Month: October 2006

My Favorite Meditation: Part I

Posted on by Jeff Lilly

Tell me, men of learning, what is Longing made from?
What cloth was put in it that it does not wear out with me?
Gold wears out, silver wears out, velvet wears out, silk wears out,
Every ample garment wears out — yet Longing does not wear out.
Great Longing, cruel Longing, is breaking my heart every day;
When I sleep most sound at night, Longing comes and wakes me.

–Excerpt from an old Welsh poem

interviewfrankmaceowenI picked up this verse from The Mist Filled Path. The Longing described by the poet can be a powerful force for personal growth. Cultivated properly, trimmed and clipped at intervals, Longing and other semi-painful emotions can add a lot of character and vitality to the garden of your soul. But they can take over and strangle the other flowers if you don’t keep them in check. In this post and a couple later ones I want to present my favorite meditation for finding respite and peace.

Continue reading “My Favorite Meditation: Part I” →

Poetic Interlude

Posted on by Jeff Lilly

A big part of my candidate year for the AODA is poetry — learning to read it, write it, and appreciate it. I admit that when I was younger I considered most poetry that I read to be too old, too pompous, too idiotic, and too cynical; but now that I am getting older, more pompous, more idiotic, and very slightly more cynical, — well, I admit it, most poetry still seems old, pompous, idiotic, and cynical.

Continue reading “Poetic Interlude” →

Subjective Reality and the Structure of Consciousness

Posted on by Jeff Lilly

I have lined up a whole lot of little black letters talking about the structure of consciousness, and I imagine that a broad cross-section of both of my faithful readers wonder why on earth I’m wasting so much time on it. The simple answer is that the structure of consciousness is the structure of our experience.

Continue reading “Subjective Reality and the Structure of Consciousness” →

The Structure of Consciousness III: Imprints of the Fourth Circuit

Posted on by Jeff Lilly

In my earlier posts on the 8-circuit model, I’ve described some possible imprints on the first, second, and third circuits. According to Wilson and Leary, the first and second circuits can have two imprints. I suggested that the third circuit might have three possible imprints (be sure to read the comments on that post for some insightful discussion by Adam of adamspeace.com). Here, I’m going to talk about imprints on the fourth circuit, and the implications that has for possible human societies. Watch out, I’m going for a record on this one: I’m going to suggest eight possible imprints.

Continue reading “The Structure of Consciousness III: Imprints of the Fourth Circuit” →