Re: spirituality as a link?

[Guest guest]

wrote:

> Hi everyone,

>

> I've been reading all of the posts, and keeping quiet, all the time in

> horror at how much suffering is expressed. I'm so sorry for the pain

> that many of you experience. I joined this group to try to get a better

> understanding on Asperger's.

> I'm NT, with an AS partner and have had a longer close relationship to

> my partner's father, who I believe is also AS. We train horses (this

> may actually be relevant, because there is a meditative element to this

> type of work). When I came to Spain 8 yrs ago, met these two very

> special individuals, and learned to train horses with them, my entire

> life changed...particularly in a perspective sense

[ snip a clear and *perceptive* note ]

> I think I've done a very poor job in illustrating the idea that I

> believe there is a different way to exist, often very far from the

> modern psychology we breath today, that can offer a link, not only

> between NT and AS, but between all types of people, where we can aim to

> be more humble, less needy, more accepting and live more in the moment,

> quieting our minds and taking in the wonders that connect us all. Of

> course, it's an ideal, but I believe it's a key to harmonious

> relationships of all sorts and for both sides.

I hear you, . I've been privileged to know several such as your

partner and his father. They are *rare* souls, to be nurtured.

What you suggest though, that " all types of people " might come to live

and be as *they* are, is a true " counsel of perfection " . In the human

species, it cannot ever be. Not in any time measured in less than many

centuries, millennia or eons even. We are what we are, in my view the

product of a heartless and very competitive evolutionary process.

That said, I do believe that the autism-spectrum, entire, is an atavism.

A bit of remnant genetics from long ago. *Maintained* in our species

*today* by a form of " balancing selection " :

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balancing_selection>

The *value* provided I see as the considerable AS " gifts " we recognize

already. The *cost* is the frailty and even disability visited on some

AS, also well recognized.

So all of us AS are " normal " humankind, ... just " of a different mind " .

And the ideal you seek - that " counsel of perfection " possibility -

might be *already* in the worldwide autistic community. ...Variety?

....Race? ...Sub-species even?

- Bill, dx AS; ... it's a thought

--

WD " Bill " Loughman - Berkeley, California USA

http://home.earthlink.net/~wdloughman/wdl.htm

[Guest guest]

Bill,The idea of balancing selection is an interesting thought...and yes, I can see the "value" and "cost" of AS, but as an NT, I found not only to understand and appreciate the "gifts", but also to internalize them in my own personal growth.  I am not AS, but can live within the realm of my partner and his father, comfortably and now, more at peace than with the general NT population.  Before I identified their ways as AS, I was just intrigued by their behaviour, and upon observing,  discovered how differently they perceived life.  I was refreshed by such an innocent approach to life.  I "clicked" with them much better than anyone I had ever known before, and intuitively feel a need to protect them from the nastiness of much of human kind.  Although the ideal may not

be attainable, it certainly is a path to follow and to teach our children that perhaps could eliminate much hardship in life.  When my perspective changed, I began to discover the weaknesses and thus demands of the NT's in my life. I agree that we are "the product of a heartless and competitive evolutionary process", but we also have the capacity to be self aware, which, if focused in an non-aggressive manner,  also gives us the opportunity to find peace and maybe avoid destroying our entire species eventually!    I am not referring to being "nice" to each other, but rather an internal transformation that eliminates our perceived "needs", that seem to mostly stem from fear and is the source of much aggression.  Spirituality, seems to go in the direction of that transformation, and maybe can allow us to continue to evolve without self destruction. De: WD Loughman Para: aspires-relationships Enviado: dom,21 marzo, 2010 04:02Asunto: Re: spirituality as a link?

 

wrote:

> Hi everyone,

>

> I've been reading all of the posts, and keeping quiet, all the time in

> horror at how much suffering is expressed. I'm so sorry for the pain

> that many of you experience. I joined this group to try to get a better

> understanding on Asperger's.

> I'm NT, with an AS partner and have had a longer close relationship to

> my partner's father, who I believe is also AS. We train horses (this

> may actually be relevant, because there is a meditative element to this

> type of work). When I came to Spain 8 yrs ago, met these two very

> special individuals, and learned to train horses with them, my entire

> life changed...particula rly in a perspective sense

[ snip a clear and *perceptive* note ]

> I think I've done a very poor job in illustrating the idea that I

> believe there is a different way to exist, often very far from the

> modern psychology we breath today, that can offer a link, not only

> between NT and AS, but between all types of people, where we can aim to

> be more humble, less needy, more accepting and live more in the moment,

> quieting our minds and taking in the wonders that connect us all. Of

> course, it's an ideal, but I believe it's a key to harmonious

> relationships of all sorts and for both sides.

I hear you, . I've been privileged to know several such as your

partner and his father. They are *rare* souls, to be nurtured.

What you suggest though, that "all types of people" might come to live

and be as *they* are, is a true "counsel of perfection". In the human

species, it cannot ever be. Not in any time measured in less than many

centuries, millennia or eons even. We are what we are, in my view the

product of a heartless and very competitive evolutionary process.

That said, I do believe that the autism-spectrum, entire, is an atavism.

A bit of remnant genetics from long ago. *Maintained* in our species

*today* by a form of "balancing selection":

<http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Balancing_ selection>

The *value* provided I see as the considerable AS "gifts" we recognize

already. The *cost* is the frailty and even disability visited on some

AS, also well recognized.

So all of us AS are "normal" humankind, ... just "of a different mind".

And the ideal you seek - that "counsel of perfection" possibility -

might be *already* in the worldwide autistic community. ...Variety?

....Race? ...Sub-species even?

- Bill, dx AS; ... it's a thought

--

WD "Bill" Loughman - Berkeley, California USA

http://home. earthlink. net/~wdloughman/ wdl.htm

[Guest guest]

,

What a lovely post. People's expectations

of others so often colour their perceptions. The example you use

does reflect misunderstandings that have occurred between my partner

and I.

Greg DX AS at 53