[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fr0-rUb7Ygc7lwJlfFRvO2FLDe4__lqokvg7GMVuRq-g":3,"$f_YClUO2UDRstXO4MMYa0U5FU5ID3GVVfmkYfVDAbi5Q":28},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"bio_jsonld":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},4968,"Jay Michaelson","J",12,null,"jay-michaelson",[12,16,20,24],{"tag_id":13,"tag_name":14,"tag_count":15},2982,"buddhism",10,{"tag_id":17,"tag_name":18,"tag_count":19},16444,"dharma",9,{"tag_id":21,"tag_name":22,"tag_count":23},26,"meditation",8,{"tag_id":25,"tag_name":26,"tag_count":27},102,"religion",6,{"quotes":29,"pagination":203},[30,38,60,79,97,115,133,156,170,185],{"id":31,"quote_text":32,"author_id":5,"source_id":27,"has_image":33,"author":34,"source":35,"quote_tag":36,"commentary":37},3117169,"For me, religion comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.",false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nJay Michaelson's quote \"For me, religion comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable\" likely originated from his experiences as a gay man in a conservative Jewish community. This sentiment is characteristic of his work in reconciling spirituality with social justice, particularly in the context of LGBTQ+ rights. The quote reflects his observations on how traditional religious institutions often provide solace to marginalized groups while confronting those with privilege and power.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nThe quote reveals a paradoxical relationship between comfort and affliction. On one hand, religion can provide solace and comfort to those who are suffering, offering a sense of community and meaning. On the other hand, it can afflict those who are comfortable, challenging their privilege and forcing them to confront their own complicity in systems of oppression.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset, professionals and creatives can use their work as a form of \"affliction\" to challenge the status quo and confront privilege. By creating work that holds a mirror to societal injustices, they can contribute to a more equitable world, while also providing comfort and solace to those who are marginalized.",{"id":39,"quote_text":40,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":42,"source":43,"quote_tag":44,"commentary":9},592032,"Yes, eros and agape are different, but the stifling of the former leads to a distortion of the latter.",2,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[45,50,55],{"id":46,"tag":47},3133031,{"id":48,"tag_name":49},25,"love",{"id":51,"tag":52},3133030,{"id":53,"tag_name":54},3773,"gay",{"id":56,"tag":57},3133029,{"id":58,"tag_name":59},7388,"eros",{"id":61,"quote_text":62,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":63,"source":64,"quote_tag":65,"commentary":78},558982,"At the last stages of the journey, there’s no journey at all.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[66,69,72,75],{"id":67,"tag":68},3018566,{"id":21,"tag_name":22},{"id":70,"tag":71},3018567,{"id":25,"tag_name":26},{"id":73,"tag":74},3018564,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":76,"tag":77},3018565,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},"**The Backstory**\nThis enigmatic quote is reminiscent of Jay Michaelson's spiritual and philosophical explorations, particularly during his later years of grappling with existential questions. While I couldn't pinpoint the exact origin or context in which he said this, it's likely from one of his books, essays, or lectures where he reflects on the nature of reality and our place within it.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nAt its core, Michaelson's statement reveals a paradoxical understanding that our experiences, including the journey itself, become increasingly irrelevant as we approach our goals. This is because true fulfillment lies not in the external destination but in the process of transformation that unfolds during the journey.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset today, consider that the most critical aspect of your creative or professional pursuits is not the end result but rather the ongoing evolution of your skills, perspectives, and character. By recognizing the inherent value of the journey itself, you can shift from an outcome-focused mentality to a growth-oriented one, allowing yourself to fully immerse in the process and discover new depths within yourself.",{"id":80,"quote_text":81,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":82,"source":83,"quote_tag":84,"commentary":9},558981,"We are animals descended from five billion years of wanting, striving, and seeking. And life just doesn’t cooperate. So we suffer. And so the solution to that problem is to upgrade our minds, in a distinctly ‘unnatural’ way, so that the mind clings less and lets go more.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[85,88,91,94],{"id":86,"tag":87},3018562,{"id":21,"tag_name":22},{"id":89,"tag":90},3018563,{"id":25,"tag_name":26},{"id":92,"tag":93},3018560,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":95,"tag":96},3018561,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":98,"quote_text":99,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":100,"source":101,"quote_tag":102,"commentary":9},558977,"It is possible to refine awareness itself so much that the emptiness of things, and the role mental construction plays, becomes a directly apprehended reality.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[103,106,109,112],{"id":104,"tag":105},3018551,{"id":21,"tag_name":22},{"id":107,"tag":108},3018552,{"id":25,"tag_name":26},{"id":110,"tag":111},3018549,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":113,"tag":114},3018550,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":116,"quote_text":117,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":118,"source":119,"quote_tag":120,"commentary":9},558975,"Sometimes, sitting there on the cushion failing to watch your breath, it can feel like you’re the only weirdo weird enough to be wasting your time in this way. But you’re not! There are generations of weirdos, monasteries full of them, and we have the benefit of their accumulated wisdom.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[121,124,127,130],{"id":122,"tag":123},3018544,{"id":21,"tag_name":22},{"id":125,"tag":126},3018545,{"id":25,"tag_name":26},{"id":128,"tag":129},3018542,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":131,"tag":132},3018543,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":134,"quote_text":135,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":136,"source":137,"quote_tag":138,"commentary":9},558963,"There’s no path to liberation that doesn’t pass through the shadow.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[139,142,145,148,153],{"id":140,"tag":141},3018506,{"id":21,"tag_name":22},{"id":143,"tag":144},3018507,{"id":25,"tag_name":26},{"id":146,"tag":147},3018503,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":149,"tag":150},3018505,{"id":151,"tag_name":152},5864,"liberation",{"id":154,"tag":155},3018504,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":157,"quote_text":158,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":159,"source":160,"quote_tag":161,"commentary":9},558926,"For the Buddha of the Pali Canon, the goal is liberation: the cessation of suffering, the end of the endless hamster-wheel of dependent origination, of mental formations leading to desire leading to clinging leading to suffering and so on. Nibbana, or nirvana, was not originally conceived as some magical heavenly world, or even a permanent altered state of consciousness. It is usually described, in the early texts, negatively: as a candle being snuffed out.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[162,167],{"id":163,"tag":164},3018382,{"id":165,"tag_name":166},111,"spirituality",{"id":168,"tag":169},3018380,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":171,"quote_text":172,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":173,"source":174,"quote_tag":175,"commentary":9},558920,"Part of why I love these angry, straight, white punks is that they are stripping the dharma of its bullshit, and applying it to contexts and styles that, even if they aren’t mine, are at least different from the norm.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[176,179,182],{"id":177,"tag":178},3018356,{"id":21,"tag_name":22},{"id":180,"tag":181},3018354,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":183,"tag":184},3018355,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"id":186,"quote_text":187,"author_id":5,"source_id":41,"has_image":33,"author":188,"source":189,"quote_tag":190,"commentary":9},558917,"What a miracle, that all we have to do to be beautifully loving creatures is just relax and allow.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[191,194,197,200],{"id":192,"tag":193},3018345,{"id":21,"tag_name":22},{"id":195,"tag":196},3018346,{"id":25,"tag_name":26},{"id":198,"tag":199},3018343,{"id":13,"tag_name":14},{"id":201,"tag":202},3018344,{"id":17,"tag_name":18},{"currentPage":204,"totalPages":41,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":15},1]