Encouraged by a great teacher of religion and philosophy, I spent much of my high school and college years surfing the internet (before the time of Google and Wikipedia) to learn about a variety of philosophical and religious traditions. Having eschewed the stuffy Judaism of my youth, I found myself developing a practice of BuddhistContinue reading “Purim, St. Patty’s, and My Participatory Pluralism Approach to Religious Practice”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
“I Can’t Breathe”
I recently completed a 10-day course in Vipassana meditation at the Southern California Vipassana Center. This course is free for anyone that wants to participate, paid for by donations from others who have completed this same course. Although I have been practicing some form of meditation more-or-less consistently for almost 20 years, this experience ofContinue reading ““I Can’t Breathe””
Swan Song of the White Ego, Part 2: Return of the Barbarian
“A relation with any archetype involves the danger of possession, usually marked by inflation” – James Hillman (1967) . These words have been ringing in my ears since the failed coup on the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. In June, amidst the Black Lives Matter protests, I wrote an article called “Swan Song of theContinue reading “Swan Song of the White Ego, Part 2: Return of the Barbarian”
Dreaming into the New Year
The New Year tends to give us a glimpse of utopia, a time to imagine that this next year will be a good one; whatever the trials and tribulations of the past, this next round will bring redemption. That seems to ring especially true as we transition from 2020 to 2021 – from a yearContinue reading “Dreaming into the New Year”
My Brother’s Keeper
In the Jewish world this Saturday, everyone began the Torah from the beginning, reading Genesis 1:1-6:8. For those unfamiliar, this portion of the Bible – called “Bereshit” for the first words, “In the Beginning” – is a lot of material, covering everything from the Creation of the World to the tale of Adam and EveContinue reading “My Brother’s Keeper”
Repairing Broken Glass
How often poetry and pun intersect with prophecy. This past week, while scanning my daily email from the Los Angeles Times, I chuckled at Thursday’s headline: “Smoke and Ash ‘Everywhere’”. I couldn’t not hear the line that any rap fan worth their weight in a fat gold chain would know. The chorus for Grandmaster FlashContinue reading “Repairing Broken Glass”
The Myth About the Police
I’m thinking about myth. Now, in a sense, you could say I am a doctor of myth: my training in psychology has been to use myth as a lens for understanding dreams, symptoms, and psyche. Much of that training has been an attempt to apply myth, symbol, and symptom to our current epoch – inContinue reading “The Myth About the Police”
Juneteenth and a New Jubilee
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about the last class I taught in a year-long Jewish studies course for 8th and 9th graders. I felt like the learning we did and what the students got out of it was striking and worth sharing about. Yet, I waited to share because I didn’t seeContinue reading “Juneteenth and a New Jubilee”
Swan Song of the White Ego
Over the last week, I’ve been grappling with how best to contribute – amidst appropriate grief (for what exactly, I’m not quite sure yet) and gratitude that (white) people are finally waking up. I realize that my perspective as a Community-oriented Depth-Psychologist is a unique one – a viewpoint that I believe will shed some lightContinue reading “Swan Song of the White Ego”
Three Faces of Soul
As I watch the sun set on this beautiful Friday, I am present to the nearness of the Jewish sabbath day of rest – as well as to the last day of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. To my Jewish brethren, Shabbat Shalom. To those for whom G-d is One and Muhammad is his prophet,Continue reading “Three Faces of Soul”
Community Alchemist 