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The tragic volunteer

I’ve been a volunteer for years. It was a way for me to learn basic human skills like working with people as well as a way to stay in touch with some aspect of society when I was out of a job. It looked good on my resume and so on. So I’m not saying [...]

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Alzheimers and spiritual growth

A reader asked (in Dutch): As a social worker in a nursing home I had a conversation last week with the wife of a gentleman living on our psych-ward. This lady appeared not to need the most common forms of support in dealing with the loss of her husband through dementia. She didn’t need information [...]

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Man the Measure of All Things, Sri Krishna Prem and Sri Madhava Ashish

I’ve just discovered an old classic whose title I have heard and read mentioned time and again. It’s a classic for a reason. There’s hardly a sentence that doesn’t add insight or new perspective. I’m talking about Man The Measure of All Things, by Sri Krishna Prem and Sri Madhava Ashish. I suspect this book [...]

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Caring for beginners… a mistake?

My post about My disillusionment with Jiddu Krishnamurti has gotten quite a lot of comments. ‘Rinzai’ said the other day: Whether beginners are practicing virtues or not is their problem not yours. Believe in no teachers, trust your own logic, your own experiences, make your own mistakes, learn and grow. Have a courageous attitude and [...]

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Attachment – an overview

I should probably have started out my series on attachment as follows: As I noted in my earlier posts in this series on attachment, the word attachment is used in psychology to denote the relationship between mother and child, between husband and wife, between close friends. All of those relationships are said to be positive, [...]

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Attachment and addiction – about spiritual hierarchy

My post yesterday explored addiction – specifically addiction to electronics. Addiction is any habit that can’t be stopped easily. Some addictions are chemically based. Addiction to coffee, chocolate and cigarettes for instance are hard to break habits because the brain has changed in response to those substances. This is true even after a person has [...]

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Attachment, addiction and dependence: tv versus the internet

I had an internet connection at my new apartment for a few hours the other day. Then it broke down again and talking to the help desk it was apparent that they are working on it. Professionally this is of course a setback. This morning the connection had not been repaired, but after the initial [...]

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Detachment – some spiritual dimensions

In Buddhism detachment is the holy grail: if you let go of attachments, you will never be sad, stressed or agravated again. On the other hand, attachment is thought to be a good thing in psychology. Well adjusted people (which isn’t the same as spiritually advanced people) are attached to their loved ones in a [...]

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