Yes, I’m Still Alive (And I’m a Live Wire)

No. I’m not dead. Yet. Although this blog sort of has been for the last six weeks. I’ve been busy traveling, and I finally experienced snow for the very first time in my life. Ever. Heck, I even lost my snowboarding virginity up in Northern California, at Olympic Valley, nearby Lake Tahoe.

Fun.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to build that snowman I’ve been wishing to build since childhood.

Next time.

Also, my brother recently got married. The wedding celebration in Khartoum has now been over for a while. Phew, please don’t ask me about the ridiculous summer heat.

Blogging to resume shortly. Meanwhile, check out this cool personality test The LA Times is offering. I’m a Live Wire, and I must say, unlike many of those dumb personality quizzes you find online, this one is actually pretty accurate. It’s sooo me.

Here are the result details.

You’re a Live Wire

You like to be stimulated emotionally and intellectually. It’s all about striking the right balance! You have quite traditional values and believe in working hard to achieve your goals. And, when the work day is over, it’s time to kick back, relax and enjoy your downtime, hanging with friends, relaxing with the kids or enjoying one of your favorite interests, whether that’s on the sports pitch, at the mall or in a theater… Committed and loyal, family is really important to you. You’re successful and empowered by the opportunity you have to live the life that you want. You value your health and financial security and enjoy being able to create a happy home.

You appreciate intelligent conversation and enjoy the opportunity to express yourself and share your views with your friends and family. You’re a bit of a bookworm at heart. You probably have a good pile of books by the bed and maybe even a few on-the-go at once! Success is a real enabler for you. You reap the benefits by enjoying some really magical vacations that broaden your horizons and leave you feeling refreshed and invigorated.

Take the test here, and tell me what you get.

Also, if you haven’t taken time to read this article before on the esoteric Vs exoteric aspects of religion, please do. If you enjoyed my posts on faith and reason, you’ll like this article.

… as prevalent as genuine mysticism is in all these traditions, many people in today’s world go their entire lives without ever hearing about these aspects of religious experience.

… They often do not even recognize the rich legacy of esoteric spirituality that exists in their own tradition, hiding right in plain sight—simply because we are too close to our own cultural preconceptions, too burnt out on the mythic dogma of our childhood, and too alone in the dark without anyone pointing us in the right direction.

In fact, once we have tasted the esoteric waters in another spiritual tradition, we usually intuit that this very same esoteric core is shared by all religions, that it is the cornerstone of spiritual experience for every mystic in history (though expressed very differently from culture to culture).

… The central problem of religion today is not the unavailability of esoteric teachings—they are just as accessible today as they have ever been, perhaps even more so—but that our exoteric religions have become damaged, painfully decoupled from history’s ceaseless march toward more novelty and more complexity. Our religions are fully capable of keeping pace with our progress, growing from magic forms of religion to mythic forms, rational forms, pluralistic forms, integral forms, and beyond. And the esoteric teachings and practices are alive in all these forms, though will certainly be interpreted very differently at each level

Me loves and agrees! I think what the article discusses can easily be applied to Islam as well. In fact, I have applied it, and it has helped me see Islam in a new unique light which in turn enabled me to reconcile many previously troubling things in my head.

Yay to integral theory and epistemology. And yay to Ken Wilber. Reading his work, especially his book The Marriage of Sense and Soul, has been super life-changing and very healing.

More later.

Talk soon!

- Drima