JOY TO THE WORLD!!!

JOY TO THE WORLD!

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me

there lay an invincible summer.”

~ Albert Camus

It’s December 1^st, and I just watched a beautiful sunset within this brief window of no rain in a week of much-needed rainy days.

The days are shorter, the nights longer. Cozy nights by a fire, soups, holiday movies and lots of reading – all call to us, whereas 6 months ago we were still out running errands and working and just being busy until the sun set much later in the day.

If we look at Life as a metaphor, we could see the symbolism within nature’s timetable. Less time for outer activity, more time for inner reflection. As the season gets colder, nature slows down, hibernates, leaves fall from the trees, growth slows or stops, and nature lies fallow to replenish and rejuvenate for Spring and its expansion.

We too could slow down, reflect, review the past accomplishments of the year, consider what we could evolve and grow into in the coming year, with the renewed capacities born of rest and reflection.

It is the Christmas season. It is the season for many spiritual traditions to celebrate the birth of an awakened consciousness. In the dark and quiet seclusion of the deepest winter night, a star lights the way to the birth of the King. In the dark and quiet seclusion of our deepest reflection, wisdom unfolds, gathering substance as we allow ourselves time to be present to quietness. Wisdom emerges as inspired and awakened consciousness, lighting the way for our own inner sage to find voice, ready to take form in the coming longer days of Spring.

Peace within emanating to peace without, choosing peace for all who think of us, all who speak of us,

all whom we contact.

Happiest of holidays to us all!

Joy to the world!

WE COME AND WE GO

New Hampshire Maple

October 29, 2014

WE COME AND WE GO

Having just spent the last week in New Hampshire, I was inspired by the few remnants of fall foliage that were still pulsating their color outward. I pulled over while driving to capture a photo of the glorious golden yellow maple above.

The inevitable transition from living to dying is evident everywhere there is life. I was in New Hampshire to say goodbye to my dear brother-in-law, Roger, a salt-of-the-earth Yankee, a truly good man. Roger made his transition after a long illness yesterday morning, peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by his devoted wife, (my extraordinary sister), and their loving family. They loved him. We all loved him.

All of us lose those we love to the transition we call death. It is an inevitable journey we are all making. Miraculously, Roger's granddaughter, Scarlet, was born 24 hours before he left his body. They passed in the ethers, perhaps with a high five.

We come and we go.

Godspeed.

“… I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!” 

~ Henry Scott Holland, Death Is Nothing At All

"THE FOOL"

Original Painting

by Laura Basha

2008

Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas

36" x 48"

THE FOOL

The Fool knows nothing.

Yet the Fool knows that she knows nothing,

So she listens for what she doesn’t know.

In listening for what she doesn’t know,

She hears her own innate genius,

And thus is the wisest of all.

~  Basha

www.bashabooks.com

THE INWARD OUTLOOK

by

Laura Basha, PhD

Please join the Author for a 

BOOK LAUNCH and SIGNING!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR TWO FUN & INSPIRING EVENINGS!

A PRESENTATION AND DIALOGUE with AUTHOR DR. LAURA BASHA

On Her Newly Released Book:

 THE INWARD OUTLOOK

• Enjoy a glass of wine as Dr. Basha talks about her 35-plus years of

transformational work with people from all walks of life, and the inspiration behind writing the book.

• Dialogue with Laura as she discusses the simplicity which distinguishes

The Inward Outlook from other perspectives, and what its pragmatic value is for anyone interested in easily and authentically experiencing well-being and  fulfillment in our ongoing search for peace of mind and happiness.

• The talk will be followed by a Book Signing

• Copies of the book will be available for purchase

Saturday, November 8^th, 2014

5:00pm – 7:30pm

Talk: 5:30 – 6:00pm

Piedmont Center for the Arts

801 Magnolia Avenue

Piedmont, CA   94611

www.PiedmontCenterfortheArts.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, December 5th, 2014

6:00pm – 9:00pm

STUDIOS ELEVEN

560 Second Street

Oakland, CA   94607

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Studios-Eleven/544277212259981?sk=info

The Psychology of the Mystic ...

“One of the elders used to say: In the beginning when we got together 

we used to talk about something that was good for our souls, 

and we went up and up, and ascended even to heaven. 

But now we get together and spend our time in criticizing everything, 

and we drag one another down into the abyss.”    

                                                           - Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert, LXI, p.78

The Psychology of the Mystic …

I was clearing out the piles of papers in my office for a good part of the day today. My new book is published!! It is titled: The Inward Outlook, and my job now as an “author”, is to continue conversations with the website design team to get the website for the book up and running and satisfactory to my rather particular aesthetic senses. (The design team may have another way of expressing that last sentence…). So promoting and publicizing is the name of the game for a while! Not my forte - but on a learning curve to cultivate it as a strong suit … Heh! WRITING the book is just the beginning!

In any case, clearing out the office is a prerequisite for me to be able to sit and think and create freely, so … that was the task this morning. In doing so, I came across a paper I had written in 1994, while still in graduate school. Twenty years ago! Yikes!!  I had printed out that paper for another reason a couple of weeks ago, (lest you think it’s been 20 years since I cleaned my office), and it peaked my interest to re-read it.

What caught my attention, however, was the alignment of the paper with my newly printed book. I again was reminded of the hours and hours of work that goes into any of our endeavors, even though the creation of the form may have been very recent. Any richness comes from the years of tempering, any patina from the softening born of wisdom.

I thought I would share a paragraph of this paper titled: “The Psychology of the Mystic”. And I shamelessly say, if you like this following little snippet of the paper, you may really like the new book!

“’The person who has not courageously confronted the basic unreality of conventional structures... can never sincerely love the Real or long intensely for the Real, much less become Reality. ...Why? Because of divisive thinking - basically, the sense that there is [Source] plus some order of existence other than [Source]. This illusory category – “something or someone other than [Source]” - is what now receives the majority of your attention ... Give up this dualistic thinking, this hypocrisy!’      

                                                                                                            -Ramakrishna  (from Great Swan, by Lex Hixon, p. 171)

What is psychology, or, even more appropriate - integrative psychology? Who - or what - is the therapist? What role does spiritual cultivation and evolution play in the expression of psychology? What is the psychology of the mystic?

The word ‘integrate’ comes from the Latin integrarus: ‘to form into a whole; unite; to end the segregation of and bring into common and equal membership’. ‘Psyche’ comes from the Greek psyche; ‘breath; principle of life; soul’. ‘-Logia; -logy’ means ‘the study of’. Therefore we could say that Integrative Psychology is: The study, teaching and practice of understanding the unity of breath, soul, and principle.

Is this not the way of the mystic? ... “

And could this not describe any one of us listening for health, well-being, and peace of mind? A therapist, spiritual practitioner, business person, teen, parent – you and me - the true mystic is the most ordinary and practical person you will meet. S(he) simply longs for and listens from Source.