From the Author

by: Michael J. Lincoln Ph.D. on Thursday, August 15, 2013 We live in an institutionalized, impersonal society in which individual initiative is systematically undermined while the culture is simultaneously extolling its virtues. We are therefore addiction-prone, especially to things that can give the illusion of power over our lives and environs. Comfort-seeking has become an over-riding goal in many people’s lives, due to an overwhelming sense of powerlessness to do anything significant or effective about the world and their lives. This, in turn, generates a deep-seated need for some way to relieve the anxiety associated with being, in effect, unable to determine the...

by: Michael J. Lincoln Ph.D. on Monday, July 15, 2013 The key factor in the maintenance of bodily health is the immune system, which is controlled by the brain via neural connections, chemical reactions, neurotransmitters, lymphocytes, neurohormones, endorphins, and the like. Through these linkages, what is going on in our consciousness is continuously affecting our body - and vice versa. In many ways, the body and the mind imitate and imprint each other. Ultimately, of course, consciousness underlies and is the final determinant of everything, and the body reflects this vividly. It should be noted in this regard that “consciousness” will be used...

by: Michael J. Lincoln Ph.D. on Saturday, June 15, 2013 One often hears the term “teaching” or “teacher,” but what does it mean really? The usual images that come to mind are someone getting chalk on their coat in front of a group of people or of a one-on-one how-to or person-to-person showing how or communicating what. Another common image is a mentoring relationship, in which a more experienced individual shares in a number of ways with an initiate of one sort or another in what often, through not always, looks like a friendship situation. These are all very real exemplars of “teaching,”...