Category: Powers of the Mind

Nine Keys: (5) The Giant Sail

So far, we’ve looked at the development of the self – the ego-personality. We’ve seen how our ‘being’ arrives, entirely whole but naked to this world, at birth. It then begins to develop a protective shell as it finds its place in a world that is not entirely comforting. We moved on to consider the layers of perception, and how there is a fundamental … Read More Nine Keys: (5) The Giant Sail

Nine Keys: (4) The edge of the known

We look out at the world with our eyes. There is a strong, conceptual basis for our looking. We look out from an in-here to an out-there. In other words, we locate ourselves – the ‘me’ – inside something that we regard as an intimate ‘home’, never seeing, perhaps for all of our lives, that we have created the division. The immediate effect of … Read More Nine Keys: (4) The edge of the known

Defining Relationships (4) the mirror of life

In parts one , two, and three, we looked at the relationships we build with the world and each other. We saw that we don’t really know anyone else, fully; rather, we have an image of how they are, how they react, what are their likes and dislikes. In other words, we have a historical figure that bears the name of our ‘other’. We … Read More Defining Relationships (4) the mirror of life

Defining Relationships (3) turning within…

In parts one and two, we looked at the relationships we build with the world and each other. We see that how we ‘relate’ to the world is coloured by many factors in our early development. Is there a single technique that will help correctly align us in relationship with the world — with the Universe of our world? Can we really call on … Read More Defining Relationships (3) turning within…

Defining Relationships (2) look again!

In Part One we looked at the anatomy of relationships, in a general sense. We considered how the birth separation from our mother sets off a chain of reactions that strengthen us – as individuals in the world – but isolate us in a bubble of self, from which we form more distant relationships, perhaps only really opening ourselves to our world and others … Read More Defining Relationships (2) look again!

Defining Relationships (1)

We treat the word ‘relationship’ casually. We don’t mean to – we probably don’t know we are dealing with one of the most fundamental parts of our existence. If we could see the full implications of the idea of relationships, we might be better equipped to see how much symbolic ‘gold’ there is in them. To consider this, we should step back and examine … Read More Defining Relationships (1)

Tender is the Night

It’s a song by Blur and an iconic book by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The latter is autobiographical, and tells of the steady decline of his beloved wife, Zelda, as she descends into madness… I don’t often write about dementia. But my mother’s own final years are proving to be a similar descent. She’s in a care home in Morecambe, on the seafront with beautiful … Read More Tender is the Night

Being Tango

Being is a perfect Tango with the the truth. One in which we get held tight, then bent and twisted into a new shape. Everything vital in Creation revolves around truth. It is the axis that gives it life. If we cultivate fantasy as a place to live, then we will not be. We will only be a script for someone of greater being … Read More Being Tango

My Own Trumpet

I’m not very good, nor comfortable, blowing my own trumpet… Writers on the internet know this feeling well: we are urged to promote our presence, yet our inner nature knows what sort of people talk about themselves all the time… This is particularly true if your main activity is of a teaching nature within a spiritual discipline. The road to understanding the ego – … Read More My Own Trumpet

The Opening

I know the words The long-learned words With which this view is framed These slats of wood I crafted round The Opening… ➰ Yet there it lies, unshut before me The rawness of the world Behind my words I kneel, now Afraid to stop their flow’s intent In widening my wood ➰ One day the words will be unspeakable The splinters brushed aside By … Read More The Opening

Vexed by the Tribe (part two) – the fabrication of complexity

We’re visiting relatives. It’s friendly. We have a light meal and some cake to follow. But then someone mentions Brexit and a cold frost descends on the room… My wife and I bite our tongues, knowing our hosts are firm believers that Britain’s post-colonial destiny lies in a renewed ‘Little England’ reborn from some poster of decades ago. Until my wife’s uncle says, “Besides, … Read More Vexed by the Tribe (part two) – the fabrication of complexity

Vexed by the Tribe (part one)

I am vexed… It’s a word you don’t hear much, now. Old English, I believe. It describes an agitated state of mind – and possibly body – when something nagging can’t be solved. What I’m vexed about is the entrenchment of nationalistic opinion across the world, in the face of much more important issues – like the world’s climate problems and the undermining of … Read More Vexed by the Tribe (part one)