Certainty of God - Ep 5 - Therapeutic Theology Series

There's a lot of certainty in scientific circles about how science and religion can't go together. In fact, consensus that empirical science has made God unnecessary, and that religion, with its strange elements of faith and ritual, is irrational and harmful.

If you've been listening to our series, you'll realize we don't walk down that road. While we certainly agree that superstition and fanaticism have reared their heads in religious life, we could just as easily also ascribe those unhealthy aspects to many human institutions and schools of thought.

Many of the pioneers of scientific investigation, like Galileo and Kepler and Newton, were deeply religious men after all, who embarked on a study of the natural laws under the conviction it would lead to evidence of a Divine Creator of all the phenomena in nature and the universe.

Faith, for them, then, was not blind, but reasoned analysis looking to understand God's Creation rather than challenge theological understanding.

On faith and the Certainty of God, in our episode today.

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Under the Influence of Evil - Ep 4 - Therapeutic Theology Series

We've been looking at the deep spiritual questions that rise in the human breast in our series. And we've been doing that through the lens of theology, which has been so dismissed, even despised, in our modern science.

To our great detriment.

As we'll hear in this episode, Dr. Keppe accepted his clients' questions and admissions in his practice right from the beginning, thus liberating them to talk -- and be heard. We're talking experiences with angels and demons, brushes with good and evil illustrating real influences in human lives. This openness contributed formidably to Keppe's expansive psychoanalytical vision, producing practical tools for dealing with those existential questions that come to all of us at varying moments in our lives.

With Keppe's science, we manage to understand ourselves and the world we live in, which has become problematic precisely because we have not re-integrated the theological reality into our science, which is subsequently operating from a reduced, materialistic perspective because of this.

This can all be liberating for all of use, then, as it was and still is for formal clients in Keppean analysis.

Under the Influence of Evil, our episode this time on our Therapeutic Theology Series on the STOP Radio Network.

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Spiritual Denial - Ep 3 - Therapeutic Theology Series

Our intention in this podcast series is to bring some consciousness about something that only a few desire knowing about: there are evil spirits organizing and guiding our lives.

Already I can hear the howls of protest. I have a young teenage student from Europe who gets very agitated if anything metaphysical gets put forward as the cause of anything. Only the scientific explanations work for him, and by scientific, he of course means what he can validate through the 5 senses.

 

However, anyone who works deeply with human beings will know that there are deeper currents running in the inner life that go beyond what we can see or touch or measure. Human beings long for a more complete explanation of man’s behavior than just genetics or upbringing. In fact, the continued presence of war and persecution and cruelty demands a more complete investigation.

 

We had a movement in a different direction at the end of the nineteenth century with the work of Sigmund Freud, who demonstrated that most of what we are lies outside our awareness and that we needed a special process to reach that part. He called this process psychoanalysis.

 

Norberto Keppe follows in those footsteps. But he goes much further. He embraces the metaphysical in his work, thus reintroducing philosophy and spirituality back into science. A more complete science, then. One that goes beyond the merely physical to consider the deepest questions resonating in the human soul: who are we, where do we come from, and where are we going? If we exclude the spiritual influence in human society from our quest, we become puppets of a malignant spiritual world we refuse to see. It is extremely important to perceive the level of direct influence that the human being receives in his mind from the spiritual world. This can lead him to goodness or evil; which path he takes depends on his choice. 

 

And after all, is either God and His angels who act in the human mind, or the evil spirits who do. This series is an attempt to approach these subjects.

 

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True Freedom - Ep 2 - Therapeutic Theology Series

The idea of Creation. The new atheists rail against that. "It's not rational," they insist. The product of a weak mind.

Yes, I've heard all that before. In fact, I'm quick to admit that may have been my mind some years ago. 

I say "may" because I'm not sure what I thought about the origins of all this we see around us in the natural world. I think I didn't give it so much thought actually. I remember looking on theological discourse as something out of date somehow. Like hardly pertinent in a modern world with more sophisticated concerns.

And now I can sheepishly acknowledge that I knew nothing about something I thought I knew everything about.

Well, a little humility goes a long way after all. And in Episode 2 of our Therapeutic Theology series, we delve into the nature of a Creation that comes and is sustained by an Intelligence. By a Being actually, Who has created us in His image.

Perfect knowledge for those who have the courage to admit they don't know it all yet.

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Theology and Science - Ep 1 - Therapeutic Theology Series

 What we're trying to do in our new series here is offer a scientific analysis of spiritual phenomena, especially looking at mental illness and demonic possession. But not the demonic possession we see in the movies. Rather, we delve into the negative diabolical influence that’s a factor for all of us everywhere in our modern society. And this is totally a new approach, because the official exorcists and exorcism protocols have not included this transdisciplinary science that Dr. Keppe has developed. Which means that we are not treating this issue in our modern world. In fact, religions all over the world are not even speaking about the devil anymore. 

 

Keppe entered into the area of psychotherapy to try to treat clients individually and in group sessions in scientific ways. And this meant dealing not only with their economic, health, work and relationship problems, but with their existential or spiritual problems as well. 

 

And to do that, Keppe found materialistic psychoanalytical theories incomplete, and so he created his own interdisciplinary science. He called Analytical Trilogy, which he named for the union of science with philosophy and theology. So this is now not something that's only theological, only philosophical, only scientific, but all three of those aspects together, which gives it a lot of capacity to understand human problems and bring solutions.

 

Join us on what will be a fascinating journey into the human experience.

 

Click here to listen to our first episode.

Self-Improvement Requires Sacrifice

Anyone who's been even peripherally involved in the self-help movement will be familiar with the literature promising solutions. The three steps to this, the pathways to that, the enumerated habits that lead to accomplishment or resolution or bliss. 

Finally

The great Brazilian psychoanalyst and social scientist, Dr. Norberto Keppe, is not of that persuasion. His work is deeply psychological and spiritual and works with each individual, treating specifically the problems of each one. Because while there are general psychopathologies we all exhibit -- like envy, pride, and megalomania -- how those manifest during the individual incidents in our lives is particular. 

So no formulas for Keppe. That being said, there are universal principles of a healthy and productive life that Keppe counsels. And habits based on those principles can truly bring fulfillment. We'll touch on one aspect of this in this episode. 

Self-development Requires Sacrifice, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Performance and the Free Will

I'm Richard Lloyd Jones, and this is Thinking with Somebody Else's Head. The debate between talent and hard work is a dynamic one. Is it raw talent that carries the day or practice and dedication that reigns? I remember deciding when I was 11 or so, on hearing my recorded singing voice played back on my cousin's new cassette recorder, that I couldn't sing.

How that marked my life, because I thought, wrongly, that you were born with singing talent or not.

Wish I could redo that decision.

Later in life, I heard about Vladimir Horovitz’s statement late in his life that if he hadn't practiced for one day, he would hear the difference. For two days, his wife would hear the difference. Three days with no practice, and the audience would notice.

A poster child for hard work.

Because becoming good at anything requires both talent and dedication, right? And probably not in equal measure. After all, we get in the way of our own success a lot, don't we?

Performance and Free Will, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Paradise as Reality, Not Imagination

Memories of paradise. That's not just a great dream sequence or catchy movie title. That's something that resonates through almost every culture on Earth. 

The Roman poet, Tacitus, wrote in the first century A.D. about how humans lived following the prompting of their own nature, which led to righteous actions.

In India, the story has been passed on of how all humans were saintly.

The Chinese sage, Chuang Tzu, wrote about an age of perfect virtue.

And of course, the Biblical story speaks about Eden, a Garden of harmony and peace and oneness with God.

In Portugal, there is a beautiful word that doesn't really have a translation into English: saudades. It means a state of deep yearning for someone or something that's absent, and "indolent dreaming wistfulness." 

This is what we feel in relation to Paradise. That memory resonates in our hearts and somehow is behind our drives to accomplish and improve.

Paradise as Reality, not Imagination, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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The Perils of Living Unconsciously

Freud believed we were often influenced by memories, traumas and instincts we had repressed, but they influenced our behaviors anyway. He got there by studying hypnosis, analyzing dreams and paying attention to those slips of the tongue that reveal what we try to keep hidden. 

"No mortal can keep a secret," Freud maintained. "If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips. Betrayal oozes out of him at every pore." 

Poetic language that. And the idea has weaved its way into our modern psyche. All of us have used that excuse along the way. "Man, I was completely unconscious. What was I thinking?!"

The great Brazilian psychoanalyst, Norberto Keppe, has advanced Freud significantly with his concept of inconscientization. It's not that we're naturally full of hidden indecent desires and animal instincts. For Keppe, we banish from our consciousness what we don't want to admit. That means, we know what's going on, but we deny what we know. 

And that has serious consequences.

The Perils of Living Unconsciously, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Love, Consciousness and the Troubled World

There's an old Chinese phrase that goes, "It's better to be a dog in peaceful times than a man in a time of chaos." 

Wishful thinking, some may call that, for it's difficult to see peaceful times at any moment in human history. Most of us with a bit of life experience hearken back to when times were easier, and end up moralizing to any who will listen that our times back then were superior. And while that may be superficially true, it's not all that helpful. And complaining doesn't make the young fold feel any better.

In fact, your and old may just end up pointing fingers at each other as to who's to blame for the world as it is.

We'd like to dip our feet into those tumultuous waters in this podcast to suggest that all those lamentations and blame apportioning miss the fundamental point: we've been on an inverted path for millennia. We've reached the end of the road in a literal sense.

Can any sense be made of the correct way to go now?

Love, Consciousness and the Troubled World, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Inversion in Everyday Life

I've been in Brazil going on 24 years, using Norberto Keppe's psychotherapeutic methodology in education and communications, and also as a psychoanalyst at Keppe's school. The positive results available to anyone who studies with us and accepts the consciousness that comes through our classes and therapy sessions are noteworthy. From overcoming learning blocks to resolving long-standing or acute personal or professional conflicts to curing from medical conditions, Keppe's on to something.

Where Freud initiated psychoanalysis with the idea that neurosis was caused by cultural and moral values, and Jung wanted to integrate our shadow side into our personality, and Alfred Adler helped clients with their feelings of inferiority, Keppe has reached conclusions about the human problematic with his great discovery of inversion.

The Final Frontier of the human psyche, and the way to finally understanding ourselves and resolving our greatest problems. 

Inversion in Everyday Life, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Why Do I Do the Things I Don't Want?

Sometimes, when I have something important to do, I must confess I feel a little resistance. It's an interesting phenomenon because it's like a general lethargy. Like the energy has drained away and there's nothing left for the job at hand. In those moments, all sorts of other activities suddenly appear infinitely more appealing. 

YouTube's a quick click away, and the algorithms have numerous suggestions that seem interesting and even, if I'm honest, urgent.

And there's research to be done, too. New equipment for the studio or books on Amazon.

And hey, I haven't played my guitar in a while!

Not that any of these things are wrong, of course. It's just that they are far from more important than the project I need to work on.

Procrastination. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only guy plagued with that.

In fact, it's historical. Even St. Paul, prodigious achiever that he was notwithstanding, lamented about that. Let's see if we can get somewhere in looking at this.

Why Do I Do the Things I Don't Want, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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The Science of Inversion

Being upside down. Every kid loves that. Being hoisted up by the ankles and hanging there in your father's sure hands with your head where your feet should be.

It's great as a game, but none of us could imagine going through life that way.

But Norberto Keppe's discovery that humankind is inverted shows us how we are actually living life upside down. Not physically, but philosophically, emotionally and even spiritually.

We wage wars to find peace. Science considers apes to be our relatives. We consume billions in pharmaceuticals thinking that'll make us healthy.

And what's more, we accept these inversions as if they're workable approaches to living functioning lives. 

It's not an overstatement, then, to say that the discovery of Inversion is the most important scientific finding of the 20th century. Why it's not more widely known is a phenomenon we're trying to address on our STOP Radio Network with our slogan, "Disinverting the human being and society."

So, let's go at it again. The Science of Inversion, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Metaphysics and the Empty Promise of AI

Maybe, like me when I first moved to Brazil, you have the idea that metaphysics is a kind of woo-woo field of study. That part of the bookstore with titles like Find Your Soulmate through Channelling, or Unlocking Your Invisible Power.

True metaphysics, though, is a branch of philosophy that deals with what's beyond the physical. Those elusive subjects like being and knowing, action and potential. The Greeks knew a thing or two about that, but somewhere along the way, the science of things that transcended the physical got reduced to just the things.

Norberto Keppe, the Brazilian psychoanalyst and independent physics researcher, has worked tirelessly to restore a true study of metaphysics - those universals we got from a Creator. Returning us to a transcendental vision of humanity and putting us in touch with God and Creation.

We'll look at that today. Metaphysics and the Empty Promise of AI, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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