Psychology + Zen = Philosophy and methods to relieve suffering and reveal happiness.
Psychology: We project onto others what we reject in ourselves. Some call it a Shadow. Healing comes from making the unconscious conscious, taking responsibility for our projections, integrating what is split off as our own thing.
Zen: There is no separate self. When we can be at one with every aspect, then we belong everywhere and we reject no one.
We heal the world by becoming intimate with our whole selves.
When something troubles me, I work with it, sit with it, and play with it. This video is a play on the question of help--taking help and giving it. Beautiful dancers, Justina and CJ, improvised on questions and phrases, and this is what emerged:
Wahat al-Salam Neve ShalomWahat al-Salam in Arabic. Neve Shalom in Hebrew. Oasis of Peace. The name evokes both longing and sadness. Just an oasis? In a human desert of outright wars and subtle destructions of the spirit, there is a place where people from opposing sides of what is arguably the most difficult conflict on earth choose to live in peace.
I wanted to visit this place because I am a very jaded psychologist--an optimist disappointed with the failure of ideals
I have a dog. My dog poops. So do the other dogs. People get mad at dogs because their owners leave the poop under their shoes.
I love my dog and want him to be accepted by the community. So, I help him out if I pick up the other dogs' poops, the ones just waiting to slide under your shoe. But I can't bring myself to do it...well, once I did, because I wanted to be able to brag on this site. Is that a worthy reason?
What will it take for us to take responsibility for each other? Self interest? Wisdom? Empathy? Enough poop on our shoes? (12/17/08)
What tempts you to fall out of your mind? For me, it is belonging. If someone says you are one of us, I'm toast, especially if it's a group that disdains all other groups. I forget my values, my preferences, my feelings, my family ... and become a faulty mirror of the group, a groupee. But maybe triumph is more seductive for you. Maybe it's chocolate...or money...or fame...or boobs...or cherries...what are those things, anyway?
What can you learn about yourself from your temptations?
How can you encourage yourself to disobey their instructions?
What else will meet the craving?
What will satisfy the longing?
Can you stay curious long enough to sense the difference between craving and longing? And can you allow the longing to pull you into connection with the whole universe?
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