http://www.amazon.com/Psychoth...id=1214478125&sr=1-1
This seems to be a very good book by a Flemish scholar.
Fred

http://www.crystalinks.com/colors.html
Fred

freddy, yes i am a christian also and have been a follower of christ since 1990 jan.1st @ 5a.m. i had a spiritual experience( the HOLY SPIRIT woke me up and i was pinned to the bed in what can only be described as PURE LOVE)i was raised catholic, but had rejected a lot of my childhood faith. i believe that was a direct result of my anger at God.( as was david in the psalms)i was seperated from my husband for three years and felt that i had failed in everything and was on the brink of suicide( although i don't think i could EVER do that!)after ranting and raving at God and crying myself to sleep, He woke me up and infused me with such a great Love for all mankind, and that has NEVER left me.so, my LOVE for Christ is truly, "...because He first Loved me."(a shallow spirituality?)i had always imersed myself in books about different religions and philosophy and psychology, always searching for answers to my painful childhood. i read a lot of J.KRISHNAMURTI, in the 70's and carlos casteneda, but did not read huston smith or ken wilbur until the 90's.( after my children were grown) i have been a painter and writer and actress for about 20 + years. i have great admiration for ken wilbur although he is more difficult for me to read for some reason. i LOVE reading huston smith. i am so glad you gave me the website to read. i will keep him in my prayers. i mostly live to serve right now and help take care of my parents and my granchildren and that keeps me very busy. once in awhile i will take a small acting job or paint a picture in two days ect., but i am using the jesus prayer and contemplative prayer mostly as i Love my caretaking tasks.( they grow me so much!)i have studied cictercian saints( st. gertrude of helfta) and envy your stay in a monastary. what a gift that must have been. i have been trying to become more computer literate( with such limited time) and would like to write a one woman play and broadcast it on the internet about st. gertrude or teresa of avila.i won't be able to do THAT anytime soon, as i take care of my EXTREMLY active two year old grandson,"leo".i am also writing(longhand)a novel. i have finished a screenplay and some short stories and childrens books, but i am not a very good buisness person, especially if there are other distractions.i LOVE film of course and especially foreign films. i love seeing other parts of the world. my grand parents were from ireland( hanna's) and were educated in scotland. one side were catholic and the other from protestants. they met at an "irish" picnic here in america and both sides rejected them when they married.i would love to read your text about your stay at the abbey. do you have pictures? i have done some research on the conditions in the abbey during the 12th century in helfta. a dominican nun here has helped me with that,but so far it has been very little.i like merton also, but my husband has been reading him much more than i have.i am curious what you mean by 'plastic arts'? i will let phil send you my e-mail address if that is possible.( you can edit this out PHIL) i will continue to pray for your healing and thank you so much for all the interesting information.peace to you in Him, rebecca

Dear Rebecca,
I just mailed to Clare, who is also so friendly to pray for me. Here is what I wrote:
Dear Clare,
The therapist is someone who certainly knows what he is doing. He has a lot of experience in these matters. He first processed one helft of my body with Postural integration. When I stood up and felt inside myself, it was as if my left shoulder was much lower than my right one. He was massaging very deeply in my chest, shoulders and belly.
In the evening, the pain was terrible. The day after, I had a good day with much less pain. Yesterday however, I went to my elders and without any conscious trigger, I felt so uncertain, vulnerable and the tension pain, deep in my chest was almost unbearable. It was the little child in me again with much fear and insecurity feelings towards my father. Last evening I had a lot of prayer with my girl friend (sister in the Lord). I had also read in 'Seeds in contemplation' by Thomas Merton and after all these years, it still made a much deeper impact on me. What a writer, what a mystic! I wrote also a little text and prayed over it. Clare, my longing for God is so immense! And at the same time I am aware of all those pitfalls and illusions of the false self all along the spiritual path. I woul like to scream it out in this 'dark light' of God...I feel the superficiality of this world so intense, but I have to live in it! Unfortunatley, the price of the therapy is very high (75 euro) and in the beginning, he urges me to go every week. And now the therapist doesn't work anymore until half August! I said to you before I am going to Santiago de Compostella July 7 (2 weeks) and to Medjugorje in August (youth festival - 9 days)
Thanks for continuing prayer!
PAX!!!
Fred
As to your message, I appreciate your story. I just spoke about St. Gertrude of Helfta in the week-end with a fried (synchronicities all over the place here!. She has written very deep things about Eucharist, did you know that?
You seem to be very creative! I am just a non-professional painter, but my work seems to be not bad at all. I know Krishnamurti (but there are 2) and (the myths around) Castaneda. The latter has seriously been criticized by anthropologists.
I don't know however what those great Christian mystics have to do with people like Wilber, Cohen, Tolle, even Huston Smith. When you read Merton, it is quite something else to fall in the the hands of the Living God! Maybe I am wrong?
What kind of films do you like? I like Bergman, the Italians, the French (Chabrol,a.o.), Tarkovski, ...
I have been in Ireland with my former wife in 1980. We went to the county of Donegal with a man from Dublin. Such a beautiful country! I also wish to go to Scotland (Hebrides, Skye) one time.
I don't have the USB-stick right now to send you the diary of my stay at Westmalle. Later! I don't have pics yet of my paintings.
Plastic art is probably not English. I mean painting, sculpture, architecture, ...Thanks for your e-mail, but is it not possible to reply to your message there? I am not that good in computers you know!Pray for me, dear Rebecca!
I like this exchange!

PAX,
Fred

dear fred, of course i am non professional also. i am self taught EVERYTHING. the arts have been very healing for me.( especially acting) i believe that God created us to be creative and that there is no room for harsh critics when it comes to art.constuctive criticism is always good, but art is such an individual thing. i never mind when someone doesn't like my work. it is only to touch our soul and give us beauty in our life.that does not mean it is always beautiful! anyway, i like films with good acting and photography and sound.i will send you a list of my favorite films. yes, st. gertrude had a spousel (bridal), relationship with christ. i came across her book that she wrote about her life and could relate to so much of it. i too am an artist and also suffer from migraines, and i also was a counseller.i was so amazed at how she had no fear of how she looked to anyone when it came to her Love of Christ.i am so busy with my very young grandchildren that i can only have time now to work and pray, and if i can, before bed or during naptime, i read.things will not always be this way, and i have really learned patience! ...ALL IN GODS TIME! prayers for peace and healing, rebecca

Dear ones,

Who of you is a type 4 of the Enneagram? Please let me know, so that I can share things about how to cope with being a 4 in a healthy way...
I have one book on the E. and I think it is the best (not Rohr): http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-E...nality/dp/0553378201
Some reply?

Greetings in Christ,
Fred

Hi Freddy,

I am, by God's grace, a very healthy 4. Dont need any books on how to be!!

But thanks anyway for the thought.

Dear Clare,
Yesterday evening I have fallen in the trap again of reading too much and being confused by Enneagram, NLP and all these other forms of therapy. It is clear that I have aspects of a 4 and of a 1, so what??? Primal therapy is known in the Netherlands, not in Belgium as fas as I know.
Greetings,
Fred