U.S. Supported Torture in Brazil (And Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Etc.)

I began this posting as a letter to a few people, but have been encouraged to share it more widely.

Only a few friends, family and former clients who have become friends know much of my history--despite the urging of my daughters, I have not written an autobiography. But I have shared with a few of you some bit about my and my family's experience in the late 1960s in Brazil. This article just came to my attention.even though it was posted in December.

If one looks for a single experience to explain everything in one's life, one will be in error. Life is made up of many experiences some more important than others, but the whole is even more than the sum of the parts. Still, some of the parts are key and, in 1968, watching the Brazilian military invade the campus of the University of Brasilia with equipment still marked US Army, then having two Catholic priest friends and colleagues murdered by the secret police and one woman friend tortured in unspeakable ways; finally learning that the death squads associated with the military (Often off-duty military and out of military uniform) had threatened not only my life but the lives of my wife and baby was surely among the key experiences of my life.

That the report noted below showed the US involvement may surprise some people, but when Tamayo, Frances and I returned from Brazil we smuggled out microfilms which had evidence of CIA and US military training the torturers in the Brazilian prisons on live prisoners--including the specfic names of prisoners and of the US personnel. Also in those microfilms was evidence that the electrical torture equipment was manufactured in the US. *

Brazil is a wonderful country and culture. The ordinary people were warm and welcoming, treated us with kindness, they brought us into their homes and taught us a lot about joy and life. I would cheerfully return to spend time in Brazil and to renew my ties there. But that period was traumatic for the Brazilian people as well as for us.

I'm sharing this without drawing an explicit political statement because I respect those who receive it to be able to draw your own broader conclusions. It is not just about Brazil, nor just about the US in that era.

Shalom, but never forget,

* Some of my friends and others berate religion and the Christian church in particular. There is much that the church has to answer for, but in those days and today, the mainline denominations, like Methodists and Presbyterians, Episcopalians and others as well as Jewish synagogues have made major contributions to social justice.

In Brazil, during this awful period, the Presbyterian church paid for specialized training and sent me there to help to teach psychotherapy/counseling at the university and to help the city of Brasilia government "Humanize" the way they worked with poverty. It was also the head of our mission in Brazil, Jaime Wright who, together with the Catholic archbishop of Sao Paulo, Paulo Evaristo Arns, broke the story of torture in Brazil and published it for the world to see (Funded by the World Council of Churches). It was another Roman Catholic Bishop, Dom Helder Camara of Recife who stood solidly with the people even when the military machine-gunned his home. 

So yes, the churches--especially the conservative churches--have much to answer for, but the mainstream churches are often found leading the way in social justice.

Marcus Borg--Reflections on His Passing

Dr. Marcus Borg died yesterday.

That may mean something to you or not.  I have been blessed with many mentors, some of whom I've known personally; I have learned from others only through workshops they have led or books that have greatly influenced me. What distinguishes them as mentors is that they did not point me in a direction with their instruction, but rather lit my path so that I could make more enlightened choices for myself.  Borg was one of these mentors, mostly through books, though also a few personal workshop encounters.
 
Marcus Borg wrote a spiritual blockbuster in 1995, "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time." In a day when my spiritual path was diverging from the common doctrinal statements of the church, when my spirit was thirsting for a better understanding of my heart, the Jesus that Borg opened up for me was like a signpost at a fork in a long trail. The path to the right had become a dead-end, but Borg's sign showed me a better path to the left.

This was not, of course, Borg's first book: "Jesus: A New Vision" was his first major published work. And since then he has written many. But it was the first I read.

As I reflect on Marcus Borg, I am struck how he has contributed to my vision that there are two paths in authentic spirituality. One path is inward as we strive to understand the yearning in our connection with our own truest self, including that of the "More" which resides in us. The word that came to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you," was one ancient Hebrew way of expressing this. The other is outward and is our connection with all else that is. This is expressed beautifully by Thich Nhat Hanh in the coined word "Interbeing", but it is also in the first chapter of the Gospel of John, "In the beginning was the Logos. . .All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."

Borg is not my only mentor; Thich Nhat Hanh, John Shelby Spong, and many others. I think of a man who encountered me, a new convert, at a program for US service people at Johnson Air Base in Japan. It was Don who helped me think through my life focus and encouraged my quest for my truest self.  Don became a life-long friend. There was Sunao Yokobiki who introduced me to a deep sense of Japan and helped me learn the pieces of Japanese spirituality which filled in so many gaps.  And Bill F, who was my mentor in my doctoral program, but also became a friend. There are so many more.

Marcus Borg's death (And Thich Nhat Hanh's cerebral hemorraige) also remind me that most of my mentors are older than I, many in their mid to late 80's and even 90's. It reminds me to redouble my effort to be a light on the path for others; not an arrow pointing the way, but a light to help them make decisions about their purpose and path.

Just some musings as I consider Borg's death and our human frailty, even of the mighty. Because you are a special friend, I wanted to share my musings with you.

On Being A Heretic

At dinner--at Las Camelias, one of the best Mexican restaurants in the Bay Area--we were chatting and I mentioned to my friend, my consternation that the Presbyterian Church has decided we must all recite the Apostle's Creed at baptisms.  The Apostle's Creed is a primitive creed that was probably compiled in the 5th to 8th centuries until it was finally actually published. It is crude, emphasizing God's judgement, rather than God's mercy and love, emphasizes the three-tiered world-view of that period and is thoroughly a pre-Copernican statement.

The Presbyterian Church USA has chosen, of all the possible creeds and confessions to insist that this abomination be recited. This is the same denomination that produced a wonderful compendium of creeds and confessions call the Book of Confessions, that includes the marvelous Barmen Declaration which declares God's and the church's opposition to the murderous reign of Nazism in Germany and its treatment of Jews, homosexuals, and Gypsies. (And anyone else who opposed it.) It includes the Confession of 1967 which was a statement guiding many who struggled for civil rights. And it holds the "Brief Statement of Faith," which says this . . .

Confessions and declarations are subordinate standards in the church, subject to the authority of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, as the Scriptures bear witness to him. No one type of confession is exclusively valid, no one statement is irreformable. Obedience to Jesus Christ alone identifies the one universal church and supplies the continuity of its tradition. This obedience is the ground of the church’s duty and freedom to reform itself in life and doctrine as new occasions, in God’s providence, may demand.

From my point of view, the only standard for life is the model of Jesus Christ. As best we can dredge it out of the writings of the early church there is an encompassing awareness of his living his life "for others."  That is the true story of the cross (Whatever the "objective" facts are) and the resurrection is spiritual metaphor that Christ is one with each person. In fact, again from my perspective, all spiritual statements, all statements about God, are metaphorical. The experience of spiritual reality is not able to be put into words. All that I or anyone can do is describe in words, what I have experienced in my heart and mind. That description is always partial, composed of similes and metaphors and never the same as any other persons.

So, the Presbyterian Church, USA has essentially decided that I am a heretic, since I refuse to recite the Apostle's Creed. Perhaps that's too harsh. I am simply no longer worthy to be a Presbyterian if that creed is so key as to be the only statement of spirituality.

Here is what seems to me a better creedal statement--if we must have one.

Creed of the Gospel of Thomas

I believe in one God, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist. 

I believe in Jesus, messenger of God's Word,
bringer of God's healing, heart of God's compassion,
bright star in the firmament of God's
prophets, mystics, and saints. 

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the life of God that is our innermost life,
the breath of God moving in our being,
the depth of God living in each of us. 

I believe that I am called to be Jesus' twin,
allowing myself to be a vehicle of God's love,
a source of God's wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of God's peace in the world. 

I believe that God's reign is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.

I believe in the community of God seekers
in all the religions, as well as outside of them,
the great prophets, mystics, and saints,
and those just beginning their spiritual journey. 

I believe in a future on this earth when all
will be God-centered and God-conscious,
when we will learn to live in love and peace,
in the fellowship of brothers and sisters. 

I believe that in death, life is changed,
not taken away, and that we will go
from step to step in God's life, God's love.
and God's glory for all eternity. Amen. "

Judy Harrow

I just learned of Judy Harrow's death on March 20, 2014--one month ago.

Judy was someone I knew only on the internet. But I also knew her by the esteem I heard in the words and voices of so many others.  Personally, whenever I had a question about counseling with a Wiccan or Pagan client, I could email Judy and get a good answer or direction.

Judy was a leader in the Gardnerian Wiccan faith, deeply spiritual and enormously skilled in helping others develop their own self-defined spirituality. She was the first Wiccan registered as clergy in New York City, being recognized only after a five-year effort with the help of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The Internet introduced me to Judy on the Pastoral Counseling on-line group many years ago where she enjoyed a reputation for her knowledge and skills. She often was able to provide deep insights to counseling questions--and not just Wiccan, but related to other faith communities or none.  Her wisdom and sensitivity were astounding.

The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.

- Joan Borysenko -

 In her passing, Judy bequeaths us her gifts of her life.

The State of Pastoral Psychotherapy or Healing the Human Spirit.

I am returning from the national conference of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and do we have issues! I put a great deal of energy into my role as a practitioner of psychotherapy or the healing of the human spirit. I am someone who has hitched his wagon to a worthy horse and am concerned when the horse’s hooves are not being cared for.

As I look around the conference, here in St. Louis, I see several disquieting phenomena. First, most of the participants are either near my age or beyond it. There are very few young people; even the “emerging scholars” are mostly beyond thirty. When I tried to invite students from the GTU seminaries in Berkeley (Those preparing to lead spiritual communities.) to the Pacific Region conference in 2012 and 2013, I discovered that the only remaining pastoral counseling program was at the Buddhist Institute. Not one of the other nine entities has such a program.

My last national AAPC conference was in Phoenix. In the denominational breakfast caucuses, I chose to join with the Quakers. I notice that there is no officially stated Quaker breakfast here. Yet I have met two Quakers and there may be more. Nor is there a Muslim, Buddhist or Jewish breakfast. Now perhaps there are no Muslims, Buddhists or Jews—though I believe I did see at least one kippa. Even if there are no members of those faith communities here, the lack of preparation for them suggests a lack of either awareness or of welcome.

Frankly, I see traditional religious groups (and not just Christian) diminishing in our society and I worry that we do not adequately respond to the change. It is not merely I who see this, but such research groups as MIT, Trinity College, the Pew Research Council and more find the same thing. They also find an inverse relationship between religion and education. 

Of course, AAPC is attempting to address this issue by the new emphasis on “spirituality.” I applaud this. I read another research paper from MIT which showed that religious non-affiliation rose from 8% to 18% between 1990 and 2010. Well over half of my clients declare no religious affiliation, often looking to me to help them fill their spiritual void.

Yesterday, I attended two different sessions about “spirituality.” The first was a research project on spiritual approaches among our membership. It was a very well done presentation of an ongoing investigation with profound implications for psychotherapy, pastoral counseling and AAPC.

But the second was something very fuzzy about the “divine mind.” (There were no handouts, so I don’t have the exact wording.) It was very troubling however, that a case study was presented where a woman had been in treatment for nine years without significant change in her issues. (And this followed a previous treatment of several years for the same thing.) The presenter made the off-hand comment that other therapists had recommended “CBT” as a treatment of choice, but the presenter simply dismissed this suggestion out of hand. During the Q&A I asked why she had dismissed this suggestion. The answer, “I don’t know CBT.” That statement was an admission of malpractice. If CBT was a proper treatment (And it would have been almost classically so) then the client should have been referred to someone else who did know CBT. (CBT is a catch-all often used by people who don’t know and refers to a group of over ten very different schools of therapy from DBT to REBT that have some basic roots in the work of Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. As a single form of therapy, "CBT" does not exist. But its individual forms do.) 

I mean no disrespect. I would guess that the presenters are competent in their actual practice in most instances of working with normal life issues. But the off-hand rejection of tools that have been demonstrated—even in pastoral counseling (Think Howard Stone)—is a sad statement. That is incompetence. Of course it would be so in any therapy community.

Now if our colleagues from other psychotherapy communities such as the ACA, AMHCA, AAMFT were filling this spiritual space, I would be less concerned. But I have sat in on "spirituality" workshops at their conferences and found them to be even less competent. The one thing we, AAPC, bring to the table is that we have all worked and studied our own spiritual path and have learned about the wide variety of valuable spiritual lessons including the potential pitfalls on the path. So we would better be about competence in spirituality than remaining an arm of a conservative Christian cult.

I am proud of AAPC’s response to racism as evidenced by the rainbow of colors in the plenary sessions. But I am fearful of the narrow spectrum of participant faith communities, therapeutic tools—though I did hear a few references to “attachment” and one to Bowlby—and our outreach to potential new practitioners.

The integrated health care movement is a competitive one. It will demand the best of what we can offer. At this point, it is difficult to watch our response.

But perhaps it is just my narrow perspective.

The Miracle of Mindfulness

I don't usually post material second-hand. But this is so important, I hope everyone will read it and go to the original--and perhaps take up the practice

---

In my counseling practice, I see many clients who have low-grade depression or/and anxieties. The best treatment for these is usually, though not always, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, the original form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy or Transactional Analysis. 

 On the other hand, as a very young USAF airman in post-occupied Japan, I spent my leave (vacation) one year at a Zen monastery and since then have had my own meditation practice which has benefited me greatly. So I try to interest most of my clients in practicing "Mindfulness Meditation". The effects on the few who persist through the initial learning period are immense. 

In recent years, the field of psychotherapy has been enriched by the wholesale adoption of "Mindfulness Meditation," made popular by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Univ. of Mass. Medical School. In fact there are now several major university research centers studying "Mindfulness". 

Others have encountered Mindfulness through reading books by the great Vietnamese Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh, especially The Miracle of Mindfulness.

This article was in my inbox today. It is from Science Daily. You may read the original webpage by clicking on the title.

Science News

... from universities, journals, and other research organizations

Meditation for Anxiety, Depression?

Jan. 6, 2014 — Some 30 minutes of meditation daily may improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, a new Johns Hopkins analysis of previously published research suggests.

"A lot of people use meditation, but it's not a practice considered part of mainstream medical therapy for anything," says Madhav Goyal, M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of a study published online Jan. 6 in JAMA Internal Medicine. "But in our study, meditation appeared to provide as much relief from some anxiety and depression symptoms as what other studies have found from antidepressants." These patients did not typically have full-blown anxiety or depression.

The researchers evaluated the degree to which those symptoms changed in people who had a variety of medical conditions, such as insomnia or fibromyalgia, although only a minority had been diagnosed with a mental illness.

Goyal and his colleagues found that so-called "mindfulness meditation" -- a form of Buddhist self-awareness designed to focus precise, nonjudgmental attention to the moment at hand -- also showed promise in alleviating some pain symptoms as well as stress. The findings held even as the researchers controlled for the possibility of the placebo effect, in which subjects in a study feel better even if they receive no active treatment because they perceive they are getting help for what ails them.

To conduct their review, the investigators focused on 47 clinical trials performed through June 2013 among 3,515 participants that involved meditation and various mental and physical health issues, including depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, substance use, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chronic pain. They found moderate evidence of improvement in symptoms of anxiety, depression and pain after participants underwent what was typically an eight-week training program in mindfulness meditation. They discovered low evidence of improvement in stress and quality of life. There was not enough information to determine whether other areas could be improved by meditation. In the studies that followed participants for six months, the improvements typically continued.
They also found no harm came from meditation.

Meditation, Goyal notes, has a long history in Eastern traditions, and it has been growing in popularity over the last 30 years in Western culture.

"A lot of people have this idea that meditation means sitting down and doing nothing," Goyal says. "But that's not true. Meditation is an active training of the mind to increase awareness, and different meditation programs approach this in different ways."

Mindfulness meditation, the type that showed the most promise, is typically practiced for 30 to 40 minutes a day. It emphasizes acceptance of feelings and thoughts without judgment and relaxation of body and mind.

He cautions that the literature reviewed in the study contained potential weaknesses. Further studies are needed to clarify which outcomes are most affected by these meditation programs, as well as whether more meditation practice would have greater effects.

"Meditation programs appear to have an effect above and beyond the placebo," Goyal says.

Christmas, 2013--How Can I Keep From Singing?

What an exciting year. 

In October of 2012, my daughter, Adriana presented me with a new granddaughter. So I’ve now had a full year to watch Isabella grow, learn, change.  I was at her first birthday party which was also her baptism. Fortunately, I had a video camera when Isabella decided to take her first independent steps. She left Adriana’s hands and toddled about eight feet before landing on her rump. So much joy.

This has also been a year for Hugo, my grandson, to take off to pursue his studies at Univ. of California at Los Angeles--and carry straight A's for his first semester. 

Frankie, my other daughter, has had a great stretch of new adventures. She has often been employed in offices where she was valued because she saw the detail needed and was able to organize it. Now she is exploiting this talent for organizing and for following through bureaucratic processes, helping other people take charge of their lives. Her abilities are very appreciated by her clients.

Planning for my regular spring trip to Mazatlan and Guadalajara was disrupted when I was asked to go to the national leadership conference of AAPC (American Assoc. of Pastoral Counselors) in Leesburg, VA to help plan the future of the organization. AAPC is the primary organization of psychotherapists who focus on integrating spirituality. Though originally organized with Protestant clergy/therapist-counselors, AAPC now includes Muslims, Buddhists, Roman Catholics, Wiccans and others. The changes in health care delivery that will come from the Affordable Care Act and integrated health care delivery demand that AAPC plan how it will function within that system.

Actually AAPC has absorbed a great deal of my energy this year. I have been developing Webinars, planning continuing education and communication for the Pacific Region (Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, California. The first Webinar was on Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Hypnosis and Spirituality.

When I discovered that I wouldn’t go to Mexico, I planned several weekend road trips. To facilitate that, I replaced my car with a Subaru Legacy in which I could put the back seats down level and climb in the back to sleep. I actually got one trip to Eldorado National Forest and then to visit my close friends in Carson City, NV.

On my return, my doctor informed me that I had three broken bones in my foot. (Who knew? No pain!) He insisted that I get a cast and start using a wheel chair. But after some pushing and shoving, he settled for my using a walker. So much for my great road trip plans. . . The cast finally came off on October 7, just in time to volunteer with the Mill Valley Film Festival.

During all this "foot repair," more AAPC work was to help organize the AAPC regional conference. This was very exciting as one of our members is a chaplain at the local Department of Veterans Affairs hospital and they were planning a big national conference at about the same time. We scheduled our two conferences back to back so that we could collaborte to all go to both; start out in Palo Alto on the 15th of October and move right through to the AAPC conference in Berkeley for the 17th-19th.  That was the plan.

The government shut-down was declared just that week. The VA folk had to cancel their plans. A few of them came on their own time to the AAPC part, but they were shut out of their own. The conference was somewhat sparse in attendees, but absolutely top notch in content.

In addition to the Mill Valley Film Festival, I enjoy ushering at various programs at the Jewish Community Center. Among my favorites though is the Mill Valley Philharmonic Orchestra.This is a group of non-professionals, but of high skill. They play four concerts a year and I always attend. Community orchestras are exciting. To keep musical skills polished enough to do Sibelius or Brahms is no small matter. The last concert, in November, was played right to my soul. They played Dvorak's Ninth Symphony, "From the New World." This is the first symphony I played in my high school orchestra. Well, we did the fourth movement only, but I fell in love with the symphony and especially my own tympani part. Later we got to play the whole piece. I have always loved it.

Adriana, Hugo, and Isabella left for Brazil to be with Adriana’s birth mother and boy friend. They were planning to have a cabin on the beach in Natal. They seem to be in the one place in the world with no Internet, but I’m sure they are having a wonderful time.

So, an exciting year. So much to see, do and experience. Sometimes I have to remind myself to also just be. My meditation helps keep me grounded, as does teaching two spiritual study groups. 

Christmas has come to mean, for me, something much more than snowflakes, Christmas trees with neurotically blinking lights, Santa; even more than shepherds and magi. Christmas is a celebration of the positive direction of history, of changes in the world. It is so easy to become disheartened as we read news reports of Republican repeated efforts to sabotage the Affordable Care Act which will bring health care to millions who have not had it—or reports of the website not working properly. Stories of drones from our own government killing innocents in Pakistan, or Yemen tear at our hearts, as does the plight, this winter of many on unemployment and foodstamps which the House majority--I refrain from using the "R" word again--has chosen to visit upon them.

But, if we look beyond the immediate and painful—look beyond but do not ignore—we will see that the course of history is on the side of progress.  Yes, there is still slavery in the world, but no one defends it and nations join in efforts to wipe it out. Yes, there is racial prejudice—nowhere more than in our own country—but it is being eradicated. Yes, women are still not given their just place in society, but that fact is both recognized and being countered—of course not as fast as I would prefer. Yes, gay, lesbian, and others face discrimination, but that too is changing.

Admittedly, progress is far too slow. Injustice, prejudice and pain should be overcome today, if not yesterday, and tomorrow at the latest. Progress demands the spiritual, physical and emotional martyrdom of far too many. Yet progress, justice and even love are with us. And while it is not yet complete—and will likely never be--we are reminded by Christmas that joy, life and truth triumph over ignorance, hatred and death.

All this came to my mind the other day as I listened to a Pete Seeger rendition of the 1860s hymn, How Can I Keep From Singing. I share it with you as my Christmas gift to you.

My life goes on in endless song
Above earth's lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear its music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?

While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness 'round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble in their fear
And hear their death knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near
How can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon vile
Our thoughts to them are winging,
When friends by shame are undefiled
How can I keep from singing?

I cannot keep from singing!

The Ethics and Morality of Porn

My colleague asked me to comment about pornography, morality, ethics and spirituality. After a few false starts I just decided to wing it. Then realized that it would be appropriate here in this blog.
======================================
Dear Dr. Ley,

I've tried to find some way of being more profound and sounding learned. Guess profound and learned is just not part of my skill set. Here are a few thoughts. They are connected, but not in a straight line.

I take seriously the insights of existentialists and existential psychology. The heart of human life is purpose; not a purpose given by religion or god, but a purpose chosen by the person living his/her life. My favorite quotation in this direction is from Albert Camus, "The only serious philosophical question is 'Why not commit suicide?'" (The Myth of Sisyphus) In a way, he sees the same phenomenon that Buddhists do--though his solution is different. Life is filled with suffering. Children are born in pain. They are expelled from a warm, soft womb into the bright lights of a noisy, cold, world and their first reaction is to cry. During life we are subject to pain from a bruised knee at 2-3-4, to everything from sore throats to cancer during the rest of life; loses of significant friends and lovers and parents in death and then finally death itself which, for most people is painful--though, in this country, the end of life is often accompanied by a morphine drip to alleviate the "discomfort." So why go through this suffering? Why not commit suicide.

This awareness of Camus is the beginning point for all spiritual, moral and ethical questions for me. The emotionally healthy person creates purpose for his life; she creates 'meaning,' and lives life in activities which promote meaning. Another statement that speaks of this to me is Paul Tillich's, "Ground of being." (The Courage to Be) Our lives seem to need a "Ground of Being," a purpose, a meaning. That meaning or purpose may change over time, but to not have one means that there is no ethics and no morals and no spirituality.

Of course, the life purpose or meaning of a person is not static, it grows and changes in reaction to a person's experience and learning. For Camus, for example, when he wrote the Myth (1942), it was while he was a member of the French Resistance fighting the Nazis who were a painful occupation of France. But after the liberation of France, Camus cast around for a transition to another purpose; sharing his insights from the war, writing polemic novels ("The Stranger", "The Plague," "The Fall", etc.)

The quest for meaning, a purpose, or a GOB is the heart of all spirituality. Spirituality is not about a god(s) or God. It is about living one's live with a Ground of Being, a purpose, and about the quest for a ever-changing purpose. At the end of life (Why not commit suicide?) what is left are the results of living with a purpose.

Sorry about being so long-winded. I apologize if that felt like a lecture, but I think this is key to all ethics and and when it is made personal, to all morality. Porn and our relation to it, is no different than any other behavior. It either promotes our life meaning, or it detracts from that meaning, or sometimes, but rarely, it is irrelevant.

So, in that light, porn is either irrelevant, or negative if it interferes with that meaning, or positive and very ethical and moral and, I will say, spiritual, if it promotes your meaning of your life.

An example of the first, for me, is the rather boring close-up videos of a penis sliding into and out of a vagina. The absurdity of a 12 inch dong doing anything except getting in the way of real life, at best, brings derisive thoughts and feelings.

The second would be porn of cruelty, not BDSM but physical damage. Bondage and SM are consensual. Physical damage is rarely so. I'm not just talking about snuff films, but also videos that promote a casual indifference to the pain of others and their will.

Another negative instance is any porn which so occupies the client's mind as to interfere with life pursuit. It lacks meaning and detracts from the purpose of life. This is about as close to "porn addiction" as I would be willing to get. It is addiction if we seem unable to stop ourselves. (Since I'm an REBT/TA person, I don't think we actually can't stop ourselves.) I see this use of porn as a "plug-in". If it wasn't porn, it would be alcohol or gambling or chocolate. (Horvath: Sex, Drugs, Gambling and Chocolate) Of course sex and porn get more publicity in our anti-sex culture. Chocolate, not so much.

Positive porn is porn that promotes an individual's own sense of being a sexual person, promotes others sexuality and most importantly, promotes the person's life purpose. I'm not a fan of the Sinclair Institute videos--the bodies are too perfect, the makeup is too much, the location is too opulent. The Alexander Institute tapes are almost as bad. But even though they purport to be education, they are good porn for couples to watch together. But there is much other porn that is useful for individuals to enjoy and use for their individual or coupled pleasure.

My point actually is that porn is no different than any other human behavior. If it promotes your life's meaning and purpose, it is ethical and moral. The only reason a daily 10-hour dose of porn could be bad is that it prevents one from pursuing meaning and purpose.

You might also find my article Sex, Spirituality and Ruth helpful--though it is not particularly at all about porn.

Sincerely,
David
David M. Pittle, Ph.D., M.Div.

Spiritually-Integrated Psychotherapy

I have written in the past about Spiritually-Integrated Psychotherapy without truly defining it. The definition is simple. Spiritually-Integrated Psychotherapy is psychotherapy that sees real mental and emotional health as including behavioral, emotional, cognitive and spiritual components. It is as though one was constructing a table to hold a ball. All four legs have to be sound and balanced or the ball will roll off and emotional/mental health will slide and spill. Spiritually-Integrated Psychotherapy would say that real mental health is radically grounded in the present with full awareness of the present, the so-called “here and now;” that this “being fully present” and available to spiritual awareness is one distinguishing characteristic of mental health, of a balanced table. It is also called Pastoral Psychotherapy.

The healthy person behaves or feels as though he is actually living neither in the past nor in the future, and not in some other place, known or unknown, but always behaves and feels in the present and in response to what is occurring in the present. Let me be clear, we are congenitally prone to behaving and feeling otherwise. That is why mental and spiritual health are not finally achieved never to be lost again.

Most of us, to some degree all of us, seem to have rubber bands attached to our waist with the other end attached to somewhere, sometime in the past. Some of those rubber bands may also be attached to somewhere, sometime in the future. One or more of those rubber bands may stretch and pull us out of the present. We behave and feel as though we are in a time or place when something bad has happened or might happen to us and we are living it again or even ahead of time. Historically this has also been called neurosis, though that term is no longer used much, linked as it is to the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung. We could therefore say that we are all “normal neurotics.”

Sometimes I am asked if this means we should not examine the past, to learn from it. Or should we not plan for the future? Of course it does not mean either of those things. Looking at the past is not a rubber band if it is done in full awareness of living in the present. Similarly we must plan so that we avoid any pitfalls and we attain those goals that we wish. Doing so, while fully aware of our place in the present, does not bring us to emotions and behavior that are self-defeating, and inappropriate, though they may be painful. Examining other times and places from our locus in the present is healthy.

What then is the tie to spirituality? It is that, while being fully present, we are aware of the sacred or the spirit. People use a variety of words to designate “the sacred.” Some say “God” or “Allah” or use some other name. In the classic study “The Varieties of Religious Experience,” William James used the phrase, “The More.” By whatever word, most people seem to be touched by a More. But this can only happen in the present. It is the only authentic moment of connection

 (I leave alone the question of the locus of this More—whether “out there” or “in here” or between and among people. This is also not a theological discussion so I will not even consider the question of the nature of the More.)

The greatest religious spiritual guides all point in this same direction, the direction of the radical present, as the place or position of spiritual enlightenment.

So the task of Spiritually-Integrated Psychotherapy is to help each client to break the rubber bands which remove her from the present. To that end, a variety of tools may be appropriate. There are various modes of counseling, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Hypnotherapy, Rogerian, Gestalt, a variety of psychodynamic therapies, and many more. There are educational tools as well. But the goal of each, in Spiritually-Integrated Psychotherapy, is to bring the counselee to full awareness of the present where he may feel, think and behave appropriately but, also may encounter her Ground of Being.

The key to the religions I know is the experience of the present. The Christian prays and meditates to open herself to the presence in the present of Christ. The Buddhist meditates, not to obtain enlightenment, but to find a place of complete present where he can encounter the truth of non-duality. For a Wiccan, being fully present may be “Knowing your Oneness with all that exists,” including the ultimate Divinity which is non-physical consciousness. Other religions and spiritualities have their own ways to move people to the present where they can experience the More. Each has certain rituals that celebrate the past. Many have “scriptures”, the Quran, the Bible, the Upanishads, the Sutras, which contain the learning (And often, rules of behavior) of the past about the experience of the present, but they do not mistake the worship of their scriptures for the awareness of the spirit or the experience of the radical present.

The purpose of much practiced psychotherapy is to remove or change emotional symptoms that lead to emotional pain and suffering. For Spiritually-Integrated Psychotherapy, removing emotional symptoms is important but not sufficient. Real health is marked by the ability to be fully present to oneself, others and to be present to the gifts of awe, reverence and gratitude.