Posts by Introspection

9

Question: ex JW cultural psychology

by Celtic in

jw
friends

one or two of you i know have studied psychology.

those of you that have, and perhaps this applies to sociologists here too, have noted any differences in psychological makeup of ex witnesses between different countries cultures?.

many postings are usa.

Introspection

You know, I never said anything like "most" ex-witnesses, I just said a large number based on my observation. As I said, what I meant by that is simply that religion is more of an issue than those of the general population, again I admit it is simply my personal subjective observation, no doubt there are others who have more experience. Of course, you couldn't really go with a board like this for a sample population, I mean those not interested in discussing it will not be here. But, wouldn't this be expected and natural in the beginning, seeing as the whole issue is a religious one, being ex-JWs? It seems to me it would be quite unusual if it isn't an issue at all considering the depth of indoctrination involved. I mean damn, we had this whole eternal life/second death business going on. I'd say it would be just a bit odd if it doesn't cross people's minds or even if one gives no more thought to it than the average joe out there.

Aside from that, the observation is also just that, an observation. It isn't to say those who have religion on their mind, whether for or against are really messed up or something. I guess I could have said something other than "hung up on" but I think this should further clarify what I mean. It just so happens our experience was a religious one, and frankly I think most of us would agree it messed us up in some sense and to some degree. But then again there are other people from other religions like Mormons, or those who deal with non-religious issues who are arguably just as messed up but in different ways. All things being equal then I just don't see it as that big a mess even though it may be a part of the great mess of things. Frankly I thought what I said was kind of redundant, just pointing to the obvious in view of what we have in common.

9

Question: ex JW cultural psychology

by Celtic in

jw
friends

one or two of you i know have studied psychology.

those of you that have, and perhaps this applies to sociologists here too, have noted any differences in psychological makeup of ex witnesses between different countries cultures?.

many postings are usa.

Introspection

Good question Celt, although I can't contribute a lot I guess this reply serves to bring it to the top if nothing else. It is kind of a broad, general question though. I guess the one observation that stands out for me, which is no doubt also very general is that a large number of ex-JWs are hung up on religion.. Not everyone, and what I mean by that is that you're either religious or not religious at all, though the significance is that it's an issue to many exJWs - but only to the degree that it is more of an issue than the general population, or so it seems to me.

4

Stevie Ray Vaughn anyone?

by Introspection in

been rediscovering songs like superstitious and mary had a little lamb.

any recommendations?

Introspection

Been rediscovering songs like Superstitious and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Any recommendations?

119

CM Message of the Day

by stephenw20 in

'it doesn't matter what you choose, what matters is the energy with which you choose it.'.

4/19/2001

Introspection

Is there such a thing as wind surfing on a river? I know someone who does kite surfing.. Looking at it that way people who spend a lot of time in therapy can be cool, too.

151

Intro's quote-o-rama

by Introspection in

i guess i've been inspired by stephen's quote threads, so i'm going to start one myself.. not one particular author here, just whatever i can find:.

q: why do you think that people are so protective of their egos?

why is it so hard to let go of one's ego?.

Introspection

Geez Seven, you know everything...

151

Intro's quote-o-rama

by Introspection in

i guess i've been inspired by stephen's quote threads, so i'm going to start one myself.. not one particular author here, just whatever i can find:.

q: why do you think that people are so protective of their egos?

why is it so hard to let go of one's ego?.

Introspection

Good point Mark, I certainly it's good to look at our conditioned mind.

Here's a bit more, speaking of a sense of humor in terms of what it is not:

You might ask then, "What about the great religious traditions, the teachings? They speak of discipline, rules and regulations. How do we reconcile these with the notion of a sense of humor?" Well, let's examine the question properly. Are the regulations, the discipline, the practice of morality really based on the purely judgemental attitude of "good" as opposed to "bad"? Are the great spiritual teachings really advocating that we fight evil because we are on the side of light, the side of peace? Are they telling us to fight against that other "undesirable" side, the bad and the black? That is a big question. If there is wisdom in the sacred teachings, there should not be any war. As long as a person is involved with warfare, trying to defend or attack, then his actions is not sacred; it is mundane, dualistic, a battlefield situation. One would not expect the great teachings to be as simple-minded as that, trying to be good, fighting the bad. Such would be the approach of the Hollywood western movie--even before you have seen the conclusion, you already know precisely that the "goodies" will not be killed and the "baddies" are going to get smashed. This approach is obviously simple-minded; but it is just this type of situation that we are creating in terms of "spiritual" struggle, "spiritual" achievement.

18

Last Thursdayism

by Cygnus in

jw
friends

this is a chat i had a few months ago on yahoo (you people who chat on this stupid board, get yer asses over to yahoo, now!)..

jag1lisa: what religion are you.

cygnustsp: last thursdayist.

Introspection

You two infidels are both wrong. Anyone can see by the facts that Friday is the day of creation. Haven't you ever heard of TGIF??

Some, you stay just the way you are, I'm sure you have a lot more class than PA.

151

Intro's quote-o-rama

by Introspection in

i guess i've been inspired by stephen's quote threads, so i'm going to start one myself.. not one particular author here, just whatever i can find:.

q: why do you think that people are so protective of their egos?

why is it so hard to let go of one's ego?.

Introspection

That's funny Seven, I just went to check out a Zen center this morning. They are in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi. They actually have a program where you can stay there for a year, I'm kind of toying with the idea of trying for that..

151

Intro's quote-o-rama

by Introspection in

i guess i've been inspired by stephen's quote threads, so i'm going to start one myself.. not one particular author here, just whatever i can find:.

q: why do you think that people are so protective of their egos?

why is it so hard to let go of one's ego?.

Introspection

More from the above:

The main theme of the open way is that we must begin to abandon the basic struggle of ego. To be completely open, to have that kind of absolute trust in yourself is the real meaning of compassion and love. There have been so many speeches about love and peace and tranquility in the world. But how do we really bring love into being? Christ said, "Love thy neighbor," but how do we love? How do we do it? How are we going to radiate our love to the whole of humanity, to the whole world? "Because we must, and that's the truth!" "If you don't love, you are condemned, evil; you are doing a disservice to humanity." "If you love, you are on the path, you are on the right track." But how? Many people get very romantic about love, in fact get high on it at the very word. But then there will be a gap, a period when we are not high on love. Something else takes place which is embarrassing, a private matter. We tend to seal it off; it is "private parts," shameful, not part of our divinity. Let's not think about that. Let's simply ignite another love explosion and on and on we go, trying to ignore those parts of our being we reject, trying to be virtuous, loving, kind.
Perhaps this will put off a lot of people, but I am afraid love is not really the experience of beauty and romantic joy alone. Love is associated with ugliness and pain and aggression, as well as with the beauty of the world; it is not the recreation of heaven. Love or compassion, the open path, is associated with "what is." In order to develop love--universal love, cosmic love, whatever you would like to call it--one must accept the whole situation of life as it is, both the light and the dark, the good and the bad. One must open oneself to life, communicate with it. Perhaps you are fighting to develop love and peace, struggling to achieve them; "We are going to make it, we are going to spend thousands of dollars in order to broadcast the doctrine of love everywhere, we are going to proclaim love." Okay, proclaim it, do it, spend your money, but what about the speed and aggression behind what you are doing? Why do you have to push us into the acceptance of your love? Why is there such speed and force involved? If your love is moving with the same speed and drive as other people's hatred, then something appears to be wrong. It would seem to be the same as calling darkness light. There is so much ambition involved, taking the form of proselytizing. It is not an open situation of communication with things as they are. The ultimate implication of the words "peace on earth" is to remove altogether the ideas of peace and war and to open yourself equally and completely to the positive and negative aspects of the world. It is like seeing the world from an aerial point of view: there is light, there is dark; both are accepted. You are not trying to defend the light against the dark.

151

Intro's quote-o-rama

by Introspection in

i guess i've been inspired by stephen's quote threads, so i'm going to start one myself.. not one particular author here, just whatever i can find:.

q: why do you think that people are so protective of their egos?

why is it so hard to let go of one's ego?.

Introspection

Hi Stephen, I should point out that the context of the book is that he is talking about working with a guru, though from those quotes you can see he is not calling for people to mindlessly go about following a leader. In fact he calls the guru your spiritual friend.