Study Partners | frozenguy's Blog

In the old days of the Internet, it was easy to find groups that provided a forum for studying various topics. Some of the groups were moderated by an expert/authority on the topic, and others were more free form in how they functioned. In either case, there was a serious intent of the members to study, learn, and interact with each other about the texts being studied. However, today, it is difficult to find groups like that anymore. There are still many forums out there, but most of them are not very serious. The conversations go off track much of the time, and most of the participants are there for other reasons, such as to sell something or find a date.

I've spent the last year or so trying to find people or just one person to study topics of a spiritual or psychological nature, since I think it is very important for personal growth.

The following list represents my goals for partner study:

1) To more fully understand what my purpose is here, and how to more fully realize this purpose.

2) To more fully understand the true nature of my struggles and the struggles of people close to me. And, to understand why these struggles exist, and how they present opportunities for positive growth.

3) To more fully understand my personal relationships with others and their significance, and how they present opportunities for positive growth.

4) To become more aware of the larger struggles that are occurring in the world, my role within those struggles, and in what ways I am obligated to help alleviate those struggles.

5) To develop some close spiritual friendships with others, and work as partners in helping each other to discover and bring out the best in ourselves.

I'm open minded as to specific topics of study, which may open the door for exploring all of the above. However, I will say that I'm most comfortable with topics that combine psychology with spirituality in some format.

The following list represents areas of psychological/spiritual study that I'm interested in or familiar with:

1) Various psychologists and their theories, including: Freud, Jung,  Viktor Frankl, Karen Horney, Alice Miller,  Arthur Janov (Primal Scream), Fritz Perls (Gestalt therapy), Howard Halpern, M. Scott Peck,  Ann Faraday (dream interpretation), and many others. The type of psychology that I'm NOT interested in is the cognitive/behavioral type approach (including the positive thinking movement), which I don't believe in at all. My main interest is in the psychoanalytical depth therapies. I'm also interested in the ideas of some philosophers and social observers, such as Ken Wilbur, James Allen, Krishnamurti, Thomas Moore, Desmond Morris, Rupert Sheldrake, and many others.

2) The Pathwork: A series of 258 lectures that were supposedly channeled by a woman many decades ago. I have mixed feelings about the source of these lectures, but despite that, there is some great psychology and spirituality involved, at least in my opinion. So, whatever the source, the lectures are a great source for study and discussion. I was part of a Pathwork discussion group for many years. Unfortunately, it does not exist anymore, and it is very difficult to find other groups. The Pathwork does not seem to be very well known and whatever popularity it once had seems to be diminishing. I'm not sure why. The Pathwork lectures are very compatible within a partner study arrangement.

3) Urantia Book: This is also on the same idea as The Pathwork, but the material is completely different. It is supposedly channeled wisdom about the nature of God and our relationship to God and the universe. At one time, I began reading this book, but stopped, because I was not ready to commit so much time to it. It is a very intense text and requires a commitment to reading it and discussing it. It is NOT light reading. However, I believe there are many truths contained within its text, from what little I've read of it so far. The Urantia Book is also very compatible in a study partner format.

4) Conversations with God: Once again, this material is supposedly channeled from a higher source (God in this instance). I completed book one of the series, but was not interested in completing any of the other books, since they seemed kind of redundant or went off track somewhat (in my opinion). Book one is not packed with line after line of ideas, but yet there are some central ideas explained throughout the book which I found to be extremely intriguing and thought provoking. So, at a minimum, I would not mind revisiting some of the CWG concepts. I was part of a CWG group for over a year, and had some of the most intense discussions about spirituality in my life. We expanded upon some of the simple ideas presented in the book, and this resulted in many deep and thought provoking discussions.

5) Judaism: My heritage is Jewish, even though I've not practiced Judiasm during my adult years. I'm planning on delving into the spirituality aspects of the religion on a more extensive basis in the near future. There are aspects of the religion that resonate with some of my currently existing beliefs, and I would like to become more familiar with my heritage on different levels for various reasons.

6) Christianity:  I've had conversations with others in the past regarding the Christian bible, where we compared and contrasted beliefs on various topics. However, I'm definitely not an expert on Christianity, and there is a lot that I don't know about it. However, I would be very open to including Christianity as part of an ongoing discussion, as long as my study partner is open minded regarding my beliefs, regardless of whether they are compatible or contrast with Christianity.  And the same goes for other religions that I've not mentioned. I am open minded to learning and having discussions. I believe there are aspects of truth in all religions.

7) Literature/Fiction: Stories are a great source of discussions, especially the well written stories that provide psychological, spiritual, and moral ideas to ponder. So, I would be very willing to explore different topics within the context of stories.

8) Dream Interpretation: I've been fascinated with dreams as far back as I can remember.. I'm very good at exploring and interpreting other people's dreams, and understanding my own dreams when I remember them.  At the very least, dreams could serve as an entry point into various discussions regarding our struggles.

Anyway, I'm sure that I've left out quite a bit.  The important thing for me is getting a dialog going with someone who is committed to understanding their struggles, purpose, and role in the world. Someone who is willing to learn about my life and struggles and share their life and struggles with me as well. Hopefully, I haven't scared anyone away with all the stuff I listed above. I am an intense person when it comes to trying to figure out the meaning of life, but yet I'm very easy to talk with and very compassionate and understanding.