Tag Archives: peace

When Netanyahu attacked Iran

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When Netanyahu attacked Iran, I believe he knew this action would be the beginnings of a violent retaliatory exchange, potentially leading to war. I believe that Netanyahu wants a war with Iran. He wants America and the West to support such a war. I believe that Netanyahu’s  mind – and the minds of some of the other leaders in the world – are given over to an ancient mind virus that knows only violence, manipulation, murder and enmity. Netanyahu’s conscience seems to be completely identified with this deadly mind pathogen. And this virus is not just human avarice. It is at work within collective human consciousness to varying degrees, but is especially active within geopolitical systems.
 
This action against Iran by Netanyahu could destabilise the Middle East even further and will draw other nations into the conflict, potentially leading to a dangerous international situation. This danger could include the risk of a Third World War. For people with emotional intelligence and deep humanity, this is obvious. Nonetheless it is not obvious to many others in the world, especially powerful and wealthy influencers who are political actors.
 
For those of us who are alive to our humanity and our deepest spiritual nature, this conflict is like watching something horrible unfold before our eyes over which we have no immediate power to prevent.
 
There is something deeply malignant at work in the global systems of power, which is beyond broken human nature. This malignant phenomenon – the mind pathogen – wants humanity to be in a state of conflict and separation. It feeds on the energy of fear and hatred. This malignant energy has manifested itself more vehemently, historically, in systems of control such as Stalinism, various forms of nationalism, the rise of the tyranny of religious fundamentalists (like ISIS and end times Christian nationalism) and is influencing the brutality of the State of Israel against the Palestinians (which has lasted 76 years, but which has intensified). The murderous actions of Hamas on the 7th
October 2023 were a manifestation of this psychospiritual mind pathogen, too,
 
I humbly believe that each one of us needs to understand how the pathogen operates in our own consciousness, becoming familiar with how it directs our thoughts, feelings and emotions. In loosening the power of the mind virus over our own mind, we disarm the mind virus’ influence over the world. As Bohm suggested, we each possess the entire universe within ourselves., Understanding the toxic effects of the mind pathogen and healing it each day in ourselves, in each moment in our lives, destabilises its power in the world. This makes us more powerful than we can imagine.
 
 
 

Francis: An Icon of True Humanity

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St Francis’ lasting legacy was to teach humanity the sacred lessons of unconditional and boundless love. He especially taught love through his humble service to the vulnerable peoples in his own time who were held in contempt by the powerful and comfortable. He demonstrated the indestructible power of love, which overcomes our primal egoic thoughts of fear and separation, when he conquered his revulsion and fear of leprosy, kissing and embracing a leper. He then dedicated his life to the service of this most vulnerable, outcast and reviled community of his age. His freedom to undertake this service of love so powerfully was inextricably linked to his detachment from worrying about what others thought about him. This was an incredible freedom.

Francis radical non attachment to material possessions of the world was an antidote against the manipulation and control agenda of the world expressed in the cultural norms of his society. He was an advanced being of divinity and light who came into the world to change the course of the world for centuries beyond his own age. He is especially relevant to the world of today which sits on a dangerous precipice. This is why Francis appeals to people’s of all spiritual traditions and none. His message is that of non-partisan love. He demonstrated to us all how the living Christ present in all living beings, can be activated and actualised in a single lifetime.

Francis exuded light. He was consciously united with Eternal Light and this light shone on all whom he encountered. This Divine Light dwells within each one of us, and which is our deepest true self (but which is dormant in most of us). He was a mystic, healer, teacher, Bodhisattva and a dear father to the despised and disposable of his society. Francis is an icon of our own journey towards illumination. He is a pointer to our spiritual awakening. When we heal from our internal fear, judgment, harshness and violent self-criticism and embrace simplicity of heart we strip away the ego and superego, and fear-based defences such as cynicism, pessimism, chauvinism and narcissism. When we become light we warm and illuminate the lives of others. Francis can be a dear companion to us on the journey, gently helping us to deconstruct the unreal to reveal the real. Allow him to draw close to you.

Three Spiritual Leaders & St Michael The Archangel

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The visionary, polymath and mystic Rudolph Steiner (1861-1925), the founder of the esoteric discipline of Anthroposophy; Pope Leo XIII (1810 – 1903) a champion of the rights of workers and social justice, and the current Pope, Leo XIV, all have two significant synchronous connections: St Michael the Archangel and social justice for the ordinary citizens of the world.
 
Steiner who was a contemporary of Leo XIII described the concept of an age of St Michael encompassing the 20th and 21st centuries. According to Steiner, Michael was crucial for the spiritual evolution of humanity, protecting us from the toxicity of parasitic demonic forces, (especially relating to the rise of the antichrist, Ahriman in the 21st century). Steiner referred the defeat of satanic powers under the leadership of St Michael, and his ascent as cosmic ruler from the defeat of the “dragon” and the spirits of darkness, as the beginning of the Michaelanic age. Steiner was also a proponent of social justice for workers rights. According to Wikipedia:
 
“Steiner was concerned that businesses should not be able to buy favourable laws and regulations, and that governments should regulate the economy and protections for workers impartially and not be corrupted by participating in business”.
 
In 1884 Pope Leo XIII had a mystical experience in which he witnessed Satan boasting to God that he would destroy the Church in a hundred years which led to Leo formulating the exorcism prayer to St Michael which was to be recited at the end of every low Mass. The prayer was recited to ask for Michael’s help in the spiritual battle against the forces of evil.
 
Pope Leo was a champion of the rights of workers and trade unions, especially outlined in his social justice encyclical, Rerum novarum.
 
Pope Leo XIV was elected to the papacy on the 8th May 2025, which is the feast of the apparition of St Michael the Archangel on Mount Gargano, in Apulia in 492. Pope Leo XIV, like his predecessor Pope Francis (and Pope Leo XIII) is a champion of social justice and humanitarian endeavour in relation to the poor and disenfranchised of society. In fact he clashed with the vice president of the United States, JD Vance about the definition of what it means to be a Christian: Vance posited that Christian love begins at the individual level and then broadens out from there. Cardinal Prevost (Pope Leo XIV) corrected his definition stating that Christian love is collective in its essence, especially encompassing the most vulnerable.
 
We know from the work of psychiatrist, mystic and spiritual teacher, Carl Jung, that synchronicity is an important phenomenon through which divine wisdom speaks to humanity, at both the individual and macro levels. There is a theme between these three figures, Rudolph Steiner and the two Pope Leo’s: the Archangel St Michael in the cosmic struggle with evil and the protection of ordinary people from the greed and selfishness of corporate greed and corruption. Interestingly, Ryan Selkis, a former crypto CEO and MAGA activist, called Robert Prevost a “Woke Marxist”.
 
I think we can see the deep connections between these three spiritual figures, Rudolph Steiner, Pope Leo XIII and Pope Leo XIV. They all appear to be connected to the age of St Michael the Archangel as described by Steiner and they all highlight the importance of social justice for the wellbeing of humanity. The importance of the Archangel Michael in our current age, and Pope Leo XIV mission in today’s world, are inextricably connected. The stand against evil isn’t only esoteric but political too. Pope Leo XIV mission will likely include the importance of standing against billionaire corporate greed and grasping (as did Pope Francis before him) which is a parasitic disease leaching from the soul of humanity. This papacy likely includes a penultimate confrontation with evil in our time, especially the Ahrimanic evil which will seek to utilise technology to crush the spirit of humanity. Many of the billionaire elites are engaged in financially leaching from the masses and destroying the spiritual impulse of humanity through oppression. The misuse of technology will be key in this endeavour. Some elites are engaged in unimaginable evil in order to maintain their power and wealth. The demonic is parasitic in nature. Parasitic oppression is core to the evil of our time. St Michael, pray for Pope Leo. Protect all your children who claim your defense against the powers and principalities of the world.

The Gift of Mindfulness for You

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Mindfulness is a form of meditative practice which focuses upon our mind and attention. In Mindfulness we notice bodily experiences, such as our breathing, sensation, and our energy. We notice external things such as sounds near to us, smells, taste and touch. Mindfulness draws upon a knowledge base of cognitive behavioural psychology, neuroscience, and Buddhist philosophy and psychology

Mindfulness draws our attention to the fluctuating nature of the mind with its many thoughts, ideas and images that flit across our awareness. In mindfulness we notice thoughts, perceptions, feelings, reactions and emotions but we do not identify with them as the self, but recognise them just for what they are; hectic intrapsychic activity. The hopeful fruits of mindfulness for our lives through our focus on the here and now, in the present moment, is to help us to be more aware generally in our lives of the beautiful things we might miss in the morass of our many thoughts, e.g., the beauty of a sunset or sunrise; the scents of nature, or the delicious taste of something we are eating or drinking. The busyness of our mind and its many thoughts and distractions can draw us away from joy and peacefulness, right here and right now.

Busy and habitual thinking can make us lose contact with our bodily sensations. which are an important anchoring in life in the present moment. Through noticing our senses such as vision, hearing, olfactory senses, taste and touch, we can enjoy our senses more profoundly.

There are nine attitudes of mindfulness based upon Jon Kabat Zinn’s original 7 attitudes of mindfulness: beginners mind; non-judgement; trust; letting go; non-striving; acceptance; patience; gratitude and generosity.

Beginner’s mind – witnessing the present moment with the mind and eyes of a beginner. In terms of mindfulness this might be recognizing the flow of thoughts that pass through our mind, the judgements that arise within us or our conditioned reactions, in relation to particular phenomena. Through noticing these mental and somatic reactions, we can choose not to give them central stage in formulating our perspective on our experience. The beginners mind might potentially make room for something new that might arise from our creativity; allowing ourselves to be surprised by this innate creativity. For example, if I bring a beginner’s mind to my role in my job, I might see ways of developing the role emerging with a fresh and creative perspective rather than using a mind conditioned by past, experiences and narratives which might limit my vision. This happened recently in some interfaith work I undertook as a chaplain in the hospice where I work. I outreached to the local Islamic community the week during the UK riots (August 2024) and came to this meeting and encounter with empty hands and an open heart, to listen, to try to understand and to allow this listening to enrich the conversation.

Non-judgement – in terms of mindfulness this is attempting to cultivate a mind that can look at a phenomenon or phenomena without being overly influenced by our mental or social conditioning. A mind which is non possessive, not driven by one interpretation or set of beliefs, nor driven by a desired outcome, and is willing to tolerate uncertainty, and be open to multiple possibilities, can approach life in creative ways and from a more compassionate position.

 Trust – In terms of mindfulness let’s remember, that when we sit in a chair, we don’t anticipate that the chair will collapse under us; when we walk on the pavement we trust that the ground under our feet will not suddenly give way and cause us to fall into a chasm. We trust that our heart will beat and our lungs will breathe. The quality of trust in terms of mindfulness practice is about cultivating a mindful sense of our ability to trust ourselves and life in a way that is similar to how we trust the chair or the ground. This trust is not done naively (e.g., if we noticed the chair had large cracks in the legs we wouldn’t sit down on it). It is not undertaken by refusing to listen to our natural fight, flight or freeze evolutionary capacities for detecting risk or danger and responding to it (e.g., not walking in proximity to an angry and vicious dog). Trust, however is attempted by witnessing, but not identifying with our conditioned memories, thoughts, feelings and responses from the past to our experience of witnessing. For example, if you have been let down in previous romantic relationships, this does not mean you can’t ever trust romantic relationships, but through mindfulness you can learn to trust the wisdom within you to help you to discern what can help you with trusting people with wisdom rather than falling prey to strategies of control. Trust is about becoming more in-tune with our creativity and intuition, which could be described as our hearts ability to wisely guide our mind through discernment.

Letting-go –  Mindfulness can help us to detach from ego driven over management of aspects of our lives (e.g., relationships, work, health, etc.,) in which we might have come to believe requires our absolute and dedicated control. This desire to control can often arise from previous adverse experiences in our lives such as a betrayal, abuse, a career loss, a divorce, a bereavement, and many other life events. The desire to control is understandable and definitely calls for mindful compassion; but controlling strategies are not something we want to determine our decisions or behaviour, now.

Non-striving: In terms of mindfulness, non-striving describes how we can become aware of our capacity to do life in terms of achieving, acquiring, attaining, succeeding, etc., Non striving invites us into the ground of being rather than doing (striving). Mindful non striving can create space for making room for deeper wisdom to arise by our slowing down and stopping. This can enhance our doing because it can potentially release our creativity, wisdom and deeper knowledge. I have heard it said that geniuses very often had their eureka moments, not in the laboratory but whilst in the shower or enjoying a cup of tea.

Acceptance – with respect to the mindfulness of acceptance this refers to a shift in perception from being overwhelmed by our resistance to what is happening in our lives, and gently allowing ourselves to accept that an issue for what it is, right now. Acceptance is not passive relinquishment of responsibility or action. If I needed to prepare myself for demanding and difficult experiences, a position of acceptance could help me to allow my mind to calm, and for my resilience, stamina and coping skills to come online.  

Patience – in terms of mindfulness, acceptance and non-striving are strongly linked to patience. Cultivating mindful patience can consist of accepting the reality of something in a given moment (e.g., a health, social or financial problem) and putting a pause on doing something immediately, and just allowing the issue to be for a while. Sometimes, (not always) remaining calm when events may seem to be in flux, and delaying wanting to react or act (i.e., immediately engaging with problem solving) can help me to be less stressed and overwhelmed (which might undermine my effectiveness needed with managing a phenomenon) possibly allowing more helpful perspectives to arise from wisdom. 

Gratitude – in terms of mindfulness, whatever problems we face in life, if the mind with which we are going to face these problems is dominated with thoughts of complaining and dissatisfaction, this will impact on our experience of these problems. These negative responses can ruin our potential for peacefulness and happiness. Gratitude in comparison is a mind-set that looks upon our lives in terms of what is good, helpful and fulfilling in our lives, which cultivates peace and balance. The mind when honed upon what is wrong, tends to exclude from our mind what is good and beautiful.  There is psychological and neuroscientific research into the benefits of cultivating gratitude for our lives which suggests many therapeutic benefits from cultivating gratitude such as peace of mind, greater stress reduction, increasing self-esteem, increased personal happiness, positive mind states and medical benefits such as lower blood pressure, better sleep, stronger immune system, etc. The research suggests positive neuroplasticity in terms of our brain wiring for happiness.

Generosity – in terms of mindfulness, generosity and compassion belong together in the same domain. Cultivating a generous, giving heart towards others, can make us experience ourselves in a positive and meaningful way. The golden rule from most religions and philosophies of life, is do unto to others as you would want to be done to you. What we do to others affect how we perceive ourselves. Our actions of generosity help define our attitudes towards ourselves and others. Grasping and over-attachment to impermanent things that will disintegrate are strongly linked to craving. Grasping can only be satisfied by the constancy of getting things and holding on to them. Generosity in contrast, is a quality of being that is lasting and takes joy in the happiness and fulfilment of others.

Embodiment of mindfulness is the goal of practice.

Embodiment is the result of embedding mindfulness practice into the very fabric of our lived existence and experience. Repetition of mindfulness practice is key. It must permeate every aspect of our lives, with our becoming a more mindful person. It is not the supplanting the person I am with a different identity. It is our leaning close to our deepest true self underpinned with the qualities of patience, compassion, cooperation and acceptance. Being mindful with humility, is what enables us to become authentic mindful practitioners, because we are in contact with who we truly are at the deepest level of our being. Professor Paul Gilbert identifies these deep qualities of being as emerging from our evolutionary development for survival which has helped humanity to survive as a species, especially through cultivating capacities for caring, attachment, cooperation, and extending warmth and protection to the vulnerable, especially children. This deep reservoir of our consciousness is capable of compassion, service, creativity, innovation and many other positive qualities of being. Not perfect, but imperfectly perfect.

The psychological wisdom drawn upon from ancient Buddhism to inform mindfulness practice are multi-form: (1) recognising the nature of suffering and the causes of suffering; (2) recognising there is a way to end suffering and the path that leads to the end of suffering; (3) the importance of mindful detachment; acceptance of the reality of the present moment; observing the nature of the mind and emotions and  understanding how the mind can be complex and tricky, etc. (4) practices such as loving kindness meditation and the cultivation of warm heartedness. All of these inform the nine attitudes of mindfulness: non-judging, patience, the beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, gratitude, generosity, and letting go.

Trauma and Compassion ~ Gabor Mate

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Originally written for the Lynn News, Thought for the Day

The internationally acclaimed medical doctor, Gabor Maté, is a bestselling author, teacher and public speaker whose pioneering compassionate work with people suffering from addictions and their causative underlying traumas, has been a very important voice in the development of global humanitarianism and compassion. Gabor was born in Hungary in 1944 of Jewish parents during the time of the domination of Nazism in Europe. Gabor says he was born into a traumatised world and a traumatised people, and as a result experienced early trauma himself.
 
He emigrated to Canada in 1956, worked as a teacher and then obtained a medical degree and became a physician. In his career, Gabor came to understand that there are a number of issues that need to be addressed in creating a stable, compassionate, healthier and sustainable world. These issues include supporting good nurturing parenting and secure and safe attachments for children in early life; creating better lifestyle and living conditions for people; lowering of stress and anxiety that creates nervous system activation and overwhelm, and teaching people to work with their emotional and psychological scars through a process of compassionate self-inquiry.
Gabor has made the bold assertion that trauma is endemic in human society, negatively impacting upon most of us, and perpetuated by a western materialistic agenda. He considers our current culture and society to be harmful to human good, of which he says:
 
…Illness in this society, physical or mental, they are not abnormalities. They are normal responses to an abnormal culture. This culture is abnormal when it comes to real human needs. And.. it is in the nature of the system to be abnormal, because if we had a society geared to meet human needs.. would we be destroying the Earth through climate change? Would we be putting extra burden on certain minority people? Would we be selling people a lot of goods that they don’t need, and, in fact, are harmful for them? Would there be mass industries based on manufacturing, designing and mass-marketing toxic food to people?…
 
As we look upon some of the massive problems facing humanity today, it is easy to lose hope, including the devastating loss of life in Ukraine, Gaza, Myanmar and many other countries; mass third world hunger and destitution; the growing inequality and poverty in western nations created by poor wages; the rising cost of food, energy and housing prices; the ecological crisis threatening our very future on the planet and already eroding our lands and oceans; the growing wealth of a minority at the expense of the majority; the duplicitous and dishonest politics we have seen paraded before us, and many, many more issues. Gabor Mate would point to the need for us to compassionately de-traumatise our world. He would suggest that we treat ourselves and others with compassion, and to firmly, but compassionately, hold accountable those in positions of power and privilege who exploit the world for selfish ends. With compassion we can heal. With compassion we can create narratives about ourselves and others – especially those whom we might judge as being “failures” “losers” “idiots”- and recognise our common humanity. We can appreciate that life is hard for us all and that we cannot know what it is like to walk in the shoes of another person.