Tag: meditation

1 Thessalonians 1 BHT, Paul's First Words about the Word in the New Testament

Bryce HaymondLeave a comment

An addition to the BHT, which may be the very earliest words written in the New Testament, around 50 AD, in Paul's letter to the family who are gathering in Thessaloniki. Paul is exuberant about their faith, and talks about how they knew it for themselves through the manifestation of the Spirit in themselves, after much suffering, just like Paul and Jesus. Their great example was quickly spreading abroad.

A Psychological and Mystical Interpretation of the Myth of Adam & Eve and the Garden of Eden

Bryce Haymond11 Comments

I think the story of Adam & Eve is a mythological allegory describing humanity's "fall" of consciousness into the dualities of self-awareness, subject/object relationships, and the opposites of existence. This is symbolized in the partaking of the "tree" of knowledge of good and evil, i.e. dualities.

Notes on “Contemplation” from a Lecture with Fr. Laurence Freeman

Bryce Haymond2 Comments

Fr. Laurence Freeman, OSB Last night I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a lecture with Fr. Laurence Freeman, OSB, at the Carmelite Monastery of Baltimore in Towson, Maryland. It was sponsored by the Carmelite Sisters of Baltimore, and the Benedictine Sisters of Emmanuel Monastery, as well as The World Community for Christian Meditation, of [...]

My Thoughts on the New Age, and How It Differs from Mysticism

Bryce Haymond8 Comments

I am not fond of much of the New Age movement. Sometimes my thoughts about mysticism may seem like the New Age, but I think that is because the New Age has adopted a lot of mystical language and concepts, not that classical mysticism inherently belongs to the New Age. They are two different fields, which have some overlap. The New Age developed just in the 1970s. Mysticism has been around for millennia, indeed, for all of human history, in every part of the world.

"Are More People Achieving Stream Entry These Days?" with guest Culadasa on Deconstructing Yourself

Bryce HaymondLeave a comment

On my morning run I listened to this podcast with host Michael Taft of Deconstructing Yourself talking with Buddhist teacher Culadasa (John Yates), author of The Mind Illuminated. It was a great discussion of the deepest realizations that come through meditation, from a Buddhist point of view.

Our Ideas of God Are Not God

Bryce HaymondLeave a comment

The ideas we have about God are not God. Any idea, thought, or concept never was and never will be God. They may be helpful symbols that point to God, metaphors, analogies, allegories, images, but they are not God as God is. They will inevitably conflict with one another and be fallible, as every symbol eventually fails at actually being the thing it is supposed to represent. The symbol is never the thing-in-itself.

Joseph Smith’s “Sinking” Into the Darkest Abyss to Commune with God

Bryce HaymondLeave a comment

"The highest form of meditation is not an activity that is undertaken by the mind. It is a relaxing, falling back or sinking of the mind into its source or essence of pure awareness, from which it has arisen."