[Latin, I believe]. A creed; a set of professed opinions...
Creed: 1. Eccl. A brief, authoritative formula of religious belief;
specif., the Apostles', the Nicene, or the Athanasian Creed. The Creed
usually means the Apostles' creed. 2. a Any formulation or confession of
religious faith. b A summary of principles or opinions professed or adhered
to, in science, politics, etc.
The Current Items
God. God is not a being with emotions. God is the nature of
things; the source and the mystery. January 1998.
Determinism. The Universe operates deterministically. Humans
do not have free will.
If I could perceive everything, I would see how everyone is doing exactly
as they as they have been determined to. January 1998.
Perception of Free Will. The human perception of personal
will as separate from determinism is valuable as an evolutionary creation
and is important to consider, although our perception of "choice" is rather
inaccurate. January 1998.
Power of the Present. In the circumstances of any human at
any given time, there tends to be the means for him to met his current
and future needs, which can be accessed if he has appropriate habits of
thought. January 1998.
Effects of Emotional Treatments. Affection and affirmation
tend to result in spiritual growth whereas isolation and negation tend
to result in defensive behavior. Spiritual growth is any change which
results in more harmony/congruence. January 1998.
Facts a. Facts play a supporting role to patterns of thought;
whereas facts are always manifestations of thought patterns, thought patterns
rise to new levels through affirmation and affection. New levels
may or may not also correspond to an accumulation of additional facts.
January 1998.
Facts b. In individual thought, popular language and particular
conversations, facts are often metaphors or symbols for feelings. January
1998.
Facts c. Books which contain factual answers may not provide manna.
January 1998.
Contradictions. God is such that a human's perception of the
world tends to have contradictions, such that any set of facts or circumstances
have a vital link to their opposites. This results in a range of
psychological behaviors:
People often say one thing when they mean the opposite
To develop a more appropriate response to a given situation, it is important
first to affirm the old response (a combination of affirmation by others
and fully enacting it by the self)
To take a Quest seriously is to take Questing seriously; to let go of some
goals results in achieving them. January 1998.
Spheres of Influence. People tend to think they can achieve
results by spreading their sphere of influence, whereas often results are
better achieved by limiting one's own influence so that others' grow into
the space one has left open. This requires a deeper awareness of
how society functions because of individual empowerment, rather than despite
it. January 1998.
The world is already exactly the way I want it. January 1998.
Feelings. Anger, judging, hurting are all important emotions
to feel and to enact for my own spiritual growth; my fantasies of what
"should be" happening instead are manifestations of my own loneliness and
powerlessness in my own life. January 1998.
Unanswerable Questions. Some questions seem to be unanswerable;
to Quest for them may be a valuable activity nonetheless; for instance:
is the common soul becoming more complicated or more simple?
does an individual human soul always respond to any situation by growing
spiritually?
how is this creed universal? January 1998
Balance. Balance tends to re-emerge as valuable. January 1998.
I love you. Sometimes when you say "I Love You", you put the snake
back in the bag. January 1998.
Newness. The perception that things are new tends to be exaggerated.
January 1998.
Prayer. Prayer can be a valuable part of spiritual growth.
January 1998.
Manipulators. "God can't stop a manipulator; he can only give them
consequences for their actions" --Jillian (January 1998) -- I'm trying
not to take manipulators so seriously
Comments made by persons. Remember, any comment made by a person
about another person or thing, saying something about that thing, is really
saying something about themselves. Aug 15, 1995. The same goes for anything
they think or feel as well (Nov 7)
Judgment. Remember, at any time everyone is always doing the best
they can. Who are you to judge them? You have no idea what they've been
through. Respect their understanding of themselves and their decisions
about how to conduct themselves. Aug 15, 1995.
Will A person can make their own experience. A person can choose
how to view a situation, and the result of viewing that situation a certain
way will change them in such a way that they also affect the situations
they will find themselves in next. August 15, 1995.
The Older Items
Feelings A person is usually somewhat in control of their feelings;
the extent, however is variable. So that, instead of feeling betrayed,
perhaps I can feel empathy. August 15, 1995. Reason for removal:
what does this mean, I can't decipher my own writing. June 1998
Honesty. Honesty includes the idea that all thoughts are questionable.
No beliefs or values somehow deserve not to be questioned. Ultimately,
honesty is personal and can be met only with enormous personal effort.
It cannot be understood (though it may be approached) in isolation from
other people, or neglecting any part of yourself. March 3, 1995 Reason
for removal: an interesting thought but not right for everybody whenever
I insist they invoke it! Aug 15, 1995
Apathy and antipathy. If something is uninteresting to you, or seems
unimportant, letting yourself be forced into trying to make an effort will
certainly succeed in increasing your inability to overcome your problems
with it. People are born with an interest in everything. Their interests
are quelched by emotional experiences and can be uncovered only with time
and encouragement; Like removing a splinter with the wrong technique and
tools, these things may be shoved in ever farther. March 3, 1995. Reason
for removal: feels too judgemental, I think. I either don't have the
right or the confidence to speak for other people right now. Aug 15, 1995
Understand, do not change A person might see something about themselves
that doesn't seem right. When I encounter this situation, rather than trying
to change it, I try to figure out what it is that makes me this way. What
about myself; what in history; what about humans; what about our society?
I try to look at it in a number of different ways. I try to figure out
what my needs really are. The result of this process is that the original
"problem" is transcended -- it's no longer a problem because I've figure
out that it's a symptom of not understanding who I am and what I need;
I'm especially successful when I become honest outside to the world about
the way things really feel inside. The alternative is when a person tries
to change a symptom, or lies to themselves (and others) that the symptom
or feeling is even there, saying it's not. The result there is that this
person develops a more complex complex than before and has to go through
refiguring out this thing they're hiding (the symptom) before they can
figure out the thing that it was hiding (the real need). A person can at
any time be accumulating more layers of complexes/defenses (going more
insane), coping at some level of complexes/defenses, or becoming increasingly
aware of deeper levels of needs (becoming more sane). An example
of levels of needs: someone thinks they've got a drinking problem.
Well, really, they might try and force themselves to stop drinking. But
then they'd be smoking cigarettes, coffee, dope, etc, before they know
it... On the other hand, they might ask themselves what it is that makes
them drink like that. Then they might realize that in general they are
an addict. They are just prone to addictive behavior, period. Well, they
could try and cope with that as it is, and might be successful with a patch
(bandaid) like "never start anything that might become an addiction"; or,
they could somehow realize what it is that gives them that kind of personality
-- this becomes very personal and can't be done in general or without real
people to talk to, but I hope you get the picture about how there are these
levels of needs. You couldn't jump from one to three down, either, though,
or at least I haven't seen much evidence of it ever happening but maybe
it could happen. Nov 7, 1995. Reason for removal: boring... June
1998
My Home Page.
ckawecki@hampshire.edu
Last modified: June 1998