james souttar — Blog — Little Creek Monastery

Nasty is the New Black

Over the last couple of years we’ve all seen politics turn distinctly nastier. Whether it’s the abusive rhetoric of Donald Trump, the Maoist-style ‘calling out’ by campus protestors, the paranoiac accusations of media conspiracy against Bernie Sanders or Jeremy Corbyn, or the barefaced lies of the ‘Leave’ campaign, few of us have witnessed anything like this before. But these disturbing tendencies are by no means confined to politics. They are increasingly also found in the world of work.

ESSAYSMark WalterFebruary 15, 2024james souttar, Negativity, Narcissism, abuse, bullyComment

Deathbed Visitors

According to neuropsychiatrist and neurophysiologist Peter Fenwick, who carried out extensive research into the experience of dying, the perception of ‘deathbed visitors‘ — visits by the dead to a dying person — are a very common occurrence in the last days and hours of life. Often they are from a parent or grandparent…

ESSAYSMark WalterSeptember 29, 2023death, dreams, james souttarComment

The Way of the Mystic

‘Mysticism’ is about doing, rather than about thinking or feeling (some might say it is about being, which is true, but in the sense of how one’s state of being is transformed by exposure, experience and practice, rather than through trying to be a certain way, which is just imitation).

ESSAYSMark WalterNovember 9, 2022mystics, mysticism, practices, james souttar, mark walter

Hope Needs a Stronger Sense of Direction

The selfishness and detached concern of the powerful and wealthy have taken on viral qualities. It seems the rest of us are embracing the tools of our enemies.

ESSAYSMark WalterNovember 8, 2022hope, mark walter, james souttar

The Parasite

A few years ago I was taking the dog for a walk in the park when I noticed something I’d never seen before. It was so quick, I almost missed it. Except I didn’t. It wasn’t something ‘out there’ amongst the grass and trees. It was in myself. Only it wasn’t myself — that’s what was so disturbing about it. The best way to describe it is that it was as if I’d caught a compulsively secretive and elusive creature by surprise, before it could hide.

REPORTSMark WalterNovember 7, 2022guilt, anxiety, james souttar

Reconsidering Don Carlos, by James Souttar

The way Castaneda wrote was immediate and compelling, beautifully crisp and concise, yet sometimes also astonishingly poetic and resonant (we owe to him exquisite phrases like ‘unbending intent’, ‘controlled folly’, ‘dark sea of awareness’ and ‘active side of infinity’). And his mysticism was actual, not theoretical. It involved realising unimaginable possibilities, marshalling extraordinary discipline and finding considerable courage. Above all, it communicated a sense of adventure.

ESSAYSMark WalterNovember 2, 2022james souttar, reality, mysticism, consciousness

The Way of the Mystic - Three Characteristics

Characteristics of the mystic

“My personal break from the mold was a gradual discovery of what worked and what didn’t” particularly resonated with me, too.

‘Mysticism’ is about doing, rather than about thinking or feeling (some might say it is about being, which is true, but in the sense of how one’s state of being is transformed by exposure, experience and practice, rather than through trying to be a certain way, which is just imitation).

PRACTICESMark WalterJanuary 17, 2021essays, mystics, mysticism, sufi, sufism, james souttar, mark walter

Wandering Komusō

Characteristics of the mystic

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