As anyone can tell you, spiritualism can be a polarizing concept. Everyone has an opinion, and positive or negative the one unifying factor is that often they’re deeply passionate about it. There is nothing more fundamentally fearful, particularly in the Christian-influenced ideologies of the West, than that of Death and all else associated. It takes someone with an especially placed maturity, even perhaps a sense of empathy, to be able to communicate concepts designated as spiritualist in a manner that is universally respectful, comprehensible, and non-theological. Anyone can be spiritualist, but not everyone can communicate the positive sides of being a spiritualist.
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/oranadrich/?hl=en
Mercifully, author Ora Nadrich does just that with the release of her book Mindfulness & Mysticism: Connecting Present Moment Awareness with Higher States of Consciousness. Nadrich approaches the subject matter, already grounded in a decidedly left-brain take, like a clinician and less like a fundamentalist. While talking about concepts that are somewhat abstract and intangible in a fully opaque sense, she never defers to emotionality. The read is cool, clear, and focused – without excess generality or tangential ruminations. “We don’t usually come to the present moment free of thoughts and concerns. And we don’t travel light.
As a matter of fact, we pack more than we need no matter where we go, and I’m talking about mental baggage,” Nadrich writes. “…Yes, we know ourselves, but that knowing is mostly based on our identity and what we do, or how we feel about ourselves in any given moment. And that changes because we change. We are constantly changing, but if we know that change is constant, and keep our awareness sharp about the impermanence of this life, then what remains constant is the ‘knowing,’ the ‘accepting’ of change…We need what’s real to keep us connected to reality as awake and aware as possible.”
By approaching a concept like mindfulness and so-called ‘states of consciousness’, Nadrich is able to tap into something beyond just the typical spiritual and theological labels. There’s something that feels interpretive about the way she introduces the concepts – enabling a more jaded faction of readers to look at the methodologies as a sort of metaphorical, self-help psychology. On the other hand, Nadrich knows the overall nature of the choir that she’s preaching to. She counteracts moments settling for the purely clinical with metaphysical allegories, a particularly good example of the balancing act being the book’s eleventh chapter. Nadrich talks about she calls a shift in one’s overall perception, dependent upon the willingness to dive into the topical rhetoric covered in previous chapters.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Mindfulness-Mysticism-Connecting-Awareness-Consciousness/dp/0578981335
“All things can be perceived as ‘infinite and holy’ when we have a shift in our perception, and that is when we can experience the type of feel-good chemicals, which our neurotransmitters can produce,” she states. “Our brains are ripe to join the universe in its miraculous, ongoing shift, which it is, constantly. We can enhance those feel-good chemicals if we participate in life as if we are in a slow dance with the cosmos…The universe is always in its own state of being and becoming, as are we, and is changing and shifting constantly. We may not see these changes because they aren’t always visible to the eye, but when we are awake, present, and aware…we can more easily shift into a higher state of consciousness…”
Jodi Marxbury