Hi Frances: I met you over at Liz Bucar's substack, responding to your very interesting comment about religious experience and religious life.
I first became interested in these things when i was working as a composer/pianist; when I became a clinical psychologist, I mostly avoided doing therapy - I have the same reservation about therapy as I do about religion - religious people go to church once a week, and then spend the rest of their life in a profoundly anti-spiritual environment.
Similarly, attending a session even with the world's greatest therapist leaves the patient to face the rest of the week in a profoundly anti-therapeutic/anti healing environment.
All my life I've wondered how it would be possible to create a "universe-city" - one in which all life is seen as a means of growing, developing, maturing - which would include all that transpersonal/humanistic/existential psychology/psychotherapy values, as well as all that the best of contemplative religion values.
I recently heard that Bhutan is developing a "mindful city" aimed at embodying these very things. A city in Vermont claimed to be aspiring for this some years ago, though I don't think much came of it. And the Blue Zone cities don't appear to be quite what the BZ research claims.
Perhaps substack writers like yourself, uniting with others, creating videos - who knows what? - might inspire such an inner/outer revolution..... I wonder....
Nice to meet you, Don! I LOVE the idea of a “universe-city” (clever name, too). Why bifurcate our lives into chunks of attempted growth when the whole experience offers constant opportunities to learn, develop, and live as the person we want to be? I suppose it must take some self-knowledge or knowhow to live from that kind of perspective, though - which is what many people want out of therapy. Oh no, is it a loop?! Ha
Hi Frances: I met you over at Liz Bucar's substack, responding to your very interesting comment about religious experience and religious life.
I first became interested in these things when i was working as a composer/pianist; when I became a clinical psychologist, I mostly avoided doing therapy - I have the same reservation about therapy as I do about religion - religious people go to church once a week, and then spend the rest of their life in a profoundly anti-spiritual environment.
Similarly, attending a session even with the world's greatest therapist leaves the patient to face the rest of the week in a profoundly anti-therapeutic/anti healing environment.
All my life I've wondered how it would be possible to create a "universe-city" - one in which all life is seen as a means of growing, developing, maturing - which would include all that transpersonal/humanistic/existential psychology/psychotherapy values, as well as all that the best of contemplative religion values.
I recently heard that Bhutan is developing a "mindful city" aimed at embodying these very things. A city in Vermont claimed to be aspiring for this some years ago, though I don't think much came of it. And the Blue Zone cities don't appear to be quite what the BZ research claims.
Perhaps substack writers like yourself, uniting with others, creating videos - who knows what? - might inspire such an inner/outer revolution..... I wonder....
Nice to meet you, Don! I LOVE the idea of a “universe-city” (clever name, too). Why bifurcate our lives into chunks of attempted growth when the whole experience offers constant opportunities to learn, develop, and live as the person we want to be? I suppose it must take some self-knowledge or knowhow to live from that kind of perspective, though - which is what many people want out of therapy. Oh no, is it a loop?! Ha