Category Archives: childhood / childhood trauma

Every Rapist Was Himself Raped

Posted on by
3

[Written around 2004.]

Every rapist was himself raped. Although all were probably raped in body, all were definitely raped in spirit. No one who was not spiritually raped could ever bring himself to rape another. It would be contrary to human nature.

Likewise, every child molester was himself molested spiritually, his boundaries disrespected viciously by those controlling his fate, just as theirs were also disrespected long ago when they themselves were vulnerable and full of passionate need. Continue reading →

Critique of Judith Herman’s classic book, “Trauma and Recovery”

Posted on by
7

[Written around 2004.]

“A Strong Book with a Limited Perspective”

This book is brilliant – but short-sighted. From the introduction Judith Herman provides a clear paradigm for understanding trauma and recovery: “The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.” What she fails to understand is how this applies to her – and those like her…that is, everyone. Continue reading →

Dreams and Traumatic Experiences Are Flip Sides of the Same Coin

Posted on by
1

[Written around 2005.]

Dreams and traumatic experiences have much in common.

Both involve intense emotion, though in traumatic experiences the emotion results from external stimuli, whereas in dreams it comes from internal flashbacks of the split-off trauma we carry in our psyche.  No surprise that adults and children with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder often have terrible flashbacks in their dreams. Continue reading →

The Four Stages on the Path to Enlightenment

Posted on by
12

[Written in 2004 or 2005.]

As we walk forward on the path toward full enlightenment, different parts of ourselves live at different stages of healing. Some parts can be amazingly healed and insightful, while others can remain buried and out of touch. Our different parts traverse the various stages at their own speeds, seemingly independently – but ultimately connected to our core of perfection by our universal thread of truth. Continue reading →

The Traumatized Are Safe

Posted on by
7

[Written in 2004.]

A traumatized child is safe to broken parents because he does not threaten their dishonest authority. Thus he earns his crumb of love. A traumatized student is safe to broken teachers because he does not question their unearned authority. Thus he earns his right to gain a false education.

A traumatized worker is safe to broken bosses because he follows their numbing orders. Thus he keeps his dead job and perpetuates a dead system. Continue reading →

What Constitutes Child Abuse?

Posted on by
8

[Written around 2005.]

The definition of child abuse is simple: whenever the spirit of the child is disrespected the child is abused. Abuse of the spirit of the child can take many forms, from the overt forms of child abuse that conventional society is able to accept – such as overt sexual abuse, physical violence and the extremes of neglect – to whole realms of abuse that fall below society’s radar and are considered normal and healthy forms of parenting. Continue reading →

Dissociation Mimics Enlightenment

Posted on by
22

[Written in 2004.]

Dissociation (being split-off from one’s deepest truth) mimics enlightenment – but it isn’t enlightenment. People who are dissociated live in great peace. But this is only because they have blocked their negative feelings. The enlightened person resolves his negatives feelings, and thus his peace is not false. Continue reading →

The Fundamentals of My Perspective on “Enlightenment” and Healing from Unresolved Trauma

Posted on by
7

[Original essay written around 2006.]

[Introduction/addition, March of 2013: I no longer really use the word “enlightenment” anymore.  As a term it is too loaded — too many people equate it with some sort of Buddhist-like dissociative state, which is the exact opposite of what I’m talking about.  Nowadays, when I am trying to express the concepts I define below as “enlightenment,” I prefer to use the terms “being healthy,” “being real,” “being honest,” having “resolved our inner traumas,” or “being fully conscious.”  I ever prefer the term “self-actualization.”  But since I have used the word “enlightenment” a lot in past incarnations of this website and also in my books, I don’t want to remove the word entirely…  So please take my use of this loaded word with a grain of salt!]

What is enlightenment? Continue reading →

The Briefest Nutshell of My Entire Point of View

Posted on by
10

[I wrote this essay in July of 2011.]

I create my writing, videos, and music in the context of my broader point of view.  Many of my individual works, however, reflect but one facet of that viewpoint, and when studied out of context risk giving a misleading impression of where I stand.  For that reason I write this essay:  this is the nutshell of my whole point of view.  Continue reading →