Post by park on Apr 26, 2023 5:34:46 GMT -5
Hello everyone,
I thought I would share a perspective that's been quite obvious to me for a while now and that might be of interest to others as well.
In the Christian tradition they talk of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. We don't need to be too attached to these terms but can think of them as "really shitty mind", "average shitty mind", and "not shitty mind"
Most Christians believe that these terms describe post-death "realms" but for a long time now my understanding has been that they describe states of mind during life. Depending on the condition of our mind, during life, we can be in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven. This does not seem contentious to me.
What I'd like to add to the conversation is my observation that psychologists, psychiatrists, and many "ordinary people" make the mistake of believing that the only two conditions are those of Hell and Purgatory. They believe that there are only two kinds of people, in two states of mind, those totally in the dark suffering greatly and the rest of us, "normal people", still suffering, but less so, "being normal". They do not see the possibility of higher states of mind, of Heaven. The outcome here is that these people do not themselves aim for Heaven, nor support others trying to do so.
On the other hand, I notice that some spiritual teachers make a similar mistake, again believing that only two states of mind exist, those of Purgatory (where the unenlightened live, pretty much everyone), and that of Heaven (where the enlightened live). In doing so, they make the mistake of not fully appreciating the full spectrum of suffering that can be observed in the Hell to Purgatory dimensions of mind. The outcome here is that those spiritual teachers do not sufficiently support those trying to make the transition from Hell to Purgatory.
Anyway, I find this interesting, since I've "visited" all three states of mind at times, and am sometimes frustrated by both some spiritual teachers and some within the helping professions not seeing that there are actually three, not two, possibilities in which we may exist.
How does that sound?
I thought I would share a perspective that's been quite obvious to me for a while now and that might be of interest to others as well.
In the Christian tradition they talk of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. We don't need to be too attached to these terms but can think of them as "really shitty mind", "average shitty mind", and "not shitty mind"
Most Christians believe that these terms describe post-death "realms" but for a long time now my understanding has been that they describe states of mind during life. Depending on the condition of our mind, during life, we can be in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven. This does not seem contentious to me.What I'd like to add to the conversation is my observation that psychologists, psychiatrists, and many "ordinary people" make the mistake of believing that the only two conditions are those of Hell and Purgatory. They believe that there are only two kinds of people, in two states of mind, those totally in the dark suffering greatly and the rest of us, "normal people", still suffering, but less so, "being normal". They do not see the possibility of higher states of mind, of Heaven. The outcome here is that these people do not themselves aim for Heaven, nor support others trying to do so.
On the other hand, I notice that some spiritual teachers make a similar mistake, again believing that only two states of mind exist, those of Purgatory (where the unenlightened live, pretty much everyone), and that of Heaven (where the enlightened live). In doing so, they make the mistake of not fully appreciating the full spectrum of suffering that can be observed in the Hell to Purgatory dimensions of mind. The outcome here is that those spiritual teachers do not sufficiently support those trying to make the transition from Hell to Purgatory.
Anyway, I find this interesting, since I've "visited" all three states of mind at times, and am sometimes frustrated by both some spiritual teachers and some within the helping professions not seeing that there are actually three, not two, possibilities in which we may exist.
How does that sound?
