ON INTEGRITY

Integrity is a shared process.

Integrity is interrelational.

Integrity is contextual.

Integrity is integrating.

Integrity is unscripted.

Integrity is a kind of super-attention.

Integrity is watching for the cracks in what you thought you knew.

Integrity is willingness to learn together.

~ Nora Bateson

Integrity is an important word and concept. It is critically important in spiritual and religious circles. Without integrity there can be no real spiritual growth in an individual or group. You can say that integrity is integral to attaining true fulfillment as a spiritual student.

The revelation that spiritual guru Deepak Chopra is mentioned multiple times in the email files linked to the Jeffrey Epstein case is, at a minimum, disturbing (LINK). A deeper dive into the situation, including how often so-called spiritual celebrities have difficulty maintaining integrity is here (LINK).

“My intent is to be generous of spirit and live with total integrity every day of my life.”
~ Deepak Chopra

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity.”
~ Tom Peters

I have often considered some spiritual celebrities as conduits to New Thought for many people. Author Wayne Dyer was such a way shower for me, leading me to being open enough to explore the Science of Mind in the 1980’s. I am grateful for that, and for much of the wisdom that Dyer shared over the years, even though he had his own lapses of integrity, including this (LINK).

One of the most disturbing factors of the crimes associated with Jeffrey Epstein and his wide circle of influential friends and clients is the extent to which such horrific behavior went on and was widely known (and therefore condoned). The victims numbered in the hundreds, and almost all were children at the time. The perpetrators number in the dozens, perhaps even the hundreds, and include world and business leaders. What all of this says about our society is worthy of deep reflection.

But our own house in spirituality and religion is far from perfect. The victims of failures of integrity by religious leaders number in the millions. This has been compounded by the repeated failure of those responsible to demand accountability by transgressors. And even when accountability has occurred, the results are often kept confidential allowing the perpetrators to relocate and offend again. Such violations of trust drive people from spiritual communities.

“As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can’t see how it is.”
~ Ram Dass

We in spiritual communities and organizations have an interest in thinking of ourselves as good people, and we have an interest in being spiritual, which often means to be “nice,” no matter what. I have seen spiritual leaders who were toxic (LINK) protected by congregants, boards, and organizations. This was done for reasons including personal loyalty, a desire not to have a scandal revealed, or a sense that accusations must be proven beyond a doubt.

We in New Thought are nice people as a rule. We tend to think that we live in a friendly, even moral, universe and that people are basically good. We often pay a severe price for these beliefs.

“The opposite of reflexive niceness is integrity.”
~ James Hollis, Jungian analyst

Let’s look at these beliefs:

Our universe is not friendly or moral. It is evolutionary and amoral. We exist in our current forms because of violent collisions of planets, stars, and galaxies which allowed more complex elements to be formed and spread over wide distances. We exist in our current forms because of biological evolution, whose processes toward greater complexity and adaptation have resulted in the extinction of over 99% of all the species which have existed on earth. And we know that we are a transitional species, just as all others are; we will either evolve to more complex and well-adapted beings or become extinct as an evolutionary dead-end. Evolution is careless of the individual and of the species by nature.

Morality does not appear in our universe except as a human invention. Other species may and do cooperate, but they do so as a survival mechanism. Humans are capable of moral thought and actions, but it is something which must be learned and reinforced in the social structures around us. It too, is an evolutionary adaptation.

People have the capacity to be good and moral, but any number of things can limit that capacity, sometimes severely. We know scientifically that psychopaths have little or no ability for moral action or regret due to brain injuries, often occurring when in childhood. Research has shown that most psychopaths and sociopaths are incapable of regaining a sense of morality through any known treatments.

Of course, everyone who commits a violation of integrity does not have a physical condition limiting their capacity. In most cases, people simply decide to act out of integrity, usually by using rationalization. Everyone has done something out of integrity; most of us just about every day in some minor or significant way. It is important to remember that such actions are the result of a divided self, a self which is not integral.

Spiritual study and practices are in large part about realizing one’s wholeness, one’s integrity. To be in integrity means to be in your deepest truth. As that truth is realized more and more, it means to refuse to participate in behaviors which are out of integrity. It also means to speak out for integrity and justice and love in every community to which one belongs.

The Beloved Community does not tolerate behaviors which are out of integrity. Therefore, it requires people who are compassionate to fulfill their potential. We cannot be truly compassionate if we are out of integrity in our own lives; our communities cannot be compassionate if members are silent or complicit in behaviors which are out of integrity.

Our spiritual gurus know this yet often fail. We know this yet often fail. Our compassion is the only thing that can lead us to the realization of our true spiritual potential.

“Contradictions, whether personal or social, that could once remain hidden are coming unstoppably to light. It is getting harder to uphold a divided self….The trend toward transparency that is happening on the systems level is also happening in our personal relationships and within ourselves. Invisible inconsistencies, hiding, pretense, and self-deception show themselves as the light of attention turns inward….The exposure and clearing of hidden contradictions brings us to a higher degree of integrity, and frees up prodigious amounts of energy that had been consumed in the maintenance of illusions. What will our society be capable of, when we are no longer wallowing in pretense?”
~ Charles Eisenstein

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

SELF-TALK IS A KEY TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH –

PART 1, FOR NEUROTYPICAL THINKERS

“If your friends talked to you the way you talk to yourself sometimes, would you keep them as friends?”
~ Lou Tice

Our inner dialogue, the way we think and feel about ourselves, is a major key to our spiritual, psychological, and physical well-being; it is particularly true in challenging times when we are bombarded with negative input from the world around us. This basic truth is of critical importance to the student of New Thought.

We all need to wrangle the “monkey mind” to lower the volume and, most importantly, change the tone from negativity to affirmation, from self-doubt (even self-hatred) to self-love. Most of our thinking is in patterns we have set down over time, conditioning ourselves into a track which we cannot leave without lots of conscious intention and attention.

This post is for neurotypical thinkers – or those who think in ways we generally call “normal.” Part 2 will address, to the best of my ability, how this applies to neurodivergent thinkers (ADD/ADHD, some Autism Spectrum, Aphantasia, etc.), a too-often overlooked or unecognized group historically in New Thought.

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”
~ Henry David Thoreau

When we say that thoughts are things, we mean that our thoughts accumulate to build beliefs. Thoughts are three dimensional – words, images, and emotions – and it is the accumulation of patterns of thinking which build subconscious beliefs. These beliefs then act as scripts which we accept as true and influence, even dictate, how we think and feel subsequently in relation to the beliefs. A stray thought does not do this, unless there is tremendous emotion attached to it – you find out a friend has died suddenly, or that you have won the lottery. In such cases, beliefs can be formed by that single three-dimensional thought, which will tend to be automatically reinforced by subsequent thoughts arising out of the belief(s) formed by it.

The beliefs we form in our subconscious can cause physical changes such as healing and even our DNA to be altered by deeply held beliefs. It is important to remember that negative beliefs will affect us negatively and positive beliefs will affect us positively.

“We are all cases of self-fulfilling prophecy. Whatever we prophesize, or believe, about ourselves will come true. This is why it is very important to pay attention to our thoughts – to make sure we don’t let them go on and on unattended. Our thoughts are like misbehaved children – we need to pay attention to them. Start listening to your self-talk. Pay attention to what you’re inwardly telling yourself day after day. Then if what you hear isn’t prophesizing the results you want, then you can choose to change what you tell yourself.”
~ Marie T. Russell

Spiritual practices, particularly spiritual mind treatment, are designed to direct your patterns of thought toward what you choose to affirm in life and away from negativity. Treating for 15-30 minutes a day is an excellent basis for transforming your self-talk. But there is also a need to “tend the garden” throughout the day, being attentive to your thoughts and feelings and gently redirecting them toward affirmation as needed.

This is the formula for success in New Thought teachings – create affirming thoughts paired with emotions of expectancy; diligently practice thinking those thoughts daily; shepherd your thinking throughout the day, refocusing toward positive expectancy as needed. Remember the importance of appropriate emotions.

“Natural life span of an emotion—the average time it takes for it to move through the nervous system and body—is only minute and a half. We need thoughts to keep the emotion rolling. We lock into painful emotional states [through] our own endless stream of inner dialogue.”
~ Tara Brach

Brach points out the importance of both reinforcing positive emotions and extinguishing negative emotions – not by forcing your feelings, but by gently and firmly refocusing on the positive. You KNOW what it would feel like if your intentions were realized – practice feeling that emotion whenever you think of an intention.

Emotion is the strength of self-talk. Words, even with images, have little effect unless accompanied by emotions that make them seem real and vivid. A trained mind uses this knowledge regularly, with fewer “idle” thoughts and more intentional ones. When we recognize the power of this kind of thinking, we use it to create the life we desire.

“Thoughts of failure, limitation or poverty are negative and must be counted out of our lives for all time. … God has given us a Power and we must use it. We can do more toward saving the world by proving this law than all that charity has ever given it.”
~  Ernest Holmes

Creative Mind and Success

Visualization (LINK) – the use of three-dimensional thinking – is the essence of spiritual mind treatment, or affirmative prayer. We use prayer-treatment to change our minds, to create and develop positive beliefs which guide us automatically toward being our best selves.

When visualizing it is important to imagine that what you seek is ALREADY MANIFEST – not “I will” or “I can” but “I am” or “I have” language. A prayer-treatment is a series of visualizations using three-dimensional thought to build beliefs. This is then reinforced throughout the day by visualizing your desires as manifest as appropriate.

“I once had a garden filled with flowers that grew only on dark thoughts but they need constant attention and one day I decided I had better things to do.”
~ Brian Andreas 

In Part 2, I will explore a bit about how all of this applies to neurodivergent (LINK) thinkers. As noted above, this is a group who has been underserved or ignored in New Thought as a whole.

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

TRANSFORMATION: HOW TO MOVE TOWARD SIGNIFICANT INDIVIDUAL CHANGE

“Whatever leadership used to be — it used to be. Now, it has to be something different. Now, we all have to be more than we were. The kind of leadership that I want to explore may not be identifiable as leadership at all.  I am interested in a kind of mutually alert care and attention to the well-being of all people and ecological systems. This kind of leadership cannot be found in individuals, but rather between them. It cannot be found in organizations, nations, religions or institutions, but rather between them. I have called it Liminal Leadership to highlight the relational characteristics.”
~ Nora Bateson

The transformation of organizations (LINK to previous post) begins with the transformation of individuals. As individuals develop to new levels of complexity with expanded values systems, they can influence the organizations which they lead or to which they belong. In this post, we will explore what is needed for individual development of leaders, but anyone in an organization can lead or influence regardless of their title or position.

As Nora Bateson points out above, we are in a time where transformative change or change on a grand scale is needed. We may not recognize the kind of leadership that is needed now because it is not familiar to us. We will not recognize the transformed organizations in our future as familiar either. We are moving toward whole system changes, from what we have known to something which both transcends and includes what is familiar. We can no longer rely on strategies of the past to take us where we are being called to go. We must learn to presence (LINK) an emerging future, as C. Otto Scharmer tells us:

“The ability to shift from reacting against the past to leaning into and presencing an emerging future is probably the single most important leadership capacity today. It is a capacity that is critical in situations of disruptive change, not only for institutions and systems, but also for teams and individuals.”
~ C. Otto Scharmer

LEADING FROM AN EMERGING FUTURE

The idea of evolutionary leadership has been around for a few decades but is only now gaining significant attention. An evolutionary leader is one who has developed mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to be someone who presences the qualities of authentic leadership in such a way as to recognize the need for transformative change. In today’s world, it means presencing calmness and competence in the face of chaos, conflict, and disruption. It also means having the breath of vision to see the big picture and the depth of confidence and openness to welcome and encourage the participation of others.

“Fear of loss is part of the arrested state. Our nervousness in the face of chaos is what would make it impossible for the caterpillar to pupate into a butterfly. Chaos is the ground-force of creative potential.”
~ Jon Freeman on Facebook

“To think creatively is to walk at the edge of chaos.”
~ Robert Grudin

When we are in fear, we are paralyzed at least to some degree. We will be unable to respond effectively to challenges. A common version of this in Spiral Dynamics terms is when leaders are centered at Green, but are either immature, unhealthy, or both in that values system. This may show up as being paralyzed and unable to make needed changes because someone or some group will be upset by the changes. When centered at Green, we are very feelings oriented and will expend a lot of energy trying to keep everyone from being upset. Since all change is likely to upset someone, you can see how this situation can lead to negative outcomes.

Spiral Dynamics Levels of Existence

The degree of personal development needed to fully embody evolutionary leadership will vary from person to person, however it will involve both time and dedication. It is not a weekend seminar fix. Here are some qualities and characteristics of evolutionary leaders in spiritual settings. These are in addition to normal management and interpersonal skills required to lead spiritual organizations or ministries. There are also qualities which are consistent to movement into 2^nd Tier levels (Yellow & Turquoise) on the spiral in here. You are unlikely to find most of these included in the curriculum of your spiritual organization.

• Recommit to your spiritual practices. The advantage we in New Thought have is our spiritual awareness and the realization of our divine nature. Establish or deepen your practice to bring these elements into a stronger place in your consciousness. The goal is to automatically respond from your best self more and more.
• Prioritize your emotional and spiritual intelligence (EQ & SQ) – the capacity to be fully present as your authentic self has never been more important. This is more about EQ & SQ than it is about IQ.
• Also, work on your own individuation process (LINK). This means working to align every aspect of your mind – from the soul (deepest) through the subconscious (beliefs) and the conscious (thinking/feeling). Individuation involves the revealing and healing of the shadow (LINK) and other issues which keep your ego supporting your fears and not your passions. Being flexible and nimble is the key; being controlling (stemming from fear) doesn’t serve the needs of today. Therapy may be helpful here – seriously.
• Study evolutionary leadership (do a search on the term for resources – I recommend Ecosia.org (LINK) who plant trees when you do searches).
• Find some evolutionary partners – colleagues who are also on this pathway, even if they are not in New Thought. Connect with them regularly to discuss your thoughts, progress, frustrations, etc.
• Find out what the futurists are thinking, writing, and saying. There are many people whose work is exploring what is happening and how it affects where we are heading. These include futurists (LINK) and cultural anthropologists (LINK). The purpose of this is both to inform you about trends which are affecting spiritual community and to get you outside of your siloed information gathering.
• Read poetry. Write poetry. The coming times are better met by a poetic mind than by an analytical one.
• The ability to be open to new ideas must be balanced with a clear sense of what is in harmony with your vision and what is not. The challenge for some is to learn to say ‘yes’ more often, the challenge for others is to say ‘yes’ less often.
• If you are in leadership, make your vision (the organization vision) part of your everyday conversation. Get used to referring to it and make sure that everything that is done is in support of that vision. Don’t have a vision, or don’t have a compelling or relevant one? Then do a process to create one in the community or organization. Then make it a part of everyday life.
• Remember that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” ~ Peter F. Drucker. I am surprised that many leaders don’t really pay attention to the culture of their organization or simply are not aware of it. Knowing the culture is essential, especially when it needs to change. When you strategize in ways that are not in coherence with the culture, the strategies will fail. Leaders must presence the vision all the time.
• And since we don’t know what the future has in store in terms of models for ministry or spiritual community, we should be working to develop a healthy sense of trying things, having them not work or not last, and then trying other things. Make everything a pilot project. Realize that no decision is final. Model being open, flexible, and comfortable with uncertainty.

The good news is that we have within us everything we need to move through these challenging and transformative times. We need to call it forth – inwardly in the latent capacities which lie within us and outwardly in the vast array of resources and information available to us. This is our high calling in this moment.

“To know that you live in world in which you will change and be changed is to hold an idea of self gently enough to be reshaped, without breaking those around you. Every organism does this as seasons change. Life requires nothing less than infinite reshaping. This is grace. The alternative is a bet hedged against life itself; a zombie bargain for sameness.”
~ Nora Bateson

Your comments are welcomed.

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

My books relate to these ideas and are available at all Amazon websites.

HOW TERRIBLY STRANGE TO BE 70

“The fates lead him who will; him who won’t they drag.” 

~ Joseph Campbell

The famous line from the Simon & Garfunkel song “Old Friends” has finally come upon me (LINK). I was 18 or 19 the first time I heard it, on the “Bookends” album on 8-Track cassette as a student at the University of Maryland. Seems like yesterday, or earlier this morning, to me now.

We are funny about aging in our culture. We deny it, ignore it, fear it, loathe it, and sometimes, we long for it. When it comes, as it inevitably does, we are surprised by it, as I was at the number of old men who attended my 50^th high school reunion two years ago. I was even more surprised by the twenty percent of the graduating class of 1969 who were on the in memorium board. I looked it up and the statistics were about right.

We are funny about a lot of things in our culture, as Lillian Schneider points out below. While we have our individual quirks, preferences, and tendencies, we tend to be more a part of the collective than we may want to admit.

“Single people want relationships, settled people wonder if they’re missing out on something, traveling types miss stability, stable ones are restless, old friends want new friends, new friends miss old friends, and basically almost everyone my age has some dangling worry trailing around after them everywhere that they’re somehow not doing everything, that what they’re doing is not altogether the right thing, that they are missing out. … Do not be ashamed. The doubt is natural, and everyone you know – yes, even that person – carries it sometimes too. Allow yourself to be peaceful. Allow yourself satisfaction in what you have. If you really don’t like it, allow yourself permission to make changes.”

~ Lillian Schneider

If I have any wisdom to impart due to my longevity, it would be to pay attention to what Joseph Campbell said in that opening quote. The fates he speaks of are our own inner fates – who we came here to be as Dr. Gary Simmons puts it so uniquely and so well. When we fail to be who we came here to be, either because we never really discover who that is, or because we do discover it and resist embodying and expressing it for some reason, it makes for an unhappy life. Campbell speaks of living joyfully in the sorrows of the world, and he is right about that, too. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can learn to live in joy – not by ignoring the suffering, but by realizing our own worth and making ourselves able to do something about it. That’s a tall order, but an increasingly essential one.

The main influences on me, aside from relatives and friends, have been Joseph Campbell, Ernest Holmes, and Carl Jung. I would include the branches which have emerged from each of them, so others as well. They helped me to realize my own power and my own limitations and gave me ways to heal what needed healing within me (still a work in progress). For me, the greatest healings have come via teaching and writing, ostensibly for others, but for myself most of all. We do teach what we need to learn if we are wise enough to realize that path. An elder once told me that the purpose of the Science of Mind teaching was to learn how to die. He said that the teaching did that by teaching us how to live fully by realizing our divine nature and that we have everything we need within us.

“The great secret is to embody something essential in our lives. Then, undefeated by age, we can proceed with dignity and meaning, and, as the end approaches, be ready ‘to die with life’. For the goal of old age is not senility, but wisdom.”

~ Anthony Stevens

Now, at 70, I am very healthy for my age, on no medications so far, fortunately. I am noticing general aches and pains on a more regular basis, my memory is becoming a bit less dependable than it was earlier in life, it’s time to get new glasses, I wear hearing aids, and I have never been happier. Well, I was pretty happy as a young boy, blessed with imperfect parents who were perfect about letting me know they loved me. But I know that my memories of those times are selective.

Ernest Holmes wrote that there is no such thing as a mistake, an often-misunderstood idea. What he meant, I believe, is that every choice we make has consequences and that we are always at choice to move in a different direction. This idea was reinforced in the book “The Power of Decision” by Raymond Charles Barker. We are always in the flow of life and each decision is a choice as to how to move forward. Also, to know that indecision is a decision to stay in place (which is actually impossible). We are best served by combining being decisive with the deep inner work necessary to support making wise and compassionate decisions more of the time.

I have come to believe that if there is a secret to a fulfilling life, it is to find ways to live authentically, in joy, AND to be a force for good in the world. To live joyfully in the sorrows of the world is to find your inner, authentic sense of self and to develop meaningful ways to contribute to the greater good. When we sacrifice ourselves to too great a degree or when we live selfish, detached lives, we are out of balance.

Another bit of wisdom from Joseph Campbell which has also been misunderstood, is to follow your bliss. Joseph defines bliss as that inner authenticity, the divine nature at the depth of our being. When we bring that forward and live from it, our lives have meaning and purpose. It takes lots of inner work to find and follow your bliss.

“You will evolve past certain people. Let yourself.”

~ Mindy Hale

I hope that you continue to evolve – to grow in your capacities for wisdom and compassion. That is the goal, if there is a goal in this life: to be fully expressed as an authentic version of yourself, living from a being state of connection and a healthy self-concept. That has been my path, imperfectly trodden to be sure, but my north star has been what Holmes, Campbell, Jung, and others have described. You will know when you are on the path and you will know when you have strayed or gotten stuck. Pay attention to those signals, which come from your soma (body) and your emotions.

“One great thing about growing old is that nothing is going to lead to anything. Everything is of the moment.”

~ Joseph Campbell

How terribly strange to be 70. How terribly wonderful to come to terms with the aging process; to learn how to die by learning how to live fully. To release the striving for money, fame, respect, attention, or anything else. To be in what Carl Jung called the second adulthood – a place of being, not a place of striving.

As always, your comments are welcomed. Please share this post with others who may be interested.

Copyright 2021 – Jim Lockard

SHOULD I GET VACCINATED? SPIRITUAL FREEDOM AND COMPASSION

“We all wish to be free, but at the same time we should realize that liberty is not license. To say that we are free with the freedom of God does not mean that we are free to do that which contradicts the Divine nature. We are free only in that freedom which God is – the freedom to be alive, to enjoy living, to enter into the activities of everyday living with enthusiasm and interest.”

~ Ernest Holmes, Richer Living (1953), p. 64.1

We are in a time of great challenge. Each of us is being challenged to face increasing uncertainty, too often in a complex environment where it is difficult to know who or what to trust. Between the global climate crisis, the ongoing COVID Pandemic, and the increased politicization of both, there is a lot of taking sides vs. sincere investigation. There is also a lot of vitriol and animosity vs. compassion and consideration. And I include our New Thought members in this statement.

I have seen people use quotes or describe New Thought principles to justify any number of positions about the issues of the day and how we should be responding. While this is nothing new, we New Thoughters tend to value independence of thought, the levels of animosity and condemnation have grown. I have seen more people “unfriend” of disconnect from others on social media. I imagine as our centers and churches reopen for in-person activities this problem may surface there as well.

“The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.”

~ David Foster Wallace, This is Water

I have seen people use the concept of “freedom” or “absolute choice” to support positions for and against vaccinations, for example. I have seen people post that each of us is 100% responsible for what happens to us, which usually features a statement such as “all you have to do is know the truth.”

While I can attest to the truths of such statements, they represent oversimplified understanding of some of our basic spiritual principles. The quote from Dr. Ernest Holmes above speaks to this – that freedom is not license. Our choices have consequences. And none of us is ever completely independent of the collective consciousness of our family, community, society, nation, etc., not to mention our own subconscious conditioning. If our choice is lacking in compassion, it is off the mark.

“The whole purpose of Buddhist psychology, …is the discovery that freedom and joy are possible in the face of the sufferings of human life. By neither grasping nor resisting life, we can find wakefulness and freedom in the midst of our joys and sorrows.”

~ Jack Kornfield

This Buddhist perspective is echoed in my favorite principle of Joseph Campbell – to live joyfully in the sorrows of the world. This is another principle not to be taken simplistically. It means that we must accept that the world is full of sorrows, impermanence, and loss, but as we come to accept that, we can live in joy. When we grasp (insisting that our life work all the time with no problems) or resist (practicing avoidance of legitimate pain, living in denial, or dwelling in magical thinking), we rob ourselves of the possibility of joy. True joy can only come from seeing oneself as part of the larger society and by growing in compassion for the well-being of others and contributing to the greater good.

Many have decided to contribute to the greater good by being vaccinated against COVID. Many of us did this despite some degree of fear. Some did it strictly for self-preservation, others out of a sense of oneness with the larger community. Some have refused or resisted because of fears, or because their political pundits have told them to, or because of a lack of trust in any institutions. To me, being vaccinated is in the spirit of Dr. Holmes’ opening quote and it is a compassionate choice and a courageous one for many. I understand that there is a choice not to be vaccinated, but I do not see how that choice can be considered compassionate. Perhaps, if that is the choice you have made, you can enlighten me in the comments section.

“The principal of compassion is that which converts disillusionment into a participatory companionship. This is the basic love, the charity, that turns a critic into a human being who has something to give to – as well as to demand of – the world.”

~ Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss

“I no longer have any intention of sacrificing my life, time, my freedom, and the adolescence of my daughters, as well as their right to study properly, for those who refuse to be vaccinated. This time you stay at home, not us.”

~ French President Emmanuel Macron on initiating a Pass Sanitaire*

‎”Having compassion does not mean indiscriminately accepting or going along with others’ actions regardless of the consequences to ourselves or the world. It is about being able to say ‘no’ where we need to without putting the other out of our hearts, without making the other less of a fellow human being. There is a difference between discerning and sometimes even opposing harmful behaviour and making the other wrong – less than we are, less a part of that presence that is greater than ourselves – in our own minds and hearts.”

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

What is so often lacking in our discourse today, perhaps due in part to the nature of social media, is generosity of spirit. To be able to disagree without condemnation of the other, but with meaningful boundaries is a critical skill to develop. President Macron, using strong language, is being a compassionate leader by taking a strong stand for the well-being of everyone in France, as the reality is that COVID is spreading most virulently and creating new variants almost entirely via the unvaccinated. The fact that some disagree with him does not mean he is not compassionate. Compassion does not require unanimity nor even agreement; it requires a very developed form of love.

None of us know what the future holds, and the even horizon grows ever closer. If we do not face that uncertainty with courage, love, and compassion, we may make it through, but there will be little, if any joy in the process.

“If I had ever been here before I would probably know just what to do
Don’t you?
If I had ever been here before on another time around the wheel
I would probably know just how to deal
With all of you”

~ Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, “Déjà vu”

As always, your comments are welcomed in the comments section.

*Pass Sanitaire: requires people to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test to enter any venue in France with a capacity of 50 persons or more.

Copyright 2021 – Jim Lockard

IS IT TIME TO TAKE A PERSONAL RETREAT TO VISION A NEW YEAR?

“Nothing ages so quickly as yesterday’s vision of the future.” 

~ Richard Corliss

I like to make it a practice to vision and spend some time in solitude during the last half of December each year. This year, I find that I am in a place of needing to do that very much and will largely unplug for 3 weeks from “business” stuff like committees, advisory boards, and the like. I will spend time with my wife and Zoom with family and friends, dabble on social media in a reduced way. I want to spend some quality time discerning what is up for me in 2021.

I find that coming to terms with 2020 is a difficult but essential task before moving on. Of course, the major issues of 2020 will carry forward – at a minimum, the global climate crisis, the COVID19 pandemic, economic inequality, and the strained political atmosphere will not cease to exist at midnight on December 31^st. Nor will racism, sexism, religious intolerance, and so on. But this is the world we live in, and it is not subject to dates on the calendar.

“In an age of acceleration nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow; in an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious as paying attention; and in an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still.”

~ Pico Iyer

One of the fortunate things about the way 2020 has unfolded it that, thanks to quarantine policies, solitude is easier to manage for many than in the normal year. Another fortunate thing is all the opportunities for learning about myself and my psychological and spiritual development that the year has brought. I am tugged from within to make some changes, and that is what I will explore during my personal retreat.

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” 

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

The goal is not to separate from humanity, from community. The goal is to realize my best self and live it in more aspects of my life. I want to engage more fully and compassionately. I want to be more present, more connected, more of a contributor for good. I want to savor the best of life and find the inner resolve to stand in the face of the worst of it.

Each day I will spend time in meditation and contemplation. Perhaps I will journal as well. I plan to walk in nature and listen to beautiful music, explore art and culture. Along with my private students during this time, I will re-read Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces and revisit some of the work of Carl Jung. All of this will be with a question in mind – What is next for me?

“Long ago the word alone was treated as two words, all one. To be all one meant to be wholly one, to be in oneness, either essentially or temporarily. That is precisely the goal of solitude, to be all one. It is the cure for frazzled state so common to modern women.”

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

I will vision what I want to BE in 2021, and how that will FEEL. What is ready to be born anew?

“. . . schism in the soul, schism in the body social, will not be resolved by any scheme of return to the good old days (archaism), or by programs guaranteed to render an ideal projected future (futurism), or even by the most realistic, hardheaded work to weld together again the deteriorating elements. Only birth can conquer death – the birth, not of the old thing again, but of something new. Within the soul, within the body social, there must be – if we are to experience long survival – a continuous ‘recurrence of birth’ (palingensia) to nullify the unremitting recurrences of death.”

~ Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, page 16

(a quote that might be good to forward to President-Elect Biden)

While the degree of schism may be greater in 2020 for many than in other years, the solution is the same – the birth of new thoughts, the emergence of creative expressions of good, love, truth, and beauty. These things can bring us to the realization of a greater expression of life for ourselves, and, when expanded beyond to our communities, for a collection realization. It is clear to me what my agenda is – to make myself available to this new birth without attachment to what it must look like.

I know that the year will bring opportunity, joy, and sorrow. It will bring challenges and frustration as well. I want to BE strong within and without so that I can bring compassion for myself and others to every situation. I want to listen to the small voice within to discern what it is that is calling to me. I want to be available to the transformation that calls to me from within – to be a lived expression of a New Thought Evolutionary.

“Step far enough into the world’s injustices, cruelty and stark brutality, and they will hammer away at your idealism. They will even shatter your dreams of being an effective agent of change. However, if your vision is rooted in your heart, when the heartbreak comes you will feel pain, loss and deep deprivation, but it will not be the end of the story. It will be the beginning of a sacred transformation.”

~ James O’Dea

Have a blessed Holiday Season and New Year. I am so grateful that you have chosen to share this journey with me.

Copyright 2020 – Jim Lockard

HERE AND NOW – REMEMBER THE BASICS

Americans are dying

We cannot travel anywhere

Our infection rate is catastrophic

We have no coordination among states or our federal government. 

We are isolated. 

We are sick. 

We are the laughing stock of other countries. 

We are broken. 

This did not have to happen.

@SarahBCalif

I have not written a post for a while.

Like many, if not all, of you, I have been trying to process what is happening in the world currently, especially in the United States. As the words above illustrate, we are in a time of major challenges across a wide spectrum, from the pandemic, lockdown, and its health crisis; to the protests and government response; to rising warnings about climate change and ecosystem collapse – all subject to being misrepresented for ideological and economic reasons. Add the degree of political conflict and the ongoing issues of racism, sexism, gender bias, and classism to the list and you can see how this is both the result and secondary cause of a growing mental health crisis – with more and more people seeking solace in conspiracy theories and acting out in sometimes violent anti-social ways. Add to these things a Federal government which has no idea how to encourage higher social and cultural development while actually working to make some things worse.

One reason why I have not written a post for longer than usual is that I keep seeking some “bigger” wisdom: something more appropriate for these times. I do not want to retreat into platitudes or “feel-good” spirituality, because those seem somehow inadequate for the moment. As I write these words, my inner voice speaks up and gently reminds me that there is no big or small in Spirit. And, of course, that is true.

“There is One Mind, that Mind is God. That Mind is your Mind now. This Mind is always inspired with Confidence. It has no fears, no doubts, no uncertainties. God in you leads, directs and governs you at all times. The Spirit is never hurried, never worried, never afraid. Infinite happiness and Joy belong to the eternal Spirit in which you move and have your Being.”

~ Ernest Holmes audio recording on Confidence

We are clearly in a time of great upheaval, a turbulent time of change for human societies. When added to the challenges of everyday life, it can seem to be insurmountable. Big can seem very big, indeed.

“There is a longing that burns at the root of spiritual practice. This is the fire that fuels your journey. The romantic suffering you pretend to have grown out of, that remains coiled like a serpent beneath the veneer of maturity. You have studied the sacred texts. You know that separation from your divine source is an illusion. You subscribe to the philosophy that there is nowhere to go and nothing to attain, because you are already there and you already possess it.
But what about this yearning? What about the way a poem by Rilke or Rumi breaks open your heart and triggers a sorrow that could consume you if you gave in to it? You’re pretty sure this is not a matter of mere psychology. It has little to do with unresolved issues of childhood abandonment, or codependent tendencies to falsely place the source of your wholeness outside yourself. The longing is your recognition of the deepest truth that God is love and that this is all you want. Every lesser desire melts when it comes near that flame.”

~ Mirabai Starr, “Longing for the Beloved”

There is much soul-yearning today. Some yearn to return to an earlier way of being where there is more peace or certainty (or at least the illusion of these things). Many seek to break free of the restrictions and unfairness of the current social order, wanting to create a more equitable and sustainable society. While this may seem like it ought to be a straightforward process, it is happening in a time of information overload, siloed media, increasing complexity, and serious imminent threats to our ways of living. The pathway of cultural evolution becomes more complex and as a result, people grow angrier and more frustrated. There is clearly a significant mental and emotional health crisis happening. This has led to many of our current challenges, and, sadly, has all-too-often defined our reactions and responses to them.

“As bad as this virus is and as invasive as it has proven to be, what it’s exposed about us is far worse. It’s going to be a long haul to get well.”

~ John Pavlovitz (LINK)

So how are we to respond? Social media, which I do engage in, is increasingly frustrating. I feel like I want to keep reminding people to have a sense of compassion, and a sense of humor, while trying not to be triggered by some of the posts, tweets, memes, etc. We are in a time of too much information from too many sources for us to adequately comprehend and evaluate, making discernment (which is essential) increasingly more difficult. I will not withdraw, but I recognize the need to amplify my spiritual practices so as to be more available an empowered.

In my confusion I seek clarity, in my fear I seek courage, in my anger I seek calm, in my insecurity I seek strength. In all of these, I seek the realization of Spirit As Me in each unfolding moment. I seek to know the Oneness we share as I see others who are not being their best selves. Where I see injustice, I seek to bring a consciousness of justice, compassion, and equality.

I do these things though attention, intention, practice, forgiveness, and gratitude. For me this is taking more time, focus, and effort than usual. There is a wide spectrum of challenges, many of them with great depth, and I must attain and maintain a sense of equanimity so that I will come to know clearly what is mine to do (What Is #MineToDo – LINK).

As always, it begins within – how am I seeing myself, who am I being during all of this? And does that compare with who I would prefer to be? Spiritual practices are about our being nature – becoming the kind of person who naturally behaves as we would aspire to behave. BEING compassionate makes acting with compassion automatic. BEING forgiving makes forgiveness automatic. And so on.

There are no “Five Steps to a Perfect Society” available to us. We must each do our own inner work and then seek to contribute to the greater good, each in our own way as one among many. All the while, we need to avoid being drawn into the fear and negativity of those who are wounded, lost, and angry to the degree that they are incapable of being present. They may not be available to help right now and arguing with them does no one any good. I suggest taking another path. We need to be firm in our intentions and actions without losing an inner tenderness.

Affirmation: I stand strong in my deepening awareness and authenticity. I stand clear of those who are unable to contribute positively right now. I say YES to the unfolding realization of Spirit as me and I seek connection with others who share this pathway of awakening. I support justice, equality, fairness, and compassion. I bring these qualities with me wherever I am. I stand firm, but with an open heart.

Here’s a thought. Go to your bookshelves and pick up an inspirational book that you have not read in a few years. Read some of it. I think you will find that you have known what to do to BE your best self for some time. Today’s work is to realize this essential truth. These are times when it’s good to review the basics.

“The great need of our time is for people to be connected to spirit.”

~ Harold Stone

Finally, here is a list of positive ideas for the upcoming election and the ongoing “election season” to help us to stay clear, centered, and focused.

 As always, your comments are welcomed!

Copyright 2020 – Jim Lockard

 

ANNOUNCEMENT: CSLGeneva Global Connection Conference –

SAVE THE DATES!

JOSEPH CAMPBELL – THE HERO’S JOURNEY, PART 4 – THE RETURN

“The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience available or permitted to the members of society. The person then takes off on a series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or to discover some life-giving elixir. It’s usually a cycle, a coming and a returning.” 

~ Joseph Campbell 

 In Parts 1 (LINK), 2 (LINK) and 3 (LINK) of this series, we explored the first three major components of the Hero’s Journey – The Call, The Initiation, and The Abyss. In this final part, we explore The Return, where the hero returns to where she left and brings a new version of herself to her old community.

“The return is seeing the radiance everywhere. The main problem is changing the location of your mind. The town you come back to is the one you left, otherwise the journey is not complete. You give yourself to life, by leaving temporality behind. Desire for mortal gains and fear of loss hold you back from giving yourself to life.”

~ Joseph Campbell

The Return represents a most important aspect of the journey – coming home as a transformed being in some way. If the journey is coming out as gay, the return is telling family and friends who may not have known; if the journey is entering the military, it is coming home as a warrior; if the journey is entering university, it is returning with some very different ideas; if the journey is a spiritual awakening, it is returning to your community of origin as an awakened version of yourself.

‎”I asked myself, ‘What is the myth you are living?’ and found that I did not know. So… I took it upon myself to get to know ‘my’ myth and regarded this as the task of tasks…I simply had to know what unconscious or preconscious myth was forming me.”

~ C.G. Jung

One does not have to return to a specific location or situation, but there is a return – and upon returning, one is either accepted or rejected by those to whom one returns. The family may not accept a gay son or lesbian daughter; a spouse may not accept the soldier returning from combat; the university graduate may be seen as too alien for the friends and family of youth; the awakened person may not be accepted by the more conservative members of her community.

But – and this is critical – to the hero, it is not critical whether or not he or she is accepted. It is known that a greater self has emerged and that is sufficient. There is, of course, sorrow when family ties and friendships are strained or broken, but the value of the Jewel – the greater self is realized as worthwhile by the hero.

“Medieval heroes had to slay their dragons; modern heroes have to take their dragons back home to integrate into their own personality.”

~ Robert A. Johnson, Jungian analyst, Owning Your Own Shadow

So, the integration is within, and after that is accomplished, the integration leads to a new life, whether in the same place and with the same people or not. Often, The Return from a significant Hero’s Journey is the launching pad for a new form of life – vocation, relationships, the whole thing. Ideally, whether this is the case or not, friends and family will embrace the returning hero, being willing to set aside their preferences for a new reality – his or her new way of being. That would be ideal.

Please bring strange things.
Please come bringing new things.
Let very old things come into your hands.
Let what you do not know come into your eyes.
Let desert sand harden your feet.
Let the arch of your feet be the mountains.
Let the paths of your fingertips be your maps
and the ways you go be the lines on your palms.
Let there be deep snow in your inbreathing
and your outbreath be the shining of ice.
May your mouth contain the shapes of strange words.
May you smell food cooking you have not eaten.
May the spring of a foreign river be your navel.
May your soul be at home where there are no houses.
Walk carefully, well loved one,
Walk mindfully, well loved one,
Walk fearlessly, well loved one.
Return with us, return to us,
Be always coming home.

~ Ursula K. LeGuin

THE LESSONS OF THE HERO’S JOURNEY

The Hero’s Journey is such a prominent motif in mythology and story telling because it speaks to a universal theme of human development. Hero’s are known by their actions – but the true journey is within, to find that heretofore hidden aspect of a person which must be brought forth for her to express her True Self. Our lives are a constant stream of opportunities to grow, to realize something more about ourselves, to find out who we are and who we came to this lifetime to be.

When we heed The Call, survive The Initiation, enter and rise from The Abyss, and Return a transformed being, we serve ourselves and humanity in powerful ways. It is those who have failed along the hero’s path in some way who become destructive and wounded souls who often wreak havoc in society. Self-destructive and destructive of others, they carry their wounds and resist the rigors of the inner journey.

New Thought teachings equip us to undertake our Hero’s Journey again and again, deepening and growing each time, becoming our best selves, actualizing our potentials. We know the power of our mind and emotions, of intention and attention; we know that we must hospice what is ready to be released in our lives and midwife what is ready to be born. We know that courage is only possible where fear is present. We know that fear is merely the edge of our known reality. We are the heroes.

As always, your comments are welcomed. What are your Hero’s Journey experiences?

Copyright – Jim Lockard 2019

 

I am honored to be presenting at the ICSL Geneva Summer Retreat: EMBRACING CHANGE – A Pathway to Growth and Transformation in August. Won’t you join us at the beautiful Chateau de Bossey for a powerful weekend of personal growth and spiritual connection?

LIVING SYSTEMS SEEK WHOLENESS THROUGH HEALING

“Carl Jung said that if you find the psychic wound in an individual or a people, there you also find their path to consciousness. For it is in the healing of our psychic wounds that we come to know ourselves.”

~ Robert A. Johnson

“Carl Jung saw that the human psyche strives always toward wholeness, strives to become more conscious. The unconscious mind seeks to move its contents up to the level of consciousness, where they can be actualized and assimilated into more complete conscious personality.”

~ Robert A. Johnson

When we begin to see things as Living Systems, rather than as independent organisms or structures, our perception and understanding can expand to greater capacities. Living systems (LINK to Prior Post) can best be seen as integrated with their environment, as being massively complex, beyond what our human brains can fully grasp, and as being interdependent on other systems and bio-systems for mutual existence. The underlying intelligence of living systems seeks the fullest realization of wholeness – to express itself fully and in the healthiest way possible. There is a deep primal urge within all living systems to do just that – express fully.

“An inner wholeness presses its unfulfilled claims upon us.”

~ Emma Jung in “The Holy Grail”

You are a living system, as am I. Your family is a living system, as is your spiritual community, your workplace, your city, state, nation, and all of humanity. The earth is a living system. A benefit of seeing these things as living systems is the transformation of our perception and understanding from linear, separate sense of what we are to a systems understanding. For example, I cannot be fully understood without taking my family into account – and that can be done in innumerable ways, via genetics, culture, etc. We can never fully understand any living system but using the concept can help us guide these systems with greater wisdom.

Living systems have immune systems. You as an individual have a physical immune system and emotional and spiritual immune systems. These are elements of you which act to protect some aspect of you and keep you healthy. Groups have immune systems as well; some aspect of group immune systems are visible, most are not. It is important to come to see that at the deepest and most holistic levels, every living system wants to heal anything in the way of the fullest expression of that system.

“The manifestation of emotional and psychosomatic symptoms is the beginning of a healing process through which the organism is trying to free itself from traumatic imprints and simplify its functioning. . .. when properly understood and supported, this process can be conducive to healing, spiritual opening, personality transformation, and evolution of consciousness.”

~ Stanislav Grof, Shift Magazine, June-August 2004

Healing is something intrinsic within all living systems, from the smallest to the largest. And coming to see that the appearance of symptoms is a positive step in the healing process of a living system is revelatory. We can then shift our emotional and mental approaches to being helpful rather than harmful (such as seeing the symptom as something alien to be defeated). Our political systems are evidencing negative symptoms in more and more profound ways today – this means that larger human living systems are in the process of healing themselves for a move to a higher evolutionary level of existence. Can we become better at stewarding this process? Can we at least stop acting in ways which obstruct the natural ability of living systems to heal? Can we heal the parts of ourselves which, out of fear and ignorance, cause us to make the symptoms worse, threatening the whole system with collapse?

“The soft flakes of healing are falling all around you all the time, even on your shadow.”
~ Emma Curtis Hopkins

Whatever is being identified as “being wrong” in yourself, in your family, in your spiritual community, in your nation, must be viewed and treated as a healing in process. We must shift our attention and intention to greater truths than we have been conditioned to believe up until now. Wholeness seeks to express via the emergence of new, sometimes radically new, ways of being. Emergence and evolution are the vehicles which facilitate these onward expressions in every living system. We are either in or out of harmony with these processes.

A new kind of leadership is required for this transition. As Nora Bateson writes, “Whatever leadership used to be—it used to be. Now, it has to be something different. Now, we all have to be more than we were.” We simply cannot continue the path(s) we are on if we are to make the significant changes – what have been called whole system changes – which are required for the forward evolution of humanity. Leaders, including spiritual leaders, need to be prepared differently, selected differently, and need to operate differently in the near term of our emerging future. They must become versed in complexity, in systems thinking, in radical change processes, and in helping to shepherd others who are unprepared for the age we have entered – an age of unrelenting change affecting every living system.

Our spiritual practices can be about creating an inner willingness to trust the larger wisdom within ourselves an all of us. We must cultivate our inner wisdom to be harmonious with the truth that every living system seeks its highest form of expression. This is an elegant way to view ourselves and the world. Fortunately, it is also a realistic way to view the world.

“So perhaps change is less about fixing a broken world and more about uncovering hidden wholeness in all events, all organizations and all people and remembering our personal power to make a difference. This old story has greatly changed the way that I am a physician and also a teacher. It has given me new eyes. Everyone and everything has in it a seed of a greater wholeness, a dream of possibility. Perhaps what I once saw as ‘broken’ or ‘lacking’ might just as easily be seen as the growing edge of things … a place to be valued and nurtured in our patients, our students and in ourselves.”

~ Rachel Naomi Remen

As always, your comments are appreciated. Please share this post with others who may be interested. Thank you.

 

Copyright 2018 – Jim Lockard

 

More and more spiritual communities are using this book for spiritual leadership development. You can order bulk copies from Devorss.com. Or, just get one for yourself or to give as a gift at Amazon.com (.ca .eu)