The Final Frontier

Full disclosure: I'm a Trekkie, or to be more politically correct, a Trekker. I have loved Star Trek in its various iterations since I was a child. By the way, if you have not yet seen Star Trek: Into Darkness, beam yourself over to the nearest movie theater for another stellar performance by Zachary Quinto (Mr. Spock) as the crew battles its most treacherous villain, portrayed by the uber-talented Benedict Cumberbatch. The film explores how a peaceful society obsessed with fear becomes violent and violates the very values it is supposedly trying to protect. Whether or not Star Trek is your speed, check out the video interview below with Sir Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation). While the amateur videographer must have used inferior dilithium crystals (apologies for the geeky Star Trek reference), the content is moving and important. Patrick Stewart reveals how his father abused him and his mother starting when Patrick was only 5 years old. This spurred him to become involved as an adult in safe houses and domestic violence prevention. He says, "I do what I do in my mother's name because I couldn't help her then. Now I can."

Patrick Stewart recently learned that his father suffered from severe shell shock (now known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as a result of serving with British forces in World War II.  (For an excellent portrayal of the effects of battle on a person's psyche, see Patrick Stewart in "Family", which is the next episode after what is arguably the greatest Star Trek story, "Best of Both Worlds", in which Captain Picard is abducted and assimilated by The Borg.)

Today's veterans returning from years of trauma from our ongoing wars, need thorough, proactive support, including alternative modalities like EMDR, EFT, and hypnotherapy, in addition to traditional talk therapy. While our government's response to this mental health crisis is improving, it has been woefully inadequate, even disgraceful, as veteran suicides have skyrocketed. How do we honor and support those who do violence in our name by giving them the support they need to heal and return to non-violent civility? Ancient cultures had rituals for soldiers returning from war in which the entire community would join together with the soldiers to purge themselves of the blood that was on all their hands. At most we hold a parade and then move on with our comfortable lives as if nothing ever happened.

Domestic violence, one war after another, mass shootings, those returning from our wars suffering from PTSD who are told to "get it together" or "soldier on"...these are all symptoms of a culture that has not learned to deal with its anger...or its fear. How do we transmute our anger and fear into creation rather than destruction? How do we mature so that we direct and integrate our emotions rather than explode or implode? This is the next step in our evolution as a culture and as a species.

We have been at war/in conflict for 216 of our 237 years as a nation. Are we truly as peace-loving as we claim we are? By facing the unpleasant reality of our violent propensities as a people, we bring this toxic secret into the light so that its power over us dissolves. By embracing our personal emotional traumas with courage, compassion and vulnerability, we boldly enter the final frontier, which is not space but the shadow of our human psyche.

The link to the video: Patrick Stewart interview

P.S. There is still space for those who wish to join us for Mindful Photography: The Art of Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes, which starts next Monday night.

How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take to Change a Person?

This week I unleash my "Inner Geek" with a Star Trek reference. In an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard is interrogated by a sadistic captor, Gul Madred. Day after day, Madred tells Captain Picard to look at an overhead lamp with four light bulbs. He asks Picard, "How many lights do you see?" When Captain Picard responds with the correct number, he is tortured and starved. Madred wants Captain Picard to claim that he sees five lights, when, in fact, there are only four. Shortly after he is rescued, Captain Picard confesses to his ship's counselor that toward the end of his captivity he believed he could see five lights. Self-delusion is a common occurrence, particularly when we are under duress. It's easy to see it in others. The homophobic preacher battling his own repressed sexual orientation. The "peace" activist who is angry and belligerent.

Of course, by definition, we tend not to see our own self-delusions. We may see ourselves as basically kind, generous, virtuous, open-minded or sophisticated. We tend not to see, however, the times in which we are or have the capacity to be mean-spirited, greedy, promiscuous, judgmental or a total geek.

Self-delusions can be a gift.  In a crisis, we only see the part of reality we can actually process. In our formative years, the emerging ego creates a partially-true identity that helps us navigate the tricky social structures in which we live. However, to be mature and whole and avoid self-sabotage, these delusions must eventually give way to a more accurate perspective.

When I was in Japan, I went to verdant Mount Koya-san. Accessed only by funicular, over 100 Buddhist temples populate its slopes. At the temple where I spent the night, guests are invited each morning to join the monks for a fire ceremony.  All of the monks except one sit together on the right side of a screen that divides the temple in half. They play drums and chant while surrounded by massive urns that house their sect's sacred scrolls. On the other side of the partition sits one monk stoking a large fire. The fire symbolizes the goal of the chanting meditation, which is not only to burn away our self-delusions, but also to illuminate them when they return throughout the day so that we can make more conscious choices that are appropriate for the moment.

Besides meditation, methods of burning away and illuminating self-delusions include:

• Ask a partner or trusted friend for honest feedback without defending yourself
• Pause for self-reflection once in a while when you sense an unseemly urge, thought or feeling emerge within you
• Journal about what you consider to be unbearable in other people and then get real about the ways in which you behave (or are trying with every fiber of your being not to behave) in a similar way
• Lighten up. These self-delusions are part of the human coping system and are not unique to you. When from a place of objectivity you see them for what they are, there's no need to take them personally or too seriously. You might even laugh at yourself...and everyone else.

What have you found helpful in illuminating your self-delusions? Please share your ideas in the comments section below.

Illuminating our self-delusions takes courage to boldly go within in order to become more present, clear and real in our daily lives. Every time we see through a delusion, we have an "aha" experience as a light bulb goes on. How many such light bulbs does it take to change a person? Who knows? Wisdom is less about changing and more about accepting the fullness of who we are, as we are, and then choosing to act from our brighter nature.  I can think of at least five Star Trek references I could use to make this point crystal clear, but I am choosing not to unfurl my Inner Geek again...for the moment.