Feel The Rain: An Introduction to the Complexity and Expansion of Consciousness

Description

This book explores the nature of consciousness and practices for expansion of consciousness. There is nothing more essential for living an authentic life; yet nothing more difficult to understand, much less achieve. The subjects and the challenges involved are complex, subtle, and constantly evolving. They are ideally topics for academic scholars and honored mystics who dedicate their time, energy, and lives to understanding such phenomena. Yet this is not a book written for scholars or mystics. It is written for those of us quietly and often privately searching for life's deeper meanings. Pritchard has a gift of explaining seemingly ineffable concepts and processes. He deftly weaves together the teachings of the great mystics from both Western and Eastern cultures, historical scholars, the latest scientific research, and his own unique experiences to meet this challenge. He brings a deeper understanding to the learning process, including matters you were sure you already understood. Whether you are just beginning your search, or if you have been on the path for some time, this is a book for you. The book is divided into two sections entitled: "Recognition" and "Transformance". These are the two most fundamental steps for any attempt at consciousness expansion. Section I "Recognition" provides a penetrating overview regarding the long disputed nature of consciousness, which scholars refer to as "the hard problem". After all, the essential first step in attempting to change something is to first try and understand how that "something" operates. Section I begins by describing the human understanding of consciousness from the animism of Paleolithic times through the latest neuroscientific discoveries on how the brain and central nervous system generate consciousness. It examines the evolving understanding of distinct "levels" of consciousness from the introduction of the concept by Freud, through Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs Theory", and onto the highly disputed argument for "Transpersonal" levels beyond the current scientific understanding of reality. It identifies and explains the almost insurmountable power of the main "filters" to consciousness, and concludes by exploring the optimistic promise of neuroplasticity. Section II "Transformance" presents powerful practices for expansion of consciousness, and how many such practices are now supported by scientific research. Such practices often involve following roads less travelled, yet return again to share the wisdom and compassion learned. Understanding the nature of consciousness and expanding its temporary and false boundaries provides the potential to see and relate to the world as if from a new dimension. You discover new values, new realities, a more authentic plane of existence. This is accomplished in large part through a new freedom from habits and fears. Too often these are so deeply ingrained that we are not even aware of their existence, much less their power. This new freedom of expanded consciousness welcomes you into an accessible lightness of being. It is a window of pure witness into the wonder of it all. This includes both the so-called good and the so-called bad. When you walk in the rain, no longer will you just get wet.

David is the oldest of seven children from a loving and free-spirited Chicago family. At the age of 14, he entered the seminary to become a priest, but discovered this was not his path in life. He went on to law school where he served on the writing staff of the Law Review. Beginning in 1977, David practiced for nearly four decades as a trial lawyer in the medical-legal field. He regularly lectured to physicians and lawyers, published in legal and medical journals, and was a guest lecturer at the University of Notre Dame Law School. During these years he volunteered with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, and eventually becoming Chair of the Board of Directors. In the early 1990s, David went back to school and earned his Masters Degree in Theology with a major in ethics, and for the next several years served on the Ethics Advisory Board (EAB) of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. While at Children's, he lectured to interns and residents on medical-legal issues, participated with the EAB in attempting to resolve heartbreaking medical situations, and was instrumental in organizing the first ethics retreat at the hospital. In the late 1990s, David was invited on to the Board of Directors of Friends Without A Border, an American-Japanese charity that provides medical care to the children of Southeast Asia; as well as formal training for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers. (See Friends at www.fwab.org.) In 2015, David retired from the practice of law and stepped down from the Friends Board to volunteer full time as Executive Director of Friends where he oversaw the founding and initial development of Lao Friends Hospital for Children in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. David has studied and practiced meditation for more than four decades, including training with recognized masters in Europe, Israel, Nepal, Tibet, and the United States. He has taught introductory meditation courses including seminars for lawyers at the Chicago Bar Association; and in 2006, served as one of four group facilitators at the Compassion in the Rockies Retreat: A Meditation for World Peace at which the Dalai Lama, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, and Rabbi Irwin Kula gave teachings. David and his wife Joan have three adult children. In 2018, David and Joan moved from Chicago to a home on a lake in Northwest Indiana where David writes, and they both enjoy spending time with their son, Zak, his wife, Jeannie, and their grandchildren, Oliver and Eloise.