The Great Cosmic Lesson Plan

Introduction

As a psychologist with forty years of experience, I have spent a great deal of time helping patients delve into some very basic existential questions:
Is life just a random series of events, and when you die you cease to exist? Or is life some sort of well- orchestrated, meaningful lesson, designed for each person’s learning and edification? If the latter is true, what are we supposed to be learning? Is it a test? Is there some sort of omnipotent God administering this test? Is God some sort of proctor, timing us, waiting to see if we get the right answer? If so, what is the right answer? What is the meaning of life? What happens when you die? Is there anything “after” our mortal existence? Is there some sort of reward for getting the right answer? Do we go to some kind of heaven if we get it right? Do we go to purgatory or hell if we get it wrong?
I have long been asking myself the same questions.
My life has been a constant search for meaning and answers. Helping others grapple with the answers has helped me, too. The title of this book and first chapter, “The Great Cosmic Lesson Plan” is based on a piece I wrote for a journal called, “Pure Inspiration” several decades ago. It was inspired by a question asked by my nine-year-old daughter, twenty-two years ago. The various ensuing chapters reflect my answers to basic spiritual and existential questions.
I have found my answers through living, helping others and learning from great teachers. As you will see in the pages ahead, I have learned from so many sources, including the great religions of Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism. All religions try to grapple with existential issues: meaning, death, responsibility, and isolation. There is no doubt that religion has been helpful to me, but I needed more. I have long loved psychology and philosophy, and have also learned a lot from great philosophers and psychologists like Drs. Victor Frankl (my professor in graduate school), Sigmund Feud, Carl Jung, Karen Horney and Thomas Hora. My favorite philosophers include Plato and Emerson and Kierkegaard. I have also learned a lot from modern psycho-spiritual philosophies including The Seth Material by Jane Roberts and A Course in Miracles. Most importantly, I have learned from the events of my life.
Part one includes essays I’ve written for other publications, and my own personal stories. I also share how illness helped me grow, including; rheumatic fever at age nine and a nearly fatal heart attack at fifty-five. All of the most painful events of my life have taught me a lot about life. Life is supposed to be fun, but not all fun. We are supposed to have some pain, just enough to prod us into becoming the best possible human being we can be. We are supposed to become as loving, forgiving, kind, generous and helpful as possible. We are supposed to place God, and the goodness of God above all else. In times of trouble, we are supposed to turn to a transcendent God for strength and guidance. All religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism all assert that we should center our lives in spirituality. Why do we become so embroiled in everyday existence that we forget about God and spiritual values? Perhaps it is this very absorption in material living that impedes up from living primarily for spiritual reasons. Each chapter has been designed to wake up a different portion of our basic humanness and spirituality. I have concluded that we are embarked on a great cosmic lesson plan. Or is it a great “comic” lesson plan?
Humor is very important to our coping with everyday physical reality and eventually transcending it. This is why Part Two is a novelette, a comic exploration of life through the eyes of a fictional character, Dr. Hans Off, a chiropractor who has to give up his profession after being bitten on the hand by an aardvark. Since his hand is paralyzed, he can no longer practice chiropractic. So he starts a new career as a psychoanalyst. Strangely, he notices that all of his patients are very unusual, almost like fictional characters from TV. On top of that, he starts hearing voices, claiming to be historical figures. So he goes to an analyst, Dr. Otto B. Anal. Dr. Off’s experiences with three different therapists are humorous but also meaningful. He takes us on a trip through the history and systems of psychology. He starts with a psychoanalyst, then goes to an existentialist and finally finds his answers by developing his spirituality. Let us begin the journey toward healing and wholeness.