Time is moving so quickly, it seems only a couple of days since I composed the last edition of the GSN News. Now once again it's time to compile this weeks volume...
Where on earth has this year gone? It seems only five minutes ago it was Christmas and now we're well into February 2008!!
In this volume, I thought I would share some information about Australian Aboriginal Spirituality. Enjoy!
Introduction
Bush Chapel. In chapels like this, Christian services are held in harmony with underlying Aboriginal spiritual beliefs.
Spirituality for Indigenous Australians takes many forms. Its forms and practices have been profoundly influenced by the impact of colonialism, both past and present.
Some Indigenous Australians share the religious beliefs and values of religions introduced into Australia from other cultures around the world, particularly Europe. But for most people religious beliefs are derived from a sense of belonging-to the land, to the sea, to other people, to one's culture.
The form and expression of spirituality differs between Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. Aboriginal spirituality mainly derives from the stories of the Dreaming, while Torres Strait Islander spirituality draws upon the stories of the Tagai.
The Missions
So the sad thing about it all was the missionaries didn't realise that we already had something that tied in with what they'd brought to us. They saw different as inferior, and they didn't ask us what it was that we had. And it's very sad because if they had asked... things may have been different today.
Our people, before the white man came were very spiritual people. They were connected to land and creation through the great spirit, there was a good great and a great evil spirit... And Satan was the great evil one. So there wasn't much difference in what the missionaries brought and what we already had... .
Wadjularbinna Doomadgee,
Gungalidda Leader,
Gulf of Carpentaria, 1996.
Since the European colonisation of Australia, Indigenous Australians have had contact with missionaries and their missions. This relationship has been a difficult one. In some instances missions became instruments of government policy, engaging in practices such as forcibly separating Aboriginal children from their families in order to maximise control over the child's education into Christian ways and beliefs. In this way, missions contributed to the suppression of Aboriginal cultural practices and languages.
However, not all missions were agents of government policies. Some respected Aboriginal ways of life and the importance of ceremonies and cultural practices.
The Dreaming
What is the Dreaming?
Merv Penrith
Elder,
Wallaga Lake, 1996
The Dreaming has different meanings for different Aboriginal people. It is a complex network of knowledge, faith and practices that derive from stories of creation , and which dominates all spiritual and physical aspects of Aboriginal life. The Dreaming sets out the structures of society, the rules for social behaviour and the ceremonies performed in order to maintain the life of the land.
It governed the way people lived and how they should behave.
Those who did not follow the rules were punished.
The Dreamtime or Dreaming is often used to describe the time when the earth and humans and animals were created. The Dreaming is also used by individuals to refer to their own dreaming or their community's dreaming.
During the Dreaming, ancestral spirits came to earth and created the landforms, the animals and plants. The stories tell how the ancestral spirits moved through the land creating rivers, lakes and mountains. Today we know the places where the ancestral spirits have been and where they came to rest. There are explanations of how people came to Australia and the links between the groups throughout Australia. There are explanations about how people learnt languages and dance and how they came to know about fire.
In essence, the Dreaming comes from the land. In Aboriginal society people did not own the land it was part of them and it was part of their duty to respect and look after mother earth.
The Dreaming did not end with the arrival of Europeans but simply entered a new phase. It is a powerful living force that must be maintained and cared for.
Dreaming Stories
What are Dreaming Stories about?
Dreaming stories vary throughout Australia and there are different versions on the same theme. For example the story of how the birds got their colours is different in New South Wales and in Western Australia.
Stories cover many themes and topics. There are stories about creation of sacred places, landforms, people, animals and plants. There are also stories of language or the first use of fire. In more recent times there are stories telling of the arrival of the first Europeans on ships or stories about trading with Macassan fisherman in Northern Australia.
The Tracks of Life
The journey of the Spirit Ancestors across the land are recorded in Dreaming Tracks. A Dreaming track joins a number of sites which trace the path of an Ancestral Being as it moved through the landscape, forming its features, creating its flora and fauna and laying down the Laws. One of these Spirit Ancestors is the Rainbow Serpent, whose Dreaming track is shared by many Aboriginal communities across Australia.
Rainbow Serpent
Carl McGrady,
Aboriginal Education Assistant,
Boggabilla, describing the path of the
Rainbow Serpent at Boobera Lagoon,
northern New South Wales, 1996.
The Rainbow Serpent is represented as a large, snake-like creature, whose Dreaming track is always associated with watercourses, such as billabongs, rivers, creeks and lagoons. It is the protector of the land, its people, and the source of all life. However, the Rainbow Serpent can also be a destructive force if it is not properly respected.
The Rainbow Serpent is a consistent theme in Aboriginal painting and has been found in rock art up to 6000 years old. The Rainbow Serpent is a powerful symbol of the creative and destructive power of nature. Most paintings of Rainbow Serpents tell the story of the creation of the landscape particular to an artist's birthplace. Some aspects of Rainbow Serpent stories are restricted to initiated persons but generally, the image had been very public. Today, most artists add personal clan designs to the bodies of Rainbow Serpents, symbolising links between the artist and the land.
The Mimi Spirits
The Mimi are tall, thin beings that live in the rocky escarpment of northern Australia as spirits. Before the coming of Aboriginal people they had human forms. The Mimi are generally harmless but on occasions can be mischievous.
When Aboriginal people first came to northern Australia, the Mimi taught them how to hunt and cook kangaroos and other animals. They also did the first rock paintings and taught Aboriginal people how to paint.
The Tagai
I'm as much a Torres Strait Islander irrespective of where I live because my feelings of being a Torres Strait Islander live inside me. It is not predicated by what is outside me, it is determined with my feelings and my spirituality.
Bilyana Blomely
Academic Co-ordinator,
Lismore 1996
The people throughout the Torres Strait are united by their connection to the Tagai. The Tagai consists of stories which are the cornerstone of Torres Strait Islanders' spiritual beliefs. These stories focus on the stars and identify Torres Strait Islanders as sea people who share a common way of life. The instructions of the Tagai provide order in the world, ensuring that everything has a place.
One Tagai story depicts the Tagai as a man standing in a canoe. In his left hand, he holds a fishing spear, representing the Southern Cross. In his right hand, he holds a sorbi (a red fruit). In this story, the Tagai and his crew of 12 are preparing for a journey. But before the journey begins, the crew consume all the food and drink they planned to take. So the Tagai strung the crew together in two groups of six and cast them into the sea, where their images became star patterns in the sky. These patterns can be seen in the star constellations of Pleiades and Orion.
A Survey for Finding Your Dominant and Subdominant Spiritual Temperament(s)
© Copyright 2000/2007 by Timothy Conway, PhD
Discovering one's spiritual temperament(s) can better promote self-understanding and mutual understanding, as well as empathy and sensitivity with others, and real freedom for oneself.
Without saying too much too soon about the different spiritual temperaments that can characterize individuals (after all, we don't want to bias the results), let's dive right in and proceed with the following survey. This will help you find out for yourself--and for any of your loved ones and acquaintances who take this poll--which spiritual temperament(s) most characterize your personality as it is currently constituted.
For the following survey, please indicate, to the left of each of the statements below whether you:
--Strongly Agree (write “1”)
--Agree (write “2”)
--Aren’t Sure or Doesn’t Apply (“write “3”)
--Disagree (write “4”)
--Strongly Disagree (write “5”)
You can simply print out this survey for yourself (or for your family, friends, students and/or fellow members of a particular religious-spiritual group), and then just fill in the blanks to the left of each numbered statement with your different responses-- "1," "2," "3," "4" or "5."
Please notice that, because of people's differing spiritual temperaments, and because different items in the following survey are designed to resonate with different temperaments, some of the following survey-items may seem much more interesting than others! It will take the average person about 15-20 minutes to complete and analyze the following survey responses and thus discover their spiritual temperament.
+ + + + + + +
Spiritual Temperament Survey
_____ 1) It is not enough to be a religiously “faithful” person, one must have a good understanding of the theological basis of one’s faith.
_____ 2) Pondering the precise nature of Truth is an activity to which I am often drawn.
_____ 3) A sound philosophy is crucial, lest one fall into fuzzy, inconsistent, or deranged thinking.
_____ 4) People say that one should “come from one’s heart” but it is just as important (if not more so) that one operate with a clear mind, that is, an “illumined head.”
_____ 5) A competent spiritual teacher should be able to enunciate or articulate his or her principles in an orderly, sensible, logical system.
_____ 6) I would rather debate theological/philosophical issues with someone than accept the misleading idea that “we are all one” and let our theological or philosophical differences go unexamined.
_____ 7) There are right and wrong ways of believing and practicing religion.
_____ 8) In my opinion, not all scriptures are equally valid. Clearly, one scripture is true, the others are not.
_____ 9) When it comes to matters of faith, only the Divinely-revealed Truth is important, certainly not one’s own subjective views or intuitions about spirituality.
_____ 10) For the sake of their final destiny, it is important to tell other people about the true way to God, even if they would rather not listen.
_____ 11) There is spiritual danger in associating too often with those who don’t believe in (or refuse to believe in) the one true way of religion.
_____ 12) God has created (or allowed) a condition of everlasting perdition, darkness, or hell to punish unbelievers.
_____ 13) It is unlikely that members of the untrue religions will be saved in the final judgment or ultimate destiny.
_____ 14) Innovations in the practice and beliefs of a religion are something one should carefully guard against.
_____ 15) I need to move and feel energy flowing in and around me; I would not be content to be a part of a spiritual group that had its members spending lots of time sitting in prayer, meditation, or listening to a speaker.
_____ 16) Fairly often I feel the need to transcend my normal sense of self through ecstatic states of consciousness, which I prefer to bring on through things like sacred dancing, free movement, highly spirited chanting, and/or shamanic drumming.
_____ 17) Generally speaking, I prefer music with a strong beat that makes me want to move rather than more serene, “refined” music.
_____ 18) I would rather attend one of the new Christian rock-n-roll “Rave” Masses than a traditional solemn church service.
_____19) I basically consider myself more of an uninhibited, unrestrained Dionysian personality than a restrained, disciplined Apollonian personality.
_____ 20) Intense stimulation of various kinds does not bother me; rather, I feel that it helps liberate my consciousness.
_____ 21) It feels very supportive to be part of a religious or spiritual community with other like-minded individuals.
_____ 22) I don’t mind losing my sense of identity in the larger sense of identity that comes from being a member of a spiritual group.
_____ 23) I would rather be a member of a religious or spiritual community with a somewhat regimented schedule (which brings a certain streamlined ease and lack of stress) than be on my own in a less structured, more undefined situation.
_____ 24) My religious or spiritual community feels much more like my “family” than my own biological relatives.
_____ 25) In the past I have spent a fair amount of time participating in a communal or monastic situation.
_____ 26) All things considered, I would prefer to help a dozen people serve food in a soup kitchen than to sit in meditation or read an inspiring work on a spiritual topic.
_____ 27) I feel that most religious groups do not devote enough time in helpful charitable action toward the needy.
_____ 28) In all candidness, I spend far more of my prayer periods thinking of the well-being of others, not focused on my own aims or wishes.
_____ 29) I would find it perfectly acceptable if religious gatherings devoted a greater portion of their meetings in some kind of service project rather than in ceremonies, sermons, or prayers.
_____ 30) I would gladly, through a God-directed process of “redemptive suffering” or vicarious atonement, take onto myself some amount of others’ pain to spare them from having to go through it, even if this meant that I had to experience some bodily pain or worldly setback.
_____ 31) To go deeply into spirituality, I need to have lots of quality time by myself, physically apart from the company of others.
_____ 32) I would rather listen to “the still small voice within” than listen to another human being speaking about spirituality or God.
_____ 33) If I had to make the choice between one or the other, I would rather spend two days in a remote, comfortable meditation site than two days in a communal religious sing-along gathering.
_____ 34) If I joined a spiritual community, I would need to have substantial amounts of time by myself to commune with Spirit in solitude.
_____ 35) I sometimes find that certain people are rather boring, but I am almost never bored by my self.
_____ 36) It is fascinating to play and experiment with the mind to find out what other states of consciousness are possible beyond the “normal” waking state of consciousness.
_____ 37) I would rather spend long periods in deep, silent “prayerfulness” than reciting litanies of prayers.
_____ 38) Sometimes, to get a deeper sense of reality, I just sit meditatively and try to see how long I can focus on a particular thing—an external or internal image, a thought, a mantra, a Name of God, a bodily sensation (like breathing sensations), or ongoing sound (like a ceremonial gong or repetitive music pattern or an ambient background noise).
_____ 39) It is important to minimize the kinds of circumstances, conversation, music, food, reading and entertainment that leave one feeling distracted or scattered, and, instead, associate with those things and people that help one to stay very centered.
_____ 40) I have spent a fair amount of time trying or practicing one or more of the following activities: out-of-the-body travel; remote viewing; past-life regression; deep hypnosis; “brain machine” programs that alter brain-waves.
_____ 41) I feel I have temporarily lost something good when my period of concentrative meditation is interrupted by anything or anyone.
_____ 42) If there were an utterly safe hallucinogenic substance that allowed anyone the chance to experience for an hour a profoundly different, non-ordinary state of consciousness, I would be in favor of its legalization and distribution (so long as it was not abused in a way that would endanger others, for instance, while driving a motor vehicle).
_____ 43) It is crucial that key developmental stages such as birth, puberty, marriage and death be marked and honored with special rituals—rites of passage, either informal or, preferably, formal.
_____ 44) When engaging in religious ceremonies, I am certain that God’s creation is somehow significantly affected and changed, even if this change is not immediately noticeable from the human perspective.
_____ 45) I would not be very interested in attending a religious/spiritual meeting if it only involved, say, meditative sitting, scriptural reading, or singing, and did not include some kind of distinct ritual.
_____ 46) I feel more complete and fulfilled inwardly when I perform certain outward symbolic actions.
_____ 47) Some physical objects have an unusually influential spiritual “force” and need to be treated with special care.
_____ 48) It is important to become more attuned to the Divine Cosmic Order by engaging in special rituals that reconcile us to the realm of Spirit.
_____ 49) Whereas some people want a very scaled-down, “minimalist” form of religious expression, I like to experience a good amount of pageantry or aesthetic, artistic expression in religious gatherings.
_____ 50) It is important to make oneself a passive instrument so that the Holy Spirit or guiding spirits can possess one’s own personality to express something on the earth plane for the greater spiritual good of all.
_____ 51) I would not mind being occasionally, temporarily “taken over” by a Higher Power of Good in order that a profound revelation might be given to humanity.
_____ 52) I sometimes feel possessed by another intelligence that speaks or acts through me.
_____ 53) In the past, I have spent some time learning to trance-channel.
_____ 54) It would serve us well to find out, through mediumistic communication, what our departed ancestors and guardian angels want for us, rather than just proceed on our own thinking and impulses.
_____ 55) I tend to be suspicious of all dogmas and grand schemas.
_____ 56) It’s better to just let the mind or attention float untethered in a state of inner freedom than get attached to some fixed mental position or belief.
_____ 57) I would rather live on alms and risk hunger and thirst than depend on physical security that comes from compromise with corrupt systems.
_____ 58) One does well to challenge many forms of authority and “speak truth to power,” even if it means rocking the boat, creating a scene, or having one’s reputation tarnished in the eyes of certain folks.
_____ 59) Family ties aren’t nearly as important as one’s connection with all humanity and all living beings.
_____ 60) I would prefer to encounter as many of my fellow beings as possible by sitting in the marketplace or wandering about the streets and parks instead of spending most of my time operating comfortably in some insulated home, office, spiritual group or monastery.
_____ 61) It is not enough to engage in charitable service to the needy; one must work to radically change social-economic-political-religious systems that promote terrible disparities in wealth and opportunity.
_____ 62) If I had to choose one or the other, I would rather be in a close friendship with a person who was a member of an ostracized minority than with an extremely famous, popular celebrity.
_____ 63) In the spiritual life, the Personal Deity with a form and name holds great appeal for me; I am not very interested in the formless Divine.
_____ 64) Remembering, praising and/or thanking the Divine Spirit is an activity which often engages me.
_____ 65) The Divine Spirit, for me, is very much my “nearest and dearest,” more like the Beloved Father, Mother, Lover, or Friend than some remote, non-personal principle.
_____ 66) Feeling the tender love for and from the Divine One is much more appealing than thinking abstractly about God.
_____ 67) Deep, heartfelt devotion to God (or the primordial Buddha or Tao) is the most important element in my life.
_____ 68) I often experience vivid emotional pangs during my spiritual life.
_____ 69) My relationship to the Divine feels more like child to Parent or servant to Master than “co-creator” with God. God is the supreme Power, and we are dependent on that great Power.
_____ 70) Spirituality is ultimately about discovering the One changeless Reality underlying the many changing forms.
_____ 71) I strongly intuit that behind the appearance of many selves or souls shines the one Spirit (Awareness, God, Tao, Buddha-nature) as their real Self.
_____ 72) In the spiritual life, the Formless, Transpersonal Spirit or Awareness holds great appeal for me; this Awareness is more important than any specific contents or objects of awareness.
_____ 73) I intuit that Divine Awareness or Absolute Reality is always already present, not a state or condition to be somehow attained in the future.
_____ 74) There is only the Eternal Here and Now; the space-time idea of “there” and “then” is only an illusion.
_____ 75) Being is the true, authentic context for doing. When one is authentically established in Spirit, appropriate actions spontaneously flow forth without much need for deliberation or analysis.
_____ 76) The different forms and names of God found in the different religions are all ultimately referring, clearly or obscurely, to the Single Divine Spirit or Absolute Reality.
_____ 77) My mind does not recoil from paradoxes, despite their apparent illogic, such as the statement: “God is both beyond all and within all.”
Discovering Your Spiritual Temperament(s)
Here’s how you can determine which temperament most strongly characterize your style of spirituality (and for more on each temperament, read the essay linked at the end of this page):
For the Intellectual temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 1 through 6, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Dogmatic Believer temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 7 through 14, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Sensual Ecstatic temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 15 through 20, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Monastic-Communalist temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 21 through 25, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Compassionate Server temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 26 through 30, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Hermit temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 31 through 35, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Yogi / Psychic-experimenter temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 36 through 42, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Ritualist-Ceremonialist temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 43 through 49, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Prophet / Trance-Channel temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 50 through 54, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Cynic / Freedom-Seeker temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 55 through 62, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Devotee temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 63 through 69, and indicate that total number here: ______
For the Intuitive Mystic-Sage temperament, add up the numbers you have written next to Statements 70 through 77, and indicate that total number here: ______
--Now, look at the totaled numbers given above, and the lowest number corresponds to your strongest or most dominant spiritual temperament. The next lowest number corresponds to your next strongest or subdominant temperament. The next lowest number corresponds to another subdominant temperament. And so on. Those temperaments accompanied by the highest totaled numbers are ones not currently characteristic of your spiritual style.
It can be useful to list your dominant spiritual temperament, followed by the next strongest temperaments in the order of strength, from one (strongest) through twelve (least dominant):
1. ______________________ (strongest temperament)
2. ______________________
3. ______________________
4. ______________________
5. ______________________
6. ______________________
7. ______________________
8. ______________________
9. ______________________
10. ______________________
11. ______________________
12. ______________________ (least dominant temperament)
The 12 Spiritual Temperaments--A New Model of Religion
The world religions have been analyzed in terms of their unique history, leaders, beliefs, scriptures, art, prayers, rituals, organizational structure, demographics, and so on, and then scholars have tried to articulate the differences and overlaps between/among the major world religions. But in so doing they tend to treat each world religion as one, homogenous entity (“Christianity,” “Buddhism,” “Judaism,” etc.).
However, the members of each of the sacred traditions are individual human beings possessing different psychological and spiritual temperaments. Because of these different types of human being, one particular religion will actually include a number of different types of “religion” within itself, according to the differing spiritual temperaments of its members. Thus, it makes far more sense to speak of “Buddhisms,” “Christianities,” “Hinduisms” (etc.) as John Hick has suggested, or of “Buddhist tradition” and “Christian tradition” (etc.), as many scholars now do, following the late Wilfred Cantwell Smith.
In this essay, based on over 40 years of participant-observer experience with different religious traditions, and a literature review of a few thousand works (especially the biographical and autobiographical literature on/by eminent spiritual leaders), I have briefly profiled twelve different spiritual temperaments that appear quite distinct, although they often overlap in a single individual. Each temperament can be seen to engender its own kind of “religion.”
These twelve spiritual temperaments are: 1) the Compassionate Server, 2) the Devotee, 3) the Intuitive Mystic-Sage, 4) the Intellectual, 5) the Dogmatic Believer, 6) the Monastic-Communalist, 7) the Hermit, 8) the Cynic or Freedom-Seeker, 9) the Ritualist-Ceremonialist, 10) the Yogi or Psychic-Experimenter, 11) the Prophet or Trance-Channel, 12) the Sensual Ecstatic.
The student of comparative sacred traditions and interfaith dialogue will find that two human beings of different religions yet characterized by the same spiritual temperament will usually have much more in common (though they may not recognize their kinship) than will two human beings of different temperaments who claim to belong to the same religion.
For instance, the fundamentalist “Dogmatic Believer” temperament is, psychologically speaking, rather uniform, characterized by the authoritarian personality cluster of traits; this temperament is uniform regardless of whether people possessing it are found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, or other religions. Their beliefs and practices certainly differ, but the way their psyches work seem quite similar. (The Dogmatic Believer temperament obviously is to be found, too, in the political realm, the corporate world, sports, and other walks of life.)
Likewise, the “Intuitive Mystic-Sage” individual can also be recognized within each of the major sacred traditions, and such individuals have more in common with each other and a greater sense of “kinship” than they do with members of the exoteric religion within which they have been raised. (Note, too, that Mystic-Sages from different religions, since they intuitively recognize the nondual ground of Being, more easily recognize their oneness than do, say, the Dogmatic Believers from different religions, who, traditionally, have tended to wage bitter propaganda campaigns, even brutal wars, against each other.)
As mentioned, an individual may have several of these temperaments overlapping. Thus, a single person may have a strong mystic-sage temperament along with strong server, devotee, and monastic orientations. Through the use of a questionnaire one can easily ascertain which of these twelve temperaments most strongly characterize an individual (along a Likert scale gradient of, say, 1 to 5), yielding a dominant temperament or two, and two or three sub-dominant temperaments; one could then display all this with a bar graph to yield an overall “profile” of a person’s spiritual “aptitude.” As to whether these spiritual temperaments are innate or learned, I would say that they definitely can be learned and developed, through role-modeling on significant others (either in person or via reading); through peer-group influence; through one’s own endeavor; or through “God’s Grace.” Yet there does seem to be an innate component, which some regression therapists (and sages of Eastern religions) would claim comes from past-life habit patterns (Sanskrit: samskâras or vâsanâs). Thus, for example, a person who had spent many lifetimes living in Catholic and Buddhist monasteries might be expected to show a very strong “monastic-communalist” temperament in this lifetime. (Note: in an important article for a peer-reviewed journal, “Recent Responses to Survival Research,” in the J. of Scientific Exploration [Spring, 1997, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 495ff.], academic philosopher Robert Almeder, at that time Editor of the prestigious American Philosophical Quarterly, says the empirical evidence for reincarnation is so good that the onus is now on the naysaying materialist skeptics to disprove it. Click here to read more on reincarnation)
Some of these temperaments are obviously more or less conducive toward spiritual realization than others. Following the important distinction by transpersonal psychology theorist Ken Wilber, whereas all these temperaments are “legitimate,” not all of them are equally “authentic,” i.e., capable of promoting deep virtue and complete spiritual liberation, sanctification, awakening, or God-Realization.
Here then are the twelve different religious or spiritual temperaments:
1) The Compassionate Server, found in all religions, is concerned with action, specifically in the form of helping other beings. This person is usually not so interested in belief systems, rituals, etc., but rather seeks to be of assistance to the needy. This Server temperament can be rather simplistic or it can include the highest type of ego-free compassion. The chief variable here is whether the individual is free of the egocentric sense of being the “doer” and is “unattached to the fruit of the action,” as the Hindus say. So the downside here would be if such a person began to see himself as the “do-gooder,” the “rescuer” or “savior” of others, seeing and treating others merely as objects of his beneficence. The Server may also engage in a kind of inner action on behalf of others—for instance, through spiritual healing prayer or even redemptive suffering, inviting affliction so as to “take on the sins (or karma)” of sentient beings. The Server may overlap with other temperaments, such as that of the Devotee or the Mystic-Sage.
2) The Devotee is devoted to and loves the Divine Father or Mother, Adonai, Allah, Christ Jesus, Amitabha Buddha, Siva, Vishnu (as Rama, Krishna), Great Spirit, Beloved Guide or Guru. Classic, typical virtues which Devotees cultivate through self-effort or receive through grace are a) gratitude for God’s benevolence, b) shared joy and agape/love with the community of devotees, c) humility and simplicity (self-emptying), d) loyalty and obedience to the conscience (the voice within) and dedication to whatever this voice suggests, and e) awe-full wonder over the mystery of God’s transcendence and the power of God’s immanence in fellow sentient beings and as nature. The Devotee temperament is found in all major religions, including non-theistic Buddhism (for instance, in Pure Land and Tantric Buddhism).
In less mature form, the Devotee is prone to excessive emotionalism or obsession with “progress” in becoming closer to God. In the more mature form of devotion, these faults are corrected by sublimation of childish emotionalism and a nondual devotion wherein the deepest, essential Self of both God and Devotee are realized as the same. “God and I are one, and yet it feels natural and appropriate just to spontaneously worship the Beloved.” The nondually-oriented Devotee simply feels at Home, at one with Divine Being. A sublime nondual devotion is found among great adepts in Hindu Advaita Vedanta, Muslim Sufism, forms of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism in China, Korea, Japan and Tibet, and among some advanced Christian and Jewish mystics (e.g., Meister Eckhart, Catherine of Genoa, John of the Cross, Moshe Cordovero).
3) The Intuitive Mystic-Sage, also found within all sacred traditions, especially those in the East, aims to wake up to a realization of an Absolute, unconditioned Reality, the Divine Being that is always already the case, before/beyond personal and societal delusions and hallucinations. The Mystic Sage intuitively ponders the God-Self Source as the transcendent Pure Spirit, Absolute Being-Awareness-Bliss-Love fully immanent in/as all creation. Thee sage may utilize self-enquiry, deep relaxation, or opening up to the Grace of the inherent God-Self or Buddha-Nature. S/he acts out of an effortless effort. Downside: the would-be mystic-sage becomes lazy and content merely with an intellectual realization of certain timeless truths. At the highest level, the mystic sage employs an exquisitely refined, subtle intuition, a kind of “wise unknowing Understanding” which dissolves egocentrism and allows for a simple, unpretentious abiding as Pure Awareness or Pure Spirit. This liberating wisdom is variously called gnosis (in contemplative Christianity), jñâna/vidyâ (Hindu Vedanta), paññâ/prajñâ (Buddhism), ma'rifa (Sufism), ming/ta chueh (Taoism), and so forth. The Mystic Sage may formulate into words the awakening wisdom and the profound Realization it engenders, but s/he is not at all attached to such words, and may even use them playfully, poetically, and paradoxically to induce an identical “wise unknowing Understanding” in any listeners. The Mystic Sage feels no need to proselytize or impose doctrines.
Note that the realization of the Mystic-Sage may sometimes suffer from an overly pristine or dry quality if it does not include the Heart; thus most Sages spontaneously adopt the kind of motiveless, nondual devotion toward some aspect of the Beloved, or service to the needy, simply to “sweeten” experience, especially for the sake of inspiring those souls studying with the Mystic-Sage.
4) The Intellectual is concerned with understanding God, cosmos, human nature, spiritual truth and so on via abstract reasoning. The Intellectual spiritual temperament is concerned with theologizing and philosophizing. Classification, criticism, comparison and/or dialectical synthesis of ideas and propositions are the Intellectual’s forté. Most intellectuals feel constrained by a particular logic, whether the Aristotelian “either-or” logic of the excluded middle or else a more paradoxical logic such as Nagarjuna’s 4-fold Madhyamika Buddhist logic (“A,” “not-A,” “both A and not-A,” “neither A nor not-A”). One downside of the Intellectual is atrophy of the affective nature, the “heart,” in an obsession with mental processes. Likewise, the modes of rarified psychic sensitivity and spiritual intuition are often suppressed when intellect dominates. Whereas the mind is a powerful tool that should be honed, especially through studying sacred texts and wise discerning (Sanskrit: viveka) between the Real and passing phenomena, an exclusive fixation on discursive reasoning is viewed by spiritual masters as a pitfall.
5) The Dogmatic Believer feels the need to identify with a religious doctrine (ideas, creeds, myths) and benefits from this with great surety, confidence, security and emotional closure. However, the Believer is prone to being overly attached to a conceptual or mythic “story-line” mentality and can lose touch with authentic, direct, first-hand experiencing. Also prone to authoritarian narrow-mindedness (“I’m right, you’re wrong”), “us vs. them” thinking, rigidity, cognitive dissonance, and a need to proselytize. The Dogmatic Believer syndrome may be seen in especially great numbers and with different shades of strength among fundamentalist Christians, ultra-Orthodox Catholics, ultra-Orthodox Jews, fanatic Islamic groups, conservative Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, “Moonies,” the American branch of ISKCON (the “Hare Krishna” movement), Soka Gakkai (of the Nichiren brand of Buddhism), Aryan Supremist Christian groups, certain UFO “Space Brother” cults, etc. (Some members of these groups may occasionally display more mature types of spiritual temperament.)
6) The Monastic-Communalist values solidarity with a human community (brotherhood, sisterhood, spiritual family) and wants an ordered, regimented life away from a society or family systems perceived as meaningless, disordered, and/or needlessly complicated and stressful. Downside: possible unhealthy dependency on the group or overly naive childishness. On the positive side, the monastic-communalists may promote among themselves and visitors a tremendous agape love, emotional support, financial/economic security, shared humor and fun, and collective insight (“many minds are better than one”).
7) The Hermit wants considerable amounts of time in solitude to access profound spiritual depths. Some hermits will belong to a monastery or community and move back and forth between periods of isolation and companionship in a given day, week or month. Other hermits set up for themselves an almost completely eremitic lifestyle of solitude. Downside: the Hermit temperament may become so content in spiritual practice and certain rarified states of consciousness that s/he no longer needs or wants to interact with human beings. Also, if the original motive for retreat involved any form of sociopathic aversion to human company, a spiritually and psychologically unhealthy syndrome can develop. Ideally, the Hermit temperament involves a sense of solidarity with all sentient beings, and culminates in the person coming back to society to share the spiritual fruits of solitude (joy, tranquility, loving-kindness, and other gifts of the Spirit). In this case, the person with Hermit temperament may still continue to spend significant time as an anchorite, but this is combined with social interaction.
8) The Cynic / Freedom-Seeker, for the sake of true freedom, detaches from what are perceived to be binding social conventions, family ties, material possessions, physical comforts, egoic ambitions and affectations. The authentic Cynic temperament values naturalness; self-effacement; austere simplicity; unfettered itinerancy or else residence at the marketplace or crossroads; unconditional contentment and happiness regardless of external circumstances; social reform to promote the welfare of all beings—especially victims of injustice (with whom the Cynic feels tremendous solidarity); humble attunement to that Higher Power which transcends human artifice and self-serving models of religion; and totally care-free reliance on this Higher Power. The outspoken Cynic does not mind “making a scene,” castigating mediocrity and corruption, wherever s/he sees them (especially in high stations of power and authority), even when this entails great personal risk. The Cynic subverts grand philosophical and political schemas, explodes dogmas, and promotes a Zen-like “non-dwelling” attention, freed from rigid positionality. Downside: the immature person with Cynic temperament is filled with “mere cynicism,” pessimism, a contrarian personality (always needing to mis-match others), sneering antipathy toward those perceived as bound, stubborn individualism, and an egoically-driven pseudo-shamelessness and impudence. The Cynic / Freedom Seeker temperament is found, of course, among those Cynics of the Hellenistic world, from Diogenes to Epictetus and Peregrinus; Socrates would also be honored as a member of this camp; some scholars suggest that Jesus’ persona was, at least in part, a Jewish version of the Cynic temperament. The Christian liberation theologians, in their solidarity with the poor and strong critique of injustice, express the Cynic temperament. Nagarjuna and the Madhyamika Buddhists and some of the Ch’an, Zen and Vajrayana masters could be seen as Cynics in the better sense of the word (they can also be categorized as “Intuitive Mystic Sages”). Kabir and many of the Sants of India clearly were cynics castigating and challenging the caste system and religious power structure. Many wandering renunciates within several of the major traditions, as well as the more “sober” among the “holy fools” of India (e.g., avadhutas), China (yü-jen), Europe (saloi and yurodivye), and Muslim lands (majdhubs) manifest the Cynic temperament.
9) The Ritualist-Ceremonialist uses and manipulates outer elements and sometimes certain inner thoughts, images and feelings in order to experience atonement with and empowerment from the Divine Source of the universe. These rituals may be exquisitely refined, benevolently invoking maximum blessings for all beings, or crude and selfishly motivated forms of "gray (or black) magic." They may be performed in a flowing, spontaneous manner, with innovations, or rigidly repeated, with no tolerance for innovations. Ritualists’ ceremonies may be short or lengthy in performance, simple or complicated, plain or aesthetically rich, and utilizing natural or artificial (manmade) objects.
Rituals and holy or unholy magic are found in every religious tradition, but the Ritualist is especially drawn to become a practitioner or participant in such especially liturgical, ritual- and ceremony-oriented religions as Roman Catholicism, High Anglicanism, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity; Tantric Buddhism (Vajrayana, Shingon, Tendai) and Nichiren Buddhism; Brahmanical Hinduism; Tantric Hinduism; Judaism; Magic or Wicca/Neo-Paganism; Voudou; and, in the least mature and most selfish and aberrant form, Satanism.
10) The Yogi / Psychic-Experimenter, found in almost all sacred traditions, manipulates the body and inner experience (attention, thoughts, images, emotions) to access Alternate States of Consciousness (ASCs), ever seeking to permanently realize a Highest State of Consciousness (HSC) with Altered Traits of Consciousness (ATCs). The Yogi achieves such different states of consciousness via experimentation with bodily postures and movements, controlled breathing, and special forms of nutrition (frequent fasting, vegetarian diets, lacto-fruitarian diets, etc.). Special emphasis is placed upon experimenting with processes of attention through entrainment; one-pointed concentration on mantras, images, sounds or body sensations; hyper-vigilance and attention to the transition states between waking, sleep, and dreams; and rhythmic patterns. The Yogi tends to be introverted, seeking a purer state of knowing and feeling. Downside: prone to obsession-compulsion, excessive aversion to perceived “distractions,” and tabus concerning impurity. Someone aiming for greater power/energy through Yogic means is the siddha of India and Tibet, or the shaman, whose downside is the sorcerer. A person aiming for more peace through Yogic means is the contemplative, whose downside is the much-maligned “quietist.”
11) The Prophet / Trance-Channel gains inspiration and special knowledge (religious, artistic, medicinal) for self and others via psychic locutions and visions gained in a mediumistic or alter-persona trance state. While attuning to the “subtle realms of light,” such a person may encounter the Divine Father, Mother, gods, goddesses, spirit guides, angels, ancestral souls, nature spirits, et al. Sometimes s/he may have encounters with more demonic or mischievous figures from these subtle realms (e.g., the troubled souls of ancestors) and the successful Prophet/Trance-Channel learns to ward them off or bypass and transcend them. The state of trance may be induced via yogic experimentation or self-hypnosis, or arise spontaneously after emotional or physical health crisis, especially in persons who tend toward dissociative, alter-persona states. The degree of the trance may also vary from a light trance-state to a “full-body” trance-state, the latter often involving a complete suspending of the normal sense of identity, replaced by the completely “other” alter persona identity of the channeled persona/entity/archetype. The latter situation would qualify as a case of spirit-possession. Downside: the person becomes psychologically dependent on the channeled presence of the other personality and perhaps narcissistically self-inflated in identifying with this “other being” who is felt as more powerful, authoritative, and dominant over the rest of one's human community or society. Mediumistic trance-channeling and/or spirit possession is found worldwide, from indigenous peoples of pre-industrial societies to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim prophets and saints, Hindu and Taoist folk religionists, the Tibetan state oracle, Spiritualists, New Agers, and Japanese new religions (shinko shukyo). For example, all three Western monotheist religions appear to have been founded by men who had the Prophet/Trance-Channel temperament as a strong aspect of their overall personality—the Jewish Prophets Isaiah et al., Jesus (this is most apparent in the early Mark Gospel and the John Gospel's "I Am" sayings communicated from the Logos/Divine Word or Wisdom principle through Jesus), and Muhammad (through whom was communicated by angel Gabriel/Jibrail the Qur'an).
12) The Sensual Ecstatic is akin to the ritualist and the yogi in being fascinated with manipulating outer and inner elements of experience to lose the normal ego-sense and attain a different state of consciousness. However, whereas the ritualist and yogi are rather more serious or sublime, i.e., Apollian or Orphic in temperament, the Sensual Ecstatic represents a kind of wilder Dionysian personality. Moreover, the sensual ecstatic is usually more extroverted. There is much more concern to allow a spontaneous movement of vital energy to express. The Ecstatic seems especially interested in losing the ego-sense through chaotification of personality-structures via intense stimulation, wild dancing, rousing chanting, feasting, even drugs and sexuality. Downside: an immoral and antinomian approach may characterize some among the sensual ecstatics. This temperament can be found among hyper-expressive “holy roller” Pentecostalists and other Christian “enthusiasts,” the Bengali Bauls, the more “intoxicated” Muslim Sufis and Jewish Hasidim, Osho/Rajneesh’s “neo-sannyasins,” those Christians attending “Rave Masses” led by Matthew Fox (et al.), Voudou practitioners, the “flower child” Rainbow People of North America, and the more Dionysian among the indigenous shamanic societies.
The aim of the therapy is to increase sensory activities, programmes take place in a pool with captive or semi-captive dolphins and therapists who assist the children, children are asked to swim, touch, feed or pat the animals. Therapists work on specific areas such as speech, behaviours and motor skills, they customise programmes to the needs of the children.
Dolphin therapy is not a cure but it can help alleviate some symptoms associated with children conditions by enhancing their healing process. Samples of blood were analysed before and after the therapy, results showed that after swimming with dolphins there is a change of hormones, endorphins and enzymes as well as T-cells, how this is possible is still not well understood. There is ongoing research in universities and dolphin research centres but the evidence that dolphin therapy works remains anecdotal. Several theories have been hypothesised:
Therapy in a pleasant environment:
Encounters with dolphins evoke a deep emotional response and trigger the release of deep feelings and emotions. It is believed that children are more responsive to the therapy because they play in a pleasant environment, they are motivated to complete the tasks, they are happy and therefore they pay greater attention to the therapists' work. It has also been suggested that dolphins can sense areas of disability and physical trauma in the human body, they motivate children to use these parts.
Sound:
For others, the healing principle is similar to that of sound therapy: rhythm and vibrational sound facilitate an altered mood. According to Dr Cole, Chairman of the Aquathought Foundation, swimming with dolphins can create physiological cell and tissue change in the body, he explains that dolphins have a natural sonar, they emit ultrasound waves to localise things and to communicate, this process is called "echolocation". Sounds emitted by the dolphins are so intense that that they can cause "cavitations": they create holes in the molecular structure of fluids and soft tissues. Cole believes that the dolphins' signal frequencies can have a profound effect on the human brain by modifying the brainwave activity. Results of EEG tests carried out on people who experienced the echolocation showed that the dominant human brain frequency drops from beta to alpha.
It was also noted that both sides of the brain enter into synchronisation which means there is a far better communication between the left and right sides of the brain, this is an uncommon neurological state, which is typically associated with heightened awareness and increased learning ability.
Results noticed
· Strong emotional change
· Children calm down
· Improved communication
· Increased attention span
· Increased confidence and self esteem
· Improved gross or fine motor skills
· Better co-ordination
· Better eye contact, smiling, laughing, touching
· Better immune system.
Conditions that may respond to dolphin therapy
Neurological disorders, autism, Down's syndrome, global developmental delay, ADHD, pain relief for spinal injuries, muscular paralysis, and depression.
Cost
Dolphin therapy is expensive and it is important not too expect dramatic results.
A guided meditation
(To be read to yourself or shared aloud with a friend. Please pause at each space between lines.)
Relax and find a comfortable position. Take several deep breaths. It would be best to close your eyes so you can concentrate without distraction.
As you sit here in your human form, know that this body is just one aspect of yourself. You each have a highest self, that beautiful and perfect part of you which has experienced all your lifetimes and is intimately familiar with the home for which you yearn. You have begun as a spark of God, and have chosen the human path to maturity, that you may grow increasingly compatible with your Creator and find your way home. Your incarnations are the schoolroom for this highest self, which is already perfect in its essence, yet grows in wisdom through the learnings of each lifetime.
Accompany me on a brief journey to meet this highest self, and visit your home.
Direct your attention to your breath. Notice the in-breath and the out. Move deeper within. Look through the third eye. Allow the inside of your forehead to be a movie screen, and watch the pictures that unfold.
You have just emerged from a woods, and are on a lovely open hillside. All around you are flowers, in brilliant hues. Birds are singing, and the soft wings of butterflies touch you gently. The scent of freshness fills the air.
Far below you see a grove of trees, a grassy park-like spot where beings move about. Beyond the grove is a river, glistening in the sunshine. Across the river are lovely hills, turning into blue mountains in the distance.
You start down the hill. The sun is warm on your back and the cool, fresh breeze touches your face.
The figures are larger now. Some present a solid form; others appear as light. Some sit; others stand. They are in small groups. There is an air of peace, and the quiet hum of voices.
You do not know these beings, yet you feel you've known them forever. You feel no fear or hesitation as you approach. You are certain of your welcome.
One being catches your gaze. It is the figure of your dreams, deeply beautiful in the manner that most speaks love and beauty to your heart.
Focusing your attention on this being, you forget the others. There are only you two in all the universe.
This being, male or female, solid or light being, walks toward you with arms outstretched in welcome. Do not force its appearance. Let it be however it is.
You each walk very slowly. There is all the time you need for this meeting.
As you grow near, you gaze deeply into each other's eyes. You trust this being completely, and feel only intense joy in its presence.
Stop. Breath deeply. Look into each other's eyes. There is no rush.
Feel a deeper love than you have ever known touch your heart. It is a love that is familiar, remembered and yearned for, through all your human lifetimes.
Slowly you approach each other and touch outstretched hands together. There is such total love and trust in that touch.
Know that this being is yourself, your highest self. It is more you than this human body you inhabit. It is your essence, your soul.
Touch hands, gaze into the depths of each other's eyes, and know the joy of this reunion. Feel the deep peace that comes with your knowing of yourself.
You are whole, you are perfect, you are unlimited.
Separating hands, your highest self begins a Sufi song and dance.
The first line, with hands raised in blessing-"May the blessings of God rest upon you" …
The second line, as hands again touch lightly-"May His peace abide with you" …
With the final lines, your highest self places one hand over your heart. You do the same. With your free hand you cover that dear hand which touches you. "May His presence illuminate your heart, now and forever more."
You repeat this song, as often as you like, gazing deeply into each other's eyes.
May the blessings of God rest upon you.
May His peace abide with you.
May His presence illuminate your heart, now and forever more.
Slowly you merge. You become the one being that you truly are.
You are on the spiritual plane now. You will not need your body for awhile. Leave it sitting safely here, resting in the sunshine. Go with your highest self, as one being.
Just gently rest your body on the grass, where it will safely await your return.
You have begun to notice the other beings. They are all spirits like yourself.
Two circles are forming, one inside the other. Join the one of your choice. Face the being beside you in the other circle.
You repeat this Sufi dance, gazing deeply into each being's eyes as you sing and dance together. Move from one to the next, and on to the next.
Go slowly, moving with the group. Hear the beauty of the music. Let it fill you and surround you.
Feel the edges of your being dissolve.
There is no "self" or "other" here. There is only oneness.
You are whole, as are all the beings that you meet. You have no needs to call attention to, no pain or emptiness.
There is only love and oneness.
You move beyond yourself. You are aware of yourself dancing and singing, and yet there is no self. You are as fully each partner as yourself.
You are all beings. You are one.
And, as the song suggests, the presence of God fills your hearts, and radiates through the valley.
Continue to dance as long as you like.
When you have had enough, step back and watch.
It is the same whether you dance or watch. You share the perceptions of the dancers and the watchers. The total harmony of your being fills your hearts.
There is total joy and peace. There is no separation from any living thing.
There is only oneness, with yourself, with all beings, and with God.
Dance, watch, and feel the Joy of your oneness.
The shadows grow longer. The dance is ending.
You draw apart, but without regret. The love fills your heart. The memory of this oneness will stay with you.
Return to that human form you left resting on the grass. It is time to join with it again.
You are back in human form, but for awhile you have been your highest self.
You know that this is who you truly are. You are perfect. You are limitless. You are complete.
You must leave this grove now, but the parting is not sad. You may come back at any time. You are always welcome here.
This is your home.
Your highest self accompanies you to the path. You feel the sun on your face as you walk up the hill. Behind you, the beautiful music from the valley accompanies you on your way.
Walk slowly. There is no hurry. Feel the deep peace and love that goes with you.
Whenever you are ready, you may open your eyes.
- Cheryll- for a speedy recovery post surgery
- SpiritBear418
- Anyone who needs healing
- Mother Earth
- All living things
This week's Blog of the Week Award is given to Robert Yoe for his thought provoking blog
The white of Joy, Inner White, inner Joy... the blog maybe read here Congrats!!
We hope you have enjoyed this edition of the GSN News! If anyone would lke to submit an article feel free, just email either Niki or myself on site and it will be included in the next edition.
In Love and Light Always,
Jodie and Niki
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