The Mystery of Happiness

How to live a soulful and spiritual life.

T. Byram Karasu, M.D. is Silverman Professor of Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. See full bio

September 16, 2009

God of Saturn

In ancient Greece, depression was identified with the god Saturn. If a young person got depressed, he was called a child of Saturn, and he was believed to have suffered an aging of his soul. Otherwise, every adult eventually would reach a natural Saturn-the melancholy of the loss of youth. Read More

September 11, 2009

Symptoms Are The Sacred Signals

Under the black earth,
I saw hands that arranged roses.

-- Yunus Emre Read More

September 3, 2009

Religion as an Order of Community

Religion shapes and animates our great steps from birth to death, as well as the little steps of everyday life. We then spontaneously fit our daily experience into that spiritual order. The word religion derives from the same Latin root as the word ligament, which means "to bind." Religion binds us to each other. Read More

August 26, 2009

Self-Excommunication

Some people misunderstand the purpose of myths and rituals in life. They are part of religion but more than religion. Rituals are the celebrations of our myths, the stories that comprise the process of living; they are indispensable for our lives. Read More

August 19, 2009

God Descends, Man Ascends

The descent of the Holy Spirit is a profound image in various presentations of the Annunciation. God descended to earth to impregnate a mortal woman. The mystery in this "God-size fall" is illuminated by the angel Gabriel's announcement to the Virgin Mary of her conception of Christ. In our ordinary lives we may reach very high planes, succeed in our undertakings, and learn a great deal about ourselves and the world. We may even become typical heroes in our journey, or God-like, if our deeds are totally holy. Read More

August 12, 2009

Godliness Requires Self-Judgment

Knock on your inner door and no other.

-- Jalālu'l-Dīn Rūmi

The Unitarian minister G. Peter Fleck recalls a drama on television: Read More

August 5, 2009

Holy Ignorance

Enlightenment is not something you achieve, it is the absence of something.

-- Charlotte Joko Beck Read More

July 30, 2009

Believing the Unbelievable

When someone quotes the old poetic image about clouds
gradually uncovering the moon, slowly loosen knot
by knot the strings of your robe.
Like this?
If anyone wonders how Jesus raised the dead,
don't try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.
Like this, like this.

-- Jalalu'l-Din Rumi Read More

July 23, 2009

God Evolved With Us

Two questions are frequently asked: Is there a God? If so, what is God? In keeping with the philosopher Karl Jaspers, you may say, "There is no God, for there is only the world, and the world is God." Or in synchrony with Immanuel Kant, you may be awed by the enormity of a starry night, in which time and space seem to become interchangeable, forming a spectacular tapestry. Read More

July 15, 2009

Enthusiast (God Within)

In his book Who Needs God, Rabbi Harold Kusner responds to why God is so hard to find by asking us to rethink the question. Perhaps we are disappointed because we are looking so hard in the wrong place, and perhaps we are taking the task too literally. Read More

Happiness Basics

Research on how to increase positive moods and capitalize on your strengths has proliferated lately thanks to the positive psychology movement, and has shed light on ongoing insights into personality, mood, and cognition.

Go to the Happiness Basics page for more on Happiness including:

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