Some things I am grateful today:

1) I was done at 1 pm after a busy morning -- so I did a lot of reading and enjoyed a nice, but brief, storm.

2) I watched Pan's Labyrinth again tonight. What a freaking brilliant film.

3) Nut Butters: Almond butter, peanut butter, and especially cashew butter. I love this stuff in an unhealthy, addicted kind of way. But at least it's good for me.

What are you grateful for today?
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Today's Daily Dharma, better late than never.

See The Flower

One day the Buddha held up a flower in front of an audience of 1,250 monks and nuns. He did not say anything for quite a long time. The audience was perfectly silent. Everyone seemed to be thinking hard, trying to see the meaning behind the Buddha's gesture. Then, suddenly, the Buddha smiled. He smiled because someone in the audience smiled at him and at the flower. . . . To me the meaning is quite simple. When someone holds up a flower and shows it to you, he wants you to see it. If you keep thinking, you miss the flower. The person who was not thinking, who was just himself, was able to encounter the flower in depth, and he smiled. That is the problem of life. If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh, in Peace Is Every Step

Today's Daily Om is a reminder that happiness is up to us. There is actually some research that suggests that the mere act of smiling and/or laughing can alter our mood for the rest of the day.

A Reason To Smile
Five Minutes To Happiness

It can be so easy to get caught up in the rigors of modern life that we tend to forget that happiness need not come with stipulations. Happiness becomes something we must schedule and strive for—a hard-won emotion—and then only when we have no worries to occupy our thoughts. In reality, overwhelming joy is not the exclusive province of those with unlimited time and no troubles to speak of. Many of the happiest people on earth are also those coping with the most serious challenges. They have learned to make time for those simple yet superb pleasures that can be enjoyed quickly and easily. Cultivating a happy heart takes no more than five minutes. The resultant delight will be neither complex nor complicated, but it will be profound and will serve as a reminder that there is always a reason to smile.

So much that is ecstasy-inducing can be accomplished in five minutes. Alone, we can enjoy an aromatic cup of our favorite tea, take a stroll through the garden we have created, write about the day's events in a journal, doodle while daydreaming, or breathe deeply while we listen to the silence around us. In the company of a good friend or treasured relative, we can share a few silly jokes, enjoy a waltz around the room, play a fast-paced hand of cards, or reconnect through lighthearted conversation. The key is to first identify what makes us dizzyingly happy. If we do only what we believe should bring us contentment, our five minutes will not be particularly satisfying. When we allow ourselves the freedom to do whatever brings us pleasure, five minutes out of 14 wakeful hours can brighten our lives immeasurably.

It is often when we have the least free time or energy to devote to joy that we need to unwind and enjoy ourselves the most. Making happiness a priority will help you find five minutes every day to indulge in the things that inspire elation within you. Eventually, your happiness breaks will become an established part of your routine. If you start by pursuing activities you already enjoy and then gradually think up new and different ways to fill your daily five minutes of happiness, you will never be without something to smile about.

Quote of the day:

"The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive."
~ Thomas Jefferson

Image of the day:


BODY
~ 20 Spankin' New Studies -- "Short snappy synopses of small but smart studies that you don't need a PhD to understand. And get this — some of them contain useful, applicable info that you can start applying to your training right away!"
~ Blue Tortillas Better For Dieters And Diabetics -- "People with dieting blues should try swapping white corn tortillas for blue. A recent study suggests that the coloured flatbreads are healthier, especially for diabetics and dieters, Sara Jensen reports in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI. Scientists in Mexico, home of the taco, found that tortillas made from blue corn had less starch and a lower glycemic index than their white counter parts."
~ How Much Salt Is Safe? -- "An increasing body of evidence indicates that we should reduce the amount of salt in our diet. The American Medical Association (AMA), the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Dietetic Association (ADA), and the National Institutes of Health have begun a campaign to cut the salt intake of Americans by one-half. The AMA is even pushing the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw salt's designation as "safe," according to UCLA's Healthy Years." If you eat a healthy diet very low in processed foods, salt is fine.
~ A few cups of coffee may lower colon cancer risk (AFP) -- "Drinking a few cups of coffee a day may lower the risk of advanced colon cancer, at least for women, Japanese researchers said Wednesday."
~ Why Breastfeeding In The First Hour Of Life Is Important -- "Today countries around the world start celebrating World Breastfeeding Week, which this year emphasizes the importance of breastfeeding in the first hour of life."
~ Lupus And Genetic Mutations Linked By Research -- "A gene discovered by scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine has been linked to lupus and related autoimmune diseases. The finding, reported in the current issue of Nature Genetics, is the latest in a series of revelations that shed new light on what goes wrong in human cells to cause the diseases."
~ Strength Training and Diabetes -- "If you have diabetes, exercise is essential. Learn how strength training can help you lose weight and improve insulin sensitivity."


PSYCHE
~ Who’s Minding the Mind? -- "Psychologists say that “priming” people in this way is not some form of hypnotism, or even subliminal seduction; rather, it’s a demonstration of how everyday sights, smells and sounds can selectively activate goals or motives that people already have."
~ Brain activity may explain "placebo effect" -- "Individual differences in the area of the brain linked with reward may help explain why some people report pain relief from inert treatments like sugar pills, according to a new study."
~ Why We Have Sex: 237 Reasons and Counting -- "A new survey finds surprisingly few differences in motivations between the sexes."
~ Bibliotherapy: Can Reading Alleviate Your Depression? -- "Years ago, one of the first books I had my patients read was psychiatrist David D. Burn's Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. What I like about this book is the lack of psychobabble terminology and self-help cliches. There are easy to read explanations of depression and other mood disorders and excellent examples of cognitive behavioral techniques (CBT) that can be practiced at home."
~ Wrestling with Bipolar Disorder -- "Depression is the bane of bipolar."
~ Bipolar Disorder: A Mistaken Diagnosis -- "Sometimes bipolar disorder is easy to miss."
~ 'Wake-Up Pill' Under Study to Treat Patients with Bipolar Disorder -- "A preliminary study of 85 patients with bipolar disorder shows that a drug used to treat patients with sleep disorders might also control the depressive symptoms associated with bipolar disorder. At least 44 percent of the participants in the study reported improved symptoms, a noteworthy improvement for a disorder in which new treatments are needed, according to the study`s author, Mark Frye, M.D., director of the Mayo Clinic Mood Disorders Clinic and Research Program."
~ Altering a protein makes mice less fearful -- "A University of Iowa study shows that loss or chemical inhibition of a protein, known as acid sensing ion channel protein (ASIC1a), reduces innate fear behavior in lab animals, making normally timid mice relatively fearless. The findings might provide useful insight into anxiety disorders and may even point the way to a new therapeutic target."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Eternity for Atheists -- "If God is dead, does that mean we cannot survive our own deaths? Recent best-selling books against religion agree that immortality is a myth we ought to outgrow. But there are a few thinkers with unimpeachable scientific credentials who have been waving their arms and shouting: not so fast. Even without God, they say, we have reason to hope for — or possibly fear — an afterlife."
~ Language Evolution’s Slippery Tropes -- "Linguists are different. In the middle of the 19th century, the main professional bodies governing linguistic research formally banned any investigation into the origins of language, regarding it as pointless. The topic remained disreputable for more than a century, but in the last decade or so, language evolution has eased toward the front burner, attracting the attention of linguists, neuroscientists, psychologists and geneticists."
~ The Feed: Did McDonald’s Give In to Temptation? -- "Four years after the fast-food chain began to reinvent itself, Supersize sodas are back, but this time they have a new name."
~ Boomers caught between kids, aging parents -- "Many baby boomers — and even their younger Generation X and "Echo Boomer" counterparts — find themselves "sandwiched" between caring for aging parents while still raising their own kids, to say nothing of working full time and saving for their own retirement."
~ Obama Would Send GIs to Pakistan -- "Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he would send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists even without local permission if warranted."
~ An Immoral Philosophy -- "What kind of philosophy says that it's O.K. to subsidize insurance companies, but not to provide health care to children?"


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Ethanol Scam: Ethanol Hurts the Environment And Is One of America's Biggest Political Boondoggles -- "The great danger of confronting peak oil and global warming isn't that we will sit on our collective asses and do nothing while civilization collapses, but that we will plunge after "solutions" that will make our problems even worse. Like believing we can replace gasoline with ethanol, the much-hyped biofuel that we make from corn." I totally agree with this.
~ Concerned Scientists criticize nuke plant -- "The Union of Concerned Scientists is upset over U.S. plans to build a plutonium processing plant without consulting the International Atomic Energy Agency."
~ Spanish Farmers Modernize Water Control -- "The Moorish invaders who once ruled Spain brought with them a clever irrigation system that helped turn arid land into verdant fields. A millennium later it is still largely in use, and Spain remains one of Europe's breadbaskets."
~ MIT team cooks up simple fuel recipe -- "MIT student Jules Walter has seen firsthand the impact of deforestation in his native Haiti: Nearly 98 percent of the island's forests are gone, and more trees are being cut down every year."
~ Using a magnet to tune a magnet -- "An international research team, led by scientists at the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN), has found a way to switch a material`s magnetic properties from ‘hard` to ‘soft` and back again - something which could lead to new ways of controlling electromagnetic devices."
~ Electricity from body heat -- "Making calls from a cell phone with no battery, using just the warmth of your hand? Perhaps that`s no more than a pipe dream right now. But new circuits are already making it possible to harness body heat for generating electricity."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Working with addictive tendencies -- "Some ways of working with addictive tendencies…"
~ How Well Are You Doing at Being a Responsible Global Citizen? A Powerful Quiz -- "People fight for their basic human rights, but all rights and freedoms have corresponding responsibilities. This quiz/article is the responsibility-side companion to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. You may be very surprised to find out that such a comprehensive, integral and spiritual list of global citizen responsibilities even existed?"
~ Thinking Out Loud -- "So it’s two years now since I decided to blog on the subject, very loosely, of Buddhism without Buddhism , and it’s been a highly pleasurable ride. Perhaps these days I am less inclined to identify myself as Buddhist, or even as Buddhish, and the blog has perhaps become less saffron-tinged and more wide ranging in its philosophical interests." Happy 2-year birthday to Will.
~ 14 Inspirational Quotes on Understanding -- Nice collection of quotes.
~ Generational Myths -- "Found this interesting observation at Duck of Minerva; For members of generation X like myself, Star Wars is one of the constitutive myths of our childhoods."
~ Interfaith Blog Event #7: Gender in Divinity -- "Welcome to the seventh Interfaith Blog Event! In each installment of this series, which we're hoping to do on a regular basis, we'll explore a single topic across five different religious traditions. I am writing from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Jon, from Jesusfollowers Journal, will be writing from a Protestant Christian perspective, and Sojourner from A Pagan Sojourn, will be writing from a Pagan/UU perspective. Jeff joins us from Druid Journal, and Matt joins us from Journeys In Between as an Evangelical Christian who borrows from esoteric movements like Wicca, Neo-Gnosticism, Yoga and Zen."
~ Z2: Riding the Kundalini Dragon, Integrating Altered States -- "As quite a few people here on Zaadz already know, I'm in the process of healing from trauma and this process has made me super-aware of the energies in my body. Or, better put, it's helped me give a name and context to those energies, which have always been incredibly strong and sometimes scary."

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I would teach people how to have unfettered access to the Self, what some people call the aware self, the soul, the Atman, Buddha Nature, the I-I, the witness. This is something I am working on in my own life, and I can the immense value in having access to the part of ourselves that experiences things but is not defined or limited by those things.

This is my current obsession, so if you ask me in a week or tow, I might have a different answer.

Today I am grateful for the psychologists who have been willing to go beyond the medical model of mental illness to see that we have a soul component (or aware ego, witness, Atman, Buddha Nature, witness, I-I) that is not limited or defined by any of the neurochemical things that happen in our brains.

I have been doing a lot of reading of late in the "psychology of the soul," and I find myself really drawn to this area of experience and how having access to the soul can really help alleviate a lot of suffering.

I am continually grateful for the monsoon season here in the desert. It's amazing how this brief period of rain can sustain the desert for the better part of a year.

And finally, I am grateful for those of you who read this blog, even though most people seldom comment. I appreciate your visits to check up on what is happening here.

What are you grateful for today?
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I found these through Clipmarks -- can't tell you the name of the site because I can't read the language.








There are many more pictures at the site -- with some more amazing Northern Lights images.

Today's Daily Dharma from Tricycle:

With All Our Heart

When we throw a banana peel into the garbage, if we are mindful, we know that the peel will become compost and be reborn as a tomato or a lettuce salad in just a few months. But when we throw a plastic bag into the garbage, thanks to our awareness, we know that a plastic bag will not become a tomato or a salad very quickly. Some kinds of garbage need four or five hundred years to decompose. Nuclear waste needs a quarter of a million years before it stops being harmful and returns to the soil. Living in the present moment in an awakened way, looking after the present moment with all our heart, we will not do things which destroy the future. That is the most concrete way to do what is constructive for the future.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Our Appointment with Life

Quote of the day:

"It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-to-day basis."
~ Margaret Bonnano

Image of the day:


BODY
~ 15 Minutes Of Fame With Mike Rousell -- "I just interviewed Your Naked Nutrition Guide Author Mike Rousell and it was interesting to say the least. Click HERE to listen to Mike's perspective on the importance of increased calories around the "peri-workout" window (even when trying to lose weight), why consuming BCAAs and EAAs is very different from consuming whole protein sources, and why pre-workout nutrition is just as important (if not more) as post-workout nutrition."
~ The New Low-Carb Guru -- "Dr. Jeff Volek is one of the leading "new school" researchers in the areas of nutrition, resistance training, lipid metabolism, and endocrinology. He also knows more about low-carb dieting than just about anyone else on the planet."
~ Afternoon cravings conquered -- "Conquer your cravings with our daily diet tips."
~ Seafood A Safer Catch Than Most Think -- "When it comes to consumer perception of seafood safety, all is not going swimmingly. In recent survey conducted by the University of Maryland's Center for Food Nutrition and Agriculture Policy and presented here at the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting & Food Expo, consumers listed tuna, salmon and shrimp as the fish with the highest levels of mercury."
~ Gluten-Free Too Often Taste-Free -- "An estimated 2 million Americans are afflicted with celiac disease, an intolerance for food containing wheat, and the market for gluten-free products is booming even while food companies and researchers have yet to fully solve their greatest challenge - making products that taste good."
~ Updated Physical Activity Guidelines Released -- "All healthy adults ages 18 to 65 years need moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 30 minutes on five days each week or vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity for at least 20 minutes on three days each week, according to updated physical activity guidelines released today by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American Heart Association (AHA)."
~ Goats' Milk Shown To Be More Beneficial To Health Than Cows' Milk -- "Research carried out at the Department of Physiology of the University of Granada (Universidad de Granada [http://www.ugr.es/]) has revealed that goats' milk has more beneficial properties to health than cows' milk. Just two of these properties are, 1. that it helps to prevent ferropenic anaemia (iron deficiency) and 2. that it helps to prevent bone demineralisation (softening of the bones)."
~ Glutamine unlikely to boost athletic performance -- "There is little evidence that supplements containing the amino acid glutamine can enhance athletes' performance, according to a research review." This is actually old news for readers of T-Nation, but it's good that the mainstream media is picking up on this. Still, glutamine can seriously increase immune system health.

PSYCHE
~ First Mouse Model Of Schizophrenia Developed By Hopkins Team -- "Johns Hopkins researchers have genetically engineered the first mouse that models both the anatomical and behavioral defects of schizophrenia, a complex and debilitating brain disorder that affects over 2 million Americans."
~ How baby babbles become talking tsunami (AP) -- "BABY TALK: New research suggests babies start really jabbering after they've mastered enough easy words to tackle more of the harder ones. It's essentially a snowball effect."
~ Hostility, anger linked to chronic inflammation -- "Men with high levels of hostility, anger and depression show increases in a key marker of inflammation over time, which may put them at greater risk of heart disease, a new study shows."
~ Electrode implant stimulates consciousness -- "Researchers report in today's issue of Nature that they have improved brain function in a minimally conscious patient by implanting electrodes into his brain."
~ a big bagful of tidbits -- "time for some bullet blogging again. here are some interesting tidbits" Some good links -- and a mention of IOC, which is always nice.
~ Language and self-awareness -- "A new study presents additional evidence for inner speech involvement in self-reflective activity. In my 2003 SCR paper “Inner speech and conscious experience” I put forward the notion that we most often need to talk to ourselves in order to understand who we are."
~ Tips to Establish a Morning & Evening Routine (with an August Challenge) -- "I’ve written before about how morning and evening routines can create some sense of sanity and calm in your life."
~ “What’s Your Story?!” Make it a Good One -- "Our life is not a series of facts only. It is mostly a set of interpretations we have made about events in our life. These interpretations add up to a story – a story of who we think we are, what we have experienced, and what we’re likely to do in the future." This is the foundation of narrative psychology.


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Young Bush Staffer Gets Grilled -- "J. Scott Jennings became the latest sacrificial lamb the White House has sent up to answer questions about the U.S. Attorneys firings."
~ Why Bush Won't Ax Gonzales -- "Many cite the Attorney General's friendship with the President. But there are more practical reasons why Bush needs the embattled cabinet member."
~ Campaign Matters: YearlyKos Draws Democratic Leaders -- "This year's YearlyKos convention draws politicians, candidates, reporters and activists to Chicago because the netroots have clout."
~ 9 Superpowers You Might Actually Want -- "When it comes down to it, most of the superpowers you see in comic books, TV, and movies aren’t the sorts of abilities you’d want to have yourself. While on the surface it might seem kick-ass to possess retractable metal claws or brain-shattering psionic abilities, powers like these tend to place a person on government watch lists or morally obligate them to fight crime. Plus, they can result in pesky accidents like stabbing your loved ones or having your body taken over by an alien lifeform. Here are some mutant abilities that might actually prove useful in your daily life without some of the more apocalyptic side effects."
~ Steroids, Schmeroids. Why Not Enhanced and Unenhanced Sports Leagues? -- "Baseball phenom Barry Bonds is trying to match or exceed Hank Aaron's all time home run mark any day now. By some people's lights, Bonds' accomplishment will be marred by the suspicion that he used enhancement drugs of some sort. The fact the commissioner of baseball has been following Bonds around the last few games suggests that any such lingering stigma is already dissipating. For the record, I am not in favor of anyone breaking the rules to which they voluntarily agreed. But should the line against various enhancements hold in professional sports?"
~ Politics and the Poet Laureate -- "But Charles Simic may be a special case. And he may be held, by some, to a different standard. This is because Simic has, among this country’s poets, a singular kind of moral authority on issues of war and peace." See also: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Simic named new U.S. poet laureate.
~ Moby Offers Royalty-Free Music For Films -- "One-upping Brian Eno, diminutive New York electronic musician Moby has created a web site that offers royalty-free music for films. The project, called "Moby Gratis," features 70 unreleased compositions that independent filmmakers can use to accompany their movies."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Worlds Weirdest Animals and Creatures -- "Our planet Earth is populated well enough with bizarre and astonishing creatures without the need for resorting to fiction. Some are rare — some are on the verge of extinction." Images of 24 freaky creatures.
~ Health & Wellness Foods Less Simple Than They Seem -- "The pursuit of health and wellness is no longer an option for four of the biggest global food companies. It's mandatory business. The challenge is developing healthful products that consumers choose that can help them to improve their lives. So say senior officials from major companies Kraft, Nestle S.A., General Mills and Campbell Soup Co."
~ In Praise of Tap Water -- "Americans are increasingly thirsty for what is billed as the healthiest, and often most expensive, water on the grocery shelf. But this country has some of the best public water supplies in the world. Instead of consuming four billion gallons of water a year in individual-sized bottles, we need to start thinking about what all those bottles are doing to the planet’s health."
~ Microsoft Works Goes Free, Ad-Supported -- "Microsoft Corp. will test a free, advertising-supported version of Works, an already inexpensive package of word processing, spreadsheet and other programs, but would not say whether it is exploring a similar Web-based suite."
~ Immunity in social amoeba suggests ancient beginnings -- "Finding an immune system in the social amoeba (Dictyostelium discoideum) is not only surprising but it also may prove a clue as to what is necessary for an organism to become multicellular, said the Baylor College of Medicine researcher who led the research that appears today in the journal Science."
~ Beyond Mesopotamia: A radical new view of human civilization reported -- "A radically expanded view of the origin of civilization, extending far beyond Mesopotamia, is reported by journalist Andrew Lawler in the 3 August issue of Science."
~ Tiny 'GlowBots' Hint at Future of Robotics -- "Swedish researchers develop communities of interactive robots."
~ Arctic wealth: Why countries are jockeying over the roof of the world -- "Global warming and, ironically, its main cause -- fossil fuels -- explain the intensifying squabble to claim rights over the Arctic seabed."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ A standard we ought insist upon -- "The solution is simple: decide to read liberal and conservative, regularly. And then wait, because the effect of doing so is like ocean on stone.
~ Ajahn Brahm on the Happiness Industry -- At Renegade Buddha -- A nice video dharma talk.
~ BBC: The Story of G-D 3 Part Series -- "I got up at 6 this morning and watched all three amazing parts of this series and I (of course) highly recommend them!"
~ Karma-formed States and Personal Freedom -- "Millions of people the world over believe in karma. The law of karma states that as we sow, so shall we reap: everything we do, say, or even think has consequences, good or bad, and sooner or later, these consequences will come back to us. The question is, is karma fatalistic and set in stone, or is there something we can actually do about it?"
~ Beyond Liberal, Left, and Progressive: An Inclusive and Revolutionary Politics for Tomorrow -- "Ken Wilber would probably agree with Churchill's famous dictum. He would catalog the failures of anarchism, monarchy, republicanism, aristocracy, socialism, communism, etc. Then he would add to them the failures of liberalism, conservativism, and democracy."
~ An integral analysis of my antidiscrimination advocacy op-ed -- "Regarding my recent op-ed, "No Moral Vacancy for Gays in UK Hotels, But Antigay Discrimination Still Legal in US": consider this perspective..."
~ Layers of healing -- "A friend of mine mentioned how there are always new layers of healing, with no end in sight. And there is a beauty in that. At our human level, there is always further to go with healing, maturing and developing."
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Both Joe Perez and Matthew Dallman have blogged about politics in the past 24 hours. Generally, Joe takes a Wilberian approach and MD is more conservative in his views.

I have been an Independent for the past 5+ years -- feeling that the Conservatives lack compassion for the poor and the weak, and that Liberals lack the common sense of a housefly. Even Libertarians are too willing to let the free market squash the weak. What I would like to see is a politics of compassion. I'm not sure what that would look like, but I'd like to present 10 ideas, on a range of topics, that I would love to see our national politics embody.

I fully expect to get slammed for holding these views.

1) Universal Health Care -- This is one of those issues that make me a Socialist to some. But I do not see how we can survive as a nation when health care is profit-driven. Too many people, especially children, are denied adequate health care because their families cannot afford it. The measure of a nation is how well it takes care of its weakest or its most disenfranchised citizens. We are failing in this area more than any other.

I'd gladly pay $1,000 or more per year in taxes to have quality health care managed by a not-for-profit NGO. Keep government out of it, but also keep profit out of it. If the wealthy want better coverage than such a plan can offer, then they should have it -- they can afford it.

2) Gay Rights -- Marriage should not be legislated by government; it's a violation of the Separation clause of the Bill of Rights. But marriage should be dictated by each religion according to its own beliefs. However, civil unions should be available to all adults, without government interference. Gays and lesbians should have all the rights of every other citizen in this nation.

Homosexuals are the only group in this country for which discrimination is legal. That must end if we are to be a compassionate nation.

3) Limited Capitalism -- Capitalism without restraint (the free-market system) is based on greed, not on compassion. Minimum wage laws are crucial in this regard -- if it were left to business (and it largely has been), the poorest among us would be even poorer. And with the continually rising cost of education, it's no longer reasonable in many instances to expect low-wage workers to be able to educate themselves out of poverty. We need better financial aid programs for the poor, and we need to find a way to cap the insanely rising cost of education.

In the realm of wishful thinking, there should be caps on how much CEOs of huge companies can be paid -- as a specified percentage of the average wage within the company (excluding top-level management). This will never happen -- but it would go a long way toward keeping prices down and ensuring a better return for investors.

4) Decriminalize Drugs -- Rather than throwing people in prison for drug use and abuse, make them enter mandatory rehab programs. Treatment works a lot better than incarceration (which doesn't work at all) -- and in the long run it would be cheaper for us as a nation -- and more compassionate to those who are addicts.

5) Foreign Policy -- We should never enter wars for economic gain. The only just war is to prevent the slaughter of innocent lives. Our war efforts should be based on a compassionate defense of human life. And war should always be a last resort.

The United Nations has been an unfortunate failure. But we need some form of international body to organize aid in emergencies, peace keepers when feasible, international trade law, and a handful of other issues. The US should be a leader in the world, but to do so we must act with integrity and compassion in how we treat other nations.

6) Ethics in Politics -- Any politician found to have knowingly violated ethics laws should be immediately removed from office. Politicians should act of behalf on their citizens, not on behalf of big business, lobbyists, or their own self-gain. This will require some campaign finance reform that will never happen -- but it is the only way to clean up the system.

7) A Department of Peace -- Dennis Kucinich will never be elected president, but his Department of Peace idea is a good one.

The original idea of a Peace Department in the United States dates back to the administration of George Washington, but has been most recently reinitiated by Rep. Dennis Kucinich beginning in 2001 and formed a part of Kucinich's presidential campaign platform in 2004. A bill for this purpose, HR 3760, was previously introduced in the House of Representatives on September 14, 2005. It has most recently been re-introduced via HR 808 on February 5, 2007 and 65 co-sponsors have since quickly signed on.

Since the United Nations has not worked, we need to be actively involved -- as world leaders -- in trying to create peace on this planet. This includes being an example for other nations to live up to.

8) The Environment -- Whether climate change is human caused or not -- it's probably 50/50 -- the reality is that the climate is changing in ways that will cost human lives, farm land, port cities, and bring a whole host of other disasters. We should be world leaders in addressing anything humans can do to slow the progression of warming. This is the only planet we have -- and we must also treat the Earth with compassion.

9) Smaller Government -- As much as possible, the scope of government must be limited both to ensure individual freedoms and to allow tax dollars to be spent in ways that can help the most people. If we can cut the the size of government and keep it out of people's private lives, we can still cut taxes on the poor and support an Universal Health Care System. A compassionate government serves the needs of the people, not corporate interests, and not military-industrial complex interests.

10) The Voice of the People -- Do away with the electoral college; it's an antiquated system based on an uneducated populace. This is, arguably, no longer the case. Yes, the US is a Republic, but we pretend to democratically elect our officials -- lets' make it official and eliminate the electoral college.

So, what am I missing? Or, more to the point, how insane is this list of ideas that I would like to see in our national politics?
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Today I am grateful for a new poem (albeit not a good one):

On Writing

Think of the way pigeons all seek sky
in a single flurry of wings, a chaos
with order in its heart, not chaos at all.

Or think of a lone raven gliding on currents
high above the desert, no discernible purpose,
simply the joy of riding the wind.

What strange intelligence inhabits the world,
how foreign to my little synapses,
yet something in my flesh feels connected.

I cannot grasp it, my need for language
obscures the simplest things, for instance
rain: no words can convey wet on skin.

We try to give voice to that which
intrigues us, makes us wonder; we struggle
to conform lines to speak that which is silent.

A futile quest. Much like a koan, it
isn't the solution that matters most, only
the turning in the mind of subtle mysteries.

I'm also grateful today for V-8 juice. I can be very lazy about cooking vegetables, but at least with V-8, I get some veggies.

What are you grateful for today?

Charles Simic has been named the new Poet Laureate of the United States. This is an interesting choice in that Simic isn't the generically good type of poet were accustomed to seeing in the past few selections. Simic is challenging and has often been very political, including a stand against the Iraq War.

Here is some of a New York Times article:

But what kind of Poet Laureate will Simic be?

In an interview today in The Times, Simic seemed to downplay the idea that politics should play a role in his public actions. He told Motoko Rich: “That reminds me so much of the way the young Communists in the days of Stalin at big party congresses would ask, ‘What is the role of the writer?’”

Charles Simic in 2003. (Photo by Richard Drew/The Associated Press)

But isn’t that question - “What is the role of the writer?” - one we are still asking? Do we know the answer yet?

In the past, to his credit, Simic - like generations of great poets before him - has not shied from political engagement. Witness the prescient advertisement above, which ran in The Times on October 1, 2002, before the start of the Iraq War. (Click here to see the whole thing.)

Simic’s name is on the bottom right. “It is … incumbent upon domestic critics to make their voices heard,” the ad reads. “It is the obligation and the privilege of elected representatives to raise hard questions and risk unpopularity in the broader national interest. It is the duty of concerned citizens to demand that they do so.”

Simic has also written, in a 1995 essay called “In Praise of Invective,” these ringing words: “There are moments in life when true invective is called for, when there comes an absolute necessity, out of a deep sense of justice, to denounce, mock, vituperate, lash out, rail at in the strongest possible language.”

Is this one of those moments?

 

Two other worthy articles -- less focused on the politics angle -- can be found here and here.

For a better sense of Simic the poet, it is worthwhile to check out the Academy of American Poets entry devoted to him and his work. Here is one of my favorites among his many fine poems:

The Initiate
by Charles Simic

St. John of the Cross wore dark glasses
As he passed me on the street.
St. Theresa of Avila, beautiful and grave,
Turned her back on me.

"Soulmate," they hissed. "It's high time."

I was a blind child, a wind-up toy . . .
I was one of death's juggling red balls
On a certain street corner
Where they peddle things out of suitcases.

The city like a huge cinema
With lights dimmed.
The performance already started.

So many blurred faces in a complicated plot.

The great secret which kept eluding me: knowing who I am . . .

The Redeemer and the Virgin,
Their eyes wide open in the empty church
Where the killer came to hide himself . . .

The new snow on the sidewalk bore footprints
That could have been made by bare feet.
Some unknown penitent guiding me.
In truth, I didn't know where I was going.
My feet were frozen,
My stomach growled.

Four young hoods blocking my way.
Three deadpan, one smiling crazily.

I let them have my black raincoat.

Thinking constantly of the Divine Love
and the Absolute had disfigured me.
People mistook me for someone else.
I heard voices after me calling out unknown names.
"I'm searching for someone to sell my soul to,"
The drunk who followed me whispered,
While appraising me from head to foot.

At the address I had been given.
The building had large X's over its windows.
I knocked but no one came to open.
By and by a black girl joined me on the steps.
She banged at the door till her fist hurt.

Her name was Alma, a propitious sign.
She knew someone who solved life's riddles
In a voice of an ancient Sumerian queen.
We had a long talk about that
While shivering and stamping our wet feet.

It was necessary to stay calm, I explained,
Even with the earth trembling,
And to continue to watch oneself
As if one were a complete stranger.

Once in Chicago, for instance,
I caught sight of a man in a shaving mirror
Who had my naked shoulders and face,
But whose eyes terrified me!
Two hard staring, all-knowing eyes!

After we parted, the night, the cold, and the endless walking
Brought on a kind of ecstasy.
I went as if pursued, trying to warm myself.

There was the East River; there was the Hudson.
Their waters shone like oil in sanctuary lamps.

Something supreme was occurring
For which there will never be any words.

The sky was full of racing clouds and tall buildings,
Whirling and whirling silently.

In that whole city you could hear a pin drop.
Believe me.
I thought I heard a pin drop and I went looking for it.


From The Book of Gods and Devils, published by Harcourt Brace & Company, 1990. Copyright © 1990 by Charles Simic. All rights reserved. Used by permission of the author.

Today's Daily Dharma from Tricycle:

All Things Reflect

All things reflect, interpenetrate, and indeed contain all other things. This is the organic nature of the universe, and is called mutual interdependence in classical Buddhism. Affinity and coincidence are its surface manifestations. . .the other is no other than myself. This is the foundation of the precepts and the inspiration for genuine human behavior.

To acknowledge one's own dark side with a smile and to acknowledge the shining side of the other person with a smile--this is practice. Keeping the shining side of one's self always in view and holding fast to the dark side of the other--this is not practice.

~ Robert Aitken, Encouraging Words

This was yesterday's Daily Om, a good reminder about maintaining a separate self-sense in relationships. Merging behavior is common and even desirable on occasion, but in the long term, without autonomy for each individual, it will destroy any relationship.

Space In Togetherness
Healthy Barriers

As relationships evolve, lives gradually become entwined. We tend to have a great deal in common with the people who attract us, and our regard for them compels us to trust their judgment. While our lives may seem to run together so smoothly that the line dividing them cannot be seen, we remain separate beings. To disregard these barriers is to sacrifice independence. It is our respect for the fact that our lives exist independently of the lives of others that allows us to set emotional and physical boundaries, to explore our interests and capabilities even when people close to us do not understand our partialities, and to agree to disagree. Maintaining healthy barriers is a matter of recognizing the point at which our principles and those of our loved ones and peers no longer overlap.

Human beings must relentlessly fight the temptation to follow the crowd. Naturally, we want to be liked, accepted, and admired, and it often seems that the easiest way to win approval is to ally ourselves with others. When we assume that our standards are the same as those of the people close to us without first examining our own intentions, we do ourselves a disservice. The barriers that exist between us are a reminder that our paths in life will be unique, and we must each accept that "I" and "we" can coexist peacefully. Our reactions, our likes and dislikes, our loves, our goals, and our dreams may or may not align with those of others, but we should neither ask others to embrace what we hold dear nor feel compelled to embrace what they hold dear.

As you learn to define yourself as an emotionally and intellectually distinct individual, you will grow to appreciate your autonomy. However much you enjoy the associations that bind you to others and provide you with a sense of identity, your concept of self will ultimately originate in your own soul. The healthy barriers that tell you where you end and the people around you begin will give you the freedom to pursue your development apart from those whose approval you might otherwise be tempted to seek out. Others will continue to play a role in your existence, but their values will not direct its course, and the relationships you share will remain marvelously balanced and harmonious as a result.

Quote of the day:

"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear."
~ Herbert Agar

Image of the day:


BODY
~ Exercise of the Week: Incline Bench DB Rows -- "The Bent-Over Barbell Row is a great exercise, but hardly anybody does it correctly. Most people look like they're having relations with a small farm animal when they do BB rows. Hence the Incline Bench Dumbbell Row."
~ The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About -- "Conspiracy theories don’t sit well with me. I’m already paranoid. I don’t want more paranoia swimming around in my head. So when Kevin Trudeau released The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About, he already had one strike against him in my book." Anything with Kevin Trudeau's name on it is PURE CRAP!
~ World's Largest Diet-Cancer Study Confirms Current Advice On Alcohol -- "Experts at the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) welcomed the latest results from the world's largest study on diet and cancer. The new results, published online at the International Journal of Cancer, link alcohol consumption to an increased risk of colon cancer. According to the study, those participants who reported consuming three or more alcoholic drinks per day had a 26 percent higher lifetime risk of colon cancers than non-drinkers."
~ Fat-burning defect in liver may cause obesity -- "Rats with a genetic predisposition to burn fat more slowly tend to put on weight more readily than rodents bred to resist becoming obese, a new study shows."
~ No proof probiotics aid athletic performance -- "Foods containing probiotics, live microbial ingredients that can provide health benefits, may be healthy, but athletes shouldn't count on them to boost their performance, a research review suggests. However, probiotics provide some indirect benefits."
~ Snack strategies: Eating between meals can work -- "When you snack, you can fill in nutritional gaps, boost your intake of fruits and vegetables, keep your mood on an even keel, and help with appetite and weight control."


PSYCHE
~ 10 Unsolved Mysteries of the Brain -- "The human brain—that three-pound mass of gray and white matter between your ears—is the most complex object in the universe."
~ Strategies to Slow Mental Decline -- "Although adults joke about memory lapses and “early Alzheimer’s”, the concern that we are losing our mental faculties becomes very real as we reach middle age and beyond."
~ Is American Culture is Bad For Mental Health? [The Corpus Callosum] -- " happened to run across a couple of articles pertaining to cultural influences on mental health. Neither presented modern first-world culture in a positive light."
~ How Men Grieve -- "Male grief is often conveyed differently."
~ Why Everyone Should “Pay It Forward” -- "Catherine Ryan Hyde suggests that the one thing that can be used to change the world is what every one of us has the capacity to experience: Gratitude. In order to truly benefit from the power of gratitude, though, we need to learn to abandon the traditional act of paying people back, and adopt the act of 'paying people forward.'" But DON"T see the movie of the book.
~ A study relates neural damage provoked by ecstasy with ambient temperature at which it is consumed -- "There exists a direct relationship between the consumption of MDMA, or Ecstasy, at a high ambient temperature and an increase in the neural damage which this drug provokes. This was the conclusion of the research carried out by Beatriz Goñi at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Navarra." Or you could just take a high dose of alpha lipoic acid prior to dropping and suffer zero neuronal damage, but you didn't read that here.


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Da Vinci's Last Supper: New conspiracy theory -- "New claims that Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper contains a hidden image of a woman holding a child are provoking a storm of interest on the internet."
~ Drinks men should just not order. What do you think? -- "There seem to be certain drinks that as a guy you should just not order at a bar - because if you do... no woman will ever sleep with you again (well unless she likes girly men *with Arnooolldd accent*). I found a link via fark with a list of all those forbidden drinks. Check them out and let us know if they are missing any or some of them are just bogus."
~ Religion puts some docs in quandary -- "More U.S. doctors are refusing to treat patients for religious reasons, causing a collision between religious freedom and discrimination laws."
~ The Notion: Now That's a Patriot Act -- "Progressives in Congress have introduced a measure that rewards corporations that don't screw their employees and move jobs offshore."
~ NEWSWEEK Poll: Will it Be Clinton vs. Giuliani? -- "The latest NEWSWEEK Poll finds that Hillary Clinton has widened her lead while Rudy Giuliani holds on to his advantage. Meanwhile, President Bush’s approval ratings remain in the basement." Head-to-head, I think Rudy wins, even though HC leads in mock polls.
~ E-Voting in California -- "California today decides whether to ban electronic voting machines that have been proven to be hackable, John Nichols reports." Until the machines are hack proof and provide a paper trail, they should be illegal.
~ Michael Vick dogfighting case opens racial divide -- "The difference between those sporting Michael Vick jerseys and those urging his swift conviction on dogfighting charges is glaring: Vick's supporters are mostly black; his critics are mostly white."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Loss of Habitat Threatens Indian Tiger -- "A bill to restore land rights to millions of poor tribal people in India could mean the end for India's endangered wild tigers, eliminating much of their protected habitat, conservationists warned Friday."
~ Aztec Leader's Tomb Found -- "Mexican archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected underground chambers they believe contain the remains of Emperor Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World. It would be the first tomb of an Aztec ruler ever found."
~ Stability and Diversity in Ecosystems -- "Is biodiversity important for predicting human impacts on ecosystems? If diverse ecosystems were as a consequence more stable, the answer would be yes."
~ Hungary uncovers 8 million-year-old trees -- "Hungary will spare no expense to preserve 16 cypress trees, estimated to be 8 million-years-old, recently uncovered in a northern lignite mine."
~ Pollution causes 40 percent of deaths worldwide, study finds -- "About 40 percent of deaths worldwide are caused by water, air and soil pollution, concludes a Cornell researcher. Such environmental degradation, coupled with the growth in world population, are major causes behind the rapid increase in human diseases, which the World Health Organization has recently reported. Both factors contribute to the malnourishment and disease susceptibility of 3.7 billion people, he says."
~ Crystals on meteorite hold a key to understanding building blocks of planets -- "A University of Toronto-led study has uncovered tiny zircon crystals in a meteorite originating from Vesta (a large asteroid between Mars and Jupiter), shedding light on the formation of planetesimals, small astronomical objects that form the basis of planets."
~ Legendary Burning Man festival gets an eco-conscience -- "Every summer, tens of thousands of revelers gather in the desert of Nevada to make art, music, and one heck of a mess. Despite efforts to curb the impact of Burning Man over the years, the event has not exactly learned how to lessen its big, burning footprint."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Wilberian -- "Have you noticed that Integral thinkers who choose a label for themselves call themselves Integral? And it's usually the loudest, shrillest, most incessently repetitive critics who use the label Wilberian ..."
~ Perfume: The Story of a Murderer -- "Holy crap. This film is amazing." A video post.
~ Young Researchers: The Need of Our Times -- "Gone are the days when erudite Buddhist scholars( both from Buddhist clergy and the laity) spent long hours doing research into The Buddha Dhamma and imparting their scholarship for others with lesser experience, to study and understand the deep philosophy of The Buddha Word."
~ Gratitude Friday :: Simplicity, Shouts, and Sound -- "Every Friday is Gratitude Friday here at Monk at Work — a chance for me to express my gratitude to sources of richness I’m experiencing, with the intention of sharing the wealth."
~ Craig Photography.com is Launched -- "Please check out our new site: Feedback and reviews would be greatly appreciated."
~ What is orthodoxy? What is orthopraxis? -- "In my conception, orthodoxy and orthopraxis are both minor scales (specifically, lines of development) in a four scale/three axis model of Integral Spirituality. The three axes of this model are Subjective/Objective (x), Individual/Collective (y), and Transformative/Translative (z). Together with altitude, these three axes compose the four scales of the AQAL-based model."
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Some things I am grateful for today:

1) I watched Breaking and Entering tonight. It stars two of my favorite actresses, Robin Wright Penn and Juliette Binoche, as well as Jude Law. Brief synopses:

Minghella's 'Breaking and Entering' is an excellent modern tale set in London that revolves around the relationships of (1) a "green" company director, (2) his longtime Swedish girlfriend and (3) a Bosnian immigrant. Admittedly I am not a big fan of Jude Law (what self respecting individual is!?) but he plays his part so efficiently it was a masterstroke casting him in the lead role. His character is trite seemingly disinterested and frequently irritating but wholly believable and realistic. He may come across as a London male stereotype but as said Law is so convincing it does not matter it just adds to the realism. Wright Penn is fantastic as his troubled Swedish girlfriend. She has to look after her 10 year old daughter suffering from ADD while struggling to feel appreciated and loved by the vacuous Law. Wright Penn fits the bill ably. Her character may be not perfect, her role at the end of the film is somewhat lacking in self respect and is slightly humiliating and desperate following a very selfless action she takes in helping out someone else, but again the films strength is its realism not its heroics. But the star of the film is the magnificent Binoche. Her performance is easily the best female performance I've seen in a film... ever!

2) I am also grateful for a good week of workouts -- got in four solid days this week (M/T/Th/F). Feels good to be back on track.

3) And I am grateful for The Gift of Therapy by Irv Yalom. It's a sort of Letters to a Young Poet for therapists. My friend Susan loaned it to me and it's a great read.

What are you grateful for today?

This is supposed to be a satirical look at how to make your life harder, but these are all valid points. Many of us engage in this kind of thinking on a regular basis without being aware of it.

The Easy Life or the Hard Knock Life?

We notice that some people have an easy life, while others experience life struggles. Why do some have a hard knock life, while for others life is easy? In the very unlikely event that your life is easier than you'd prefer, consider this list of the top ten ways to make life even more difficult.

#10. Look to other people and outside circumstances for your happiness. If your current relationship isn't bringing you the joy and fulfillment you initially envisioned, jettison it and go looking for that one special, magical person who is sure to make you supremely happy. While you're looking, be sure to shop, shop, shop. The stuff you purchase will help you feel good, at least until the credit card bills arrive. But that's another story.

#9. Live for tomorrow. When you retire you'll be able to do everything you've always wanted to do and you're sure to be very happy. Today is certain to be filled with drudgery, so just do what you have to do to get through the day.

#8. Remind yourself every day that the things you need to be happy are in short supply. Love, money, food, and all the other happiness-producing necessities of life are scarce. You'll have to be very competitive and aggressive to get your share. Be ready to fight for everything you want and resist urges to share.

#7. Be especially careful and restrained with your love. Only give love when you get something in return, preferably get more than you give. Be certain your needs are met before, or shortly after, giving loving words or actions to another person. Be clear with other people that you only love them when your conditions are met.

#6. Have very specific, well defined expectations for your life. With all your might, resist anything that appears in your life that is not what you expected. Someone is surely out to get you, as evidenced by the unexpected and unwanted stuff in your life.

#5. You are right. You know how to live the right way. You know what is good, what is bad, what is right, and what is wrong. Everyone with another viewpoint is wrong and it is up to you to make sure they know it.

#4. You are all alone in this experience called life. It is up to you to survive and thrive. No one else cares about you. Ignore all the "woo-woo" talk about God and our connections to each other.

#3. Spend, spend, spend. It may not be easy, but always spend more than you earn. That's what credit cards are for.

#2. Resist all temptation to meditate, reflect, and gain greater self awareness. That "new age" stuff could cancel out the benefits of #3 through #10.

#1. And most importantly, remember that life is supposed to be difficult. If you don't believe life is supposed to be tough, none of the previous 9 tips will be effective. Make sure you affirm the difficulty of life regularly, at least twice a day. If you don't, you might find that life becomes a bit easier and all the work you've put in will be for naught.

Excellent interview by Robert Wright with Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University.

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
~ Santayana

This well-known quote applies as much to individuals as it does to nations. In fact, it can be seen as the foundational maxim of psychotherapy. I hope to provide here some context for this stance.

In recent decades, psychology has entered what Elio Frattaroli (Healing the Soul in the Age of the Brain) calls the "Age of the Brain." He contends, and rightfully so, that psychology has become too focused on treating the brain with chemicals, rather than doing the intensive and sometimes arduous work of healing the deeper issues. If someone is depressed, why spend months in therapy when you can "fix" it with Prozac?

Certainly, neuropsychopharmacology has its place as an important part of dealing with mental illness and neuroses, but it should never be the only solution. The problems that plague our lives are issues of the soul much more often than they are issues of brain chemistry alone. There is growing evidence that neurochemical patterns in the brain are shaped by experience as much or more than they are triggered by genetic factors (especially in depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder).

When I use the culturally-loaded term "soul" (also known as the Self in Jungian psychology, the Atman in Hinduism, the Buddha Nature, or the Witness, among other terms), I mean that element of the psyche that experiences our lives and needs to make sense of things in ways defy rational understanding. It seeks communion, experience, interconnectedness, and inclusion; and it prefers darkness, fertility, and the freedom to be without doing. It is not rational, nor does it care much about cognitive understanding.

When soul is neglected, it doesn't just go away; it appears symptomatically in obsessions, addictions, violence, and loss of meaning. Our temptation is to isolate these symptoms or to try to eradicate them one by one; but the root problem is that we have lost our wisdom about the soul, even our interest in it. We have today few specialists of the soul to advise us when we succumb to moods and emotional pain....

~ Thomas Moore, Introduction to Care of the Soul

I've not been a big fan of Freud over the years, but I am beginning to see more and more that his early insights into the working of the mind were crucial to the development of psychology. He was maybe the first to understand the position Moore takes in the above quote. In "Remembering, Repeating, and Working Through," Freud outlined the essential way that soul works to make us more conscious through neurosis. Frattaroli can paraphrase it better than I can:

Freud describes neurosis as the compulsive repetition in action of a personal past that cannot be consciously recollected. This reenactment of the past is a reliving not of childhood events as they actually occurred but rather of emotionally patterned interactions learned in childhood, motivated "scenarios" that tell a story based both on actual events and on attitudes, emotions, and fantasies that were developed around those events (35).

Importantly, even when we can recollect those events themselves, we generally have little or no access to the emotional content and how we learned to relate to the world based on those events. We repeat the scenarios of the past rather than actually remember them -- a kind of repression. But the soul wants us to remember, to become more whole, so as Moore suggests, the behavior patterns will keep occurring until we stop to look at them, usually when they have driven us to therapy.

When we are experiencing depression, anxiety, or some other psychological dis-ease, we generally feel isolated, disconnected, and numb. A psychology of the soul contends that this is not our natural state. Soul works to alleviate this state of aloneness in the only it can -- it tries to force to look at why we feel this way.

The Subpersonality View of Neurosis

One of the ways the mind keeps these feelings repressed is through the creation of "managers" (see this post for a more thorough definition), whose job it is to keep us from re-experiencing those feelings and are triggered whenever we get into a similar situation. As subpersonalities, these managers enact the repetitive behaviors that were learned as children to avoid the pain of the past trauma, which as adults are generally dysfunctional behaviors.

But whenever there is a manger, there is a corresponding disowned self, or exile. While the manager tries to keep us safe from old wounds, the exiles, because they have been relegated to shadow, project the "feeling tone" of the event onto other people or situations. Thus, a child who was abused by her father will often end up choosing abusive men in relationships. The dynamic of the exile's relationship to the abusing parent is projected onto the men she meets, and because this is all shadow material, she unconsciously chooses men who will allow her to reenact the abusive situation.

My sense is that the soul is partly involved in this process. By allowing the projection, and maybe even initiating the projection, the soul colludes with the disowned self/exile to attempt to create a situation in which the old wound may finally be healed. Modern psychoanalysis has moved toward to idea that we reenact not those events that we cannot remember, but those events that we cannot feel.

The problem, as Frattaroli sees it (and I agree), is that modern psychology will be presented with someone who is depressed, maybe or maybe not knowing why. And rather than do the "archeology of the soul" that is needed to heal the original wound, the doctor will prescribe an antidepressant and send the person off to feel better. But nothing has been healed. The situation causing the depression, which may be known intellectually but not emotionally, will keep happening. Insight into the source of our pain is important, but we are not dealing with the realm of cognition, we are in the realm of the soul, or psyche.

When we can identify the subpersonalities at work, rather than medicating them away, we can begin to get to the root of the issue. This takes serious work in the therapy room, which costs money, and is why managed care advocates drugs and cognitive-behavior approaches (of brief therapy). These approaches have their place, but only in specific situations.

For more serious issues, where past trauma is most certainly part of the problem, deeper therapy is crucial. If we cannot remember and re-experience the emotional states that have been repressed, we will continue to repeat the same situations throughout our lives.
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Some things I am grateful for today:

1) First dates can also be last dates. I'm beginning to think I just should renounce my worldly life and move into cave someplace.

2) I had a good day. I did some reading and enjoyed a cloudy, moody day.

3) And coffee, I'm grateful for good coffee on a cloudy day.

What are you grateful for today?
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Today's Daily Dharma from Tricycle:

Fully In Touch

The person that desires to have only pleasure and refuses pain expends an enormous amount of energy resisting life--and at the same time misses out enormously. He or she is on a self-defeating mission in any case, for just as we evade certain forms of suffering we inevitably fall victim to others. Underlying our glitzy modern consumer culture there is a deep spiritual under-nourishment and malaise that manifests all kinds of symptoms: nervous disorders, loneliness, alienation, purposelessness . . . So blanking out, running away, burying our heads in the sand or videotape will take us nowhere in the long run. If we really want to solve our problems--and the world's problems, for they stem from the same roots--we must open up and accept the reality of suffering with full awareness, as it strikes us, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, in the here-now. Then, strange as it may seem, we reap vast rewards. For suffering has its positive side. From it we derive the experience of depth: of the fullness of our humanity. This puts us fully in touch with other people and the rest of the Universe.

~ John Snelling, Elements of Buddhism

Chogyam Trungpa talks about the ability to face and hold suffering as developing the tender heart of the warrior. We have to be able to face our pain and the pain of others:

Tenderness contains an element of sadness. It is not the sadness of feeling sorry for yourself or feeling deprived but it is a natural situation of fullness. You feel so full and rich, as if you were about to shed tears. Your eyes are full of tears, and the moment you blink, the tears will spill out of your eyes and roll down your cheeks. In order to be a good warrior, one has to feel this sad and tender heart. If a person does not feel alone or sad, he cannot be a warrior at all.

~ Chogyam Trungpa

This is such a different sense of the warrior than we have in the West. Rather than conquering others, a true warrior acknowledges pain and suffering and can live with the truth of these feelings. The true warrior works to develop a tender and open heart as the only real path to freedom. This is what it means to be fully in touch.
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Quote of the day:

"I know the answer! The answer lies within the heart of all mankind! The answer is twelve? I think I'm in the wrong building."
~ Charles M. Schulz

Image of the day:


BODY
~ Tip of the Week: Six of the Worst Workout Habits -- "Some of the most common exercise routines could be turning your gym sessions into wasted time. Here’s how to make every minute count."
~ Food And Nutrition Re-Married For Consumers' Health -- "It could be decades before science can accurately measure the body's systems to determine which foods, in what quantities and combinations, will best combat against disease and illness, experts say. But when that time comes, expect each diet to be as individual as the person. That's the general consensus among food scientists gathered here who in some instances can't even agree on the current effectiveness of functional foods." This is why fad diets don't work -- each person needs to find what works for him or her.
~ Protein may be why some turn red -- "Researchers now believe they have found a key mechanism that drives rosacea, a possible clue that could point the way to a future treatment for the condition that affects 14 million people in the United States."
~ The Facts About Fats in Our Childrens Diet -- "Some years ago health visitors were reporting a rash of reports on under-weight toddlers in middle-income households. Concerned parents were putting their small children on low-fat diets, believing this to be healthy. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Fats are essential to everyone’s health." Good info for adults as well.
~ Migraines Retreat With Diet Modifications -- "The research is clear, food intolerance, allergies, and hypersensitivities are key triggers of headaches and migraines. Although each migraine sufferer may react to a different food or group of foods, there are a few which seem to pop up as frequent offenders: dairy (including milk, cheeses, and yogurt), wheat, eggs, soy, corn, citrus, chocolate, coffee, beef, yeast, red wine, and processed foods with additives and preservatives."
~ Gene Doping: The Next Big Thing in Cheating -- "Gene doping is defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency as "the non-therapeutic use of cells, genes, genetic elements, or of the modulation of gene expression, having the capacity to improve athletic performance". Yeah, thats right, self-inflicted and unwarranted gene therapy to increase athletic ability."
~ 9 Reasons why An Apple a Day Really Keeps the Doctor away -- "Do you really know what makes an apple so special? Why is it that we never hear an orange or a banana a day keeps the doctor away?"


PSYCHE
~ Musical Appreciation Increases Current Knowledge Of Event Segmentation Processes In The Brain -- "In what has to be one of the most pleasant brain studies on record, researchers asked subjects to listen to symphonies in order to probe one of the central talents of the brain -- its ability to segment the continual stream of sensory information into perceptual chunks to extract meaning."
~ Anorexia May Be More Common Than Thought -- "Anorexia nervosa is more common than previously thought, according to a study of more than 3,000 Finnish women born between 1975 and 1979."
~ Mental Health 101 - American Psychiatric Association -- "Across the country, students are preparing to start or return to college. This is an exciting time, though for some it's overwhelming and stressful. Depression, substance use and eating disorders are increasingly common mental health issues on college campuses."
~ SciAmMind on altruism, money and leadership -- "The August edition of Scientific American Mind has just arrived online and in the shops. The freely available articles from this edition tackle teamwork and finance as one investigates the psychology of leadership and the other looks at the role of altruism in financial decision-making."
~ Young Athletes Try New Coach: The Psychologist -- "The idea that mental coaching can help young athletes has pervaded the country’s zealous youth sports culture."
~ What Autistic Girls Are Made Of -- "Research and clinical observation are starting to show that autistic girls are different from autistic boys. And these differences may have implications for the quality of their lives."


CULTURE/POLITICS
~ Road Rules -- "The novel [On the Road] that launched the Beats, the hippies and designer jeans turns 50. But this legendary 'joyride' is actually the saddest book you'll ever read—even with God on every page. Time for another look."
~ Sean O'Hagan on Jack Kerouac's dazzling novel On the Road -- "Fifty years ago Jack Kerouac's dazzling novel On the Road became the blueprint for the Beat generation and shaped America's youth culture for decades. It influenced scores of artists, musicians and film-makers, but how does it resonate with young people today?"
~ The Online Beat: An Overwhelming Vote for Waste, Earmarks and Corruption -- "House Democrats and Republicans unite to back a $460 billion Pentagon budget that is packed with 1,300 earmarks and the defense equivalent of a thousand bridges to nowhere."
~ GOP field seeks space from Bush -- "The Republican presidential candidates walked a delicate line in their latest campaign debate, seeking some distance from President Bush and an unpopular war in Iraq while offering assurances of change in a new Republican administration."
~ Woods wins Bridgestone Invitational (AP) -- "Tiger Woods looked as unbeatable as ever Sunday at Firestone. Woods erased a one-shot deficit in two holes, then buried Rory Sabbatini and the rest of the field to win the Bridgestone Invitational for the third straight year and send him to the PGA Championship with his game in good shape."
COMMENT: People have talked about Woods being in a slump this year (he hasn't won a major title), but he is #1 in the world, #1 in the Fed Ex Cup race, and #1 on the money list. Slump? When Woods plays badly, he finishes in the top 10, often in the top 5 (2nd at two of the majors this year). When he plays well, he wins. When plays very well, he looks like he's playing a whole different game. It's fun to watch him.
~ Daniel Brook: Hillary's Hypocrisy -- And Ours -- "Last night at the Yearly Kos Democratic presidential candidates' debate in Chicago, Hillary Clinton, bated by Barack Obama and John Edwards who have pledged not to take campaign money from Washington lobbyists, defended her open pocket policy...."


HABITATS/TECHNOLOGY
~ Energy Search Goes Underground -- "When tremors started cracking walls and bathroom tiles in this Swiss city on the Rhine, the engineers knew they had a problem."
~ Tiny blob hides a big secret -- "Just about every fictional witch or wizard eventually ends up with some sort of pouch that hides infinite space inside. Now real-life scientists have come up with something similar: An unassuming brown gel that is so porous, one of its inventors says "A cubic centimeter of this stuff could have 1,500 square meters...inside of it." It's not just a cool party trick. Turns out the gel has an uncanny knack for filtering huge amounts of mercury out of water."
~ Prediction of major hurricanes lowered -- "The United States' leading storm forecaster has slightly lowered the number of hurricanes expected to form in the Atlantic basin this year."
~ Everglades Decision Criticized -- "The Bush administration's hand in removing the Everglades from a United Nations list of endangered sites was denounced Friday by a Florida senator."
~ Scientists warn of chemicals in plastic -- "U.S. scientists warn the chemicals bisphenol A or BPA -- found in plastic -- could cause serious reproductive disorders."
~ A Car-Free Future? -- "There are few possessions to which people are more attached than their cars. Surveys have consistently shown that between a quarter an a third of all Americans bestow names on their cars. One survey found that 84 percent of all people say they “love” their cars...."


INTEGRAL/BUDDHIST
~ Dharma-Burger! "Karma Checks" -- "Big, BIG thanks to Horse reader Jaime McLeod who sends this great find, and really took the time to give it a proper writeup: Why wait for other people’s karma to catch up to them, when you can take the law of cause and effect into your own hand..."
~ Richard Dawkins and Multi-perspectivalism -- "Normally I'm not a big fan of this (non)debate (so-called) between religion and science. The science is rarely, although sometimes defined, the religion never is---one kind of religion/faith is simply assumed and then argued from or about, depending on whether the person is pro or con."
~ un-intelligent non-design -- "Last post took some shots at Dawkins and "New" Atheism ("meet the new boss, same as the old..."). So to be fair and balanced, a shot at (so-called) Intelligent Design. [I did see Michael Behe on Colbert Show the other night]."
~ Pushing Belief -- "I’ve been pushing my perspective on others for my entire life, but I have rarely questioned its foundations, including the scientific method and my own ability for rational thought. Both have been central to my beliefs despite many boneheaded decisions. I’ve also had a strong feeling that everything in existence fits together somehow."
~ Meditation with the Buddha Within -- "I have been having some awful nightmares of late and was talking with my therapist about it and she had a suggestion. She said that since meditation works so well for me that I should try and do a mini-meditation before bedtime--one that concentrated solely upon getting ready for sleep."

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Some things I am grateful for today:

1) Lazy Sundays. Nothing to do, no where to be. Nice.

2) I just watched The Science of Sleep, a quirky, charming little film. Brief description from the producer:

"The Science of Sleep," a playful romantic fantasy set inside the topsy-turvy brain of Stephane Miroux (Gael Garcia Bernal) an eccentric young man whose dreams constantly invade his waking life.

While slumbering, he is the charismatic host of "Stephane TV," expounding on "The Science of Sleep" in front of cardboard cameras. In "real life," he has a boring job at a Parisian calendar publisher and pines for Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), the girl in the apartment across the hall. While Stephanie is initially charmed by Stephane, she is confused by his childishness and shaky connection to reality. Stephanes co-worker, Guy (Alain Chabat) a vulgar but practical man, offers advice on the opposite sex, but Stephane is too far in the clouds to listen. Unable to find the secret to Stephanies heart while awake, Stephane searches for the answer in his dreams.

3) Eggs. With the price of dairy getting way out of hand, eggs are cheaper than cottage cheese now. Damned ethanol scam.

What are you grateful for today?

Today's Daily Dharma from Tricycle:

Natural Response of an Open Heart

Wisdom replaces ignorance in our minds when we realize that happiness does not lie in the accumulation of more and more pleasant feelings, that gratifying craving does not bring us a feeling of wholeness or completeness. It simply leads to more craving and more aversion. When we realize in our own experience that happiness comes not from reaching out but from letting go, not from seeking pleasurable experience, but from opening in the moment to what is true, this transformation of understanding then frees the energy of compassion within us. Our minds are no longer bound up in pushing away pain or holding on to pleasure. Compassion becomes the natural response of an open heart.

~ Joseph Goldstein, Seeking the Heart of Wisdom

This is an old article from Psychology Today, but since I am interested in change and how to facillitate it, I thought I'd post it. The article seems geared toward kicking addiction, but the general principles are useful.

Six Principles of Change

Do you believe in change? Believing you can change encourages commitment to the process and enhances the likelihood of success.

Six Principles of Change

1. The belief that you can change is the key to change. This is not the powerlessness message of the 12 steps but rather the message of self-efficacy. Addictions are really no different from other behaviors—believing you can change encourages commitment to the process and enhances the likelihood of success.
2. The type of treatment is less critical than the individual's commitment to change. People can select how they want to pursue change in line with their own values and preferences. They don't need to be told how to change.
3. Brief treatments can change longstanding habits. It is not the duration of the treatment that allows people to change but rather its ability to inspire continued efforts in that direction.
4. Life skills can be the key to licking addiction. All addictions may not be equal; the community-reinforcement approach, with its emphasis on developing life skills, might be needed for those more severely debilitated by drugs and alcohol.
5. Repeated efforts are critical to changing. People do not often get better instantly—it usually takes multiple efforts. Providing follow-up care allows people to maintain focus on their change goals. Eventually, they stand a good chance of achieving them.
6. Improvement, without abstinence, counts. People do not usually succeed all at once. But they can show significant improvements; and all improvement should be accepted and rewarded. It is counterproductive to kick people out of therapy for failing to abstain. The therapeutic approach of recognizing improvement in the absence of abstinence is called harm reduction. 

Today's Daily Om offers a simple meditation technique to open the heart.

The Soundless Center
Silence Of The Heart

We spend a lot of time attempting to put the feelings in our hearts into words, to communicate to others our passions, our emotions, and our love. Often we are so busy trying to translate our heart’s roar into language that we miss the most profound experience the heart has to offer, which is silence. Every poem arises from this silence and returns to it. When all the songs have been sung, the soliloquies delivered, the emotions expressed, silence is what remains. As each wave of feeling rises and falls back into the silence, we have an opportunity to connect with the vast, open, powerfully healing wisdom at the soundless center of our hearts.

Our hearts may seem noisy and tumultuous so much of the time that we do not even associate them with silence. It takes a sensitive ear to tune in to the silence of the heart, but it is there in each one of us, so close and so large that we do not even notice it. We can begin to become aware of it in the same way we become aware of the negative space in a still life, the background of a photograph, or the open sky that contains the sun, clouds, moon, and stars. We are accustomed to tuning in to objects and sounds that are one-pointed, solid, and three-dimensional. Seeing and hearing the apparently empty space that contains these sounds and objects takes a little practice.

We can bring our awareness into our hearts by simply breathing into the general area of our heart. The first thing we may notice is feelings like joy or sadness and physical sensations like tightness or tenderness. We acknowledge these as we continue to breathe and focus, listening attentively. We surround these feelings and sensations with breath and recognize that they are contained and held in an immeasurable substance like water or air, intangible, ineffable, but utterly real. This is the silence of the heart, and the more we listen for it, return to it, and accept it, the more we bathe and purify ourselves in the soundless center of our being.

Some things I am grateful for today:

1) We got three or four hours of good hard rain this morning. This is turning out to be a wet monsoon season, and we need the rain.

2) I got the complete series of Sports Night (an Aaron Sorkin dramedy) today. This is one of the best shows to get canceled because the network didn't support it -- with a stellar cast.

3) Fish oil. I have been taking high daily doses of fish oil for a month or so. My mood is better, my joints feel better, and I suspect that my HDL cholesterol is pretty high. This is good stuff.

What are you grateful for today?
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OK, yes this is silly, but it made me laugh. Found it on Digg, but here's the actual source.

At age 4 success is . . . not peeing in your pants.
At age 12 success is . . . having friends.
At age 16 success is . . . having a drivers license.
At age 20 success is . . . having sex.
At age 35 success is . . . having money.
At age 50 success is . . . having money.
At age 60 success is . . . having sex.
At age 70 success is . . . having a drivers license.
At age 75 success is . . . having friends.
At age 80 success is . . . not peeing in your pants.

Here is today's Daily Om:

Information And Inspiration
Roadmaps Of Life

All the major spiritual traditions serve the purpose of offering us a roadmap to guide us on our individual journeys to enlightenment. These roadmaps are made up of moral codes, parables, and, in some cases, detailed descriptions of mystical states. We often study the fine points of a particular ascended master’s narrative in order to better understand our own and to seek inspiration and guidance on our path. In the same way, when we plan a road trip, we carry maps and guidebooks in an effort to understand where we are going. In both cases, though, the journey has a life of its own and maps, while helpful, can only take us so far. There is just no comparison between looking at a line on a piece of paper and driving your own car down the road that line represents.

Some people seem well-suited to following maps, while others are always looking for new ways to get where they’re going. In the end, the only reliable compass is within, as every great spiritual guide will tell you. The maps and travelogues left behind by others are great blessings, full of useful information and inspiration, but they cannot take the journey for us. When it is time to merge onto the highway or pull up anchor, we are ostensibly on our own. Strange weather patterns, closed roads, and traffic jams arise in the moment, out of nowhere, and our maps cannot tell us what to do. Whether we take refuge in a motel by the side of the road, persevere and continue forward, or turn back altogether is entirely up to us.

Maps are based on observations from the past and we are living in the present, so we are the only true experts on our journey to enlightenment. We may find that the road traveled by our predecessors is now closed. We may feel called to change direction entirely so that the maps we have been carrying really no longer apply. These are the moments when we learn to attune ourselves to our inner compass, following a map that only we can see, as we make our way into the unknown territory of our own enlightenment.

Today's Daily Dharma from Tricycle:

The Spacious Mind

The spacious mind has room for everything. It is like the space in a room, which is never harmed by what goes in and out of it. In fact, we say "the space in this room," but actually, the room is in the space, the whole building is in the space. When the building has gone, the space will still be there. The space surrounds the building, and right now we are containing space in a room. With this view we can develop a new perspective. We can see that there are walls creating the shape of the room and there is the space. Looking at it one way, the walls limit the space in the room. But looking at it another way, we see that space is limitless.

~ Ajahn Sumedo, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Vol. V, #1