Comments for New York Open Center Blog http://ocblog.opencenter.org Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:32:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on From Religious Belief to Spiritual Practice by julietb http://ocblog.opencenter.org/the-god-centered-life-from-religious-belief-to-spiritual-practice/comment-page-1/#comment-23 julietb Sun, 11 Oct 2009 12:32:17 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=449#comment-23 A lively discussion with Karen Armstrong in today's Washington Post 10/11/09. http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/karen_armstrong/2009/10/the_case_for_faith_not_belief.html A lively discussion with Karen Armstrong in today’s Washington Post 10/11/09.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/karen_armstrong/2009/10/the_case_for_faith_not_belief.html

]]> Comment on An Esoteric Quest for Inner America Faculty Spotlight- Mitch Horowitz by Hello world! http://ocblog.opencenter.org/an-esoteric-quest-for-inner-america-faculty-spotlight/comment-page-1/#comment-18 Hello world! Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:41:14 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=320#comment-18 [...] what California was to the Sixties – a place of explosive spiritual and social innovation. (Click here for the [...] [...] what California was to the Sixties – a place of explosive spiritual and social innovation. (Click here for the [...]

]]> Comment on An Esoteric Quest for Inner America Faculty Spotlight- Jay Kinney by Hello world! http://ocblog.opencenter.org/an-esoteric-quest-for-inner-america-faculty-spotlight-3/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Hello world! Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:39:49 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=346#comment-17 [...] but what do we actually know? With his usual common sense, Jay begins to lay out the fact. Click here for the [...] [...] but what do we actually know? With his usual common sense, Jay begins to lay out the fact. Click here for the [...]

]]> Comment on An Esoteric Quest for Inner America Faculty Spotlight- Louis Sahagun by Hello world! http://ocblog.opencenter.org/an-esoteric-quest-for-inner-america-faculty-spotlight-2/comment-page-1/#comment-16 Hello world! Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:33:14 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=340#comment-16 [...] and is the author the The Secret Teachings of All Ages, an American esoteric classic. Click here for the [...] [...] and is the author the The Secret Teachings of All Ages, an American esoteric classic. Click here for the [...]

]]> Comment on Christianity vs. Democracy by AaronVlek http://ocblog.opencenter.org/christianity-vs-democracy/comment-page-1/#comment-13 AaronVlek Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:02:40 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=227#comment-13 The value of democracy in the programs of those you describe, has nothing to do with the wellbeing of people around the world, but rather a greasing of the wheels and ensuring common business practices, regulation, laws and a consistent worldview on who is the dominant power in those business deals globally. That's the PC way of putting it. The plain talk for all that is, colonialism. Forced democracy allows you to place ruling elites that will play by the US's rules on the throne and throw out those pesky folks who demand national and economic autonomy for their nations and the right to self determination. Don't want this kind of democracy? No problemo! Get labelled a rogue nation. And we know how that plays out. It's been happening to Iran for 150 years. The value of democracy in the programs of those you describe, has nothing to do with the wellbeing of people around the world, but rather a greasing of the wheels and ensuring common business practices, regulation, laws and a consistent worldview on who is the dominant power in those business deals globally. That’s the PC way of putting it. The plain talk for all that is, colonialism. Forced democracy allows you to place ruling elites that will play by the US’s rules on the throne and throw out those pesky folks who demand national and economic autonomy for their nations and the right to self determination. Don’t want this kind of democracy? No problemo! Get labelled a rogue nation. And we know how that plays out. It’s been happening to Iran for 150 years.

]]> Comment on Change, Change, Change by annecutler http://ocblog.opencenter.org/change-change-change/comment-page-1/#comment-11 annecutler Mon, 02 Mar 2009 16:47:17 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=190#comment-11 Even though times are hard now, I am finally able to read the newspaper and feel hope and relief. Obama is living up to his promise, and he even admits his mistakes, something W. would never do. I was living in Italy for 2 years - the last year of Bush's first term and the first year of his second. It was really tough to be an American then and there. But now I feel proud. anne cutler www.annecutlerpsychoanalyst.com Even though times are hard now, I am finally able to read the newspaper and feel hope and relief. Obama is living up to his promise, and he even admits his mistakes, something W. would never do. I was living in Italy for 2 years – the last year of Bush’s first term and the first year of his second. It was really tough to be an American then and there. But now I feel proud.
anne cutler
http://www.annecutlerpsychoanalyst.com

]]> Comment on A New Take on Journaling by thoughtprovoking http://ocblog.opencenter.org/a-new-take-on-journaling/comment-page-1/#comment-9 thoughtprovoking Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:26:03 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=155#comment-9 I recently started journaling and began regularly meditating and listening to positive, targeted affirmations. I believe it has made a difference in my attitude and I am more mindful. By writing my intentions down and focusing on them, my subconscious will and actions throughout the day are directed toward the manifestation of my desires. I recently started journaling and began regularly meditating and listening to positive, targeted affirmations. I believe it has made a difference in my attitude and I am more mindful. By writing my intentions down and focusing on them, my subconscious will and actions throughout the day are directed toward the manifestation of my desires.

]]> Comment on Just My Imagination? On Doubt and Faith by AaronVlek http://ocblog.opencenter.org/just-my-imagination-on-doubt-and-faith/comment-page-1/#comment-8 AaronVlek Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:20:17 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=160#comment-8 I'd like to comment on the idea of becoming disillusioned on the path. If we never become disillusioned, then all we have done is embraced a rigid form of belief and practice that never grows and never challenges us. We are each on a journey of exploration, and that means new horizons, breakthroughs, mistakes and painful errors. If we do not repeatedly become disillusioned on the path, we are not growing. The point is to face disillusionment and understand that the path and the nature of the journey and the ever expanding goal horizon is always far far more than we can imagine it to be, and that requires giving up what we know and are comfortable with, and that means, disillusionment. Disillusionment means we are ready to go new palces we were not prepared for before. Disullusionment means we are ready to slough off baby steps and partial understandings for a larger slide of the Truth. Look forward to the disillusionments. They are an important gift on the path. Disillusionments and moving beyond the transparent barriers of those disillusionments are a sign that we are healthy on our path. I’d like to comment on the idea of becoming disillusioned on the path. If we never become disillusioned, then all we have done is embraced a rigid form of belief and practice that never grows and never challenges us. We are each on a journey of exploration, and that means new horizons, breakthroughs, mistakes and painful errors. If we do not repeatedly become disillusioned on the path, we are not growing. The point is to face disillusionment and understand that the path and the nature of the journey and the ever expanding goal horizon is always far far more than we can imagine it to be, and that requires giving up what we know and are comfortable with, and that means, disillusionment. Disillusionment means we are ready to go new palces we were not prepared for before. Disullusionment means we are ready to slough off baby steps and partial understandings for a larger slide of the Truth. Look forward to the disillusionments. They are an important gift on the path. Disillusionments and moving beyond the transparent barriers of those disillusionments are a sign that we are healthy on our path.

]]> Comment on Is it Dark Right Now? by AaronVlek http://ocblog.opencenter.org/is-it-dark-right-now/comment-page-1/#comment-7 AaronVlek Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:17:06 +0000 http://ocblog.opencenter.org/?p=95#comment-7 I think this current crisis and all accompanying crises are reminders to those of us in the US that we do not inhabit an ivory tower, and we have not attained some mythic social and spiritual evolution that has placed us beyond the troubling experienes of our fellows around the globe and throughout time. Catastrophic economic and social upheavals have woven through our human history and brought change and eliminated stasis. These current crises, while painful, serve the changing global tableau no less and in a very similar fashion as do death, decay, and fermentation which makes possible new growth, albeit in unforseeable forms and variations. The constant in this dance of cyclic change, is love, and the Divine Love that sets all this in motion. Only by truly tapping into that overarching Reality, may we expereince this dance, and our individual places within it, even when painful, as an expression of the will of Truth. If Mansur al-Hallaj could dance on the way to the gallows, we can at the very least strive to find a spark of what he found and use its Light to guide us through our own current trials. There may be much more to come for us to face and endure. Is not now the time to find the courage and the sobriety to embrace these hard changes and be changed for the better thereby, rather than to submit in fear to a chaos that can destroy us? I think this current crisis and all accompanying crises are reminders to those of us in the US that we do not inhabit an ivory tower, and we have not attained some mythic social and spiritual evolution that has placed us beyond the troubling experienes of our fellows around the globe and throughout time. Catastrophic economic and social upheavals have woven through our human history and brought change and eliminated stasis. These current crises, while painful, serve the changing global tableau no less and in a very similar fashion as do death, decay, and fermentation which makes possible new growth, albeit in unforseeable forms and variations. The constant in this dance of cyclic change, is love, and the Divine Love that sets all this in motion. Only by truly tapping into that overarching Reality, may we expereince this dance, and our individual places within it, even when painful, as an expression of the will of Truth. If Mansur al-Hallaj could dance on the way to the gallows, we can at the very least strive to find a spark of what he found and use its Light to guide us through our own current trials. There may be much more to come for us to face and endure. Is not now the time to find the courage and the sobriety to embrace these hard changes and be changed for the better thereby, rather than to submit in fear to a chaos that can destroy us?

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