tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408275385817088376.post8228286552623800300..comments2023-09-12T03:14:11.545-07:00Comments on Soul-Making and Spiritual Cliche' Busting: DOES THE RESURRECTION STORY GUARANTEE WE WILL ALWAYS LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER?Michael (Mike) Bogarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07024413445397164637noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408275385817088376.post-5582311406143861142008-06-02T21:39:00.000-07:002008-06-02T21:39:00.000-07:00I read "My Stroke of Insight" in one sitting - I c...I read "My Stroke of Insight" in one sitting - I couldn't put it down. I laughed. I cried. It was a fantastic book (I heard it's a NYTimes Bestseller and I can see why!), but I also think it will be the start of a new, transformative Movement! No one wants to have a stroke as Jill Bolte Taylor did, but her experience can teach us all how to live better lives. Her TED.com speech was one of the most incredibly moving, stimulating, wonderful videos I've ever seen. Her Oprah Soul Series interviews were fascinating. They should make a movie of her life so everyone sees it. This is the Real Deal and gives me hope for humanity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408275385817088376.post-87794060565960015202008-05-26T21:14:00.000-07:002008-05-26T21:14:00.000-07:00Name: MikeOprah's 4 interviews with Jill Bolte Tay...Name: Mike<BR/>Oprah's 4 interviews with Jill Bolte Taylor were the first that Oprah did after Eckhart Tolle and they take everything Tolle talks about to another level. Oprah's copy of Jill's book, MY STROKE OF INSIGHT, was dog-eared and all marked up and kept reading from it the way she read from A New Earth and recommended it highly.<BR/><BR/>Oprah's recommendation was enough for me. I read My Stroke of Insight and I loved it too. This story is as inspiring as The Last Lecture or Tuesdays with Morrie - and even better, it has a Happy Ending! <BR/><BR/>I bought the book on Amazon because they have it for 40% off retail and they also had an amazing interview with Dr Taylor that I haven't seen anywhere else - Here is the <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/My-Stroke-Insight-Scientists-Personal/dp/0670020745/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210709205&sr=8-4" REL="nofollow" TITLE="My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor">Amazon</A> link: http://www.amazon.com/My-Stroke-Insight-Scientists-Personal/dp/0670020745/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211471755&sr=1-2Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4408275385817088376.post-10820812553525165592008-03-22T14:47:00.000-07:002008-03-22T14:47:00.000-07:00Hi Michael, thank you for this article. I've heard...Hi Michael, thank you for this article. I've heard you teach and speak before, and really appreciate how you help keep New Thought communities 'honest'. <BR/><BR/>I have attended a New Thought church for over five yrs, but the past couple years I've experienced some strong doubts at times about New Thought philosophies.<BR/><BR/> I found myself annoyed and bored by the now familiar cheerleading of the prosperity gospel. I was tired of the "Live your best life!", "The abundance of the entire Universe is yours!" "You create your own reality!" exhortations. It was all starting to sound hollow, as if some heft or underlying substance was missing. <BR/><BR/>The hoopla of "The Secret" contributed even further to my sense that something was missing. It was like eating alot of cotton candy, which looked pretty and tasted great initially, but left me still feeling hungry afterwards.<BR/><BR/>I've felt that God is missing from all this, something that's higher than the human mind trying to orchestrate an "abundant, easeful" life. True faith, awe, humility,surrender,and devotion in the face of the vastness of God is missing sometimes from much of the pop-culture version of New Thought principles. It has felt at times like there's been an undue emphasis on using tricks and strategies of the mind in order to have some kind of iron control over your life, so nothing (or very little) will go wrong or upset you. Mysticism gets treated as an afterthought.<BR/><BR/>I agree, to a certain extent, with the concept that "consciousness is cause", yet some people seem to take it to ridiculous heights, acting as if their consciousness is responsible for every traffic jam they find themselves in, or every snowstorm that ruins their plans, or other people's behaviour, or any circumstance that they find unpleasant and don't know how to handle. It seems narcissistic at times. <BR/><BR/>Where do miracles and divine grace fit into "You create your own reality?" It seems there is little acknowledgement of this. It's almost like we think we can control God, or our Soul, instead of opening up to what's already there. Knowing the "science" behind metaphysics is great, but it only goes so far in feeding me. <BR/><BR/>It feels like a relief then, to see you address the darkness and light that everyone encounters in life. Some try to deny that the dark exists, while some seem to get too mesmerized by it, and can't appreciate the light in themselves. <BR/><BR/>Our teaching is that evil and hell are illusions, yet I have heard people in my New Thought community refer to each other as "beings of light". If there are "beings of light", wouldn't the opposite also exist, "beings of dark"? Yet it wouldn't be politically correct to call anyone that, and besides, we supposedly don't believe in evil anyway. <BR/><BR/>It makes more sense to me that each of us deals with this dark/light ratio in our own way, as we grow in our understanding of God, and the meaning of our lives. <BR/><BR/>Having said all this, I still find New Thought principles valuable. I am still at my church, because being a part of a spiritual community remains important to me. I also have great respect for my minister, who I've always sensed has a genuine appreciation and awe for the mystery and power that I call God. This minister is aware of other depths.<BR/><BR/>Your article reminded me of something I heard from a Carolyn Myss CD on archetypes. She said, "You have to ask yourself, is life about creating a comfort zone, or is it about walking into your mysteries? Not SOLVING your mysteries. It's about EMBRACING your mysteries. It's not about perfection. it's about practice. "<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your articles, I'm looking forward to reading more of them (and maybe a book some day?)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com