Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
April, 2016
Improvisational Theology
In 1979 Elaine Pagels wrote a book titled The Gnostic Gospels (Vintage Books), in which she noted that for the Gnostics, being considered “spiritually mature” or “initiated” was to write something that is stimulatingly original. That’s how I understood it. We have been living through millennia of quasi-worship of those who presume to know enough […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, History, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments »
The Individuality of Spirituality
This essay builds on the other essay published today, “Objective Reality,” and also points to personal expectations that go “Beyond Psychotherapy.” First, note that many of the procedures that constitute “psychotherapy” as a corrective for problematic thinking have applications beyond the medical model! They may be used for personal development, which in turn includes many […]
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“Objective” “Reality” ?
I do not wish to quibble over the fact that our thinking refers to a past event, but I would note that two perfectly sincere people who in addition like each other remember the past differently, This happened not because it was in the past so much as the fact that remembering derives from mental […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, Follies, Psychological Literacy | No Comments »
Reflections on the History of Consciousness
I’m sensing that we live in a time when changes are speeding up in so many ways. One “window” on change that I’m closer to is the history of medicine. Another “window” is the history of science. I was reading an interesting book that noted a literal shift in world-views, from a geocentric to a […]
Posted in Current Events, History | No Comments »
More God-Talk
I speculate. I dare to do this, because nobody who has any authority that I respect says thou shalt not speculate, and anyway, it’s not about you or others, it’s just witnessing to what works for me. If it stimulates you, if you agree in any way, or you find you disagree, it’s all grist […]
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Off The Deep End
I have indeed gone off the deep end. To someone in the shallow end, this is insanely nuts. To those who swim well, well, that’s where the swimming is best. One cannot readily say that “higher” consciousness is “better,” because in ignorance there is bliss. No, that’s somewhat elitist. Actually, certain advantages accrue to those […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Mind-Spectrums, Spirituality and Philosophy | No Comments »
Yiddish: Some Thoughts
I’m am a non-religious Jew. There are millions of us. Many are fairly assimila-ted. More are My own spirituality has ranged in my life from nominal and dutiful student to informed agnosticism to atheism to mysticism to process philosophy to quasi-Spinozan confabulation. In spite of and informed by all these, I harbor some fascination with […]
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Lollygagging
What a wonderful word. To amble and even ramble in a lackadaisical way. As in “Don’t lollygag, now.” But indeed, my age, the 70s, is a luxurious time to lollygag. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkle were a popular singing duo in the later 60s and early 70s, and in 1967 they recorded a song titled […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Foolin Around, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry, Wisdom-ing | No Comments »
The Humanities in Medicine
One of my roles is as an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the local branch of Texas A&M Medical School, where I give occasional lectures on psychotherapy. Allied to that, I have an interest in supporting those who would promote the “Humanities in Medicine.” There’s a sore need for this, because most medical students […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Book Reviews, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry, Wisdom-ing | No Comments »