Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That's Lost Its Mind

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Throughout time, new transformational movements have popped up here and there, only to be suppressed, often ruthlessly, by the ruling elite who wish to maintain business as usual. To counter this, you need to seed a revolution, not lead it; use ingredients that are easily accessible to individual and communal sovereignty and spread the information far and wide. This is a book on the biggest sort of thinking -- from personal to societal -- written by an author with an eye for what matters, an ear for story and a mind for the sublime." — David Eagleman, Neuroscientist at Stanford, New York Times bestselling author of Livewired and Incognito, and host of PBS The Brain Notice which persona feels most true for you. The Hedonist values pursuing the fullest range of experience possible. The Purist values sanctity of mind and body. The Conformist values expert advice and evidence. If we can integrate these three orientations, we’ll be stronger and more effective technicians of the sacred. One gem from the middle section of the book is that in terms of both stabilizing the experience of life, and also in terms of having more mystical experiences, studies have now shown that couples engaging in a set of planned periodic sexual practices is more effective than people taking magic mushrooms. Another gem is Jamie's very personal sharing of his own transformation at a Grateful Dead concert. This book aims to provide tools and insights to enable people to alter their own experience of life so life feels more meaningful and less compromised by the stresses that seem to be growing worldwide, and also so that possibilities show up that contribute to the human race surviving and thriving. That is pretty useful at a time when for many of us, it appears that things may be headed off a cliff. In a world where many people, governments, and corporations are playing win/lose short-term games, this book aims to provide tools for everyone to find and play the "infinite game", where the aim of the game is to have the game last as long as it can, for all of us.

First, she proposed a theory that builds on top of the existing ones, and then she tried to “undermine the science showing universality in the interpretation of facial expressions”, according to Paul Ekman, who is a pioneer in the study of emotions: https://www.paulekman.com/blog/darwin... How will we manage to seed this revolution and create Meaning 3.0? By paying closer attention to our bodies. We house an impressive array of bio-psycho-social technologies, if we only know where to look! And what are these open-source, scalable, anti-fragile technologies? Respiration, embodiment, sexuality, substances, and music supporting inspiration, healing, and connection.Organized religion (Meaning 1.0) used to provide us with faith and comfort, but was largely founded on the elitist idea that only those who believed were saved. Modern liberalism (Meaning 2.0) is the antithesis to the thesis, the belief that everyone, everywhere through democracy, free markets and civil rights can experience the salvation of the thesis. Hierarchy and equality. But both alone cannot usher us through to the coming world and because both Meaning 1.0 and 2.0 have failed (when taken alone, meaning 1.0 results in fundamentalism and meaning 2.0 results in global inequality and nihilism) we’re being swarmed with Rapture Ideologies, ideologies that share four key beliefs: the world is broken, there will be an inflection point in the near future, everyone we value will be saved, and we need to get there as fast as possible. I would argue that one can be an atheist and still be awed and inspired by the magnificent universe without being a nihilist The fact that he expects to see and measure the same behavior humans have in the animal kingdom, 1-1, shows ignorance or a fortunate omission. The only difference between a cult and a religion is the amount of real estate they own.”― Frank Zappa

Healing – the second nutrient we all need. “The world breaks everyone,” said Hemingway, “and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills.” We all suffer micro-PTSD nearly all the time. Having a way to digest our grief, rather than choke on it, is essential. As Bessel Van Der Kolk writes in his brilliant book, the body really does keep the score. He talks about the end of religion as a source of meaning (which he calls Meaning 1.0). And how secularism has failed as a replacement (Meaning 2.0). He then proposes his idea of Meaning 3.0, which must consist of non-dogmatic, low-barrier technologies, namely Respiration, Embodiment, Sexuality, Substances and Music. A highly personal, richly informed and culturally wide-ranging meditation on the loss of meaning in our times and on pathways to rediscovering it.” —Gabor Maté, MD, author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction This book has a glossary. I recommend you scan the glossary before reading the book, because Jamie uses some words in their ancient esoteric meaning, which is different than the meaning you find if you ask for a definition through Google.It's been a pleasure reading this, it's witty, fresh, apocalyptic (as in "pulling the lid off of" rather than as in "eschaton") and fun. Towards our “uniqueness”, dozens of animals mate for life. According to prof Robert Sapolsky, some monkeys physically mimic being fertile to don’t carry a child they don’t want (I couldn’t find the reference. It was in the Human Behavioral Biology course). Bonobos have about 75% of their sex for fun, not sometimes, as he mentions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOY3Q... Recapture the Rapture is both a hymnal and an operations manual for the party at the end of the world-as-we-know-it. The cure for spiritual bypassing and conspirituality is not more mindfulness, it seems, but a redemptive and mutant religiosity that dives into the deep end of our contemporary catastrophe." — Erik Davis, author, High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the 70s This is a book about a big idea. And the idea is this: Slowly over the past few decades, and now suddenly, all at once, we’re suffering from a collapse in meaning. Fundamentalism and nihilism are filling that vacuum, with consequences that affect us all. In a world that needs us at our best, diseases of despair, tribalism, and disaster fatigue are leaving us at our worst. Meaning 1.0 is organized religion that promises salvation at the cost of exclusion, i.e. "we're going to heaven but those people over there that don't believe the same things as us are doomed to burn in the fires of hell, so might as well kill them now." Meaning 2.0 is democracy, the free market, the Laissez-faire "live and let live" attitude that aims at inclusion but has lost sight of salvation, the repercussions of which can be seen as the billions that are suffering from depression, anxiety and loneliness. And it's a sad reality that more people in today's world commit suicide than die from all the wars and illnesses combined. Meaning 3.0 is a proposition to combine the best of both worlds. To bring together aspects of Meaning 1.0 (community, reverence, faith) with the aspects of Meaning 2.0 (inclusion, globalization, democracy).

We can remember who we are through sublime peak experience, we can mend our broken parts through cathartic healing, and we can choose to connect–as couples, communities and citizens.The left wants to tear down the Western canon because they see it as the origin of contemporary oppression. They want to censor biology in case contemporary findings on race or gender become weaponized. And to be fair – popular narratives of the past four hundred years are rife with “scientific” arguments propping up despicable things like the institution of slavery, chemical castration of homosexuals, and wage gaps between men and women. To counter this predictable suppression of transformational movements is simple. Widely share recipes that enhance individual and communal sovereignty, using ingredients that are easily accessible. Democratize transcendence. The Meaning 3.0 Flywheel As someone who was born and raised in a cult (the Moonies) and then became a devout agnostic at the age of 22, Jamie Wheal's book-length manifesto Recapture the Rapture may just be the software update needed, especially for those who have god-shaped voids within, to encourage us to find the best parts of radical process theology without getting lost in the worst parts of toxic religious ideology. Third, he forgot to add the beginning of that phrase: “It is hypothesized that aberrant interaction …” and the conclusion of the study, “What is known regarding amygdala and dopaminergic alterations in schizophrenia combined with data on the role of oxytocin in prosocial behavior suggest a neural circuit that may contribute to aberrant emotional salience processing”. But the next part of our Cinderella story is completely up for grabs. We have the chance to write the next chapter. The Collapse of Meaning

The Conformist tends to defer to established authority regarding which ecstatic practices to follow. They might willingly have their child on a methamphetamine for ADD, but consider psychedelic therapy frightening. Compliance is their Achilles’ heel. Steering (out of the ruts of consensus opinion) is their missing link. The final third of the book is titled "Ethical cult building". From one perspective, this section could provide guidance in building an organization that is truly playing the "infinite game", to have humanity survive and thrive as long as possible. From another perspective, this section is a wake-up call to distinguish many of the myriad ways that historically so many "movements" that have magnetically pulled so many people in have done as much (or more) harm than good. Connection–religions connect people to a community. In his book Together, the former US surgeon general Vivek Murthy writes “we have evolved to participate in community, to forge lasting bonds with others, to help one another, and to share life experiences. We are, simply, better together.” It’s vital that we regain control of the stories we’re telling because they are shaping the future we’re creating. To do that, we have to remember our deepest inspiration, heal our pain and apathy, and connect to each other like never before. If we can do that, we’ve got a shot at solving the big problems we face. And if we can’t? Well, the dustbin of history has swallowed civilizations older and fancier than ours. There are some who would propose that at the resurrection we will be purely spiritual beings, like God. But Scripture tells us that we will have a body – a body that will be like Christ’s. In 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 Paul contrasts the body we have now with the one that we will have. That coming body will be imperishable, immortal, glorious, powerful, and spiritual. Identifying it as a spiritual body lends support to a resurrection that is spiritual in nature. But note that it is a spiritual body, not a spirit. And we will bear the image of the heavenly man, Christ. What our bodies will be like is unknown. But we can be certain that we will have bodies. Is the Rapture Separate from the Second Coming of Christ?A highly personal, richly informed and culturally wide-ranging meditation on the loss of meaning in our times and on pathways to rediscovering it.” —Gabor Maté, MD, author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction Lisa Feldman Barret, has dismantled much of neuropsychology with her theory of constructed emotions… These researchers and hundreds of others are giving both proof and permission for us to reconnect our bodies to our brains.” I have bought and given away six copies and am committed to getting this book into as many hands as possible, partly because I want there to be a better world (a world that hasn't been destroyed by our stupidity) for my children and their children, and partly because I want my friends to join me in the big adventure of changing our hearts and minds with the simple practices outlined in the second part of the book. When the rapture does occur, what will happen? In Matthew 24, Jesus simply tells us that we will be gathered by his angels. But Paul’s writing gives us a little more detail. Both 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Thessalonians 4:16-17 tell us that the rapture is not just of those who are living at the time, but that those believers who have already died will be resurrected and together we will meet our Lord. Matthew 24:30-31 is a portion of Jesus’ teaching about his return. In this passage he says that all the peoples of the earth will see him coming in the clouds. And that with a trumpet call, he will send his angels to gather his elect from throughout the earth.