“Realizing that you know less as you are on the way towards spiritual development.” This thought can be often heard as a proof of some sort of awakening. Although hearing it too often from the same person is – for me at least – a certain sign of standing in front of a parrot. Even if it resembles a human. Just listen more carefully for a moment and you will hear again about the extraordinary realization of not knowing. Awakening (to this) then brings conclusions on how the extraordinarily wonderful spiritual path needs to be followed from now on. “Now I see the light!” [irony]Can you see here the immanent humility and piety? The modesty of not knowing![/irony] Still, we are witnessing the birth of a new knowledge. The knowledge of where to from here. The first steps towards insanity.
Remembering yourself causes awakening
Self-evident Vertical Thinking in Yoga
Here I will present you two simple, yet powerful techniques that will help your meditation. Both are coming from the complex methodology of Yoga. Also these two techniques are good examples of vertical thinking. The primary goal of all meditation methods is to transform the mind into a perfectly controlled instrument. Into a recipient ready to receive the flow of increased streams of consciousness. If you prefer, of higher levels of awareness. At their core, both techniques can help you stop the discursiveness of the mind.
The Autodidacticism Complex
Should self development be considered a form of autodidacticism? How far can one go in relying on his own abilities to learn? My take here is to handle this tough questions on both levels of personal development and spiritual development. Personal development deals with the unfolding of all abilities required for a healthy personality in the current social and cultural milieu. Spiritual development deals with the essential parts of human life and being. But can autodidacticism work well for both developmental quests?
The Kuvasz – A Living Symbol and Treasure
And now for something completely different. For a few days I was away for a special kind of reunion. From my presentation page you might already know that I am a nut when it comes to great dogs, especially from the one breed called kuvasz [koov-ahs, koo-vahs]. Guess what, I even have a kuvasz stretched out right now in front of the door, on the porch. So, the reunion I was attending is an annual meeting of the kuvasz breeders and fanciers in Hungary. A rare occasion to meet special people, all in love with this outstanding dog. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, the kuvasz is an ancient Hungarian breed, a very special kind of guard dog with an amazing history of thousands of years. Not many breeds are still carrying that kind of natural force in their genes. Unfortunately the kuvasz breed is now affected by modern lifestyle plagues, being in danger of loosing its purpose, thus its millenary inheritance. Being part of the effervescence around helping the kuvasz regain its rightful place is a significant experience to me for many reasons.
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Where the revolt against the older world got us
Regarding personal development trends, I came to notice a paradoxical situation. By definition, it is all about building up a successful person. In time, there were major influences on the discipline, although its major characteristic is to come up with something new and revolutionary as often as possible. Just to be in touch with modern times. Even if it’s the same old recipe, a repackaging makes it shiny and lots of new adepts are gathering around it. Also, some of the recipes are standing strong on scientific grounds, many are simply based on the strong belief of the follower. Thus, approaching such adepts with some regular conversation, I was surprised how easily and normally we handled even sensitive religious matters. But not the ones related to their own, accepted and followed personal success recipes or paths. Seemingly, these systems of personal success beliefs give something more that even religions fail to deliver.
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The Secret starting to be revealed
By the mid of April I wrote an article expressing my concerns regarding the infatuation of ‘The Secret’ ’s concept and followers. It took only 5 months to see some unpleasant facts coming to light about the preachers of this “revolutionary” nonsense. Strangely, this also came as a relief for the discomfort I started to feel regarding quite a few personal development blogs to which I subscribed in time. It was saddening to see how the original ideas behind these blogs on personal development turned slowly into a belief system. All centered around the Law of Attraction, as presented in ‘The Secret’. Reducing it all to the simple minded formula (often verdict) of “this is so ’cause this is what you have attracted”. Almost like ‘The Secret’ and the ‘Law of Attraction’ turned into a religious conviction. So, now there is this situation of “The Secret” ’s David Schirmer being exposed.
Is Self-Definition Easier Today?
In straight accordance with your age, you are now in a distinct phase of your life where you are redefining yourself. Self-definition is an ongoing process, for as long as you live. Our lives are subdued to a historical presence and an existential reality. The historical presence is also subdued to live in a comparative reality. In every time sequence of our lives, the comparative approach is remodeling our identity. And comparative approach is dependent on the cultural, social and historical context. This dependency is what creates the frames for us, mostly in how we can manage to define ourselves. This self-definition needs to be ever reassuring in order to keep our balance. We live now, so is the actual context in favour of this need for self-definition? With all the progress of the modern world, is it easier today to define ourselves?
A glimpse behind the veil
One of the most important keys in approaching vertical thinking was given to us by the genius of Jung. It is called: synchronicity. What he really managed to create was a terminology suitable for our Western rational minds. Mainly through clarifying explanations, with terms that got into the common knowledge ever since. So many people have heard of and are using the term synchronicity. But do we really know what that means? I think it is worth the effort to learn some more about it, especially if you are a self development addict like me. Let’s dive a little into the details of the concept.
Obsession of Identity
It seems to me that the concept of ‘reaching the soul’ stirred up the biggest questions here on Vertegram. Contrary to how it is in the common knowledge, I choose to define soul as a possibility. Something that is available only as a potentiality. Something that needs to be actualized, needs to be brought forward. Let’s dwell into it some more.
The Vertegram Awards
A special moment this is. Now is the second milestone of the Vertegram blog, accompanied with some special and well deserved prizes. So, after a short break, back to some graphomania. Turning back the digital pages of Vertegram, it was edifying to see the main streams of thoughts I was playing with. Here are some conclusions and the surprise awards.
