LSP55: You, Your Life, and Your Afterlife: Abundant Gifts and Blessings

It's often said the best things in life are free. Nowhere does this hold more true than in your relationship with God.

St. Lawrence was a 3rd century church deacon who was martyred in Rome in 258 CE. Tradition reports that when he was asked to turn over the wealth of the church to Roman authorities, he instead gave it to the poor and the marginalized, those who are the church's true treasures. This stained glass window was produced in 1889 by Charles Eamer Kempe, and is now on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England (gifted by Mr. Walter E. Tower). Photo credit JAT 2023.

The wonderful thing about having a relationship with God is that it's a gift -- a freely given gift between you and God -- that doesn't cost you any money and doesn't have to be carried out at a special time or a special place. It can happen anywhere. And it's an ongoing gift, not a one-time thing. Once you open your heart to a relationship with God, the blessings just keep coming.

Think of the things in your life that bring great joy. Start with your own conception. Maybe your parents had to spend some money to prepare a family home or to heal some medical issues that could complicate a pregnancy. But the moment of conception itself -- that was a gift from God, and it was free!

Think about your upbringing. Think about the experience of learning how to be a human being in a whole new world. When you picked up a something hard and heavy, like a rock, and you dropped it on your foot, you were learning about the laws of physics. And the courage to learn was free!

When you tasted what words meant, and you explored how the spices and flavours of words can shape your relationships, you were partaking of the mystery of language, a mystery that ties everything together in Creation. And it was free!

When you listened to songs and hymns and carols, and you sang them till your eyes brimmed with tears of devotion, that was free!

When you watched the buds on a plant unfurl in beauty, or paused at the majesty of a storm-filled sky, or smelled the gratitude of the soil after a long sought rain, you felt your humble connection to Creation, and the sacredness was free!

When your beloved one was close to death, and longed for release from pain and suffering, and you saw the time of passing was near, your grief couldn't take from you the trust that your loved one was close to God. As your heart broke, you felt the love -- the love which is free!

As you think about the most memorable, most transformative moments of your life (especially the feeling of God's presence, if you've had such an experience) you begin to realize that those feelings of connection, love, meaning -- they're all free. They all come from within your heart and soul. They're yours. You didn't "buy" them, because you didn't have to. You were born with them and you own them. Permanently. Nobody can take them from you unless you let them.

When you're going through a difficult time, it can help to think of your life as a one-of-a-kind story. The best stories are about rich characters, complex relationships, difficult decisions, and transformative change. Everything that's in your book belongs to you, and you'll take all of it home to Heaven when you die. There you'll have many opportunities to discuss with angelic friends and mentors what you learned during your life as a human being. You, in turn, will learn from the stories of your equally blessed friends. Every story adds to the tapestry of Divine Love. This early 14th century Book of Hours, once used for private devotions, is part of the Kenneth Thomson collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Photo credit JAT 2018.

This brings me to the question of religion. All major world religions do some good things (such as teaching people about human morality) and all major world religions do some bad things (such as teaching people they won't be saved and won't be allowed into Heaven unless they follow all the right doctrines, all the right practices, all the right Saviours).

Questions about the afterlife continue to haunt countless human beings in every generation. Many people turn to religious leaders to try to uncover what will happen to them when they die. Too often religious leaders use this deep seated human need as a way to acquire power for themselves, to manipulate their flocks, to demean and subjugate others with promises about future punishments from God or Source. But they say these frightening things about the End Times for themselves, not for you. They say they're worried about your soul, but what they really mean is they're worried about their own authority. They want you to be scared about what happens when you die because fearful people are much easier to control than courageous people.

These same religious leaders use the trump card of justice to explain why their doctrines of afterlife are not only true but necessary. They say that future punishment for earthly crimes is the only way to balance the universal scales of right and wrong and help good conquer evil. But they're assuming when they say it that God is too stupid and too weak to intervene in our daily lives in ways that Mother Father God -- not human leaders -- deem appropriate. It's the very idea that God constantly intervenes whether we like it or not that undermines everything religion has to say about Materialist laws of cause and effect. Just ask Dr. Eben Alexander. He didn't ask to be put in a coma and sent along on a soul journey to the very gates of Heaven. He didn't ask to become a human messenger about the inclusiveness and expansiveness of Divine Love. But it happened anyway.

Dr. Alexander's near-death experience was an unusual, but nonetheless valid, free gift from God to help him better understand the pathways open to him for building a relationship with God and Creation while he's still here on Planet Earth. Despite the struggles he went through after he awakened from his coma, I have no doubt he'd do it again in a heartbeat. He can now be of service in ways he never could have imagined before his awakening. Such service is in itself a profound gift.

As you reflect on the free gifts you've participated in during your own human life, let me ask you this: if God surrounds you with innumerable free gifts while you're here on Planet Earth, why would God suddenly take away all those free gifts just because you've transitioned to a non-Materialist state of being? Why would God suddenly punish you for mistakes you can no longer fix in the absence of a 3D biological body? Why would God give you love and forgiveness while you're a human being (as Jesus taught) but suddenly rescind these gifts and replace them with laws and contracts and covenants as soon as you die? Does this make any sense to you?

God the Mother and God the Father aren't fickle. And they don't play favourites. So whatever you've been told by religious or spiritual leaders about future punishment or karmic rebirth is a load of treacherous clickbait.

Heaven is the place where all of God's children are welcomed after our difficult lives on Planet Earth. No one is excluded. We were angels -- persons-of-soul -- before we were born here. When we die, we resume our lives as children of God, though we understand as never before how secure we are in the infinite wisdom of God's love.

We are, as Jesus once tried to tell us, forever blessed.

LSP53: Why the Practice of "No Right and No Wrong" Hurts Your Brain and Damages Your Empathy

The dispute began with this small saying posted over a photo: "Forgive people in your life, even those who are not sorry for their actions. Holding on to anger only hurts you, not them."

The first person to reply didn't want to talk about forgiveness or holding onto anger. He wanted to dismiss both of these important emotional and spiritual issues by playing the trump card of "non-judgment." So he said, "I would suggest that learning and practising NON-judgement would eliminate any and all need for forgiveness and lead to a more loving and peaceful world."

His definition of "non-judgment," as revealed by a later comment, is this: "These days, I tend to ask myself just one question about any event that I see - 'Would I like to see that in my autobiography.' NO judgement of 'right' or 'wrong', 'good' or 'bad'. It just IS and it is up to me to decide how to respond - or not respond."

A forgiving brain reminds me of this modified photo of the Lady Chapel ceiling at Westminster Abbey, London, England. Forgiveness is strong and orderly, but also organic, layered, and subtly interconnected. Photo credit JAT 2023.

 
He was not all pleased with my first response to him, which went like this: "It's true that those who practise non-judgment see no need for forgiveness. It's also true that those who practise non-judgment believe firmly that this will lead to a more loving and peaceful world. However, there's no evidence that non-judgment actually creates what it claims to create. What it seems to create is rampant narcissism, self-entitlement, morality that's "convenient" and changeable depending on the circumstances, and a diminished sense of personal responsibility."

Among other things he said to me, he demanded backing for my comments. So although it's unlikely anything I offer in the way of research will interest him, I decided this would be a good time to talk about why the current practice of non-judgment (as defined above) is harmful to the brain and why it leads to widespread narcissism, self-entitlement, fluid morality, and a diminished sense of personal responsibility.

First, I'd like to make it super, ultra-clear that when I'm talking about the practice of non-judgment, I'm not in any rejecting the practice of trying to see your fellow human beings through the loving eyes and ears of kindness, compassion, inclusiveness, and equality before God. Obviously, it's a good thing to try to see the best in everyone. And, obviously, it's a good thing to help others on the difficult and confusing journey of trying to be the best self one can be as a human being.

The spiritual practice of non-judgment, wherein nothing is deemed to be either "right or wrong," "good or bad," is the specific practice I'm objecting to. According to this belief system, things just "are," and you're not supposed to have an opinion about them one way or the way. 

You may decide that a particular choice isn't a good one for you -- for example, you may decide not to copy the choices of Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock -- but you're really not supposed to have an opinion one way or the other on what Paddock did. As teachers such as Neale Donald Walsch and Eckhart Tolle would have it, Paddock was following a false mental construction or offering resistance to life. No one who has accepted the teachings of non-judgment would want to do such a violent, unloving thing, say these teachers. But now that he's done it, there's no need to forgive Paddock, because in order to forgive him, you'd first have to decide his actions were immoral. And that would be a judgment.

So yes . . . it makes perfect sense within the non-judgment belief system to say that forgiveness isn't needed.

Unfortunately, the brain science says otherwise.

The human brain is a vast assortment of neurons and glial cells and networks of connectivity and neurotransmitters and so on, with current estimates of the total number of neurons now standing at 86 billion accompanied by about an equal number of glial cells.

For many decades in the twentieth century, the belief that the adult brain couldn't grow new neurons was scientific dogma -- and vigorously defended dogma, at that. Despite some early evidence to the contrary, it wasn't until the late 1990's that researcher Elizabeth Gould was able to convincingly overturn this longstanding tenet of neuroscience. Today, a mere 20 years later, no reputable researcher would deny the brain's remarkable ability to reshape itself by building new neurons, building new networks, and dismantling cells and connections that are no longer needed. The umbrella term for this malleability is neuroplasticity and the process of growing new neurons is called neurogenesis.

The important point here is that until doctors and other medical professionals began to understand the full potential of neuroplasticity, many of them based their practical care decisions on false beliefs about the brain. Patients who could have benefited from care regimens designed to encourage the brain to repair itself were instead being told nothing could be done. Patients in need of neurological help didn't receive the therapy they needed, not because of a lack of care and concern but because of a lack of proper understanding of how the biological brain actually works.

The same thing has been happening in spiritual and religious circles. Certain beliefs and spiritual practices are being recommended in the well-intentioned belief that such practices will help people create a more loving and peaceful world. But if these practices interfere at a biological level with the brain's ability to exhibit traits such as empathy, altruism, gratitude, forgiveness, trust, love, and sense of meaning, then we need to be honest about these practices and revisit their usefulness for those who seek healing and deeper relationships with themselves, each other, and God.

Fascinating new research supported by the use of brain scanning technologies has revealed that the brain contains multiple networks -- like highly specific paths or roadways -- that connect certain regions of the brain to produce specific human traits. New networks are being suggested and theorized about all the time, so it's not possible for me to include a comprehensive list, but we now have data to point to the default mode network; the interoception network; the salience network; and the theory of mind network, to name a few. Networks aren't separate from each other and tend to overlap at certain key "hubs." But without these networks, we wouldn't be able to process, regulate, and put into action the complex thoughts, emotions, memories, skills, and perceptions that make us human in a broad sense and also in a unique individual sense.

The brain's networks are so complex that there's always a struggle to keep them in balance. Sometimes an area of the brain is overactive (which affects any networks the area is connected to) and sometimes an area is underactive (which also affects any relevant networks). In addition, entire networks can become dysfunctional, which can become quite serious from a medical point of view because of demonstrated links to specific neurological and psychiatric disorders. The dorsomedial default network, for example, which is supposed to help the brain regulate pain perception, self-knowledge, empathy, and person perception (among other traits) is implicated in a number of major disorders when the links in the network become damaged or are shown to be metabolically overactive or underactive.

In other words, when a network is working in balanced and healthy ways, we can expect to see outward signs of that inner healthy balance. When a person's dorsomedial default network isn't suffering from the insults of illness or injury or genetic factors, for instance, we can expect to see a person who has empathy for others, appropriate responses to pain, and no significant social and communication abnormalities. But with damage to this network comes suffering. Depression, autism, schizophrenia, and obsessive compulsive disorder have all been linked in various ways and in varying degrees to dysfunctions in this network.

And then there's the brain network involved in making moral decisions. Yes, I'm afraid to say there really is such a thing. This network, which uses the temporal-parietal junction, the medial prefrontal cortex, and the middle temporal gyrus (as well as a few other regions), uses the same brain areas that are involved in both theory of mind and empathy. The health and the interconnectivity of these brain areas determines your ability to make moral decisions, your ability to empathize with others (an emotional trait), and your ability to process the more abstract and cognitive aspects of social skills (theory of mind) -- all three at one time. These three important aspects of humanity are interconnected and, despite what you've been told by certain spiritual teachers, can't be biologically disconnected from each other. Nor should you want them to be. These traits reinforce each other and lead to wise decisions that balance both your emotional reasoning skills and your cognitive reasoning skills. It's win-win when you balance your heart and your mind.

If, on the other hand, you train your brain through the practice of non-judgment to ignore your natural, built-in, hard-wired ability to make moral decisions, you'll be rewiring your brain. (It's the use-it-or-lose-it aspect of neuroplasticity, which allows you to change your brain architecture over time through the repeated application of certain free will thoughts and practices.) Unfortunately, this will also impair your brain's ability to feel empathy and your ability to process the cognitive aspects of your relationships, since both of these traits rely on the brain areas harnessed by moral reasoning -- the areas you just intentionally hacked to bits. Lack of moral reasoning and lack of empathy go hand in hand. And it should go without saying that a person who has lost the ability to feel empathic care for others becomes, at the very least, narcissistic, self-entitled, and unable to override his or her own emotional egocentrism.

And, for those who still don't believe forgiveness is necessary, the neuroscientific evidence gets worse. Several recent papers on the neuroscientific basis for forgiveness reveal that granting forgiveness activates the same brain areas as moral cognition, empathy, and theory of mind social reasoning. In addition, there's evidence that the practices of gratitude and altruism, with their links to moral choices and actions, also use some of the same brain areas.

Like the unfolding of individual blossoms on a single orchid stem, the brain's ability to manifest certain soul-based traits such as morality, empathy, and forgiveness depends on a small number brain regions that are linked to each other and produce these traits in sequence. Photo credit JAT 2022.

So there's no getting out of it. You're born with a brain that comes with its own internal software packages for morality, empathy, social cognition, forgiveness, gratitude, and altruism, all of which are biologically intertwined and all of which help you be the most loving person you can be as a human. The trick to not losing any of these desperately needed traits is to treat them as a "package deal." Each time you practice one of these spiritual skills -- which means you're activating and strengthening specific brain areas -- you make it easier for your brain to navigate the other skills in the package.

It's the package as a whole that gives us the tools we need to bring love and peace into the world. So do your spiritual brain a favour. Strengthen the best attributes of your brain so you can go out there and make a difference in the world. Learn from the mistakes made by people such as Stephen Paddock, find the courage to forgive them, and then take the time to teach yourself and others how to be the person you really want to be.

You'll be surprised at what you can do when you learn to use your brain wisely.

LSP46: Don't Know God from Adam

Adam: So God, I was thinking. I've decided I should become a more spiritual person, so I thought maybe you could give me some tips. Nothing biblical, of course. I'm thinking of something more modern. I'm thinking . . . oh . . . maybe something with a bit of a Jesus feel to it. Jesus seems to fly well with just about everybody. You know, all that love and forgiveness stuff. How about it?  Any suggestions for how I can be more like Jesus? I'd really love everybody to love me. The way they love Jesus.

God:  Hmmm. Interesting choice, son.

Adam, shrugging:  Hey, it's, like, just a little something I dreamed up.

God:  Well . . . it's certainly doable, son. How would you like to start?

Adam:  I'm very big on the idea of respect, so we should start with that.

God:  Oh. You'd like to know how to respect me?

Photo JAT 2015

Adam, chuckling:  Of course not. You have such a sense of humour, God. No, I was thinking it's important for me to state what I need. That way, the boundaries will be clear, and there'll be no misunderstandings between us.

God:  I see. That's not the way Jesus started his conversation with me, but go on. Let's see where this takes us.

Adam:  Great. Just so we're clear . . . you and I are equal partners in this, okay? I mean, I don't even have to be doing this. I could just carry on with the life I've been living. I'm pretty impressed with the choices I've been making so far, and other people have told me how great I'm doing, so this spiritual stuff -- it's an add-on. If I don't like something, I'm gonna say so and I'm gonna stop right then and there. That's my bottom line.

God:  You have free will, son. I give that to everybody.

Adam:  Another thing. You're going to guarantee me the results I want, right? You're going to make sure I'm even more popular and successful, right?

God:  You know Jesus was hated by the people he loved, don't you, son? You know he pushed all their buttons?

Adam:  Yeah, yeah, the crucifixion thing. But that was before we got smarter and more accepting of others in our culture. That wouldn't happen today. We wouldn't let it. Today we know the difference between love and hate.

God:  You know the difference between status and lack of status. I'm not sure it's the same thing, son.

Adam:  So back to the Jesus plan. How do I start being more like Jesus?

God:  Well, I need a lot of help getting practical things from people who have them to people who need them. Do you think you might be able to help with that?

Adam:  You mean I should write a cheque to a charity? I might be able to squeeze out a few bucks for you.

God:  Actually, I was thinking about a young man who lives in your community and needs a kind word, an encouraging smile, and a fair chance at getting a job. You're going to cross paths with him on Monday at 5:00 p.m. Think you can help me with that?

Adam, checking schedule on phone:  Uh, well, sorry, but Monday isn't good for me. I have to be at the gym by then. Another day would be better for me. What's Friday like for you? I can squeeze in some time at 7:30 p.m..

God:  Shouldn't you be home with your children at 7:30 p.m.? I'm just wondering, since Jesus placed an extremely high priority on the emotional needs of children, and if you were to spend time in the evenings with your children, it would be a great first step.

Adam:  No problem. I always give them a kiss when I get home, and during the day I sometimes text them.

God:  You know, Jesus was pretty keen on the idea of visiting people in person. He did his teaching and healing in person, even though he could have written long sermons and sent them out by messenger the way other teachers did. Think you could be more of a hands-on guy?

Adam:  Interesting thought, God. Interesting thought. I don't think it's really my style. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

God:  Your children have free will, too, Adam.

Adam:  Hey, don't tell me how to raise my children, God. Next you'll be telling me I should say out loud I believe in God. Nope. I draw the line at saying -- or even thinking -- I believe in you. It ain't gonna happen, God. That's one of my ground rules.

God:  So . . . . to be clear . . . you want to be like Jesus, who believed in me with every shred of his being  . . . but you don't think you should have to believe in anything beyond yourself?

Adam:  You got that straight. I know my rights.

God:  Okay, son. Well, I think I'll be on my way now.

Adam:  Wait! I'm not finished! If this is going to work between us, I expect you to listen! You're supposed to help me when I ask for help!

God:   . . . (offstage whisper) Where's my copy of Horton Hears a Who? Anyone see my copy? Jesus, you borrow it again? Never a copy around when I need one. The kids love it  . . . (smiling) . . .

Adam:  See? Just what I thought! All talk, no commitment. Where are you, God? What kind of God are you, anyway?

LSP39: Try This Prayer Instead (The Dawn Prayer)

The Dawn Prayer (full version)

Gracious God,
What I long for more than anything
is to walk with you and hear the world as you do.
I long more anything for my Heart to be healed
so I may hear your song
and know your breath
and smile at the rush of your dawn-filled wings.
I feel so small
and so crushed
and I can't seem to hear you anymore.
I know this isn't what you wish for me.
Please show me the way back to your Heart
and to my Heart, too.
Please help me hear you
when you say you love me.
I know you love me.
Thank you.
Amen.

The Dawn Prayer (short version: post this where you'll see it several times per day, e.g. on refrigerator door):

Dear God, I know you love me. Thank you. Amen.


by Jesus and Jen, March 26, 2015

LSP38: How Prayer Practices Look to Your Angels

If you want to drive your guardian angel crazy, follow these 2014 instructions from the United Church of Canada for praying during Lent:

M&S Lenten Calendar 2014

March 5: Pray for strength for the journey of deepening faith and spiritual growth.

March 6: Offer a prayer of thanks for those in your life who have been examples of faithful believers.

March 7: Pray for your family and give thanks for other encouragers in your life.

March 8: Offer a prayer of thanks for God’s gift of the presence of the spirit in your life.

March 9: Pray for all those who live with spiritual hunger.

March 10: Pray for strength for someone facing a challenge.

March 11: Pray that you will put trust in God during a challenge you face.

March 12: Pray in a place that is special to you.

March 13: Pray for our leaders in the world.

March 14: Pray for those who search for justice.

March 15: Offer a prayer of thanks for spiritual comfort which God offers to all.

March 16: Pray for all those who serve the church.

March 17: Pray while walking in silence.

March 18: Pray for forgiveness for a failing of yours.

March 19: Sing a prayer today.

March 20: Pray that your decisions will be guided by the spirit.

March 21: Pray that your actions will reflect a Christian spirit.

March 22: Offer a prayer of thanks for the season.

March 23: Let the Holy Spirit guide you as you pray today.

March 24: Pray that the spirit will open your heart.

March 25: Pray that you can generously forgive others or yourself.

March 26: Pray in a new way or place or at a different time of day.

March 27: Pray for deepened trust in God and in the spirit of others.

March 28: Pray for laughter and joy in your life.

March 29: Pray that a conflict you feel will end with peace in your life.

March 30: Pray for those who face discrimination.

March 31: Pray that you will smile at everyone you meet.

April 1: Pray that today you can share the Good News.

April 2: Pray as a group or in the company of others.

April 3: Pray for deepened understanding of Christ’s message.

April 4: Pray for all who struggle with their faith.

April 5: Pray that God will walk with you.

April 6: Pray for “the luck of the Irish” in your life.

April 7: Pray for true joy in sharing the love of God.

April 8: Pray that you will see the beauty around you.

April 9: Pray in the morning and when the sun goes down.

April 10: Pray for our planet and all of God’s creation.

April 11: Pray for those in Canada who lack safe drinking water.

April 12: Pray for The United Church of Canada and its world mission.

April 13: Palm Sunday–Pray for those living in the Holy Land.

April 14: Pray for our Mission partners around the world.

April 15: Pray for the children who live in poverty.

April 16: Pray five times today.

April 17: Maundy Thursday–Pray for your faith community.

April 18: Good Friday–Pray that you will meet faith challenges.

April 19: Pray for faith in yourself and those you love.

The reason you'll drive your guardian angels crazy is that your guardian angels know how your brain actually works and they know you'll feel incredibly frustrated if you pray in a way that confuses and stymies your biological brain. Relationship with God depends on your ability to process incoming information from God and your angels, so effective spiritual practices are those that work with your brain instead of against it. Keep it simple, keep it sane!

With prayer, as with all spiritual practices, there's an easy way and there's a hard way. Your angels are very keen on the easy way (since being an angel-in-human-form is hard enough for you on the best of days). The prayer calendar above is the hard way.

This is how the above calendar looks to your angels:

How Prayer Practices Look to Your Angels: When you use 46 different prayers over the Lenten period, your biological brain sees it as 46 different maps (instead of a single, unified map!) After a while, your brain stops paying attention to the prayers because there's no consistency to them and therefore no chance of building strong inter-neuronal connections. On the other hand, your brain will pay attention to one clearly written prayer repeated earnestly each day for a minimum of 6 weeks. (Six weeks is the minimum amount of time it takes the brain to build a new neuron -- and building neurons and inter-neuronal connections is the key to long-term learning and change!) Credit JAT 2015.

Next year, why not try to easy way? Pick one prayer, reflect on it in the morning and again in the evening, and try to find small messages, synchronicities, or reminders during the course of your everyday life that relate to the one prayer you've chosen. You'll be surprised at what you notice when you're only asking your brain to follow one map at a time. It doesn't mean you're being spiritually lazy -- it means you're respecting God's wishes for you!

LSP37: The Coat of Many Colours: What Scientology Teaches Us About Gnosticism

There's only thing I like about L. Ron Hubbard's cult of Scientology, and that's the way it serves as a teaching tool about the brutal efficiency of prophetic "revelation."

This morning, on the BBC site, I found a wonderful article by Owen Gleiberman about the new Alex Gibney documentary on Scientology. The documentary, called "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" has been attracting a lot of attention since its release earlier this year. The film is in turned based on the 2013 book by Lawrence Wright called "Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief."

Gleiberman ends his article by saying this:

The twisted genius of L Ron Hubbard is that he figured out a way to define and exploit contemporary soul sickness. He was right about the disease. But Going Clear makes a powerful case that he came up with a cure that only made it worse.

Yes, L. Ron Hubbard was a twisted genius. As Gleiberman notes, the film "captures how Hubbard fused reality, fantasy and the pursuit of enlightenment in a way that, according to the film's witnesses, expressed his own highly unstable and even violent nature."

This is what prophets do.

(Please note that I draw clear distinctions between the terms "prophet" and "mystic." For me, the term "prophet" is reserved for an individual of dubious mental health who uses claims of "divine revelation" to establish his or her primacy of authority over others. By contrast, I use the term "mystic" to refer to individuals who are on the extreme end of the "intuition" spectrum, most of whom go through life as writers and philosophers without becoming consciously aware of their vocation as "mystics.")

Prophets who claim divine religious authority for themselves aren't new. Shown here is a red granite statue from Egypt's 18th Dynasty (Temple of Khonspakhered) on display at the British Museum, London UK. Photo credit JAT 2023.

A prophet isn't interested in teaching people how to heal their relationship with God. A prophet is instead interested in crafting an entire "philosophy of science" (a cosmogony, if you will) for the purpose of explaining to you in ruthlessly logical ways why you should hand over to the prophet your integrity; your money; your free will; your core self of worthiness and wisdom; and your relationship with God.

The coat of many colours you were born with is stripped away from you, and in its place you're given a "new and improved" garment of ash.

You're told when you put it on that you're donning the pure white garb of enlightenment. You're told that you're abandoning the burden of emotion, replacing the heaviness of emotion with the weightlessness of pure reason. You're told that all the proof you need lies around you in the Materialist laws of Cause and Effect. You're told that when you see past of the illusions you've created for yourself, you'll suddenly recognize that you can transcend your lowly humanness and reclaim your rightful place in the universe as God. Or Buddha. Or Thetan (as Scientologists describe it).

The garment you've been given reeks of pure narcissism. It reeks of the prophet's absolute refusal to accept that he's a mere child of God. It reeks of his conviction that he himself is so omniscient and so omnipotent that he surely MUST be a god who has lost his memory of his own godhood and fallen to Earth, where he's obliged to dig his way out of Earth's heavy muck so he can stop being reincarnated here.

So have I conflated several different religious beliefs here? On the surface, it would seem so. But no.  What I've done here is describe a single religious paradigm that manifests again and again in humanity's many diverse cultures, not because it's right but because it so beautifully suits the psychological needs of bullies, tyrants, narcissists, and psychopaths.

What I've described here is Gnosticism.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Scientology's underlying cosmogony:

Scientology beliefs revolve around the thetan, the individualized expression of the cosmic source, or life force, named after the Greek letter theta (θ). The thetan is the true identity of a person – an intrinsically good, omniscient, non-material core capable of unlimited creativity. 

In the primordial past, thetans brought the material universe into being largely for their own pleasure. The universe has no independent reality, but derives its apparent reality from the fact that most thetans agree it exists. Thetans fell from grace when they began to identify with their creation, rather than their original state of spiritual purity.  Eventually they lost their memory of their true nature, along with the associated spiritual and creative powers. As a result, thetans came to think of themselves as nothing but embodied beings.

Thetans are reborn time and time again in new bodies through a process called "assumption" which is analogous to reincarnation. Like Hinduism, Scientology posits a causal relationship between the experiences of earlier incarnations and one's present life, and with each rebirth, the effects of the MEST universe (MEST here stands for matter, energy, space, and time) on the thetan become stronger.

It's easy to see the narcissism that underlies the teachings of Scientology. This particular body of teachings is so new that most of us haven't yet overlaid the raw narcissism of it with layers and layers of "divine authority" derived from "ancient tradition." Scientology would like you to pretend that L. Ron Hubbard successfully transcended his own flawed humanity, but, as Going Clear shows, this isn't true. The legacy of a revelatory prophet is most vulnerable in the decades soon after his life, when there are still witnesses with long memories and solid documentation who can attest to the true character of the prophet.

Scientology, like other forms of Gnosticism, is really an attempt to rupture the relationship between individuals and God.

It's just so damned inconvenient, from the narcissist's point of view, to have a God who's already here and already acting for our benefit. The narcissist can't tolerate the idea that he -- a human being -- isn't the smartest, fastest, strongest being in Creation. So, to assuage his intolerably monstrous ego, he invents an entire cosmogony where he is God and he is on a brave and bold quest to reclaim his rightful power as God. Or Buddha. Or Thetan.

By looking at the origins of Scientology -- and specifically at the psychological issues that have driven the founders and chief promoters of this new cult -- we can see the pattern of narcissistic behaviours for ourselves. We can then use our observations to help us decide which aspects of our own spiritual journeys are holding us back as we try to heal our relationship with God.

In order to progress on the Spiral Path of faith, science, wonder, and relationship with God, you must start with the assumption that it's good enough for you to be a child of God instead of trying to become Mother Father God themselves.

Being a child of God entitles you to all the benefits of wearing the coat of many colours God gives to all God's children. It entitles you to be fully yourself, without judgment, abuse, or psychological violence. It entitles you to live passionately according to the needs of both the Heart and the Mind. It entitles you to view your human lifetime as a richly rewarding, positive experience instead of a punitive, degrading, sin-filled, mud-wrestling match. It entitles you to blend both Materialist laws and non-Materialist laws in your daily life. It entitles you to be honest with yourself about how much you really want and need to be in relationship with God.

Gardens are one way to experience the coat of many colours while you're here on Planet Earth. God invites you to help with planting and watering and weeding a garden to create a place of peace, beauty, and healing for others to enjoy (including creatures great and small). But God doesn't expect you to be in charge of the design of every living organism in the vast universe we live in. That's God's job!  Enjoy the gardens of Earth while you're here and rejoice in the ways you can help create and sustain such beauty. It may not be a much of a contribution as far as a spiritual narcissist is concerned, but it's important as far as God and your angels and your own soul are concerned.  Great blessings come in small packages!

It's no fun at all believing you're required to be responsible for everything in Creation. Fortunately, God doesn't expect you to be God.

If you can manage to embrace the first stanza of the Serenity Prayer and live in basic accordance with the tenets of the Twelve Step Program, you'll be doing very well as far as your angels -- and your God -- are concerned.

Best of luck to you!

LSP35: Big Fat Frauds and Other Cautionary Tales from Science and Religion

About a month ago, I first read an article by Peter Whoriskey entitled "Top U.S. nutrition advisory panel poised to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol in diet" (Washington Post, February 10, 2015). I was reminded of this article when I read Margaret Wente's recent commentary on the power of fads in the health and nutrition industries.

Ms. Wente has this to say: "Just about everything we thought we knew about the evils of cholesterol and fats has turned out to be wrong. The doctors, the nutritionists, the dieticians, the heart societies, the experts at Health Canada, the food pyramid that hung on the wall in school -- the entire health and medical establishment, in fact, have been perpetuating a big fat fraud."

Ah, yes. The power of "the Big Fat Fraud." You'd think by now we'd be more conscious of the power of the Big Fat Fraud to control our thinking and our decision-making. You'd think that, because we now have the tools of advanced science at our disposal, we'd be immune to the Big Fat Frauds that have controlled our religions, economics, politics, and wars for millennia.

You might think we'd be immune, but you'd be wrong.

Living as I do (with angels who pop in to chat with me about the science of the human brain and other angels who like to talk with me about quantum physics as it actually exists), I've gradually developed an extremely sensitive "nose" for Big Fat Frauds. This is why I've been eating high fat dairy foods -- and plenty of them -- since 2003.

That's the year my guardian angel, Zak, finally persuaded me that all religious teachings on asceticism are pure crap.

Do I believe there are special wonder foods that can overcome all the health problems created by living a life without balance, common sense, or intuition? No, I don't. Photo credit JAT 2021.

If you were to open up my fridge, you'd see the high fat, high salt foods I eat each day because my practice as an endogenous nature mystic (i.e. a cataphatic mystic) places very high energy demands on my biological brain. Far from starving my brain to get closer to God (as taught by idiotic apophatic mystics around the world), I give my brain all the biological nutrients it needs to constantly build new neurons and glial cells, constantly build new connections, and constantly do the "housecleaning" of sweeping away connections that are no longer needed.

For breakfast each day, I really pack in the calories. I do this intentionally. I do this because I like to boost my blood sugar levels for the physically active part of my day. I start my day by having a glass of real orange juice, a cup of freshly brewed coffee (usually with cream and bit of sugar, but sometimes black), and a cookie for some quick fats, sugars, and salt. This is my first breakfast. Then, like a hobbit, I have "second breakfast." Second breakfast comes about an hour after first breakfast. For second breakfast, I start with a piece of fresh fruit (e.g. banana, pear, orange, or seasonal fruits). Then I have non-fat-free yogurt -- usually Astro set style yogurt with 6% butterfat. (Astro's new lemon, lime, and caramel flavours are really yummy!) Then I have a chunk of full-fat cheese (usually old cheddar, though sometimes mozzarella or havarti) plus a calorie-laden baked good (e.g. a piece of cake or a walnut butter tart or a piece of apple pie). I wash all this down with a second cup of coffee.

Count the calories. This is a ton of calories. Any recently trained nutritionist would be absolutely horrified at what I eat for breakfast. But I don't care. It's what I need.

Oh yeah . . . I weigh between 125 and 130 pounds on a 5'6" frame without ever dieting. (I don't own a scale, so am guessing somewhat on my weight, but I wear a size 6 pant in brands such as Jones New York, so I'm still reasonably trim at age 56).

Me in 2014 (even after all those "second breakfasts")

Did I figure out my "perfect breakfast" by myself, through simple trial and error and careful observation, charting, and research?

Hell, no. I had angel help every time I went to the grocery store until I finally got the hang of eating according to my body's real needs instead of the latest Big Fat Frauds pronounced by both science and religion.

And, just in case you're wondering, I sometimes have bacon and eggs and white toast with lots of butter and natural jam -- same as my childhood years when my Mom made us bacon, eggs, toast, and juice for breakfast.

Thanks, Mom, for having the common sense to feed our family a sensible, balanced diet with all the fats, salt, and proteins a healthy brain needs! You got me off to a great start in life!

Addendum January 1, 2022: In this essay, something I could have mentioned is my abstinence from alcohol. Although I never drank much in my younger days -- just an occasional glass of wine or, on special occasions, a small liqueur -- I stopped drinking alcohol when I realized that no amount of alcohol is really safe for the brain. I can't function in my mystical life without a really healthy brain; ergo, I don't drink. Even a rousing social event can't induce me to do something I know will hurt my brain.

Now, after many years of patiently waiting for medical science to realize they might have committed a Big Fat Fraud in telling people to drink a glass of wine every day to improve their health, along comes this article by Laura Brehaut in the National Post (Dec. 31, 2021): "It turns out a glass of wine a day likely doesn't keep the doctor away." 

Naturally, this is just one more reason for me to thoroughly dislike the sacrament of the Eucharist.

 

LSP31: Some Thoughts on Stealth Buddhism

In response to a recent Psychology Today blog by Religious Studies professor Candy Gunther Brown, a member of an online discussion group posed this question: "Is Secular Mindfulness Meditation Really Stealth Buddhism?"

There were only two posted comments when I checked into the discussion, and one of the two posted comments started out by saying this:

"Buddhism's most basic precepts do not constitute a 'religion' per se. The aim is to reduce suffering."

A lot of people seem to believe this.  I wrote this in reply:

_________________________________________

It's interesting that you say Buddhism's most basic precepts don't constitute a religion. I've seen this said many times of Buddhism (using as my definition of Buddhism the core teachings of the Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, cosmogony of co-dependent origination, and related teachings). I feel it's always important to look at the whole picture of Buddhism's philosophy and way of life when deciding how to incorporate its core teachings into our daily lives (if at all).

It's often said that the aim of Buddhism is to reduce suffering. While this is certainly true, Buddhism in the form taught by the Buddha (if it's even possible to accurately reconstruct his original teachings) is a self-contained cosmogonical and cosmological philosophy founded on apophatic mysticism with a salvific goal. Its focus on salvation (what Buddhists refer to as liberation) definitely pushes it in the direction of a religion. As well, the Buddha's refusal to answer the question of whether there actually is a God makes Buddhism a non-theistic philosophy. It isn't, strictly speaking, an atheistic way of life. There's no room within Buddhism for a personal God, but there's plenty of room in it for assorted supernatural beings and saints (especially within Mahayana Buddhism).

Apophatic mystics, regardless of their original religious training, see the universe in a particular way. This way is filled with negation, lack of imagery, eradication of personal boundaries, and the elevation of the human mind to a cosmic power that can merge with (or even transcend) Source.
 

Few people in the West take the time to understand that the Buddha's claim of awakening under the Bodhi tree is a classic example of an apophatic mystical experience. Those in the West who turn to Buddhism as a way to escape the "nonsense" of Christian mysticism and miracles should be more honest with themselves about the mystical roots of Buddhism. Photo credit JAT 2018.

The goal of all apophatic mystics -- whether Buddhist, Christian, or any other faith tradition -- is to permanently escape the problems and suffering of the imperfect world we live in through the path of the perfect mind. There's no need within any apophatic philosophy to promote the ideals of the human heart or the reduction of suffering through alternate means or practices (one example of an alternate practice being forgiveness).

Having said this, I think there's great value in the practice of mindfulness if mindfulness is defined as something more akin to healthy awareness of self (interoception); healthy maintenance of boundaries (parieto-temporal lobe enhancement); triggering of the "placebo effect" through self-kindness, gratitude, humbleness (lack of status addiction), forgiveness, empathy, music, and community fellowship; and full use of the CNS's capacity to begin to heal itself (and the whole body) if we use our free will in healthy ways.

I'm a practising mystic, but I follow the cataphatic path. I don't engage in meditation because the kind of meditation endorsed within strict Buddhist circles will trigger (with sustained practice) neuroplastic effects that I have no interest in. I have no interest in changing my brain structure to suit the ideals of an apophatic belief system. I'm content to see the world as a positive place. I'm not trying to escape this world. And I don't believe I'm clever enough to use the power of my human mind to understand the entire universe and everything in it.

Plato also endorsed a version of the cloud of Oneness (similar to Buddhism's co-dependent origination) but Plato was an apophatic mystic. I'm not keen on Plato's Philosopher-Kings, either.

Monism always leads in the end to Dualism. Dualism creates a hell of a lot of suffering in the world. Tackling dualistic belief systems is a great way to help people reduce their suffering.

Jen 

LSP30: Spirituality: Don't Let It Become Your Personal Addiction Playground

I wrote the following paragraphs in response to a question posted recently in an online spirituality forum.  The question was, "Why must those who claim to be Spiritual be so afraid of honest debate?"

Honest debate is a good antidote for the problems created by top-down philosophical authority (a.k.a. Revelation).  But first it's helpful to understand the obstacles that get in the way of honest debate.

________________________________________________________

It's easier to see the effects of status addiction in spheres of life such as politics or business, as a recent article in The Atlantic by Jerry Useem highlighted: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/power-causes-brain-damage/528711/. But the same thing happens in spiritual and religious circles because, like it or not, we only have so many brain networks. The biological networks you use to build knowledge, authority, relationships, and organizational planning in the business world are the same networks you use to build knowledge, etc., in the religious or spiritual world. You can't separate the networks (though many unethical spiritual teachers will tell you you can). So if you're vulnerable to the problems of addiction -- especially status addiction -- you're not immune to the problems caused by too much power or too much infallibility in the spiritual world. Like everybody else, you have to deal with the biology God has given you -- not the biology you'd like to think you have. Photo credit JAT 2017.

Another point to consider is the neuroscientific perspective, since a person who's on a spiritual path is still a human being who's dealing with all the realities of biology, chemistry, and physics. 

The human brain is vulnerable to addiction issues. (Actually, many other species are vulnerable to addiction issues, too, but this isn't the place for that discussion.) Addiction issues can really get in the way within spiritual circles, especially when the addiction is to status.

Status addiction is a physiological addiction -- a biological addiction -- that's no different (as far as the brain is concerned) than better known addictions such as alcohol or substance abuse. It hasn't been examined much in scientific studies. I hope this lack of scientific interest will soon change.

Status addiction often expresses itself as the "Right to Be Right" -- a psychological need to present a belief or an opinion as a "universal truth" that can't be challenged. This status-driven "Right to Be Right" is often seen in both scientific and theological circles, where the payoff for being "right" can be quite large. (Note that acquiring money isn't the key issue here; acquiring status points is the goal, so an ascetic who's given up all money and belongings can still be suffering from a self-devouring status addiction.)

When a status addict's "Right to Be Right" is challenged, he or she will respond as all addicts do (until they begin to confront their personal addictions): they'll do whatever they have to do to protect their daily "fix."

I've had personal encounters with a number of status addicts who've chosen the spiritual world as their personal addiction playground, and let me tell you -- it ain't pretty when you confront them.

As with any form of addiction, a Twelve Step Program could prove very helpful for dealing with the intense cravings of status addiction and the unloving behaviour that often results.

Hope this helps.

Blessings,
Jen

LSP20: A New Spin on the Old Seven Deadlies

We've all heard about the seven deadly sins. In the Christian tradition, pride, envy, anger, lust, greed, sloth, and gluttony are the usual contenders for the crown of worst human traits ever. Even if you don't agree with the Church's teachings on why we're sinful, it's pretty hard to argue with the fact that human beings do awful, awful things to themselves, each other, and the planet because of pride, anger, and the rest.

When people behave badly, they often look to religion to explain their behaviour and give them tools to change their behaviour in the future. Sometimes people want to change because they're afraid their souls will end up in hell. Other times people want to change because they're tired of not being able to like themselves or trust themselves. Either way, they're up against the dreaded topic of ethics and morality.

Can you actually be happy or feel your connection with God if you don't try your best to be ethical or moral?

A lot of people have simply given up on the idea of trying to be ethical and trying to live a moral life. They pretend on the surface to care about ethics, and they're quick to express their shock and outrage on Twitter, but when they're asked in their own lives to make moral choices, they don't have the tools to actually do it. What's worse, they don't know why they don't have the tools.

It's almost impossible to tackle a major psychological and spiritual issue if you don't understand at a logical, rational, scientific level why you're doing what you're doing. You need a solid explanation to stand on, so to speak, a solid explanation to help ground you and keep you sane as you struggle to change and make new choices.

As we know, the Church's explanation for why you're being proud, envious, angry, lustful, greedy, slothful, and gluttonous is Sin with a capital "S." Various Eastern and New Age teachings have trumped Christianity's Sin by claiming that all your unloving behaviour is an illusion anyway, an illusion you can escape through your own hard work and discipline.

I offer an entirely different explanation. I suggest (because it's what I've been taught through my mystical connection with God the Mother, God the Father, and other angels in the Core) that almost all human beings are wrestling with the challenges of status addiction. It's status addiction -- not Sin, not karma, and not evil forces -- that's wrecking your life.

Status addiction tricks your brain into thinking you look like this . . .

What is pride? Pride is what you "feel" when the addicted parts of your brain sense your hoard of status points is being threatened.

What is envy? Envy is what you "feel" when the addicted parts of your brain suspect your neighbour has acquired some status points you "rightfully" deserve.

. . . when really, from the point of view of God, your angels, and your own soul, your status-addicted brain looks more like this. Status addiction saps the creativity, intuition, and sense of meaning and purpose from your life. If you want to get closer to God, you need to be honest with yourself about what status addiction is doing to your brain.

What is anger? Anger is what you "feel" when the addicted parts of your brain suspect your neighbour has tried to steal status points from you.

What is lust? Lust is what you "feel" when the addicted parts of your brain justify your plan to invade somebody else's personal boundaries to steal some of their status points.

What is greed? Greed is the addictive high you feel at the very thought of acquiring some new status points.

What is sloth? Sloth is the state of denial about your addiction disorder.

What is gluttony? Gluttony is a secondary addiction disorder (a co-morbid disorder) that easily arises in the brain of a person who's already experiencing another addiction disorder (in this case, the addiction to status).

That's status addiction in a nutshell.

Now here's the big question.

How many people do you know who have managed all on their own, without any help from anyone else, to personally recognize, confront, cope with, and completely heal their own major addiction disorders (e.g. addiction to opioids, pornography, perfectionism)?

I'm guessing not many.

It takes a community to build a culture based on status addiction, and it's going to take a community to confront and heal the catastrophic problems caused by this addiction.

The first step in healing any addiction is self honesty. The second is recognizing a higher power that can give you strength.

God, please help us with this great task!

Amen.


For Further Reflection:

You may have noticed as you read this post that when the seven deadly sins are defined as "shades" or "colours" of status addiction, it's easier to see how these behaviours violate the morality of boundaries, the morality that guides all loving actions in God's universe.

Almost everyone has been in the position of feeling what it's like to have your personal boundaries invaded.

Invasion of personal space can take many forms, from the innocuous (a neighbour who stands an inch or two too close to you) to the violent (a trusted professional who sexually assaults your children). Occasionally, invasions of personal space involve tangible weapons (e.g. knives, guns, or fists) that leave marks on your physical body, marks that other people can see and sympathize with. More often than not, though, the chosen weapons are things that can't be seen with the human eye: cruel remarks that cut you down and make you feel bad about yourself; intentional manipulation that tricks you into lowering your defences so your reputation or money can be stolen from you; denial and deceit that steal your voice; physical intimidation that threatens to steal your livelihood if you refuse to submit to sexual advances; aggressive demands that you obey, even worship, your abusers lest you be ejected from your family or community and left to fend for yourself.

All invasions, however, share a common thread: a sense that someone has stolen a piece of your personal safety.

As with other forms of injury, small cuts and bruises to your sense of personal safety can, and should be, healed in short order. But major assaults, such as attempted murder, rape, or spiritual violations, leave large holes that take years to heal and always leave scars no matter how loving and forgiving you are. Coping with such major injuries can become a full-time job, making it difficult for you to apply your time, energy, and talents to anything but survival.

If it were true, as so many spiritual leaders are currently claiming, that the path to spiritual enlightenment is eradication of boundaries and transcendence of the self, then we would expect to see great benefits accrue to all cultures that oppose boundaries and endorse Oneness. We would expect to see less suffering, greater prosperity, more happiness, and more cultural creativity in dictator-driven Communist societies; totalitarian and fascist regimes; fundamentalist sects; and certain Buddhist and New Age communities -- places that have given us the chance to observe the long term effects of practising Oneness.

We do not, in fact, see such benefits. Instead, we see the opposite.

Cultures and religions that embrace a morality of personal boundaries have done a particularly good job of reducing suffering and maintaining happiness while at the same time offering opportunities for individuation, creative self expression, mutual self respect, and the quest for Meaning.

In order for you to build and maintain your relationship with Mother Father God, you need to begin to examine the ways in which status addiction is punching holes through your personal sense of safety. You're not just looking for situations where other people are trying to steal from you; you're looking for the ways in which your own habits, ideologies, and unchallenged beliefs are deceiving you into stealing from yourself.

This is what all forms of addiction boil down to: allowing some parts of your brain (especially your reward and pleasure pathways) to steal from other parts of your human self (such as your soul-related Meaning networks).

At the start of every spiritual journey, there's a person who doesn't know how to get rid of his or her multifaceted expressions of pride, envy, anger, lust, greed, sloth, and gluttony. But each step towards Humbleness, Divine Love, and Divine Forgiveness will help you gradually shed the burden of status addiction's smelly, toxic, thorn-covered leaves.

The leaves that grow in their place are Peace.

LSP16: You Don't Have to Climb Mount Everest

"Healing and Hope for the Brain-Soul Nexus" is the tagline for one of my earlier books, and it's the central theme of all the work I've been researching on humans searching for God. It's actually a pretty simple idea, the idea that if you heal your own brain-soul nexus, you're on the "easy path" to knowing God in this lifetime. But since when do most of us want to do things the easy way?

While just about everybody else on the spiritual circuit is out there hammering away at the importance of ancient consciousness-altering tools such as prayer and meditation, me, I'm hammering away at the importance of consciousness-healing tools.

This goes back to the roots that are holding up your spiritual tree. The spiritual practices you choose to highlight in your life will depend on the starting assumptions -- the roots -- of your relationship with yourself and God. These choices matter because spiritual practices, no matter which tradition they stem from, all have a specific scientific purpose. They're all designed to do something specific to your brain chemistry.

And there you were thinkin' that spirituality is an escape from ordinary, everyday, scientific realities  . . .

Perhaps you already know that ancient spiritual practices are based on empirical observations about the science of brain function. But most people have been led to believe that spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation, fasting, hallucinogenic drugs, trance states, and energy work are somehow separate from everyday science. They've been led to believe the divine rules are different when it comes to ancient spirituality.

They're not. The rules have never been different for these practices. These practices all create specific changes in your brain architecture whether you want them to or not. They're very powerful tools -- far more powerful than modern pharmaceuticals such as S.S.R.I.'s or mood stabilizers -- and as such, they need to be understood and respected for what they can do, as well as what they can't do.

In my view, it's irresponsible and reckless for religious leaders to recommend intensive use of spiritual practices in the naive belief that science doesn't apply. In God's Good Creation, science always applies. Nobody can escape the consequences that come from overuse of spiritual practices, just as nobody can escape the consequences that come from overuse of food or medication or alcohol or anything else that affects our brain chemistry.

As many wise people over time have pointed out, moderation is the key.

What I'm trying to say is that it's not smart to sign up at the spiritual smorgasbord and pile up your plate with all the ancient goodies you've never tried before. You need to remember that some of these old practices can hurt your brain -- not because the ancient teachers didn't understand how the brain works, but because they did.

I know this is a distressing thought, but there has to be a solid, scientific reason why so many people over so many centuries tried so hard to reconnect with God, yet never felt a dammed thing except frustration and despair. Do you really think God created your brain in such a way that you'd have to climb Mount Everest so you can feel God's love? Do you really think that only the people who set themselves apart to constantly pray and meditate have the potential to feel God's love?

There are ways of communicating clearly with God that can help you heal your brain-soul nexus and feel God's love. (And no -- I'm not about to suggest anything occult!)  There are ways of talking with God and sitting quietly with God that look on the surface like ancient prayer and meditation, but are, in fact, something quite different because they use different parts of the brain than ancient practices use.

What matters here is whether you use the parts of your brain that are hardwired into your soul's own needs.

Consciousness-healing techniques (as opposed to consciousness-altering techniques) always start with an unshakable belief in the good soul that you are.

Instead of trying to climb the spiritual Mount Everest proclaimed in many ancient religious texts, try hiking up a real hill and taking in the view with all your senses. If medical or financial limitations prevent you from visiting the countryside, try sitting in the sun by your favourite window or taking a short walk in your neighbourhood if you're able. Look at the trees. Listen to the birds. Be grateful for the gifts of Creation that surround you and support you. I know this sounds ridiculously simple and not very flashy. But that's the point. God loves all of us equally and wants everyone to have a chance to feel Divine Love. So why would God set up a system that allows only the rich or the full-time ascetics or the already-enlightened to heal the brain-soul nexus? God wouldn't. So start where you are and don't be ashamed if your current circumstances are modest and maybe even a bit ramshackle. God won't care as long as you're trying each day to be a loving person! This photo was taken outside Banff, Alberta. Photo credit JAT 2015.

For Further Reflection:

There's been a lot of talk lately, even among scientific circles, about the importance of gratitude in maintaining our physical and mental health. Gratitude for the good things that come our way is one of the few spiritual practices everyone can agree on. It offends no one. It's also an effective strategy for countering the negative thoughts we all struggle with. Gratitude helps us see the glass as half full rather than half empty. So I highly recommend the practice of positive gratitude to everyone.

How does the spiritual practice of gratitude differ from an ordinary, on-the-fly expression of thanks? It differs because it's a contemplative practice instead of a social practice. If you're like most people, your brain is adept at manoeuvring through complex social interactions (saying thank you automatically) but much less comfortable with contemplative norms (saying thank you when there's no direct social benefit for you). So it will probably take you some time to develop the habit of spiritual gratitude.

Set aside some quiet time each day to reflect on the small things you're grateful for. The place and time don't really matter. You can do your contemplative work wherever you feel comfortable, which may need to be the bathtub if it's the only place where you can find some time and space for yourself in your busy day. You can write down your observations about gratitude if you want to, but, again, the process isn't rigid, so you don't have to write anything down unless it helps you.

The core of the practice is to quietly thank all the people (including God and your angels!) who brought positive encounters and experiences and everyday needs into your life. That's it. Three honest daily observations about the people (especially God and your angels!) who helped you are usually enough (unless you had an especially eventful day). The key is to become conscious of the help you received. Don't take it for granted.

(1) Be aware. (2) Be appreciative. (3) Say thank you. These are the three essential steps of positive gratitude.

It's important not to cheat by making blanket statements about how lucky you are and how grateful you are for just, well, everything. In order for the practice of gratitude to make a difference in your life -- for gratitude to permanently alter your brain networks in helpful ways -- you need to spend quiet time each day untangling the great big ball of blessings you've received. You need to separate and sort your blessings (as best you can) into individual threads.

Why do you have to remember the individual people and individual acts that have made a difference in your life? The answer lies in the way your brain works.

Your brain is tasked with innumerable responsibilities each day, and each task uses up precious biological resources. So in any circumstance where your brain thinks it can save energy by using macros or stereotyping or quick algorithms -- in other words, "brain apps" -- your brain will use its built-in apps unless you tell it otherwise. Like it or not, your brain (unless you tell it otherwise) has an unfortunate tendency to see other people as faceless, nameless "worker ants" whose only job is to serve you. As far as your brain is concerned, this is both logical and efficient, especially in our harried, over-stressed culture.

Naturally, if your brain is invested in forgetting who people are and what people did for you, it becomes difficult for you to see other people as unique individuals and cherished children of God. It then becomes harder to know them, to know yourself, and to know God.

The goal of contemplative gratitude, therefore, is to insist that your brain smarten up and change its priorities. You're telling your own brain that one of your important new priorities is to see other people as individuals, to appreciate their talents, to understand how important they are to the overall happiness of the whole community.

With practice, you'll know them better and you'll know yourself better. Eventually, this will help you know God better.

A wonderful side benefit to this spiritual practice is the unintentional and unavoidable growth of your own sense of Humbleness. After you've spent a year thinking about all the ways in which your neighbours have helped you, and all the ways in which their talents differ from yours, and all the ways in which they're worthy of appreciation, it's pretty hard to maintain the illusion that you're better than other people and more deserving of God's love than other people.

After all, you ain't growing and picking and sorting and packing and shipping and marketing and grinding and brewing all those coffee beans by yourself. Are you?

LSP15: Why I Don't Use Traditional Meditation Techniques

There's a reason why I don't meditate.

I don't meditate because traditional Buddhist meditation practices damage the health of the brain-soul nexus.* Since it's the brain-soul nexus that allows me to connect with God in the Core, I won't do anything to jeopardize the connection. This means (among other things) that I refuse to meditate.

I refuse to tell my brain to stop doing its job so I can have a rest from my own thoughts and emotions.  My brain comes pre-wired with a set of more effective tools I can use whenever I need a rest.

The most important of these tools is sleep. A solid 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep is one of the most powerful spiritual tools available to you. It's free. It's available to everyone (barring circumstances such as parenthood or illness). It's highly effective. And the healing mechanisms that kick in while you're asleep come pre-loaded in your DNA.

I know of people who get up early or stay up late so they'll have time to meditate or pray each day.  They cut short their sleep-time -- sleep-time that's required for optimal brain-soul health -- so they can voluntarily put their brains into "low-emotion mode." The brain's "low-emotion mode" is a lot like your computer's sleep mode: the power's on, but nobody's home. The power's on, but you're choosing not to use your full emotional computing capacity to be the best human being you can be. The power's on, but you're choosing to ignore what it means to love.

"Jesus said: 'The Pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys to knowledge and have hidden them. They did not go in, and they did not permit those desiring to go in to enter. You should be clever as snakes and innocent as doves'" (Gospel of Thomas 39a-b). Emerald Tree Boa at the Metro Toronto Zoo. Photo credit JAT 2017.

Let's face it -- while you spend an hour focusing only on your breathwork, you're not reflecting on your relationships or working to forgive a harmful choice or learning something new that you didn't know yesterday. You're not choosing to love somebody. You're not choosing to engage in active contemplation of humbleness and love. You're not choosing love.

What . . . you thought love was an instinctive process that didn't require any effort on your part?

It's fine to begin the process of active contemplation by sitting quietly, slowing your breathing, and relaxing your brain. Sometimes this starting point is called "centering." Centering is helpful. But choosing to meditate so you can escape from your own emotional self -- not so helpful.

I understand how wonderful it can seem at first to be able to sit down and not have to listen to all the annoying, confusing, stressful thoughts going round and round in your head. This is the great appeal of intensive meditation practice. But there's a huge cost to this kind of practice, and you need to know about it. You need to know that if you place your spiritual eggs in the meditation basket, the long term cost will be a greater sense of distance between you and God, not a smaller sense of distance.

I'm not being cruel or judgmental here. I'm being rigorously scientific. Traditional Buddhist meditation practices are specifically designed to create an internal experience that matches the outward belief in "dependent origination." In this context, meditation is a highly effective practice for those who wish to focus solely on human will without regard for the needs of relationship with a personal God (Buddhism being a non-theistic philosophy). Meditation does exactly what it claims to do: it does a very good job of helping people shut down the painful emotional centres related to love, grief, trust, forgiveness, and humbleness.

However, since you need all these emotional centres in order to feel your connection with God's love, the one thing pure meditative practice cannot do is help you get closer to God. Even though it can be painful to deal with love, grief, trust, forgiveness, and humbleness, these emotions are part of the soul, and you can't deny these feelings or ignore them if you want to get closer to God. Instead, you have to learn to work with them in positive and mature and transformative ways. (Jesus called this "entering the kingdom of the heavens.")

Major world religions share one universal characteristic: each religion has thousands and thousands of theories and doctrines and traditions about who God is, how Creation came into being, and how human beings should correctly understand their relationship with Creation. It's so complicated that no human brain can make sense of it all.

It's no wonder, then, that it never occurs to us that building a relationship with God might actually mean using the ordinary tools we already have inside our bodies and brains -- the tools we're born with because God put them there through the process of evolution.

In other words, God, the great scientist, expects you not to waste the healing gift of sleep.


* Because Pure Land Buddhism focuses on love and empathy, I partially exclude this tradition from my general remarks on meditation -- though only partially.


Addendum October 19, 2017: In a Scientific American post on October 11, 2017, writer Bret Stetka reviews some of the recent research into meditation and mindfulness-based interventions: "Where's the proof that mindfulness meditation works?" 

Addendum November 6, 2017: In a Scientific American post on October 31, 2017, psychology professor Cindi May writes about a large mindfulness study involving adolescents: "Mindfulness Training for Teens Fails Important Test"

Addendum December 1, 2019: It's generally supposed that meditation practitioners experience only positive effects from the practice. Here are two articles that remind us the reality is more nuanced. One is a 2019 essay called "The Problem of Mindfulness" by Sahanika Ratnayake. The other piece, "There's a dark side to meditation that nobody talks about" by Lila MacLellan from 2017, briefly reviews some of the challenging issues of meditation.

Addendum February 7, 2021: Here's another article that presents a balanced picture about the practice of mindfulness: "How too much mindfulness can spike anxiety" by David Robson, posted February 4, 2021 on the BBC.

Addendum November 29, 2021: A recent study suggests that independent-minded individuals can become less altruistic and more selfish when using certain mindfulness techniques. The study is reviewed in "How mindfulness could make you selfish" by David Robson, posted August 16, 2021 on BBC Worklife.

 

For Further Reflection:

Have you ever asked yourself why meditation places such an important role in the life of a devout Buddhist? Is it a simple tool, a spiritual practice to help you advance toward the goalless goal of happiness and compassion? Or is it something more, an internal path of immanence that may guide you eventually to the bliss of Oneness (i.e. dependent origination) if your faith is strong enough? Is meditation less a practice and more a sacrament? If so, can this sacrament be detached from its Buddhist roots and applied neutrally to other faith traditions without any consequences?

People who have grown up in the Christian tradition are familiar with the power of sacraments to change how we choose to relate to each other and to Creation. Sometimes, during great crises, it's only our connection to the power of sacraments that keeps us from falling apart.

In most mainline Protestant churches, there are only two sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist. In the Roman Catholic church, seven sacraments are recognized: Baptism, Penance, Confirmation, Marriage, Eucharist, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the concept of sacraments is broader and more fluid. And in various aboriginal religions, the concept is broader still.

Regardless of religious tradition, however, human beings are drawn to the mystery of sacraments, to the places, symbols, and experiences that help us feel connected to God and all Creation. We crave such sacraments and we feel quite lost when they're stripped away from us. The history of iconoclasm shows us that whenever our leaders try to eradicate our heart-based connection to the sacred, we rebel. Even Buddhism has rebelled through its imagery, its architecture, its mandalas and prayer wheels, and its other sacred symbols of the teachings.

Because Christian sacraments typically involve external rituals and symbols, we tend to think of them as, well, external. It doesn't occur to us to think of Buddhist meditation -- an internal experience, if ever there was one -- as a sacrament. But it fulfills every need of a sacrament because it embodies in a biological way the cosmogonical doctrines of the religion. Every time you engage in meditation as a Buddhist, you're reminded of the cosmogonical doctrine of dependent origination, and you're striving to match every aspect of your life to that doctrine. This is no different than what Pauline Christians do when they take the Eucharist and remind themselves they must try harder to match their lives to the pattern of Jesus Christ, whom they believe was with God at the beginning of time.

Sacraments link theoretical doctrine to daily life, but sacraments differ from religion to religion because the theories of God differ from religion to religion. The sacraments are like the outer branches of the spiritual tree; they can only grow from the specific roots that nourish them.

There's no doubt from a scientific perspective that traditional Buddhist meditation techniques affect the wiring of the human brain in distinctive ways. All religious practices, regardless of origin, have some sort of effect on the brain if they're repeated often enough. So the question you need to ask yourself is this: do you want to enthusiastically embrace a practice -- a sacrament -- that's specifically designed to help you overcome the idea that you need a personal God in your life?

Or would it be more helpful for you to graciously accept the right of all people to choose their own path, and then humbly go your own way without fear that you're messing up your own quest?