychology, Jung wrote multi-volumes, not to mention our poet who headlines this discussion. Now neither of these fashioned themselves (or were fashioned by others) as religious leaders. Of course there are a number of religious leaders who had someone else write their experiences and words down. I guess I'm not seeing the aversion to writing you speak about, except that the leader doesn't physically write things down her/himself.
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