THERE IS SUFFERING AND THEN THERE IS SUFFERING

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“There are, then, two kinds of experiences which we call suffering —that which is totally unproductive, the neurotic state of meaningless depression, and that which is the essential condition of every step on the way to what C.G. Jung has called individuation.”
~ Helen Luke

When Ernest Holmes wrote that the world had learned all it should through suffering in The Science of Mind textbook, he meant the first kind mentioned by Helen Luke above. If we take it to mean all suffering, then we must also admit that our primary spiritual practice and technology, spiritual mind treatment, is insufficient to heal what needs healing. For we know that some issues within the human psyche are not healed by affirmation alone. Without the deep and often painful work of personal transformation where legitimate suffering occurs, we end up with the first kind of suffering – the unproductive kind.

Sadly, Holmes’ statement has too often been taken to mean that all suffering is unnecessary. When we fail to grasp the value of legitimate suffering, we lose our pathway to individuation, self-realization, enlightenment – all of which describe the same process of becoming aligned with ones fully authentic self.

Our ego loves to think that we do not need to confront our inner demons, our repressed shadow selves, our trauma responses, our deepest fears. The untrained ego blindly supports our current ways of being and belief, whether they serve us or not. We cannot transform what is deeply held in our psyche without going through the resistance of the ego and getting the deeper work done. Such work is painful and involves legitimate suffering, the struggle to reveal what we have spent so much energy hiding.

While it is true that many, mostly superficial things can be changed through affirmation alone, what is deeply repressed in the psyche cannot. For those issues, one must metaphorically put on the miner’s helmet and begin digging. This kind of work is always painful, often significantly so.

“I do not mean to be sentimental about suffering…. but people who cannot suffer can never grow up, can never discover who they are.”
~ James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

We in New Thought have almost universally turned away from the truth that suffering, or the pain of deep work, is an essential aspect of transformative change. I have come to believe this approach effectively refutes a belief that Spirit is within us. If I am unwilling to experience the suffering of doing deep work, yet continue to affirm a change at depth, am I not effectively expecting some outer power to intervene? Am I not simply praying for Spirit to change Its relationship to me regarding the issue at hand?

“God can only do for us what God does through us.”
~ Ernest Holmes 

Because Spirit can only do for us that which It can do through us, attempts to circumvent the essence of The Science of Mind never work. Deep work is needed to clear the way for Spirit to do for us by revealing and dissolving false and repressed beliefs which have accumulated blocking the flow of good in our lives.

The avoidance of the legitimate suffering of doing deeper work inevitably leads to the unnecessary suffering of the continuing neurotic state described by Helen Luke in the opening quote. We get stuck in meaninglessness, in a sense of disconnection, in denial, and in depression* or aggression. Then, maybe we try to convince ourselves and others that all is well with us, making life both more stressful and more frustrating.

The truth is that many of us, the teachers of New Thought, have failed our students by supporting a belief that affirmation alone is sufficient for transformation and deep healing to occur. The accumulated evidence is more than sufficient to show that this is not the case. Too many of us have failed to heal deep issues because we have not been encouraged to do the difficult work necessary for such healing to occur.

“If you want to get anywhere, honey, if you want grow up, if you want to open to life, if you want to be enlightened, then you have to learn to befriend suffering.”
~ Joanna Macy

We are human beings, so we tend to look for the easy way out. We often accept the balm of being taught how simple and easy change can be – to simply treat for it. While this can be true for surface issues, it gets murkier when we examine deep issues. We hit an inner wall of resistance which conscious thought alone cannot penetrate.

Being spiritually mature means that one recognizes the challenges of life and is willing to do the deep, often painful, work of healing. This is the path to what we call spiritual realization and what Carl Jung called individuation.

“No freedom is possible, no authentic choice, where consciousness is lacking. Paradoxically, consciousness usually only comes from the experience of suffering and the flight from suffering is why we often elect to remain in the constrictive yet familiar old shoes.”
~ James Hollis, Jungian therapist and author

Our goal is not enlightenment or individuation as such. Our goal is to live each day and experience life as it is, from our authentic center. This includes coming to terms with our unfinished business. That means the things we have not attended to in our lives, the unhealed issues which continue to affect us from our unconscious. This is an issue for individuals and for every level of community in our world. Denial is a powerful drug. We are all suffering because of what we have not done individually to heal our consciousness and what we have not done collectively to heal our collective consciousness. And, I might add, from what we have not done correctly.

We are living through a time where we are increasingly reaping the consequences of unhealed individuals, communities, societies and cultures which support denial and empower fear and dysfunction. This is no time to be living an unhealed life.

May we, each of us, then all of us, discover a path to deep healing. Our teaching includes such a path, if we can learn to teach it honestly and openly, and to become better students.

“Suffering that is not understood is hard to bear, while on the other hand it is often astounding to see how much a person can endure when he understands the why and the wherefore. A philosophical or religious view of the world enables him to do this. And such views prove to be, at the very least, psychic methods of healing if not salvation.”
~ C.G. Jung

Collected Works 18, para 1578

And a prayer:

“May this suffering serve to awaken compassion.”
~ A traditional prayer to Kwan Yin, Bodhisattva of Compassion

  • Note: There are many kinds of depression. What I am referring to here is a depression that results from not dealing with issues that are calling forced to be healed. There are other types of depression which arise independently of how we think. Such forms of depression are often more caused than effect in how they affect our lives.

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

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

YOUR RELIGION IS WHAT YOU DO EVERY DAY

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“Your actions speak so loudly, I cannot hear what you are saying.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (attributed)

The Latin origins of the word “religion”– In Latin religiō originally meant ‘obligation, bond’. It was probably derived from the verb religāre ‘tie back, tie tight’ (source of the English word rely), a compound formed from the prefix re- ‘back’ and ligāre ‘tie’ (source of the English words liable, ligament, etc).

I remember going to Sunday mass at Saint Ursula’s Catholic Church as a child with my mother. Dad, an agnostic, stayed home. Everyone was on their best behavior during the mass – I would get harsh stares from adults if I fidgeted too much. Then, after church, as everyone tried to get out of the parking lot, there was quite a bit of honking of horns and unpleasant yelling from car to car. I recall thinking that this behavior was inconsistent with what had just occurred in church, but what did I know?

“Jung once observed that our neuroses were in fact our private religions, that is, where the bulk of our spirit is actually invested.”
~ James Hollis

“The operative religions of the modern era are hedonism, narcissism and materialism.”
~ James Hollis

I think it is safe to say that for most people, there is a difference between the person they aspire to be and the person they are being. If we go to church or any spiritual gathering, we likely spend much of that time aspiring to be a better version of ourselves, perhaps affirming and visualizing changes in our behavior.

But when we get out to the parking lot, out to daily life, those intentions and affirmations are too often forgotten or replaced with unpleasant thoughts and fears. When this happens, we may resist going to church because we don’t like being reminded of what we are not doing for ourselves. This resistance tends to take the form of finding something wrong with church, rather than a desire to decrease our own discomfort or avoid spiritual growth.

“Jung believed that when religion is disregarded waters of the unconscious crash in, dissolving consciousness and extinguishing the light. Being mindful of the gods is a matter of psychic hygiene, not a matter of piety, social conformity or religiosity.”
~ David Tacey

One of the issues with fewer people regularly attending and participating in spiritual community is that we humans are less good at holding ourselves accountable than we think we are. Most of us need that community to remind us of who we are and are not. Most of us fall out of integrity when left to our own devices in a world full of potential distractions.

In fact, it is the very feeling of discomfort when we are reminded of these things which is a necessary element of our growth. We do not grow from comfort; we grow from discomfort. We have a term for this – divine discomfort – which refers to the instances where our discomfort leads to growth. Such discomfort is our unconscious and soul breaking through our conscious process to urge us toward healing or a return to our authentic self.

Being aware of and accepting this process is an aspect of living in integrity. It is a recognition that our challenges are FOR us in the sense that they provide opportunities for growth and healing if we accept them and take them on.

“Integrity is a shared process. Integrity is interrelational. Integrity is contextual. Integrity is integrating. Integrity is unscripted. Integrity is a kind of super-attention. Integrity is watching for the cracks in what you thought you knew. Integrity is willingness to learn together.”
~ Nora Bateson on Facebook

Staying in integrity is critically important.

Recognizing that our true religion is what we do every day, not just on special occasions, is critically important.

Living increasingly as our best selves is our purpose and our gift to the world.

And knowing that we are all works in progress along this pathway is also critically important.

And all these things require some grounding in spiritual philosophy and theology. Unless this grounding happens (meaning we create a consciousness in which they are present), we will likely be all too available for the negatives and distractions which come our way daily. This process of grounding, or embodiment of principle is not so much linear as it is and alchemical art form. We love our way to spiritual realization; we use our vivid imaginations to direct our attention and intention toward the revelation and expression of our authentic self.

“The soul longs for poetry, myth, metaphor and imagination, but the religions remain literal, historical and absolutist in their claims. The soul needs religious experience, that is, a direct transformative encounter with the numinous.”
~ David Tacey

I have found that the Science of Mind teaching does provide opportunities for transformative encounters with the numinous. This is especially so in community, where the teachings are taught and practiced in an atmosphere of mutual support, kindness, and love. If you have left your community, or not found one yet, perhaps it is time to return or seek one out. When you arrive, bring the energy of healing, joy, and contribution. Be a positive asset to your spiritual community.

“Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair.”
~ Gilbert Keith (G.K.) Chesterton

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

A UNIVERSE WITHOUT BOUNDARIES IS OUR HOME

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In recognition of the 100th Anniversary of “The Science of Mind” Text, 1926 Edition, let us look at living in a universe without boundaries and how psychic phenomena fit into that idea.

“We are not limited by actual boundaries, but by false ideas about life and by a failure to recognize that we are dealing with the Infinite.”
~ Ernest Holmes

Creative Mind and Success

“Any psychic power that can be used while in a normal state of mind is harmless and helpful; that is, any psychic power which can be used while one is in a perfectly conscious state of mentality. Many have this power and find that it is helpful as well as interesting. This power can be developed by knowing that the WITHIN AND THE WITHOUT ARE REALLY ONE.”
~ Ernest Holmes

The Science of Mind, 1926 Edition

The Artemis space mission which recently sent four astronauts around the moon reminded me of the space missions of the 1960’s and 1970’s, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. There were several reports, especially in astronaut interviews outside of the NASA press conferences, of paranormal experiences during and after the space missions. Of particular note is Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, who conducted an unauthorized ESP experiment during the mission of Apollo 14 (LINK).

Mitchell, who I later knew, went on to be a co-founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS – LINK) which was established for the purpose of the scientific study of consciousness. He is one of several astronauts who reported paranormal experiences.

“I theorize that there is a spectrum of consciousness available to human beings. At one end is material consciousness. At the other end is what we call ‘field’ consciousness, where a person is at one with the universe, perceiving the universe. Just by looking at our planet on the way back, I saw or felt a field consciousness state.”
~ Edgar Mitchell

Many who were alive during the mid- to later part of the 20th Century can remember an atmosphere of inquiry into the paranormal. Whether it was the CIA studying telekinesis as in the film “The Men Who Stare at Goats” (LINK) or the PEAR experiments at Princeton University (LINK), and the ESP experiments conducted at Duke and other Universities (LINK). These were followed by entertainment series such as the X-Files in the 1990’s, in which paranormal occurrences were investigated by the FBI.

I have had a number of paranormal (meaning not usual given the way most of us understand how reality works) experiences during my life. These include deep intuitive knowledge which allowed me to find several missing children, and to find well-hidden weapons and contraband when I was a law enforcement officer. I could not explain these occurrences, and they have not reoccurred after that period of about 5 years.

Following the death of my daughter (LINK to previous post), I worked with a shaman who facilitated a shamanic journey where I saw my daughter in a perfectly real-feeling experience. I have also had several mystical experiences, or a feeling of being at one with everything. Words are inadequate to describe these experiences. In my reading about mysticism, two things are continually pointed out as universally true of these experiences: they bring a realization that there is no difference between the mystical and the everyday experience, they are the same; and they are difficult or impossible to describe in words.

This itself is a paradox. And here we are. The essential truth of the boundaries between our everyday experience and the mystical realms, between the linear and non-linear if you will, is that there are no such boundaries. We create the illusion of boundaries in our minds, and then we reinforce them socially.

“The ultimate metaphysical secret, if we dare to state it so simply is that there are no boundaries in the universe. Boundaries are illusions, products not of reality but of the way we map and edit reality. And while it is fine to map out the territory, it is fatal to confuse the two.”
~ Ken Wilber

‘No Boundary: Eastern and Western Approaches to Personal Growth’ 

Once, on a trip to Iceland, Dorianne and I took a tour called the Golden Circle tour. We went to some interesting sights outside of Reykjavik which can be visited in a day. Our tour guide told us a story about his ancestors.

Iceland was settled in the 9th Century by Danes (Vikings) with a few women from Ireland. There were no indigenous people there. While some of the settlers stayed in what became Reykjavik and other settlements, some went out into distant areas and farmed. The guide told us about his grandparents, who lived on a family farm in the far northern part of the island. Over the generations, they had developed capacities to pick up various subtle communications and vibrations from nature. Given the time when the settlers arrived, their ancestors may have already had such capacities, such as to know where the cows were when they were out of sight and to know the weather in advance.

The guide said that his grandparents had these and other abilities, often seen in indigenous cultures where people live simply and close to nature. He said that his father had them as a child, but after moving into Reykjavik as a young adult, he lost them. All the guide, raided in the city, has is the stories.

“God is closer to us, the mystics say, than our breath. Closer than we are to ourselves. St. John of the Cross says, ‘We are in God like a stone is in the earth . . . already in the Center.’ There is no way to get any closer to God than we already are. The spiritual life, then, is not about actually coming closer to God but rather the realization of the communion and union that already exists, and always has, and always will, forever.”
~ Gerald May

The point of this post is not to bemoan the loss of these capacities with the advent of modern culture and technology. Rather it is to note that these capacities are still within us. In fact, many people continue to experience them.

I once brought a woman who had demonstrated clairsentience and clairvoyance and used them in law enforcement cases, to speak at a police training conference I was coordinating in Miami. She spoke about her capacities and experiences and did a demonstration which amazed the people present. That evening during social time, the police personnel present began to tell story after story of their own experiences with the paranormal. The stories ranged from seeing apparitions of those who had died to strange occurrences during their police work. She had given them permission to tell these stories in safety.

These paranormal experiences are generally resistant to empirical study and there are often taboos about speaking about them. They represent an aspect of mind, both the Universal and the individuated.

“The only value that an understanding of psychic phenomena can have, is that without it we do not understand the complete workings of mind. We do not understand experiences people often have; and in a consistent philosophy which deals with mind, the lack of an understanding of psychic phenomena would be inexcusable. For any one in this day to say that powers of clairvoyance, telepathy, thought transference, clairaudience or telekinetic energy are not exercised, is to admit his own ignorance.”
~ Ernest Holmes

The Science of Mind, 1926 Edition

We still reside in a universe without boundaries, and we can cultivate those regions of mind, if not the degree of connection to the Field of universal information that our indigenous ancestors had, at least a deeper and more profound connection to our own intuitive knowing. All of this speaks to the greater realization of the wholeness that we are and bringing it forth into our experience of life.

”Intuition sees through borders and boundaries and finds what the intellect fails to see. Because the intellect fails to see certain realities, it assumes they do not exist and are invented by the imagination.”
~ David Tacey, Jungian author and therapist

As always, your comments are welcomed! Have you had these experiences?

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

LIVING JOYFULLY IN THE SORROWS OF THE WORLD: A RECIPE FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

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“Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.”
~ Joseph Campbell

Reflections on the Art of Being: A Joseph Campbell Companion

During the past two weeks, I attended a retreat and a convention in the United States. Both had the idea of joy as themes, a reflection of the times in which we live.

At the Deepening Roots retreat (LINK) in Carefree, AZ, 35 of us spent four days processing topics from peacemaking to family constellations, to Spiral Dynamics. The focus was doing deep work to awaken a remembrance of joy in our lives for those who had lost it.

At the Centers for Spiritual Living Convention (LINK) in Reno, NV, the theme was “Together in Joy” where presentations focused on bringing joy into our lives as an aspect of our spiritual development.

At the heart of both events, which came on each side of the Easter weekend, was a recognition of the importance of facing our world and our experiences, with a deep connection to our inner joy. It was a case of kindred spirits together in the joyful process of supporting one another in our spiritual development.

“Someone said that our ‘calling’ is the place where our deepest joy intersects with the deepest needs of the earth. I add a further definition: Our calling is the place where our inner joy and our inner terror meet. Our place of both joy and sacrifice.”
~ Sharif Abdullah

Creating a World That Works For All

Living joyfully in the sorrows of the world does not mean that I do not care – quite the opposite in fact. What it means is the quality of the energy that I put into the Universe is more important than any political argument or the need to convince anyone that what I believe is better than what they believe. My greatest work is within, not without. I gain nothing by arguing old arguments; sharing the outrages of the day; or doing battle online with people who, even if convinced of my beliefs, have no power to bring them into being. When I engage, it is to be positive, to plant seeds, and to be unattached to any specific outcome.

“Power demands sad bodies. Power needs sadness because it can dominate it. Joy, in consequence, is resistance, because joy doesn’t give up. Joy as a life force leads us in places where sadness never can.”
~ Gilles Deleuze

When we choose to confront our challenges from a sense of joy, we are empowered in unexpected ways. To joyfully resist oppression, greed, tyranny, and injustice brings a sense of passion to the process. Deep within our soul, joy resides. It is time to bring it forth into the fray of living in these times. We bring joy throughout the process, not only when victory is won. Living joyfully in the sorrows of the world is the essence of being a spiritual warrior, living from our own power and creating a world of beauty, joy, and justice together.

“Attention to gratitude and beauty — to what, in the words of the Buddha, ‘gladdens the mind’ — helps one unfreeze reactivity and attend to what is painful, based on a rhythm of moving back and forth between relaxed or joyous states and painful states. The trauma worker Peter Levine calls this ‘pendulation.’”
~ Joanna Macy

Joy lubricates the psyche. It opens us to greater potential, sharpens our senses, and reminds us of our connection to everyone and everything. It lets us gain a higher perspective on what is to be done and with whom we are dealing. Joy tempers our pain but does not erase it. We need to experience the pains of life to grow and develop. Joy is self-care, strengthening our resolve and bringing clarity of mind and heart.

We are called, as students of New Thought teachings, to bring our best selves to the challenges of humanity. We are called to know who we are, divine expressions of the Creative Intelligence of the Universe. We are called to remember our inner strength and to become immense in these times of challenge to our core values.

The great George Bernard Shaw sums it up well in this memorable quote:

“This is the true joy of life — that being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. That being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.  I want to be thoroughly used up when I die.  For the harder I work the more I live.  I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me.  It’s sort of a splendid torch which I’ve got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.” 
~ George Bernard Shaw

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

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

FOLLOW YOUR BLISS – IN THIS ECONOMY?

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“When the world seems to be falling apart, the rule is to hang on to your own bliss. That is the life that survives.”
~ Joseph Campbell

The essential message of the work of Joseph Campbell over half a century can be distilled down to one often misunderstood phrase: FOLLOW YOUR BLISS. Campbell was a mythologist first, and a Jungian second. He translated much of Carl Jung’s work into English and wrote the introduction to the classic volume “The Viking Portable Jung,” which is on my bookshelf next to my desk.

One of the tenants of Jung’s work is that we all have an essential authentic self within us. He called this blueprint of the authentic self the Soul and said that following the agenda of your soul was the path to personal fulfillment. In other words, finding and embodying who you really are, or “who you came here to be” as Dr. Gary Simmons would say. The soul’s agenda is not a precise blueprint for your life, rather it is a set of possibilities which are perfectly suited to who you really are. There are many ways to follow your soul’s agenda.

Campbell used the term Follow Your Bliss to describe this process of living from your soul’s agenda.

“Following your bliss is not self-indulgent, but vital; your whole physical system knows that this is the way to be alive in this world and the way to give to the world the very best that you have to offer. There IS a track just waiting for each of us and once on it, doors will open that were not open before and would not open for anyone else.”
~ Joseph Campbell

This idea is in harmony with the teachings of The Science of Mind. We are encouraged to find our inner authenticity and live it. As Ernest Holmes often pointed out, when we become externally driven, we suffer. When we are internally driven from a consciousness of our divine nature (the soul’s agenda, our bliss), our lives work well and we can be of service to humanity.

Our current environment of political conflict, war, and all of the social injustices occurring within a churning social media environment is filled with things which can lead us to being externally driven. For some the answer is to withdraw from the fray as a form of self-protection.

Perhaps a healthier and more desirable path would be to seek out and follow our Bliss, bringing our best selves to the surface. Perhaps then, we will have both the courage and determination to work for positive change.

“To find your own way is to follow your bliss. This involves analysis, watching yourself and seeing where real deep bliss is – not the quick little excitement, but the real deep, life-filling bliss.”
~ Joseph Campbell

Deep inner work is the way to open the pathways within to allow the full emergence of your soul’s agenda. We have been conditioned in a variety of ways during our lives to create false senses of self. The deep work is necessary to get underneath that conditioning to the soul, to your bliss.

Our teaching says that the universe works by laws which insure attraction of complimentary energies. Complimentary may be alike, but it can also mean different, like the different pieces of a puzzle which fit together by being in opposition. This means essentially that what is in your life is yours to contend with, to live with, to resolve. If you, like me, are alive during these times, then your presence is required. And your best self is needed.

“If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open doors to you. I say follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”
~ Joseph Campbell

Thank you for reading. Your comments are, of course, welcomed.

It has been a while since I posted because I am working on a book project – more details soon!

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

LIVING AUTHENTICALLY IN CHALLENGING TIMES

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“Whatever happens, stay alive. Don’t die before you’re dead. Don’t lose yourself, don’t lose hope, don’t lose direction.

Stay alive, with yourself, with every cell of your body, with every fiber of your skin. 

Stay alive, learn, study, think, read, build, invent, create, speak, write, dream, design.

Stay alive, stay alive inside you, stay alive also outside, fill yourself with colors of the world, fill yourself with peace, fill yourself with hope.

Stay alive with joy. 

There is only one thing you should not waste in life, and that’s life itself.”

~Virginia Woolf

Lots to be concerned about in the world today. While I don’t want to minimize any of it, I do want to remind you that it is more important that you not minimize yourself – your wisdom, your strength, your grit – during these times.

As far as I know, there has never been a time in human history when there were no challenges, no difficult people, no people who saw things differently, no natural disasters, no storms.

What makes these times different is our access to nearly instantaneous information about most, if not everything on the planet. This abundance of information is available on devices we carry with us throughout our day. We don’t have to go to a special place to access this information, or wait for the morning or evening editions of the newspapers, or the network television news, or for our neighbors to fill us in. It’s all streaming in the present moment.

Now, I know that a fair amount of this information is not accurate, sometimes because all the information is not available yet, sometimes because of innocent mistakes, and sometimes because of deliberate withholding or falsification. So, some of what we get isn’t true.

Of course, it has always been the case that false or mistaken information existed, and in each technological era there have been challenges in determining what is accurate and true.

“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.”

~ John Lubbock 

Which brings me to the topic of the post – how do we live a good and positive life in challenging times?

I think the answer is pretty much what it has always been, do your best to develop a healthy self-concept – to see yourself with radical honesty and to experience your own inner genius. Then, bring that awareness to the challenges the times.

Finding and living from that authentic center happens emotionally:

“Emotional intelligence is about so much more than recognizing, naming, honoring, feeling and expressing your authentic emotions. It also consists of alchemizing and transmuting them, releasing the heart wall, healing the emotional body and developing emotional regulation skills.”

~ Mary Amhasnaa

It happens in recognizing the validity of your own story:

“Never for the sake of convenience or acceptance give up the authenticity of your journey.”

~ Bishop Yvette Flunder

The authentic center brings with it your authentic voice:

“The voice of doubt, shame, and guilt blaring in our heads is not our voice. It is a voice we have been given by a society steeped in shame. It is the ‘outside voice.’ Our authentic voice, our ‘inside voice,’ is the voice of radical self-love!”

~ Sonya Renee Taylor, The Body Is Not an Apology

And the realization of the authentic self carries us through our suffering:

“Jung observed that a neurosis is always found in the flight from authentic suffering. Naturally, no one wants to suffer, but Jung’s observation suggests that there is a distinction between authentic and inauthentic suffering.”

~ James Hollis

When I am centered in the realization of my authentic self, I find qualities such as love, courage despite fear, clarity of purpose, the ability to see people as they are, and the recognition of what is mine to do. It brings me into my own power.

“Power is about presence. It’s the energy of knowing that you are who you are and speaking and acting from your authentic self. It doesn’t matter what your work is; it is your presence that’s the power…the expression of who you are.”

~ Marion Woodman

We are called in these times, in our times, to be immense. To face our fears and demand that humanity become The Beloved Community. Perhaps not in this time, or even our own lifetimes, but the seeds which have been planted by countless ancestors need to be nurtured and kept alive even as we plant more seeds day by day.

The point of this essay is this:

SPIRITUAL BELIEF WITHOUT PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH AND STABILITY IS DANGEROUS TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS.

We must develop our emotional intelligence along with our spiritual growth, doing this by beginning with our inner work, our spiritual practices, to recognize and call forth our inner power, wisdom, and love to be applied with clarity to the challenges we face. And by seeking psychological and emotional development, if not via our spiritual community, from other trusted sources.

From this place of realization of who we authentically are, we speak truth to power; we stand for fairness, justice, and equality; and we act in accordance with what we know to be right.

“The question is not why are we so infrequently the people we really want to be, but why do we so infrequently want to be the people we really are. Living a life of fulfillment that offers something of value to the world starts with radical self-knowledge, self-awareness and self-acceptance. Our task is to be who we are at the deepest level of being.”

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer, The Dance

As always, your comments are welcome. Please share with others who may be interested.

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

WE ARE IN A TIME OF POLYCRISIS – WHAT IS BEING CALLED FORTH FROM WITHIN?

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“If you’ve been feeling confused and as though everything is impacting on you all at the same time, this is not a personal, private experience. This is actually a collective experience.”

~ Adam Tooze, Historian

According to Wikipedia, a polycrisis (from the French polycrise) is a situation in which multiple, distinct crises (economic, environmental, geopolitical, social, or technological) occur simultaneously and interact in ways that amplify each other, producing outcomes more severe than the sum of the individual crises.

There has been a barrage of bad news for several decades now; some of it accurate some not, some a result of the increase in media promoting ideology and the explosion of social media platforms. We are all affected by the state of humanity and the planet, some more than others. But we are all in a state of psychological and spiritual challenge – needing to find something greater within ourselves to bring forth to express in these times.

Some see this time of polycrisis as leading toward an evolutionary jump – as has been the case so often in history. The late futurist, Barbara Marx Hubard saw it this way.

“Many see looming catastrophe, but few of us have realized that this crisis is driving us toward positive change, a quantum transformation.” 

~ Barbara Marx Hubbard

“There is a system within nature that seems to lead to a crisis of one form of development that begins to become chaotic, begins to come into greater disorder and greater breakdown, and there is a pattern in these quantum jumps in which the system jumps to a higher order.”

~ Barbara Marx Hubbard

While this certainly may be the case, it does not lessen the pressure that we face. These evolutionary jumps often leave many behind, generate chaos, even wars and death. Any evolutionary leap requires some chaos, some destruction of the status quo, often suddenly and powerfully. Evidence shows us that evolution is careless of the individual in its endless drive toward something more. Evidence also shows us that what we have been doing is insufficient for the present and for an increasingly challenging future. So, what are we to do?

We know that we humans can rise to challenges, no matter how difficult. Communities come together when the river rises or the hurricane hits; people rush into danger to save complete strangers. One thing to know is that we all have within us this strength and compassion – our Soul contains everything we need to survive and thrive. We need to learn to bring it forth consciously and consistently.

“Often a collapse, a breakdown, a depression — some sort of unsolvable crisis is required before the soul’s message is heard.”

~ Phil Rockstroh

Some of us may require some significant breakdown before we can see the issue, deal with the threat, or listen to the soul. In our current state of polycrisis, there are certainly an ample number of seemingly unsolvable crises unfolding.

“In moments of spiritual crisis we fall back upon what worked before – through the reassertion of our old values in belligerent ways.”

~ James Hollis

Our calling is to transform ourselves, our communities, and our societies. To accomplish this, we must heal ourselves of our limited conditioning, to do regular practices which support this healing, and to engage in our communities and society as an imperfect, but largely healed person. This necessitates confronting our inner demons, our repressed shadow elements, and any sense of our own unworthiness. All of this is on our agenda, and unless we attend to it in a loving, disciplined, and compassionate manner, we will be stuck where we are, unable to bring the best our ourselves to the challenges we face.

It also requires us to grieve what we have lost and what we are consciously giving up to allow us our spiritual growth. We will need to say goodbye to some of our own sacred cows; to release what does not serve our growth, and to grieve properly.

‎”Wake up! Your word is all powerful. Your consciousness is one with Omnipotence. Your thought is infinite. Your destiny is eternal and your home is everlasting heaven.”

~ Ernest Holmes

The critical role of spiritual community in this process is to teach the teaching and to provide a container for development along the painful path of self-realization and awakening. Our church community needs to develop as well, particularly the spiritual leaders and teachers who will need to be capable of the tough love and compassion necessary for this transformation to occur. The Beloved Community will only be realized when enough of us have done the work of realizing who we are and then fully accepting our divine nature.

Whatever and how many crises are touching our lives, we must know that we have within us the capacity to survive and thrive.

“Our culture makes it hard to get in touch with the genuine dimensions of our despair, and until we do, our power of creative response to planetary crisis will be crippled. Until we can grieve for our planet and its future inhabitants, we cannot fully feel or enact our love for them. Such grief is frequently suppressed, not only because it is socially awkward, but also because it is both hard to credit and very painful. At the root of both these inhibitions lies a dysfunctional notion of the self, as an isolated and fragile entity.”

~ Joanna Macy

Join me in affirming:

This is my year of resurrection! I willingly release what no longer serves me in my spiritual growth and commit to the path of awakening and self-realization beginning now.

I know that the True Me is contained in my fullness in the Soul of my being. I commit to doing the work to reconnect with this source of wisdom, healing, and love within me. I am becoming the best version of me, which is enough to live the life of my dreams AND to be a constructive element in every community to which I belong.

I begin now and revisit this statement every day as I do my spiritual practices. As I do this work moment by moment each day, I envision myself whole and complete.

And so it is.

Copyright 2026 – Jim Lockard

ON INTEGRITY

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Integrity is a shared process.

Integrity is interrelational.

Integrity is contextual.

Integrity is integrating.

Integrity is unscripted.

Integrity is a kind of super-attention.

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

Integrity is willingness to learn together.

~ Nora Bateson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s look at these beliefs:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

SELF-TALK IS A KEY TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH – PART 2, FOR NEURODIVERSE THINKERS

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“There is no single spectrum. Every child colors their world in their own way—and every hue is worthy of love.”
~ Dr. Simbi Animashaun, 
Spectrum of Love: My Journey Through Autism (LINK)

“For anyone who was ever told they were too much or not enough, who tried to fit into boxes that were never made for them, who was told to quiet their spark or dim their light to make others comfortable, and who has been waiting their whole lives to hear: You are exactly right as you are. It is your time to thrive.”
~ Ronen Dancziger

The Therapist’s Handbook for Neurodivergent People (LINK)

NOTE: I am not in any way an expert in the subject matter below. I have done some research and had a number of conversations and some experiences with neurodiverse thinkers. The purpose of this post is to bring awareness to our New Thought communities.

In Part 1 (LINK) of this series, we explored the importance of “self-talk,” of the process of thinking and feeling which builds new beliefs or supports existing ones in the subconscious. Much of the practice of New Thought teachings involves using directed affirmative thought with appropriate images and emotions. For many, perhaps most, people, the ability to do this is a natural part of life.

But we know that everyone does not think in the same way. Neurodivergent thinkers (usually defined as ADD/ADHD, some Autism Spectrum, Aphantasia, and more), have been a too-often overlooked group historically in New Thought. There are a number of reasons for this, mainly a lack of awareness of the dynamics of neurodynamic ways of thinking, and people often did not let teachers know they were neurodivergent because they may have been ashamed or, in some cases, unaware that they had different thinking dynamics.

“Neurodiversity is not just a matter of social justice, it is a matter of human rights.”
~ Judy Singer, author, and activist

I recall several students who told me that they did not experience mental images (Aphantasia). After learning this, I would usually ask at the beginning of a class is anyone had problems with mental images. A few did. I need to teach differently for them – some of them could not imagine emotions, either. This article in The New Yorker Magazine’s Nov 3, 2025 issue speaks to this issue, but may be paywalled (LINK). In the article, some people with Aphantasia did not know until adulthood that their thinking dynamics were different. They would hear about people thinking in images and believe that it was a metaphor or something.

From the article: “For some reason, these sentences revealed all at once to Nick what in the whole course of his life he had not realized: that it was possible to see pictures in your mind and use those pictures to reëxperience your past. This was startling information.[1]”

The term ‘neurodiversity’ was coined in 1997 by Australian sociologist Judy Singer. In her words: “As a word, ‘neurodiversity’ describes the whole of humanity. But the neurodiversity movement is a political movement for people who want their human rights.”  

Professionals concerned with neurodiversity/neurodivergence are in a “sorting-out” phase, as the definitions have expanded to encompass a wider range of experiences than the core ‘neurodivergent’ presentations typically labelled as autism, ASD or ADHD. This issue is addressed here (LINK).

“Your neurodivergent brain isn’t something to overcome. It’s something to understand, appreciate, and work with. Let’s figure out how to do that, together. You Already Have Everything You Need.”
~ Ronen Dancziger

“Neurodivergence doesn’t follow a straight line. It curves, overlaps, and branches into complex, beautiful configurations.”
~ Ronen Dancziger

For those of us who teach what we call “mental science,” this is, or ought to be, a wakeup call. When we say that our teaching is for everyone, how do we define that? While some neurodivergent people may be unable to direct their thinking, imaginations, and emotions toward specific ideas, goals, and outcomes, many do have that capability. While not being line neurotypical people, neurodivergent people are capable of great mental abilities. For example, it is said that a significant number of scientists and mathematicians are neurodivergent in some ways.

I don’t have a prescription for the best way for New Thought teachers to help those whose thinking patterns do not match our normal teaching patterns. Other than the patience to develop the awareness of the difficulties some will face, and the willingness to seek resources and other assistance when such cases arise. Here are some resources.

RESOURCES:

National Library of Medicine, Topic: Neurodiversity – (LINK)

Neurodiversity Hub – (LINK)

Carlton Training: Adapting Teaching Methods for Neurodiverse Adult Learners – (LINK)

Thriving Wellness Center – Resources for Neurodivergent Adults – (LINK)

Heinemann Publishing – Neurodiversity Resources for Educators – (LINK)

These should get you started.

Our self-talk is critical to our expressions of our true self – of who we really are. It is important that everyone who can learn to make their self-talk more effective in this regard have the opportunity to do so.

“No, autism is not a ‘gift’. For most, it is an endless fight against schools, workplaces, and bullies. But, under the right circumstances, given the right adjustments, it CAN be a superpower.”
~ Greta Thunberg: environmental activist

“Neurodiversity is not about changing people. It’s about changing society’s perception of people.”
~ Nick Walker, author and activist

As always, your comments are welcomed. If you want to comment about your own or someone else’s experience with neurodiversity, please respect privacy in your comments. Please share this post with others who may be interested.

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard

[1] From: Some People Can’t See Mental Images. The Consequences Are Profound, by Larissa MacFarquhar, New Yorker, Nov 3, 2025

SELF-TALK IS A KEY TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH –

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PART 1, FOR NEUROTYPICAL THINKERS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Creative Mind and Success

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

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

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

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

Copyright 2025 – Jim Lockard