Bliss In Practice

I still have a lot to learn. I am one of those people who has to learn things the hard way. Although I've attempted to extricate this difficulty from my life, it's a test for me and I keep trying to do my best to reconcile. I need black as much as I need white. Contrast never fails to show me what I need to know. Because of this tendency, I've longed for protection. By protection I mean assurance. I'd like to share something I've learned from a recent lecture  based on the research of Dr. Amena Syed (clinical psychologist and neuroscientist). It has to do with the mind/heart connection. Nouman Ali Khan said “The heart and the brain help us make decisions, but the heart is in the driver seat”. The heart communicates to the body in four ways: Biochemical communication (heart hormones release into the blood stream affecting the body), Biophysical communication (through blood pressure and sound waves), Energetic communication (through electromagnetic...

I've been trying to create characters for a piece I'm working on and like any writer, I've been digging deep into some personal questions. One of the questions my main character asks is “Why can't I find a good woman to marry me?” This is a tough one. I've been soaking in the tub of hopes and fears, lathered with a scrubby sponge of psychology and finally rinsed off with religion to answer this. The response came to me in the form of another question: “Would you marry you ?” Without becoming egotistical or slipping on the wet floor of self-loathing, what would his answer be? Probably a mixed bag of yes and no. And it's true we have our faults. Looking for that “perfect” person will probably mean he will never get married because there is no perfect person out there. My main character is clearly not willing to settle for just anyone, and so he shouldn't. Neither should the women that he encounters. Standards should play a part in this very import...

Today I want to share something that is in my heart. What I have to say is nothing new, but I'll try my best to give my rendering. I remember reading social philosophers like Decarte and Fromme and novelists like Dostoyevsky. The question I wanted answered had to do with personal freedom and destiny. I was suffering from a bad case of secular humanism. Ironically, I wanted to need, even though it propelled me further into worry and fear. The needing closed my eyes and my heart. I've set aside these arguments for something better, something beautiful. I was writing and erasing, writing and erasing trying to separate two ideas when a thought came to me - true freedom can only be found in submission. There is a beautiful peacefulness in freely chosen obedience to people, ideas and commitments greater than oneself. In submission you can find your purpose in life freeing yourself from the root of all angst. Submission washes away pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, gree...