@JamesARay James Arthur Ray
"The human body is the best picture.of the human soul."
--Ludwig Wittgenstein
James Arthur Ray's Twitter posts rarely fail to surprise me. Yeah yeah yeah ::: I'll admit a lot of them make my head hurt or make me angry ::: his Ludwig Wittgenstein post, made me cry. And not for the reasons one would think. I'll write more about why I cried ::: a little further on.
This post confuses me. James Arthur Ray has often told people they are "more than their bodies". I've heard him say our outer appearance is a reflection of who we used to be ::: not who we will become in the future.
The thing is ::: who decides what is good or bad in the body ::: and what if anything, represents the human soul? Beauty ::: skin color ::: height ::: physical build ::: muscles ::: hair or lack there of???
When I look into Stephen Hawking's eyes I see so much beauty and light ::: is his soul represented by his ALS ravaged body?
The thing is ::: Wittgenstein, wasn't exactly renown for his social skills ::: or his ability to read people ::: he may also have suffered from a form of autism (see below). So I can't help wondering why James Arthur Ray would post a quote from a deeply troubled man ??? Specially when the quote is so far from the truth???
Ludwig Wettgenstein
Wittgenstein and his siblings survived a brutal childhood at the hands of their autocratic father. Ludwig contemplated suicide for decades ::: three of his four brothers committed suicide.
While no one can doubt Wittgenstein's genius ::: he was also a man with deep seated issues. Various historians have suggested that Wittgenstein may have suffered from schizoid personality disorder and exhibited features of high-function autism (Asperger's Syndrome).
Those suffering with Asperger's or schizoid personality disorder view the world much differently than most other people. They miss the visual cues most people take for granted, they don't always hear things the way they were said, and often feel isolated and misunderstood. They often come across as cold, distant or unfeeling.
Asperger's is basically a form high functioning autism ::: a developmental disorder. My husband (also bipolar) was told he might have Asperger's. People with Asperger's develop language the same as everyone else ::: however often have problems with in social interactions ::: they also have difficulty making eye contact and might have poor eye hand coordination.
People with Asperger's might love talking about only one or two topic that are special to them. Unfortunately this often means they have little desire to talk about anything they're not specifically interested in.
My generous and caring husband (one of the good guys) struggles with a number of so called normal daily activities. While he's definitely NOT stupid ::: he's not good at keeping track of time, organizing things (disorganized thinking), managing conflict (tends to react to things people say), and can go into sensory overload when too much is going on around him.
So now you know the reason I cried when I read James Arthur Ray's Twitter post. My heart goes out to all those who suffer daily to surmount Asperger's, Bipolar Disease and Schizoid personality disorder.
For the uninitiated ::: Ludwig Wittgenstein was an Austrian (Vienna) born, philosopher and writer who led an amazingly complex and difficult life. If you're interested in reading more about the man ::: his difficult childhood ::: the philosophies he fostered ::: and more ::: please check out the links below.
Ludwig Wittgenstein ~ WIKIPEDIA
Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophical Investigations ~ WIKIPEDIA
Ludwig Wittgenstein ~ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosopher ~ Time Magazine
"The human body is the best picture.of the human soul."
--Ludwig Wittgenstein
James Arthur Ray's Twitter posts rarely fail to surprise me. Yeah yeah yeah ::: I'll admit a lot of them make my head hurt or make me angry ::: his Ludwig Wittgenstein post, made me cry. And not for the reasons one would think. I'll write more about why I cried ::: a little further on.
This post confuses me. James Arthur Ray has often told people they are "more than their bodies". I've heard him say our outer appearance is a reflection of who we used to be ::: not who we will become in the future.
The thing is ::: who decides what is good or bad in the body ::: and what if anything, represents the human soul? Beauty ::: skin color ::: height ::: physical build ::: muscles ::: hair or lack there of???
When I look into Stephen Hawking's eyes I see so much beauty and light ::: is his soul represented by his ALS ravaged body?
 |
| Stephen Hawing |
Ludwig Wettgenstein
Wittgenstein and his siblings survived a brutal childhood at the hands of their autocratic father. Ludwig contemplated suicide for decades ::: three of his four brothers committed suicide.
While no one can doubt Wittgenstein's genius ::: he was also a man with deep seated issues. Various historians have suggested that Wittgenstein may have suffered from schizoid personality disorder and exhibited features of high-function autism (Asperger's Syndrome).
Those suffering with Asperger's or schizoid personality disorder view the world much differently than most other people. They miss the visual cues most people take for granted, they don't always hear things the way they were said, and often feel isolated and misunderstood. They often come across as cold, distant or unfeeling.
Asperger's is basically a form high functioning autism ::: a developmental disorder. My husband (also bipolar) was told he might have Asperger's. People with Asperger's develop language the same as everyone else ::: however often have problems with in social interactions ::: they also have difficulty making eye contact and might have poor eye hand coordination.
People with Asperger's might love talking about only one or two topic that are special to them. Unfortunately this often means they have little desire to talk about anything they're not specifically interested in.
 |
| My husband and our greyhound Duke |
My generous and caring husband (one of the good guys) struggles with a number of so called normal daily activities. While he's definitely NOT stupid ::: he's not good at keeping track of time, organizing things (disorganized thinking), managing conflict (tends to react to things people say), and can go into sensory overload when too much is going on around him.
So now you know the reason I cried when I read James Arthur Ray's Twitter post. My heart goes out to all those who suffer daily to surmount Asperger's, Bipolar Disease and Schizoid personality disorder.
 |
| Ludwig Wittgenstein As Photographed by Ben Richards Swansea, Wales UK ~ 1947 |
Ludwig Wittgenstein ~ WIKIPEDIA
Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosophical Investigations ~ WIKIPEDIA
Ludwig Wittgenstein ~ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Ludwig Wittgenstein: Philosopher ~ Time Magazine
 |
| published in 1952 3 years after his death from cancer |
Hi Jeanne,
ReplyDeleteSo funny that you posted the pic of Hawking. I don't know if you ever saw it but I posted this a while ago on, among other things, Ray's "spiritualized" vanity and lookism. My thoughts went immediately to Hawking, too, and I said at the time that by Ray's standards Hawking is a cautionary tale. What a superficial git.
I've read Wittgenstein's biography and some of the things he's writen. When I saw Ray had chosen the LEAST inspiring of Wittgenstein's quotes it made me sad and angry.
ReplyDeleteAngry because of Ray's ability to post things out of context ::: while promoting his own warped agenda. Sad because a so called spiritual guru could be so blatantly judgemental.
Interesting that we both thought of Stephen Hawking. Guess in James' perfect world a lot of people would be judged and found lacking.
Many decades ago I met Bill Gates in his pre microsoft days ::: just a tall geeky guy with glasses ::: come to think of it, Gates and Hawking looked much alike when they were young.
Wonder how Ray would have judged Hawking or Gates as a young men? Probably wouldn't have given either of them the time of day.
PS -- I just re-read your James Ray post. Interesting indeed.