Most all of us run at a deficit of positive energy and seek a “higher power,” wh
Most all of us run at a deficit of positive energy and seek a “higher power,” what psychiatrist Donald Wilbert defined as “whatever facilitates a connection to positive energy.” In traditional religious practices this role is filled by a saint, savior, or sacred text, but in a socially and spiritually fragmented society we turn in our desperation to other sources–food, sex, drugs, media, and of course those around us (most of whom are equally depleted and unable to satisfy their own needs, let alone ours). This process is unsustainable because, as Dr. Wilbert pointed out, we CONSUME our higher power–the Body and Blood of Christ in the form of the Eucharist, for example. When we elevate those around us to the status of “higher power,” depending on them wholly to replenish our energy, a cannibalistic and ultimately self/destructive cycle ensues, as per “energetic transaction” Types 4-6 defined here:thomastapir.tumblr.com/post/639176005686362112/something-ive-been-thinking-about-for-a-long-timeEqually damaging is the tendency to seek “power” in what Dr. Wilbert deemed “counterfeit energy”–chemicals affecting the metabolism and nervous system. We CONSUME the drink, the drug, even prescription medication when abused, in the attempt to achieve communion with that boundless font of universal divine energy, and yet the “energy” thus derived is synthetic and temporary, and ultimately leaves us more depleted than we were initially. Ideally we seek “higher power(s)” in inexhaustible sources–nature, meditation (or prayer, if you prefer), exercise, art, music, productive creative work, positive and mutually beneficial energy exchanges with others (Type 1 interactions as per above).Inspired by a discussion with a friend who noted the similarity between the engraved character on a mood-altering pill and the “ON” or “POWER” symbol employed in contemporary electronic devices. This observation struck me as perfectly emblematic of our culture’s fixation on superficial “pharmaceutical solutions” to the inherent dysphoria of the human condition. -- source link
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