Subtle Topics Getting into the Mainstream of Attention
In a pause during the workshop on image language I had a talk with a colleague who is interested in yoga and spirituality. She just has finished a psychological formation over 2.5 years and is now planning to participate in a formation in esoterics, as she said. I found out on the web that it is a “spiritually oriented therapy“, by a retired pychiatrist who was head of a clinic and is working together with a healer. He is quite known here, because already before his retirement he broke the barrier between orthodox psychiatry and spiritual healing, something part of his colleagues didn’t appreciate. My friend said that for the next year the course is already full, she is trying to get into it for the following year. The spiritual psychiatrist is going with the times: You can have telephonic counseling for € 2.16/Min. …
Though still marginalised, it is interesting to see how subtle topics are slowly getting into the mainstream of attention: Last week I came across a website of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam, where you now can study Western Esotericism. They have a major studies trajectory “Mysticism and Western Esotericism”, with topics like Neoplatonism, Manicheism, Sufis, Kabbalah, Mesmerism, Occultism, Illuminism, and they offer courses on “Heksen, Ketters en Neopaganisten” (Witches, Heretics and Neo-Paganism), “New Religious Movement and New Age”, “Filosofen als grenswachters” (Philosophers as frontier guards)…
Having gone through long years of studies in similar fields, I don’t think that an academic approach of studying different concepts of esotericism is the right path into fields of the higher mind and beyond, for it demands more inner work than outer (mental) studies. But may such an approach inspire people to enter into a path of self-transformation.
Building an enlightened house of life. Photo of a room in the house of a friend
