In the fourth stage of metta bhavana – the Buddhist meditation practice aimed at cultivating metta (loving-kindness) – the focus is on directing goodwill towards a ‘difficult’ person. Normally, this difficult person is someone you are personally involved with, who is a source of tension, conflict, or emotional pain. But there are many ‘difficult’ people…
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It is hard to find much information on the connections between Quakerism (or the Religious Society of Friends) and psychedelic use. This is in contrast to discussions on the (actual or possible) influence of psychedelics on other religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and animistic religions. Unlike these other traditions, there are no signs…
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At the end of his book Why? The Purpose of the Universe, the philosopher Philip Goff makes a case for the human need for religion. However, he distinguishes between the more ‘belief-y’ aspects of religion (subscribing to agreed-upon creeds) and the more practical, lived-out aspects (e.g. ritual and community). He acknowledges that many people won’t…
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