Paganism, the Occult and Witchcraft

Whoa! Where am I going?

I’m actually working overtime to be open minded! The three words in the title of this post still give me a mental flinch which is exactly why I must take them head on and get to know what they are actually about, not what mainstream society has told me they are about.

If you are starting to feel your blood boil it is probably because you are: a) very religious or b) very unreligious. But hold up and remember – aggression comes from fear so take a bit of time to identify that fear.

Continue reading “Paganism, the Occult and Witchcraft”

Anthony De Mello Take Aways – Rediscovering Life and Enlightenment

If there is one thing that stops Anthony De Mello’s work being accessible to others it is the oh-so-slow speed at which he presents it. Don’t get me wrong, for many it needs to be that way, just listen to questions he gets from the audience about things he has explained half a dozen times!

People are listening, but they are not hearing.

So I’ve tried to pull together the key points from Rediscovering Life and Enlightenment. If any of these go over your head then you’ll need to make time for the full books or audios!

Continue reading “Anthony De Mello Take Aways – Rediscovering Life and Enlightenment”

Anthony de Mello – Enlightenment – Me and I

So I’m about three hours in to De Mello’s Enlightenment and I think I may have found something useful.

I’ve always wanted to try out meditation. I met a middle aged couple who meditated every day when I was in my teens and I’ve given the idea off and on interest every since.

The greatest hindrance has been the ease with which I fall asleep and my ability to do it anywhere, in any position, including standing up.

Continue reading “Anthony de Mello – Enlightenment – Me and I”

Anthony de Mello – Rediscovering life – a delayed revelation

So where better to start the ball rolling on the Journey to the Center of Me than with a YouTube video – especially if it is a grainy, buzzing video of a video of a television programme.

But … and this is the most important thing … presentation should not matter. A key, or even a part of a key, could lie anywhere. One of the reasons that I’ll be getting hold of a copy of Nisargadatta Maharaj’s I am That is because my reservations are based on his presentation so that is exactly the reason why I should push back at myself. We shall see.

Continue reading “Anthony de Mello – Rediscovering life – a delayed revelation”

Where to begin a Journey?

Its fairly easy to say I am going to discover myself, but how do you even start? There’s so much chaff on the internet, so much crud on the bookshelves – what are the chances of finding the wheat?

Of course for everyone the journey is going on all the time. Its not really ever the beginning. Since we became conscious of ourselves we have been learning things about ourselves. Sometimes we’ve learnt things we don’t like and we’ve locked them away to avoid discomfort. Most times however we’ve experienced things we could have learnt from but ignored them.

I (finally) became aware some years back that my need to be liked and accepted by everyone all the time wasn’t healthy. A stint as an English teacher helped me overcome it because I knew, by remembering the most effective teachers from my childhood, there were times you would have to be unpopular. This unassuming job actually developed me in ways I could not have imagined … and at the time I hardly noticed!

Continue reading “Where to begin a Journey?”

Why Journey?

A bit of background

I didn’t start the journey to the center of me to resolve some long standing trauma. I wasn’t suffering any great stress that was stopping me live my life. Strangely, quite the opposite.

In my mid forties I had achieved my life’s goals, I was financially secure with a reasonable income, I was married to a great gal and I was in pretty good health.

But there was something not quite right. Like living in The Matrix – it all seems fine but there is something gnawing away at you that makes you want to peel away at a corner of something and have a peek.

Continue reading “Why Journey?”