New Thinkin • Jun 30, 2024 Diane Hennacy Powell, MD, is author of The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena. She has used her training in neuroscience and psychiatry to investigation the psychic abilities of autistic savants. Here she describes how her great love for science led her to pursue a study of paranormal abilities among autistic savants, most of whom do not even possess expressive language skills. 00:00 Introduction 01:24 Science background 09:53 Amazing psychic reading 17:28 Autistic savants 21:59 Researching psi in savants 28:53 Verbal vs. nonverbal savants 35:43 Post-materialist science 40:30 Medical community response 46:11 Conclusion Edited subtitles for this video are available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, and Swedish. New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is also the Grand Prize winner of the 2021 Bigelow Institute essay competition regarding the best evidence for survival of human consciousness after permanent bodily death. (Recorded on June 13, 2024)
Monthly Archives: June 2024
Book: “Cupid’s Poisoned Arrow: From Habit to Harmony in Sexual Relationships”
Cupid’s Poisoned Arrow: From Habit to Harmony in Sexual Relationships
Marnia Robinson, Douglas Wile (Foreword)
Zing! Cupid’s arrow skewers a primitive part of the brain. Obediently, we fall in love amid showers of passionate fireworks, bond for a time … and then often get fed up with each other and grow irritable or numb. Perhaps we try to remodel our mate, seek solace online, or pursue a new love interest. Ancient sages recognized this biological snare and hinted at a way to dodge it: use lovemaking to balance one anotherandharmony arises naturally.
With an entertaining blend of personal experiences, the latest neuroscience, and forgotten insights from around the globe, Cupid’s Poisoned Arrow confronts current assumptions about sex and love and offers a refreshing, practical approach to sexuality.
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6587364-cupid-s-poisoned-arrow
Forty Rules of Love – Shams of Tabriz | Ellif Shafaq
Shams of Tab • Jun 2, 2024 • Shams Tabrizi, a wandering mystic and spiritual teacher, profoundly influenced one of the greatest poets of all time, Rumi. Known for his deep wisdom and unconventional ways, Shams transformed Rumi’s life, leading him on a journey of spiritual awakening and inspiring the timeless poetry we cherish today. Shams’s teachings centered on love, devotion, and inner illumination, echoed in his Diwan-i Shams-i Tabrīzī. His timeless verses inspire seekers worldwide, inviting self-discovery and divine union. Despite centuries passing, Shams’s legacy remains a beacon of Sufi wisdom, resonating across cultures. Explore the profound impact of Shams Tabrizi on poetry, spirituality, and the human soul. #love#40rulesoflove#spiritualjourney#motivation#shamstabrez#spirituality#quotes “The Forty Rules of Love” by Shams Tabrizi is a profound collection of spiritual insights that guide us on the journey of love and self-discovery. These timeless rules, brought to life through Elif Shafak’s captivating novel, reveal the essence of divine love and the path to true enlightenment. In this video, we delve into the wisdom of Shams Tabrizi, exploring the beautiful, transformative lessons embedded in these forty rules. Join us as we uncover how these teachings can inspire a deeper connection with ourselves, others, and the divine, enriching our lives with love, compassion, and spiritual growth.
Atul Gawande — On Mortality and Meaning
Image by David Yellen, © All Rights Reserved.
Link to podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/az/podcast/atul-gawande-on-mortality-and-meaning/id150892556?i=1000660464864&uo=4&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
On Being with Krista Tippett
We are strange creatures. It is hard for us to speak about, or let in, the reality of frailty and death — the elemental fact of mortality itself. In this century, western medicine has gradually moved away from its understanding of death as a failure — where care stops with a terminal diagnosis. Hospice has moved, from something rare to something expected. And yet advances in technology have made it ever harder for physicians and patients to make a call to stop fighting death — often at the expense of the quality of this last time of life. Meanwhile, there is a new longevity industry which resists the very notion of decline, much less finitude.
Fascinatingly, the simple question which transformed the surgeon Atul Gawande’s life and practice of medicine is this: What does a good day look like? As he has come to see, standing reverently before our mortality is an exercise in more intricately inhabiting why we want to be alive. This conversation evokes both grief and hope, sadness at so many deaths — including our species-level losses to Covid — that have not allowed for this measure of care. Yet it also includes very actionable encouragement towards the agency that is there to claim in our mortal odysseys ahead.
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- 2019 The On Being Project. All rights reserved.
The Thinking Function as given by Nature
JULY
The Thinking Function as given by Nature
Thinking and feeling are uniquely human abilities. Some animals have rudimentary manifestations of these functions, but their full potential only comes into play in human beings. To envision things in our mind’s eye that are not immediately present, and relate them to other abstractions, is an exclusively human capacity. To feel, empathize, and perceive someone else’s emotional condition by examining their expression, is also uniquely human. These two functions can accomplish much more, and inner farming is specifically aimed at bringing them to their full potential. As we shall see in the coming labors, thinking and feeling are by nature the least disciplined of our functions. For this reason, they are given two labors each: the first spans their functioning by nature, the second, how their output might be farmed.
The July wheat harvest will focus on the natural yield of our thinking function. This function reasons, compares, imagines, formulates words, and in general, conceives and handles abstract concepts. Thanks to our thinking function, we can entertain complex topics in our mind, break them down into smaller components, and present them to ourselves or others logically and coherently. This is such an inherently human ability that we take it for granted. Replaying yesterday’s events in my mind’s eye, or thinking and planning for tomorrow, is only possible because I have power over abstractions. Moreover, this ability permeates and empowers the other functions. It enables the moving function to visualize objects and order them in space. It enables the emotional function to consider people’s character and consider different ways to approach them. It opens innumerable possibilities for us without which we would be incapable of change, just like the rest of the animal world. In fact, the whole concept of inner farming presupposes an ability to envision things being different than they are by nature, an ability with which we are endowed thanks to our thinking function.
These examples of the power of thinking, however, presuppose an aim. In the absence of an aim, our thinking function yields very different results. It replays an irresistible stream of associative thoughts called daydreaming. At first, before we develop the discipline of self-observation, we mistakenly believe that daydreaming is something we only indulge in occasionally, in dull moments, when nothing in particular requires our mental engagement. However, our attempts to farm ourselves soon reveal daydreaming to be a much more pervasive habit. It negatively impacts not only our thinking, but also our other functions. The briefest gap of time, the smallest interval while waiting, or even while our other functions are engaged in meaningful activity, our mind freely wanders in the unbridled realm of daydreams. It is a habit very difficult to resist. Even when we realize that we are daydreaming at this very moment, and acknowledge to ourselves that our dreaming is counterproductive, we are still strongly tempted to continue indulging in it. Why is that?
When we listed the three bodies of the human being in February, we associated ‘thinking’ with Personality, that adaptable coat that develops early in life to enable Essence to conform to society. Essence knows no other conduct than its own nature, but the experience of socializing quickly teaches it that not everything it feels should be expressed, not every impulse should be acted upon, and that following the rules of etiquette, which at first seems insincere, often spares us a great deal of trouble. There is a gap between who we are by nature and who we need to be to blend into society, an abstract gap that can only be filled through learning, comparison, and understanding, or in other words, through utilizing our power of thinking. The ability to behave differently than the tendencies of our Essence—to be different than we naturally are—is only possible because of our power over abstraction. Hence the close relation of Personality to the thinking function.
In right order, Personality helps Essence integrate into society by smoothing its rough edges. This, however, requires that our thinking operates correctly. The more our thinking runs wildly, the more exaggerated our Personality becomes, to the point at which it ceases being useful to Essence altogether. It no longer helps Essence respond to real situations in life but creates and replays imaginary scenarios in its own mind. If I am dealt with unjustly, then in my daydreams I argue my case in an imaginary court and convince the jury of my innocence. If I am not as successful as someone else, then in my daydreams I get to pretend that I am, or at least to denigrate my opponent in a way that makes their success irrelevant. My unbridled daydreaming is replacing reality with a flattering image of myself. Divorced from reality, this image is constantly threatened by reality and requires continual reinforcement by more daydreaming. I have fallen into a vicious cycle: the more invested I become in this imaginary picture, the more I need to daydream to maintain it. This explains the irresistible temptation to daydream. It has become an addiction.
To restore Personality to its proper place and function, we must clear our internal landscape from the ever-encroaching weeds of our daydreams. We accomplish this by breaking daydreaming down into smaller components. Observe the habitual subjects of your daydreams. These are always limited, revolving around just a few topics, for example, relationships, career, finances, health, politics, sports, etc. Choose one subject and aim to disallow it whenever it presents itself. The addiction will make this difficult at first, but with a little perseverance, the subject itself will become an alarm clock that will remind you of this exercise. The motivation for this struggle must come from the realization that by succumbing to daydreaming, you are not only paying now, but will also pay interest in future moments. Although any other topic of daydreaming can be permitted, you will find that deliberately minimizing a single topic indirectly disciplines the rest. Personality is the sum-total of our favorite subjects of daydreaming, stitched together. Tear off one, you have weakened the entire fabric.
This is our labor for July.
Jung in the World | Archetypes, Planets, and Glimpses into a New World View with Richard Tarnas
C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago • Jun 25, 2024 • Jungiandthology Podcast We were honored to have the best-selling author Richard Tarnas on the podcast. In this interview with host Patricia Martin, he offers compelling insights into the archetypal dynamics now unfolding in the world, and how these coincide with certain major planetary alignments. Tarnas considers how our evolving understanding of the underlying unity of psyche and cosmos has relevance for the profound transformation humanity is currently undergoing, and he looks several years into the future to discuss the implications of major upcoming transits from a Jungian perspective. This interview is full of rich insights delivered with Tarnas’s distinctive warmth and wisdom. Richard Tarnas is the founding director of the graduate program in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, where he currently teaches. Born in 1950 in Geneva, Switzerland, of American parents, he grew up in Michigan, where he received a classical Jesuit education. In 1968 he entered Harvard, where he studied Western intellectual and cultural history and depth psychology, graduating with an A.B. cum laude in 1972. For ten years he lived and worked at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, studying with Stanislav Grof, Joseph Campbell, Gregory Bateson, Huston Smith, and James Hillman, later serving as Esalen’s director of programs and education. He received his Ph.D. from Saybrook Institute in 1976 with a dissertation on LSD psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and spiritual transformation. From 1980 to 1990, he wrote The Passion of the Western Mind, a narrative history of Western thought from the ancient Greek to the postmodern which became a best seller and continues to be a widely used text in universities throughout the world. In 2006, he published Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View, which received the Book of the Year Prize from the Scientific and Medical Network in the UK. Formerly president of the International Transpersonal Association, he is on the Board of Governors of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. In addition to his teaching at CIIS, he has been a frequent lecturer at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, and gives many public lectures and seminars in the U.S. and abroad. Patricia Martin is a cultural analyst, consultant, and the author of three books on cultural trends. As a consultant, Martin has worked on teams at Discovery Communications, Dannon, Microsoft, Ms. Foundation for Women, Oracle, Unisys, The Art Institute of Chicago, and the New York Philharmonic, to name a few. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, and Advertising Age. A blogger since 2002, Martin was a regular contributor to Huffington Post during its start-up years. She earned a B.A. in English and sociology from Michigan State University and an M.A. in Irish literature and culture from the University College Dublin. Later, she built a foundation for her cultural analysis by studying Jungian theory and depth psychology at the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago, where she is currently a Professional Affiliate and member of the program committee. In 2017, she harnessed artificial intelligence to uncover the effects of the internet on our sense of self. A book on her findings entitled Will the Future Like You? is due out later in 2021. Martin speaks worldwide about cultural changes that are shaping the future and the impact of the digital culture on the collective. A native of Detroit, Martin works in Chicago and lives in an ancient forest near the shores of Lake Michigan with her husband and countless deer.
Word-Built World: sciamachy or sciomachy
Book: “Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America”
Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America
Bertram M. Gross
This provocative and original look at current trends in the United States presents a grim forecast of a possible totalitarian future. The author shows how the chronic problems faced by the U.S. in the late twentieth century require increasing collusions between Big Business and Big Government in order to ‘manage’ society in the interests of the rich and powerful.
This “friendly fascism,” Gross argues, will probably lack the dictatorships, public spectacles and overt brutality of the classic varieties of Germany, Italy and Japan, but has at its root the same denial of individual freedoms and democratic rights. No one who cares about the future of democracy can afford to ignore the frightening possibilities of Friendly Fascism.
This is certainly a strikingly prescient book for a Trump era.
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/964350.Friendly_Fascism
The Source of Consciousness with Lawrence Kushner
New Thinking Allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove • Jun 28, 2024 This video is a special release from the original Thinking Allowed series that ran on public television from 1986 until 2002. It was recorded in about 1989. It will remain public for only one week. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner suggests that all religious traditions point humanity toward the goal of unity with God. He suggests that the connections between people transcend death and help us to face both life and death. He speculates that god is the source of synchronicities and coincidences in our lives, and that nothing is accidental. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, a leading Jewish theologian, is author of numerous books including The River of Light, The Book of Letters, The Book of Words, and Invisible Lines of Connection. He has held many appointments and is currently scholar in residence at Congregation Emmanu-El in San Francisco. Now you can watch all of the programs from the original Thinking Allowed Video Collection, hosted by Jeffrey Mishlove. Subscribe to the new Streaming Channel (https://thinkingallowed.vhx.tv/) and watch more than 350 programs now, with more, previously unreleased titles added weekly. Free month of the classic Thinking Allowed streaming channel for New Thinking Allowed subscribers only. Use code THINKFREELY.
Mark King on living with HIV since 1985 & turning ‘My Fabulous Disease’ into a fabulous new book
By Raif DurraziJune 27, 2024 (queerty.com)
This article includes links that may result in a small affiliate share for purchased products, which helps support independent LGBTQ+ media.
To honor National HIV Testing Day and just plain great storytelling, Raif Durrazi chatted with longtime Queerty contributor Mark King about his book, My Fabulous Disease: Chronicles of a Gay Survivor.
RAIF: You’ve just released a book, Mark. First, thank you for your continuous generosity of spirit, honesty, and willingness to talk with me.
MARK: You’re welcome, Raif. I’m more than happy to talk about, well, me.
You’ve just published My Fabulous Disease: Chronicles of a Gay Survivor. For those unfamiliar with you and your work (for shame), why do you coin your book and blog my fabulous’ disease?
Years ago, before the internet or blogs, I wrote a column for the gay papers about life as a gay man with HIV. I was tired of all the negative baggage that was, and still is, thrust upon those of us who are positive. The presumptions and the judgments, how we are viewed as inherently untrustworthy, that sort of thing. I decided that if the virus lived in my body, it would take on my characteristics, not vice versa. And my dear, I am f(*&&ng fabulous. So, it became My Fabulous Disease. The name seemed far more provocative years ago than it does now.
In addition to HIV, you talk about addiction, sex, family, and navigating life. What do you hope someone might walk away with after reading your words?
I hope they have a better idea of how life feels to people like me and laugh out loud at points along the way. I have always shied away from making grand pronouncements about what it all means. I have no idea. I’m just telling stories with as much honesty as I can muster.
You’ve written about things I’ve never talked with anyone about or thought to even talk about, insecurities, or self-reflection. It’s reassuring to know someone I respect has had some of the same internal dialogues as I have.
Thanks. We’re all having those conversations with ourselves, aren’t we? I do it constantly, and it’s usually about what other people might think about me or if I’m a terrible person for one reason or another. For instance, I enjoy the spotlight. Like, a lot. Look, Mom, I’m in Queerty again! Some book reviewers have pointed out that it’s often the story of a frustrated performer trying to find a stage, any stage, and ultimately finding his purpose as an outspoken gay man and activist. That’s fair and true. I found some meaning to go along with my craven lust for attention, and that’s perfectly okay. I remember thinking, years ago, that I guess I wasn’t going to get on TV as an actor, but instead as a guy with HIV, and deciding, “Well, okay, I’ll take it.” My life is often about steering my selfishness into something purposeful.
You have so much experience and wisdom as evidenced in your book. I’ll never forget your quip about having antibodies older than I’ve been alive (which is true; you were diagnosed in 1985, for those who are counting). How do we keep our multi-generations connected and learning from one another?
That’s always been challenging for gay men, and we have our sexualized culture and instincts to thank for it. We don’t trust one another very much. How does any older gay man mentor a younger person and build a relationship based on mutual trust? Older gay men are often viewed as predatory vis-a-vis their interactions with younger gays. Did you notice how I just used vis-a-vis properly and casually? Anyway, it isn’t impossible, and I certainly had older mentors when I was young, but they had to break through the initial presumptions of sex—context matters. I’ve met plenty of younger guys through community work and recovery stuff, and it’s been great for all of us. I’ve loved guiding you through some of your initial time in the HIV movement, Raif. I love being a cheerleader for the newbies.
I often had to stop reading your book to Google the names of people, places, and events… and sometimes a saying, like “My dance card is full.” If your stories were anything but captivating, I wouldn’t have bothered. Maybe there’s an answer to how we engage younger audiences to learn about our collective history.
That’s my way into whatever point or observation I’m trying to make. It’s always about the story first. For example, telling a story about a youthful douching disaster I had during sex after my first try using a shower shot — well, I’ll let you imagine it for now, but the details are in that story — is a funny, outrageous story. That’s enough, even though it can also be viewed as how shame-based our sexual lives can be, how we must learn the mechanics of sex sometimes through trial and error, and it’s part of our lives. I hope my story entertains but might also relieve anyone who has been there. But that didn’t answer you, Raif. Please tell me my book doesn’t need Siri to help translate.
When I went to my first HIV conference, USCHA 2019, you were there to greet me with open arms, the welcome party to the HIV community. What’s the importance of that dynamic for the HIV community? for the gay community?
You had found one of your tribes. We have many. I was glad to meet you and knew immediately that your bodybuilding as a person living with HIV was a compelling story. It didn’t hurt that you had not yet discovered shirts. And see? There I go, sexualizing you, as evidence that the balance between admiration and exploitation is so delicate. But yes, for sure, if we start from a place of knowing everyone has to deal with fear and we all seek acceptance, then we’ll be much kinder to the new kid on the block.
Your storytelling has a level of vulnerability and transparency that almost feels dangerous today. It’s not quite P.C.; it lacks trigger warnings and conflicting morality. What is the value of presenting yourself in this way?
I can’t do it any other way. What’s the point of writing it if I make myself pretty and don’t reveal it? The most obvious example is a story about seeking out sex with adult men when I was an early teen and watching one of those men have a breakdown after we had sex. The tale describes my complete confusion over why he was sobbing in the car as he drove me home. Today, I still struggle with understanding it. The story shows you what happened and what it felt like in those moments. You can draw your moral arguments, and plenty of readers have.
You share things that anyone might be afraid to share for fear of being judged, rejected, and yet I find that I love you more for it. It’s a tribute to you, and it also begs the question, if I could positively react to you, then maybe someone would afford me that same grace for being so open.
We’re all afraid to reveal too much. I have the privilege of not having, or maybe not caring, about any consequences for that. I don’t take that lightly.
Part of me feels silly, young, and ignorant to be conversing with you about so many things outside of my experience/expertise. Still, I guess that’s why we should have these kinds of discussions.
You’re doing fine, Raif. Maybe we all need to hear that more. I look back at my youthful choices and actions during a sometimes traumatic time, and I want to tell that guy that he conducted himself with great integrity and courage. It’s not what you think you know. It’s how you act. You’re doing great from my vantage point, Raif. Give yourself a break. Trust me, I know that’s hard. Maybe you can’t hear it, like I couldn’t listen to it then, either. I wish I could thump you on the head and convince you that you’ll be proud of yourself, on balance, years from now. But I bet you will.