I am impressed with your life's journey Oversoul. Seems like you've acquired a lot of insight regarding the human condition and have evolved. Learning what battles to fight puts you a step ahead of me. I've stepped in it often in my career as I tended to be a reactive person. I've become more open minded myself as one had to working in a liberal environment when living in Seattle.
Thank you for the compliments, Zircon. It wasn't easy for me either. I used to let my impulsive reactions surge out of control. I thought that jumping the gun on every issue gave me a distinct edge over a potential adversary. However, I realized that more often than not the argument was already half-lost when I lost my cool and my clarity or objectivity of mind. It was getting to be quite an energy drain and a huge wear and tear on the emotions, to obstinately maintain a combative stance on nearly every matter of disagreement for which I held a valued opinion. That's when I began to discover the importance of selecting my battles pragmatically.
I became determined to change all that by practicing greater awareness and by working on becoming less impulsive when such situations arise. I learned to catch myself before jumping into the fray, to keep my cool, to weigh and evaluate the issue, and to simply back off and walk away when I decided to. I eventually overcame the habit, as I cultivated listening skills with respect to both my own inner mental dialogue and what the other person is saying. Those skills really became handy in my legal practice. They also provided a lot of insights into human nature and the human condition over the years.
It is a skill to learn which battles to fight, and, like any other skill, practice makes perfect. And perfect is
mastery.
That was a major shift in your life from being a lawyer to high tech. I must say that it was a very brave move in taking a chance like that. That you succeeded is to be applauded.
Thanks again for the compliment. It is amazing what some firm resolve and "burning of one's bridges" can do. It was tough, though. I had to do a lot of self-study nightly at home, just to be capable of performing the computer tech requirements of a job by day. Also, the learning had to be ongoing because of the new hardware, software and upgrades, and other hot tech stuff frequently coming out in the highly competitive marketplace. I would not have succeeded were it not for the intellectual challenge, creativity, and the mental stimulation that came with a high tech career (Okay, I won't omit or deny the good pay.
). Once I started a tech project going, my absorption at work shifted to high gear: It felt like a rush, almost an addictive "high" experience.
My family and I are Orthodox Christian so we're rather conservative as to the tenants of the world's oldest Christian faith. But in addition I have evolved somewhat myself. I have a strong bond with nature and its beauty. It may seem odd but sometimes I will talk to trees and plants. I am deeply bonded with the night and the stars and the universe. I view them as family. What caused all of this to include us to come into existence is a question to be debated eternally but I do feel the universe is the hand of God itself whatever God actually is. Life is everywhere. We just haven't found it yet. It may have found us but is very cautious. Hell, I'd be seeing how violent we are as a species.
Apparently the desire to seek, embrace and grow your very soul is quite strong with you. I wish you the very best in your search. More people need to make these personal quests. If they did we'd most likely live in a better world.
You seem to be what is known as a Nature mystic or a
natural mystic, as distinguished from a
religious mystic. I share your affinity for Nature and the universe, but I also think of myself as a religious mystic. Personally, the distinction is more formal or academic than actual or real. I tend to believe similarly with you that the universe (or any multiverse) is the manifest body or expression of an unmanifest, impersonal cosmic God.
You mention you and your family are Orthodox Christian. I presume you are referring to the
eastern Orthodox Christian Church(es) as distinguished from the western Roman Catholic Church and Protestant denominations? The eastern church's theology has a wonderful teaching known as "
deification" or "
divinization" (
apotheosis), which retains the mystical elements of the pristine Christian faith. Are you familiar with this? Unfortunately, in the western Christian churches, "deification" lost significance and eminence in their theology, to the serious detriment of the spiritual development and growth of many followers.
How correct you are when you said: "More people need to make these personal quests," with reference to the individual's soul growth.
Sadly and tragically people fail to realize the necessity of soul growth as the next and final step in the evolutionary development of human consciousness and the human species. This is the continuing evolution of the human species in the
noosphere envisioned by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's phenomenology. It is also the "consciousness evolution" interpretation given by Carl Johan Calleman to the Mayan calendar.
Your "mystical studies and practice". I don't know exactly what you mean. Have you adopted eastern religions or derivations of them in your quest for full understanding and incorporated them with the more traditional western faiths?
It is not that I have mix-matched aspects of eastern religious systems with those of the western faiths. For now, let us say that I discovered for myself and came to understand the spiritual thread that weaves through all the world's major religious systems and distills their common essence and message into
an authentic and pure mysticism of nondualist oneness.
This is the
classic teaching of mystics down through the ages, many of whom are credited as founders of the religion which their respective followers institutionalized. During the last century, it has resurfaced in our time as what is called
contemporary mysticism. Remarkably, it is this mystical flavor of spirituality which theoretical physics and other more recent fields of science are validating unintentionally.
Can you elaborate a bit on your understanding regarding "ultimate mysteries of life and Being and Self" That is a rather ambitious undertaking. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to hear some of your insight if it isn't too personal.
I do not mind sharing the teachings of mysticism with you, Zircon. You will be surprised to find out that truth and its mysteries are far, far simpler than anyone is willing to accept or believe. It is a total paradox to the human mind -- too simple to be true!
Give me your e-mail address through the
personal messaging feature here at CoastGab. I will e-mail my reply to you.
And yes, I too enjoy most of what C2C offers. I've been a listener since Art Bell's days when I was living in the Pacific Northwest. I even bought Cusco cassettes. Great late night listening when I'm out in my yard with a breeze blowing, stars glowing and a Mockingbird singing its songbook here on the Great Plains.
I am imagining what you described... That must truly be a
great late night to experience.
