In one particular relationship I am exploring at the moment the problem we have when discussing our spiritual beliefs is finding a common ground to spring from. He is a rationalist and thinks of myths, which are the basis of my spirituality and being in the world, as "false" stories that primitives concocted, hence they are 'false' and 'irrational'. If I am feeling particular vulnerable or lonely I will lose my objectivity and take this personally and believe that he is saying that I am false and irrational and then the sparks start to fly. Our passionate discussions center on different ways of knowing and we usually end up in a stalemate with the ugly pall of polarity hanging over us. As a thinking type he readily admits he is not able to comprehend how an INFP like me makes decisions using a blend of feeling and rationale of a different sort. For me it is ego identification with my spirituality that gets me into trouble when it comes to discussions on spirituality and the net results are just not worth it.
What can we do to be more inclusive and what does Depth Psychology have to offer?
Joseph Campbell said that the returning heroine finds that no one back home is really interested to know or hear about the Good News she discovered and most certainly do not want to have their neatly organized worlds disturbed by something new and unfamiliar. The lesson: unless someone is truly open to new ideas and experiences it is futile and even destructive to harmony to enter that arena.
We are all One big Mandala! Be at peace, practice 'namaste' and compassionately allow others their beliefs and look for others ways to connect and find subjects of mutual interest.
I have a friend whose views are totally opposite to mine, I being of a "liberal" bent, I have now begun to ignore posts that I don't agree with in order to keep the friendship. I find that this cannot really be handled on line. but needs a face-to-face. This is impossible as we live on opposite coasts and see each other infrequently at international conferences. I doubt that either one of us could change our views, so perhaps it simply means end of friendship?
Lois, it may just mean that this friendship has its limitations. If you can live with the limitations,and it has some reciprocity that supports and nourishes you, then enjoy it for what it is, if not, then it's not truly a friendship- maybe only an acquaintance or even a professional type of relationship.
When I did my Masters in Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology I was the only person on the course who was not a 'believer' in some form or other. Our professor said to me: 'Every oyster needs a grain of sand to make a pearl. You will be our grain of sand.'
Lisa Seckold > Hilda ReillyApril 27, 2015 at 6:53pm
A pity he couldn't see you as the pearl we all most deeply are!?
What does depth psychology have? The first thing that comes to me are Jung's comments on " The Secret of the Golden Flower", but I can't imagine a religious fundamentalist to "have time" to read that text. There are situations when an individual is in the middle of a conflict and it doesn't really make sense not to defend oneself. On the other hand, I was in 1995 as a Serb a refugee from Croatia. Croats (I won't call them extremists because for all purposes the entire nation was encouraged by the West to become full-fledged fascists) demolished my house (I won't mention here what happened with the rest of that village) during the war and no one is punished for it. Actually, no one was individually guilty. Everything is allowed when everybody from CNN to MTV is on your side.
I'm disgusted by humans. On the other hands, everyone who seriously and actively (outside of just folklore) thinks about religion and spirituality can't hate another person's efforts in that field.
Replies
In one particular relationship I am exploring at the moment the problem we have when discussing our spiritual beliefs is finding a common ground to spring from. He is a rationalist and thinks of myths, which are the basis of my spirituality and being in the world, as "false" stories that primitives concocted, hence they are 'false' and 'irrational'. If I am feeling particular vulnerable or lonely I will lose my objectivity and take this personally and believe that he is saying that I am false and irrational and then the sparks start to fly. Our passionate discussions center on different ways of knowing and we usually end up in a stalemate with the ugly pall of polarity hanging over us. As a thinking type he readily admits he is not able to comprehend how an INFP like me makes decisions using a blend of feeling and rationale of a different sort. For me it is ego identification with my spirituality that gets me into trouble when it comes to discussions on spirituality and the net results are just not worth it.
What can we do to be more inclusive and what does Depth Psychology have to offer?
Joseph Campbell said that the returning heroine finds that no one back home is really interested to know or hear about the Good News she discovered and most certainly do not want to have their neatly organized worlds disturbed by something new and unfamiliar. The lesson: unless someone is truly open to new ideas and experiences it is futile and even destructive to harmony to enter that arena.
We are all One big Mandala! Be at peace, practice 'namaste' and compassionately allow others their beliefs and look for others ways to connect and find subjects of mutual interest.
I have a friend whose views are totally opposite to mine, I being of a "liberal" bent, I have now begun to ignore posts that I don't agree with in order to keep the friendship. I find that this cannot really be handled on line. but needs a face-to-face. This is impossible as we live on opposite coasts and see each other infrequently at international conferences. I doubt that either one of us could change our views, so perhaps it simply means end of friendship?
Lois, it may just mean that this friendship has its limitations. If you can live with the limitations,and it has some reciprocity that supports and nourishes you, then enjoy it for what it is, if not, then it's not truly a friendship- maybe only an acquaintance or even a professional type of relationship.
When I did my Masters in Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology I was the only person on the course who was not a 'believer' in some form or other. Our professor said to me: 'Every oyster needs a grain of sand to make a pearl. You will be our grain of sand.'
A pity he couldn't see you as the pearl we all most deeply are!?
What does depth psychology have? The first thing that comes to me are Jung's comments on " The Secret of the Golden Flower", but I can't imagine a religious fundamentalist to "have time" to read that text. There are situations when an individual is in the middle of a conflict and it doesn't really make sense not to defend oneself. On the other hand, I was in 1995 as a Serb a refugee from Croatia. Croats (I won't call them extremists because for all purposes the entire nation was encouraged by the West to become full-fledged fascists) demolished my house (I won't mention here what happened with the rest of that village) during the war and no one is punished for it. Actually, no one was individually guilty. Everything is allowed when everybody from CNN to MTV is on your side.
I'm disgusted by humans. On the other hands, everyone who seriously and actively (outside of just folklore) thinks about religion and spirituality can't hate another person's efforts in that field.