The Chaos of Evil

One of the things that's happened to me over the 18 plus years I've been in Brazil working with the science of Analytical Trilogy elaborated by Brazilian psychoanalyst and social scientist, Norberto Keppe, has been a gradual opening of the door to my spirituality. I still consider myself pretty "feet on the floor", which I guess is a nice way of saying materialistic, but there is a flicker of the flame of spiritual awareness that I can feel at times.

And that crack in the opening door has allowed some light of theology to enter my reluctant head, to the point where I now consider the catastrophic disaster awaiting us if we don't make radical changes to be emblematic of a spiritual battle on the planet - not a political or economic or even religious one. We are, in my evolving view, engaged in a battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil, and as I understand it, this is taking place at our earthly level fueled by thoughts and orientations from a transcendental level.

I hope we can bring some clarity to that today.

The Chaos of Evil, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Certainty of the Divine

A belief in immaculate conception, overcoming death with resurrection, divine miracles of creation … modern thinkers complain these tenets suffer from a lack of evidence. “Faith is a great evil,” they say, “That leads gullible human beings to open their minds so much their brains fall out.”

I respectfully disagree. Faith has been shown in studies to mitigate symptoms of depression, spiritual beliefs can help us deal with loss, disease and death, and even aid recovery. We also know that it helps deal with addictions. Great things have been accomplished with perseverance in the face of impossible odds, even at the risk of loss of life, and what is that if not an act of faith?

So just dismissing conviction in something divine simply because there’s not scientific proof seems unintelligent to me. And anyway, if we just look around us at the intricate design of nature, the complex way natural processes mesh together perfectly, we really have to be slightly moronic to rule out divinity.

The Certainty of the Divine, today on Thinking with Somebody Else’s Head.

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Our Entangled Spiritual Reality

We are assailed in our modern world with all sorts of problems. There are money worries, health of ageing parents, stress and depression, crime and taxes. Coping with all of that can make us forget the beautiful things around us every day.

But there’s another influence no one talks about in our modern, number-crunching world, and that’s the very real influence from the spiritual world. That’s not the topic of dinner conversations these days. Well, actually, we don’t even have conversations anymore, do we? … everything being pushed into the digital world of email, chat and Instagram. Which emphasises the point – the deeper levels of the human experience are not being plumbed anymore – and to our great detriment. It’s like spirituality is something we feel at times, something we sense is important, but something we keep at arm’s length for fear of being branded weird or fanatic.

But spirits were not dismissed in the past. Shakespeare exploited the knowledge of them for great art. Let’s explore spiritual relevance more on our program.

Our Entangled Spiritual Reality, today on Thinking with Somebody Else’s Head.

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Energy of Virtue

Welcome to Thinking with Somebody Else's Head, I'm Richard Lloyd Jones. A couple of thousand years ago, a consideration of virtue was part of everyday, common discourse. The Greeks gave considerable attention to virtue, culminating in Aristotle's influential writings on moral and intellectual virtues. Before him, Confucius proposed personal virtue as the way to a good life. The Bible has hundreds of passages about the importance of virtue.

Today, public discourse is muted, and people lament the loss of the byproducts of virtue, like falling self-discipline and rising selfishness.

Not to mention the rampant corruption at all levels of modern society that makes us fear that virtue is, in fact, long gone. As a small indicator of this, a graph of the frequency of words occurring in books over time shows a rapid rise of the word "technology" in the past 40 years against a two-century slide in virtue.

In Norberto Keppe's Integral Psychoanalysis, though, virtue is essential for a healthy human being and society. So we'd like to go against the grain!

The Energy of Virtue, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Honouring the Christmas Spirit

I published this wonderful radio program last December, but felt it deserved another airing. Hope you enjoy another reminder of the need to honour the Christmas spirit.

Another Christmas period, and all that that brings. The packed parking lots, the festive yuletide happy hours, cooking – and eating – the fatted calf.

And maybe, in a quiet, reflective moment, a spark of Christmas spirit will catch flame inside you and for a few seconds or moments or, if you’re lucky, hours, you’ll feel a deep sense of piece and connection with your fellow man and the universe that you recognize as the Christmas spirit.

Those tantalizing moments are tragically short-lived. Some complain that they don’t like this time of year because we should have this spirit all round. “It’s fake and phony,” they say. But it doesn’t feel that way to any who are still enough to allow themselves to receive the grace and depth of that spirit. The Holy Spirit we can call it, and we should take time to remember that this time of year is for honouring that divine presence. Yes, Christmas, of all times, is time to remember that.

Honouring the Christmas Spirit, today on Thinking with Somebody Else’s Head.

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Spirituality and Leadership

The murky world of shadows that constitutes modern leadership is not a new thing, of course. The TV mini-series "The Tudors" lays out in all its deceit and subterfuge the nest of vipers that was the British Royal Court of the 15th and 16th centuries. Ancient Rome was no picnic either from all accounts. And Chinese warlords scheming to be Taipan operated within complex webs of treachery.

Not much has changed. We're inverted, so we still practice to deceive and think, in our boundless delusion, that it will all come out ok in the end.

It's been that way for centuries. So prevalent is it that we could be excused for thinking that political gamesmanship is just human nature - whether it's office competitors vying for the bosses favor, or contestants on a reality TV show pacting to get another sent home, or unelected bank leaders meeting in secret to decide world monetary policy.

Treachery and cunning, though, in all their proliferation, are far from what it means to be truly human, and this disinverted view deserves more headlines than it's gotten. Allow us to do that a little today.

Leadership and Spirituality, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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Inversion - The Missing Link in Human Consciousness

We are indeed living in potentially transformative times. And I only say "potentially" because it remains to be seen if humankind will do what it takes to reverse the downward cycle we have been in for millennia.

I know this sounds like heresy to those conditioned to hearing about the progress of modern society, but I am, of course, talking about a decay at a level much more profound than technological. Because, really, what benefit is it to us to be able to Twitter what we had for breakfast if the air is poisonous and the social injustice continues unabated?

All our vaunted progress is moving us further and further away from a better society, not closer, and this is happening because of an inverted worldview inside the mass of humanity. This Inversion is, of course, not perceived by us. And educating human beings of this provides the reason for our show, and underscores the importance of Norberto Keppe's science of Analytical Trilogy, which provides the base for what we do on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

Inversion - The Missing Link in Human Consciousness, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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A Study of the Divine - Highlight Version

Welcome to our highlights version of the latest Thinking with Somebody Else's Head program, A Study of the Divine. A perfect answer to the annual debate about how we can be true to the spirit of Christmas. Here, in the midst of the running about, a reminder of that true spirit.

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And a reminder, the full program is available through iTunes or on our site.

A Study of the Divine

Another Christmas season is upon us, and with it the annual debate in the hearts of the pensive: how to tap in to the true spirit of the time and not just get caught up in the shopping and seasonal festivities? This latter position firmly in the lead judging by the mad scramble for mall parking and the expanded line-ups at liquor store checkouts.

And since there is so much attention given in all the normal channels to this economic and convivial perspective, let me fill a gap by taking a stand for the true spirit of Christmas.

For the story, rich in lore and wonder and marvellous mystery, is a beautiful one that, even though largely ignored 11 1/2 months of the year, finally and necessarily demands to be heard and reflected upon. It is a time when we who feel this can venture forth our thoughts and feelings about this most sacred of times, and contemplate the mystical story that lies at the base of our December celebrations.

A Study of the Divine, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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The Wisdom Inside Us

One of the things that gives me solace when looking at all the really horrible manipulation and cruelty of our modern day society is that the perpetrators of these evil deeds will have their comeuppance.

How all that works is the subject of our show today. Through near death experiences, everyday guilt feelings and spiritual teachings, we can see that our lives have a purpose, and that purpose cannot be fulfilled unless we're prepared to live from a commitment to goodness, truth and beauty. And in our inverted world of flexible morals where good is relative and evil depends on the circumstances that's a challenge.

But evil is still evil and good is still good, and it all plays out inside us every time we do something. For that matter, there is much inside us that we don't have contact with as much as we should, and I hope our program today will fix that a little.

The Wisdom Inside Us, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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A Call to a Life of Goodness, Truth and Beauty

On our program originating from the International Society of Analytical Trilogy in São Paulo, Brazil, we dig in every week to offer you our analysis of the world we live in. And especially we look at how we've gotten so off track - particularly over the past century.

This is not always comfortable consciousness we bring. It's a little harrowing to hear about the pit we've dug ourselves into. But we are hardly the first to shine the light on the decadence all around us. In 1917, three young Portuguese shepherds were visited over the course of 6 months by an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She, also, did not bring comforting news. What she did bring was a clear vision of what was going on in the world and what was required of us if we wanted to survive it.

And I think we would do well to heed her advice to humble ourselves and change our ways. And trust that goodness will triumph. We'll explore all of this today on our program. A Call to a Life of Goodness, Truth and Beauty, today on Thinking with Somebody Else's Head.

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The Science of Transcendence

What is the true nature of man? Is it good, beautiful and true? Or a mix of those elements with corruption and evil?

That question strikes deep to the issue philosophers have struggled to answer for centuries. Today, we are very fortunate to have some conclusions on the subject, originating from Norberto Keppe's school of Analytical Trilogy.

And the conclusions reached at Keppe's scientific society allow us to look with new eyes on transcendence, psychic phenomena, death and human meaning. All of which we'll do on our program today.

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