We have more blog monsters! A couple of tween girls drew these. I really like this colorful one, which is actually a "bloog" monster.
Today I read an article about the use of psychedelic drugs in the treatment of psychiatric problems, and the woman writing the article had a bad trip and was frustrated at how little is known about what causes them. Not long after that she went on a hardcore meditation retreat, and that just messed her up more. She said Buddhist monks have long known that some people have bad experiences with meditation, and that it's considered a high-reward, high-risk activity. She did concede that psychiatrists using ayahuasca and peyote and other things that were traditionally used in religious rituals have divorced them from their ancient spiritual origins, but she said there's nothing to predict who will have a bad trip, such as preexisting psychiatric conditions, family background, etc. I wondered if people having bad trips were upset to experience the Divine and realize there is something more powerful than themselves. I thought of a guy I met years ago who said he hated going into Gothic cathedrals because "it makes me feel so much smaller than God, and I hate that! I like to think of him being my size." Uh, what?? So if he is weirded out by going into a building, imagine how shattered a person might be who goes on this spiritual quest and finds out that they are not the ultimate answer to everything.
At Adoration I pondered this idea, and I thought of myself. I'm not the humblest person (and it would hardly be humble of me to say I am!), but I've always had a healthy respect for the Divine as Other than myself and obviously far more powerful, intelligent, and kind. When God spoke directly to me the other day, I was in a very safe mindset to encounter Divine Greatness, because I was extremely contrite about hurting someone and crying about people feeling unloved. So I was a) thinking I sucked, and b) focused on the needs of others. Maybe it is downright dangerous to try to pursue contact with the Divine when you are not in a good state to do so. A good state might be, for example, right after Confession, when you've just gotten done thinking about how much you suck and you're also extremely grateful for the mercy God has shown you. I hadn't thought about it, partly because most of the people I know also understand God is incomprehensibly greater than they are, but some rando who wants to "see the face of God" and does some drug or meditation to facilitate that might be so deeply shaken by how much greater God is than he is that he just can't get over it. This is probably why in all religious traditions you have to work and pray and get spiritually fit for years before you start messing around with this stuff. Also, I wasn't looking for a direct encounter with God when it happened; yes, I was praying very hard for people who feel unloved to know they are loved, but I wasn't expecting a direct answer. And - this might be the most important part - I didn't just moon around over God talking to me; I went out and did something about what He said to me. That's the part so many of these people who want instant enlightenment are missing - the holy is most present in quotidian existence. To work is to pray.
Famous Hat
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