Dr. Richard Schulze (herbalist supreme)
TODAY'S QUOTE!
"Most people would rather take more and more chemical drugs, have more surgeries, get dialysis, wear diapers and buy an electric scooter to ride in than to do a 5-Day kidney detox and get healthy."
Dr. Richard Schulze (herbalist supreme)
Dr. Richard Schulze (herbalist supreme)
"B" RESPONDS TO PL'S: "WHO'S BIPOLAR? PARENTS, DOCTORS AND TEACHERS RUINING CHILDREN'S LIVES!"/PL RESPONDS!
Here's B:
Wow...Been reading your blog...and WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN PETER???.... I cant believe that there are actually people out there (especially in the so called psychotherapy community) who realize what a scam this whole "psychopharmacology" industry really is..not to mention this whole compulsion to protect our parenting/education methodologies from scrutiny by attributing aberrant behavior to genetics or random forces...
I'm a stand up comic/enlightenment seeker (which aint easy...Bill Hicks being the only one who seemed to bridge those two worlds) in NYC looking to find some sparks of truth in this unconscious society...Just wanted to thank you for your insights...& wisdom...I lost a brother to this whole "Bi-polar" scam...Your blog is inspiring...Where are all the wise souls? Even the ones who appear to have a lot on the ball (like lets say Wayne Dyer just for a random example) sometimes seem to be coming from very ego driven places...or that could be just my projection of course...
B
Here's PL:
Clearly, you are an "enlightenment seeker," B, and perhaps an older soul in a young/maturing soul world. And yes, even many teachers with good things to say have egos.
Thanks so much for writing, B
Wow...Been reading your blog...and WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN PETER???.... I cant believe that there are actually people out there (especially in the so called psychotherapy community) who realize what a scam this whole "psychopharmacology" industry really is..not to mention this whole compulsion to protect our parenting/education methodologies from scrutiny by attributing aberrant behavior to genetics or random forces...
I'm a stand up comic/enlightenment seeker (which aint easy...Bill Hicks being the only one who seemed to bridge those two worlds) in NYC looking to find some sparks of truth in this unconscious society...Just wanted to thank you for your insights...& wisdom...I lost a brother to this whole "Bi-polar" scam...Your blog is inspiring...Where are all the wise souls? Even the ones who appear to have a lot on the ball (like lets say Wayne Dyer just for a random example) sometimes seem to be coming from very ego driven places...or that could be just my projection of course...
B
Here's PL:
Clearly, you are an "enlightenment seeker," B, and perhaps an older soul in a young/maturing soul world. And yes, even many teachers with good things to say have egos.
Thanks so much for writing, B
CUP 'O JOE KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY!
If it feels good, it is good.
That's how I translate the "Pleasure Principle," a concept described by both Sigmund Freud and by those who speak through spiritual channels, as an understanding about how we are made as human beings.
Thus, according to a major study out of the Harvard School of Public Health recently is the news that a good dose of coffee a day keeps prostate cancer away.
Yep. It's that time!
That's how I translate the "Pleasure Principle," a concept described by both Sigmund Freud and by those who speak through spiritual channels, as an understanding about how we are made as human beings.
Thus, according to a major study out of the Harvard School of Public Health recently is the news that a good dose of coffee a day keeps prostate cancer away.
Yep. It's that time!
"PEOPLE WILL MOST DEFINITELY COME!"
This scene, this passage from "Field of Dreams," sent to me this morning by the director of today's upcoming City Rock commercial shoot, is either what is wrong with me... or very right. I have always believed in and lived by the message of this movie, even in the face, at times, of apparently so little evidence: "Build it... and they will come."
REPOST: THE JOY OF QUITTING!
From time to time, I have referenced this 10+ year old article from the NY Times, called THE JOY OF QUITTING, written by Michael Lewis.
It is an important reminder that sometimes staying in a situation that has become stagnant or run out of energy is not the healthy thing to do.
Now, my love for this article, even over a decade later, might seem odd to most people who know me and have heard me say quite often that to bring what you desire in life to yourself, you have to persevere and do whatever it takes, twenty-four seven, until you're on top of the mountain and in your "Zone of Genius," as Gay Hendricks puts it in his book, THE BIG LEAP. But Michael Lewis makes the counterpoint that "finishing what you started is a useful course of action only if what you started is worth finishing."
Some things run their course - a job, a relationship, an artistic endeavor - and other things can be outgrown - a home or geographic location, a habit or hobby, etc. And sometimes, you can do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, only to discover that the process itself turns out to be the end in itself and the outcome once pursued is no longer desired after all, or possible.
Finally, there is the value of "good endings." Most people wait so long and don't leave ungratifying situations until their level of anger and frustration are so high and their level of performance so low that after all that time and effort, the ending turns out to be a debacle instead of a moment of final integration and appreciation. Indeed, leaving a situation in good standing, at the right time can be like graduating, instead of like failing.
When we stay too long, we run the risk of encountering our own "PETER PRINCIPLE," formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter, in his book by the same name. The Peter Principle states that: "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." What he was referring to was the reality that in bureaucracies, people continue to receive promotions for being competent at their job until they reach a level where they are no longer competent, and so are no longer promoted. Ouch! That explains a lot, doesn't it?!
It takes self-knowledge and self-honesty to know when it's time to move on. And courage. And love. As I wrote once in a post about the Beatles, appropriately called "LET IT BE,"and how I came to understand their need to break up as a band in order to grow and take "the love they made" with them, sometimes it paradoxically takes an ending to discover the love inside of you that you have for something or someone.
It is an important reminder that sometimes staying in a situation that has become stagnant or run out of energy is not the healthy thing to do.
Now, my love for this article, even over a decade later, might seem odd to most people who know me and have heard me say quite often that to bring what you desire in life to yourself, you have to persevere and do whatever it takes, twenty-four seven, until you're on top of the mountain and in your "Zone of Genius," as Gay Hendricks puts it in his book, THE BIG LEAP. But Michael Lewis makes the counterpoint that "finishing what you started is a useful course of action only if what you started is worth finishing."
Some things run their course - a job, a relationship, an artistic endeavor - and other things can be outgrown - a home or geographic location, a habit or hobby, etc. And sometimes, you can do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, only to discover that the process itself turns out to be the end in itself and the outcome once pursued is no longer desired after all, or possible.
Finally, there is the value of "good endings." Most people wait so long and don't leave ungratifying situations until their level of anger and frustration are so high and their level of performance so low that after all that time and effort, the ending turns out to be a debacle instead of a moment of final integration and appreciation. Indeed, leaving a situation in good standing, at the right time can be like graduating, instead of like failing.
When we stay too long, we run the risk of encountering our own "PETER PRINCIPLE," formulated by Dr. Laurence J. Peter, in his book by the same name. The Peter Principle states that: "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His Level of Incompetence." What he was referring to was the reality that in bureaucracies, people continue to receive promotions for being competent at their job until they reach a level where they are no longer competent, and so are no longer promoted. Ouch! That explains a lot, doesn't it?!
It takes self-knowledge and self-honesty to know when it's time to move on. And courage. And love. As I wrote once in a post about the Beatles, appropriately called "LET IT BE,"and how I came to understand their need to break up as a band in order to grow and take "the love they made" with them, sometimes it paradoxically takes an ending to discover the love inside of you that you have for something or someone.
REPOST: SO GREAT A NEED TO BE GREAT, I WON'T DO ANYTHING!/PL RESPONDS!
A reader, "D," sent me this request:
Hey Peter,
I have a request. Can you write about the need to be the best, the need to be better than, the "if I'm not great then I won't do it" shit, and how to break this aspect of the ego in your blog. This is a biggy.
D
Here's PL:
Okay, D - Here's my response:
First of all, this isn't really a "biggy," but rather, just yet another common maneuver by the ego of the little "child self" clanging around the subconscious. It is a little tricky, though, because the belief is set up in reverse, so the person holding the belief won't realize what they're doing. In other words, "needing to be the best, better or great" as a prerequisite to doing something sounds on the surface like the person in question has high standards for whatever they are creating. Maybe said person even thinks they are a perfectionist. It sounds admirable, right?
Wrong!
Here's what's actually happening and how the belief should be written: "I don't want to do anything (give of myself to the world), but I'm going to cover up that negative intention with a perfectionistic mask, so my selfishness will appear to be something elevated."
Such a person is living through a mask that's directed toward trying to fill their psychological tank by "getting," when in fact, structurally, the way adults are naturally made to operate optimally is by "giving." Giving not meaning doing good deeds, of course, but creating, expressing oneself joyfully, living in pursuit of one's highest excitement and loving fully, including first and foremost, loving oneself.
Get it?
Thanks for the request, D!
Hey Peter,
I have a request. Can you write about the need to be the best, the need to be better than, the "if I'm not great then I won't do it" shit, and how to break this aspect of the ego in your blog. This is a biggy.
D
Here's PL:
Okay, D - Here's my response:
First of all, this isn't really a "biggy," but rather, just yet another common maneuver by the ego of the little "child self" clanging around the subconscious. It is a little tricky, though, because the belief is set up in reverse, so the person holding the belief won't realize what they're doing. In other words, "needing to be the best, better or great" as a prerequisite to doing something sounds on the surface like the person in question has high standards for whatever they are creating. Maybe said person even thinks they are a perfectionist. It sounds admirable, right?
Wrong!
Here's what's actually happening and how the belief should be written: "I don't want to do anything (give of myself to the world), but I'm going to cover up that negative intention with a perfectionistic mask, so my selfishness will appear to be something elevated."
Such a person is living through a mask that's directed toward trying to fill their psychological tank by "getting," when in fact, structurally, the way adults are naturally made to operate optimally is by "giving." Giving not meaning doing good deeds, of course, but creating, expressing oneself joyfully, living in pursuit of one's highest excitement and loving fully, including first and foremost, loving oneself.
Get it?
Thanks for the request, D!
TODAY'S QUOTE!
"Our Higher Self arranges time in such a way that we do not get what we want when we initially want it, only because it wants us to first accumulate certain experiences, certain skills, certain appreciations, connections with other people, certain awarenesses, so that when we do get to experience this thing we want, we will then be appreciating it and enjoying it on a much deeper and more profound level."
Darryl Anka (channeling "Bashar")
Darryl Anka (channeling "Bashar")
WHY IS THE CRIME RATE GOING DOWN? EXPERTS CONFUSED!
Of course, the most confused group of individuals in the world are always the experts.
Why?
Well, mainly because what experts think makes them experts is their reliance on dogma derived from formulas, such as "during times of economic recession, crime rates go up." Or "when more people are incarcerated in prison, crime rates go down."
Turns out both of those assumptions by "the experts" are wrong.
According to the FBI, crime in the United States dropped dramatically in 2009, the third straight year of decline, and last year's drops were even steeper than those of 2007 and 2008, despite the recession and despite the dramatic decline in the prison population.
There were words of caution from the experts, though: "It's fabulous news, but I would draw an analogy to global warming: Even if you believe the long-term trend is increasing temperatures, it doesn't mean you can't have a cold year," said Jonathan P. Caulkins, a professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College.
What?!
Oh, right, another hallmark of an expert is that he or she cannot simply say: "Hmm... maybe I was wr-wro---wrong!"
By the way, here's another stat you might enjoy: in many major U.S. cities, the crime rate went down after there was a decrease in the size of the police force. After!
Well, not to sound like an expert here, folks, but maybe (experts never say "maybe") patterns like criminal behavior follow consciousness and the self-hypnotic messages we give ourselves. More people in prison, more cops lurking about sends out a message not just to criminals, but to all citizens: "Human beings can't be trusted." (Full permission living? Ha!) Likewise, who says shifting economic times means more people are desperately going to turn to thievery and thuggery? Well, if we do, it will be so.
So, maybe the downturns in crime rates is a reflection of an upturn in our consciousness. Maybe we are coming to believe in our own inherent goodness and worthiness, instead of "original sin." And maybe we are actually relieved that the economic paradigm of the last few centuries is coming to an end. (See my post "The End of the Job" spun off from a 1994 article of the same name in FORTUNE Magazine)
Things are changing that's for sure.
In spite of all the rabid, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, proudly ignorant right wing blather, Barack Obama was elected by a large margin in 2008, and will almost certainly be re-elected by an even larger margin next year. (Another uplifting statistic: in a new report by Arbitron, Rush Limbaugh's ratings were down 33 percent since October and Sean Hannity's were down 28 percent.)
Finally, while a few loudly clamoring, religiously zealous baby souls are convinced that the Wave upon us actually is a portent of doom (The Rapture was supposed to have been last Saturday, in case you missed it.), maybe it's just the end of the world as we knew it.
And I feel fine.
Why?
Well, mainly because what experts think makes them experts is their reliance on dogma derived from formulas, such as "during times of economic recession, crime rates go up." Or "when more people are incarcerated in prison, crime rates go down."
Turns out both of those assumptions by "the experts" are wrong.
According to the FBI, crime in the United States dropped dramatically in 2009, the third straight year of decline, and last year's drops were even steeper than those of 2007 and 2008, despite the recession and despite the dramatic decline in the prison population.
There were words of caution from the experts, though: "It's fabulous news, but I would draw an analogy to global warming: Even if you believe the long-term trend is increasing temperatures, it doesn't mean you can't have a cold year," said Jonathan P. Caulkins, a professor of public policy at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College.
What?!
Oh, right, another hallmark of an expert is that he or she cannot simply say: "Hmm... maybe I was wr-wro---wrong!"
By the way, here's another stat you might enjoy: in many major U.S. cities, the crime rate went down after there was a decrease in the size of the police force. After!
Well, not to sound like an expert here, folks, but maybe (experts never say "maybe") patterns like criminal behavior follow consciousness and the self-hypnotic messages we give ourselves. More people in prison, more cops lurking about sends out a message not just to criminals, but to all citizens: "Human beings can't be trusted." (Full permission living? Ha!) Likewise, who says shifting economic times means more people are desperately going to turn to thievery and thuggery? Well, if we do, it will be so.
So, maybe the downturns in crime rates is a reflection of an upturn in our consciousness. Maybe we are coming to believe in our own inherent goodness and worthiness, instead of "original sin." And maybe we are actually relieved that the economic paradigm of the last few centuries is coming to an end. (See my post "The End of the Job" spun off from a 1994 article of the same name in FORTUNE Magazine)
Things are changing that's for sure.
In spite of all the rabid, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, proudly ignorant right wing blather, Barack Obama was elected by a large margin in 2008, and will almost certainly be re-elected by an even larger margin next year. (Another uplifting statistic: in a new report by Arbitron, Rush Limbaugh's ratings were down 33 percent since October and Sean Hannity's were down 28 percent.)
Finally, while a few loudly clamoring, religiously zealous baby souls are convinced that the Wave upon us actually is a portent of doom (The Rapture was supposed to have been last Saturday, in case you missed it.), maybe it's just the end of the world as we knew it.
And I feel fine.
TODAY'S QUOTE!
Here's our girl, Sarah "Wilma Flintstone" Palin, while visiting Boston and the Freedom Trail the other day:
"Paul Revere who warned, uh, the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed."
You betcha!
"Paul Revere who warned, uh, the British that they weren't going to be taking away our arms uh by ringing those bells and making sure as he's riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free and we were going to be armed."
You betcha!
JACK "DR. DEATH" KEVORKIAN IS DEAD!
A year or so ago, I wrote the post below after watching the docudrama starring Al Pacino on the most famous of "assisted suicide" advocates and practitioners.
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK (ABOUT PAIN AND SUFFERING)
Did anybody watch the excellently done HBO movie last Saturday, starring Al Pacino, about Jack Kevorkian, the doctor who risked his life and career and went to jail for 8+ years because of his stand on the right to die and his practice of doctor-assisted suicide?
It reminded me of that period in the early Nineties, when the New Age movement was already in full swing, and fear-based notions about death and dying, among many other things, were being challenged. Dr. Jack Kevorkian was a character from that time whose positions on the end of life many people supported, but who also inspired ambivalence. He literally was the "angel of death."
Here was a man, a doctor, who would help you kill yourself if you were suffering from excruciating, relentless pain or a horribly, debilitating "incurable" disease. "Mercy killings" they were often called. Euthanasia, more technically. Who could argue with having that option, besides the same crowd of religious phonies who gleefully decry birth control, non-marital sex, homosexuality and abortions, while letting teenagers get pregnant, persecuting gay men and women and killing abortion doctors?
I have a different argument to make regarding mercy killings, however, and let me first say that it's not about the right to end your own life. We all have that, and in reality, no one can take that away.
As "Jennie Silverman" says to "Marva" early on in the upcoming City Rock episode: "If life really is too hard, you will off yourself one day and no one will be able to stop you."
Or as a spiritual guide once said: "Every death is a suicide."
Yes, we create our own reality, and part of that means, consciously or not, we all choose the time and method of our death.
So, what's my issue with relieving those final times of pain and suffering, whether it's with euthanasia or a morphine drip? Well, as Captain Kirk said in one of the Star Trek movies, when refusing the chance to have all of his inner emotional suffering removed by a Vulcan: "I need my pain!"
Exactly. To fully benefit from a lifetime, one of the very important tasks for a soul, and for the human personality, is to experience the cause and effect of one's creations during that lifetime. Accidents and illnesses do not just happen to us. They are our creations, just like everything else in our lives. In our own personal end times, the main question our soul needs to ask itself in order to evolve is: "What did I do and how did it feel?"
"Well, let's see... I suppressed my feelings, denied the passionate expression of my sexuality and creativity, numbed myself with bad food and chemicals, distracted myself with excessive work, worrying or narcissistic ruminations, primitive beliefs and ritualized behaviors. That all led to me creating depression, dementia or physical disease as my life came to an end. Hmm... that's useful information. Maybe I'll make different choices in the next lifetime."
See, pain and suffering might be unnecessary, and unpleasant, but that doesn't mean that when we create it for ourselves, we're better off not feeling it. Pain is a message to that part of our self that is trying to learn and grow. Pain is information. Important information. It tells us how out of alignment we are with our truer, higher nature.
And that's why I had conflictual attitudes about Jack Kevorkian's crusade. Because while I supported his advocacy for the right to die, I found his position regarding pain and suffering to be no different than any other doctor in the mainstream medical establishment who offered relief from pain through any means necessary, which often meant pushing people into having unconscious deaths without reflection.
Hey, I don't like pain either, folks, but I'm doing whatever I can when I experience it to accept it as a messenger, so I can learn from it. I hear you, Captain Kirk... I need my pain, too!
YOU DON'T KNOW JACK (ABOUT PAIN AND SUFFERING)
Did anybody watch the excellently done HBO movie last Saturday, starring Al Pacino, about Jack Kevorkian, the doctor who risked his life and career and went to jail for 8+ years because of his stand on the right to die and his practice of doctor-assisted suicide?
It reminded me of that period in the early Nineties, when the New Age movement was already in full swing, and fear-based notions about death and dying, among many other things, were being challenged. Dr. Jack Kevorkian was a character from that time whose positions on the end of life many people supported, but who also inspired ambivalence. He literally was the "angel of death."
Here was a man, a doctor, who would help you kill yourself if you were suffering from excruciating, relentless pain or a horribly, debilitating "incurable" disease. "Mercy killings" they were often called. Euthanasia, more technically. Who could argue with having that option, besides the same crowd of religious phonies who gleefully decry birth control, non-marital sex, homosexuality and abortions, while letting teenagers get pregnant, persecuting gay men and women and killing abortion doctors?
I have a different argument to make regarding mercy killings, however, and let me first say that it's not about the right to end your own life. We all have that, and in reality, no one can take that away.
As "Jennie Silverman" says to "Marva" early on in the upcoming City Rock episode: "If life really is too hard, you will off yourself one day and no one will be able to stop you."
Or as a spiritual guide once said: "Every death is a suicide."
Yes, we create our own reality, and part of that means, consciously or not, we all choose the time and method of our death.
So, what's my issue with relieving those final times of pain and suffering, whether it's with euthanasia or a morphine drip? Well, as Captain Kirk said in one of the Star Trek movies, when refusing the chance to have all of his inner emotional suffering removed by a Vulcan: "I need my pain!"
Exactly. To fully benefit from a lifetime, one of the very important tasks for a soul, and for the human personality, is to experience the cause and effect of one's creations during that lifetime. Accidents and illnesses do not just happen to us. They are our creations, just like everything else in our lives. In our own personal end times, the main question our soul needs to ask itself in order to evolve is: "What did I do and how did it feel?"
"Well, let's see... I suppressed my feelings, denied the passionate expression of my sexuality and creativity, numbed myself with bad food and chemicals, distracted myself with excessive work, worrying or narcissistic ruminations, primitive beliefs and ritualized behaviors. That all led to me creating depression, dementia or physical disease as my life came to an end. Hmm... that's useful information. Maybe I'll make different choices in the next lifetime."
See, pain and suffering might be unnecessary, and unpleasant, but that doesn't mean that when we create it for ourselves, we're better off not feeling it. Pain is a message to that part of our self that is trying to learn and grow. Pain is information. Important information. It tells us how out of alignment we are with our truer, higher nature.
And that's why I had conflictual attitudes about Jack Kevorkian's crusade. Because while I supported his advocacy for the right to die, I found his position regarding pain and suffering to be no different than any other doctor in the mainstream medical establishment who offered relief from pain through any means necessary, which often meant pushing people into having unconscious deaths without reflection.
Hey, I don't like pain either, folks, but I'm doing whatever I can when I experience it to accept it as a messenger, so I can learn from it. I hear you, Captain Kirk... I need my pain, too!
"The Seven Deadly Habits of Truly Miserable People"
Hmmm... How controlling are you?
Check it out at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/14/the-seven-deadly-habits-o_n_101737.html
Check it out at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/14/the-seven-deadly-habits-o_n_101737.html
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