Relational Spirituality, Part 2 The Belief in Others as a Hindrance to Enlightenment: Narcissism and the Denigration of Relationship within Transpersonal Psychology and the New Age

The aim of this paper is to tease out from the New Age religion and religious transpersonal psychology a more relational spirituality. Humanistic and transpersonal psychologies were important forces in the emergence of the social phenomenon of the New Age. New Age transpersonalism leans toward a restrictive non-relational spirituality because of its historical affirmation of individualism and transcendence. Relational spirituality, which is central to the emerging participatory paradigm, swims against strong and popular currents in New Age transpersonal thinking which tend to see spirituality as an individual, personal, inner pursuit, often into Eastern/Oriental nondualism. Whatever the merits of impersonal Advaita Vedanta or Buddhism—and there are of course merits—these are categorically not relational spiritualities

The Mushroom, the Frog, and the Rainbow of Desire: A Participatory-Psychedelic Spiritual Emergence

This article will explore a spiritual emergency through a myth or fairy tale that emerged at the same time I had a frightening brush with death. Two days before the accident I had ingested psilocybin mushrooms. Michael Washburn, among other transpersonal theorists, will be used to interpret, amplify and re-frame this potential ‘psychotic episode’ with ‘borderline features’ into something more, perhaps, on the threshold of a shamanic initiation in a liminal state. The mythic sequence in my story anticipates the death-rebirth (perinatal pattern) and evolution of consciousness in the LSD research of Stanislav Grof; an evolution given epic participatory elucidation by Richard Tarnas; and an evolution consummated in the erotic desire for nature found in the panpsychism of Freya Mathews

Relational Inquiry: Seven-Years Practicing Seven Relationships

Greetings from Byron Bay—what follows is a postcard version of a seven-year cycle of relational inquiry retrospectively nicknamed The Rainbow of Desire. I outline our practices, explore five basic fields in our approach to new paradigm research, and present an updated version of my seven relationships model as a heuristic for understanding and participating in relational inquiry. As a contemporary spiritual expression, with roots in the Greek-Socratic tradition of research, and informed by Gestalt practice (not psychotherapy), this account may also be of value for persons interested in further Gestalt-transpersonal inquiry, research, and learning

The Mushroom, the Frog, and the Rainbow of Desire: A Participatory-Psychedelic Spiritual Emergence

This article will explore a spiritual emergency through a myth or fairy tale that emerged at the same time I had a frightening brush with death. Two days before the accident I had ingested psilocybin mushrooms. Michael Washburn, among other transpersonal theorists, will be used to interpret, amplify and re-frame this potential ‘psychotic episode’ with ‘borderline features’ into something more, perhaps, on the threshold of a shamanic initiation in a liminal state. The mythic sequence in my story anticipates the death-rebirth (perinatal pattern) and evolution of consciousness in the LSD research of Stanislav Grof; an evolution given epic participatory elucidation by Richard Tarnas; and an evolution consummated in the erotic desire for nature found in the panpsychism of Freya Mathews

Relational Spirituality, Part 1 Paradise Unbound: Cosmic Hybridity and Spiritual Narcissism in the “One Truth” of New Age Transpersonalism

Cosmological hybridization, a process in which spiritual paradises are bound together, is highly active in American religious culture. Beginning with an early Christianized version of the Buddha, this religious Creolization gathered speed after WWII and peaked during the Vietnam War, leading to a complex spiritual revolution in which transcendence became an all important orientation. This revolution set the scene for the emergence of a non-relational transpersonal psychology in which Americanized nondualism gained ascendency. It is argued here that popular New Age transpersonalism traps the spirit, breeding a self-serving, Selfas- everything form of spiritual narcissism. Given that some are calling the New Age the religion of global capitalism, a more relational spirituality may be a vital intervention into transpersonalism‘s self-centeredness and a salve for a world in Creolization

Relational Inquiry: Seven-Years Practicing Seven Relationships

Greetings from Byron Bay—what follows is a postcard version of a seven-year cycle of relational inquiry retrospectively nicknamed The Rainbow of Desire. I outline our practices, explore five basic fields in our approach to new paradigm research, and present an updated version of my seven relationships model as a heuristic for understanding and participating in relational inquiry. As a contemporary spiritual expression, with roots in the Greek-Socratic tradition of research, and informed by Gestalt practice (not psychotherapy), this account may also be of value for persons interested in further Gestalt-transpersonal inquiry, research, and learning

Posterior Corneal Astigmatism

In order to calculate an appropriate intraocular lens (IOL) power for an eye undergoing cataract surgery, the most important measurements are the axial length of the eye and corneal shape. The cornea is a three dimensional structure and so, although it has commonly been considered as a single refractive surface, we must take into account that the anterior and posterior surfaces of the cornea have different astigmatic magnitudes and axes. Total astigmatism of the cornea is determined by the combination of both anterior corneal astigmatism and posterior corneal astigmatism. In order to treat astigmatism of the eye during cataract surgery precisely, total corneal astigmatism needs to be neutralised, and not just the measured anterior corneal astigmatism. Otherwise residual astigmatism will be present and visual quality will be impacted. Although the contribution of posterior corneal astigmatism has been postulated for many decades, our ability to measure it accurately, and incorporate it into a practical surgical plan, has only become possible much more recently. While measuring anterior corneal astigmatism accurately has been relatively straight forward, posterior corneal astigmatism has been less simple to measure due to relative similarity in refractive indices of cornea and the adjacent aqueous humor as well as having a very low magnitude to detect. Our measurement of anterior corneal astigmatism is far from perfect. Measuring a fluid surface accurately and consistently is not easy. When the magnitude of anterior corneal astigmatism is very low, the accuracy and consistency of measures of both magnitude and axis of astigmatism decrease. Measurements of posterior corneal astigmatism are therefore faced with the difficult combination of trying to measure a very low magnitude of astigmatism, and doing so in extremely difficult optical conditions. Modern cataract surgery has seen a shift in IOL calculation methods from using measured anterior corneal astigmatism alone, to incorporating a population statistics based estimation of posterior corneal astigmatism. The research published as part of this thesis has been at the forefront of the logical next step, which is the incorporation of individual measurement of posterior corneal astigmatism into IOL calculation. Despite having been aware of the presence of an optical contribution of posterior corneal astigmatism for a long time, our knowledge about the magnitude and variation of this contribution as well as our ability to measure it has been relatively poorly defined. The main objectives of this thesis are: 1) To assess whether the contribution of posterior corneal astigmatism to total corneal astigmatism in eyes with high magnitude anterior corneal astigmatism becomes so minor that it can be ignored. 2) To assess how measurement of posterior corneal astigmatism using optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the IOLMaster 700 compares to previous estimates. 3) To assess whether IOLMaster 700 measurement of total corneal astigmatism, “total keratometry” (TK) is as accurate as Goggin nomogram adjusted keratometry (GNAK) values.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Adelaide Medical School, 202

Molecular methods for the genetic identification of salmonid prey from Pacific harbor seal (Phoca vitulina richardsi) scat

Twenty-six stocks of Pacific salmon and trout (Oncorhynchus spp.), representing evolutionary significant units (ESU), are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and six more stocks are currently being evaluated for listing. The ecological and economic consequences of these listings are large; therefore considerable effort has been made to understand and respond to these declining populations. Until recently, Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi) on the west coast increased an average of 5% to 7% per year as a result of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (Brown and Kohlman2). Pacific salmon are seasonally important prey for harbor seals (Roffe and Mate, 1984; Olesiuk, 1993); therefore quantifying and understanding the interaction between these two protected species is important for Morphobiologically sound management strategies. Because some Pacific salmonid species in a given area may be threatened or endangered, while others are relatively abundant, it is important to distinguish the species of salmonid upon which the harbor seals are preying. This study takes the first step in understanding these interactions by using molecular genetic tools for species-level identification of salmonid skeletal remains recovered from Pacific harbor seal scats