According to the worldwide spiritual wisdom tradition known as the Perennial Philosophy or Sophia Perennis, the one thing each of us must realize is that we are not who we think we are. Who is a term attaching to a personal identity, which is all about playing a role on the social performance stage. TheContinue reading “Under the Hat”
Category Archives: Philosophical Underpinnings
Seeing the Truth
When you were just an infant, your experience was, in the words of William James, a “blooming, buzzing confusion.” You had no language and hence no discrete categories of thought to label, classify, and organize your perceptions. Everything just swirled around you, bombarding your senses from every side. It was fascinating – and frequently overwhelming.Continue reading “Seeing the Truth”
Working on Ourselves
When it comes to understanding ourselves, humans tend to be a fairly confused species. This is not to say that other species really understand themselves, either. It’s likely our evolved talent for self-conscious reflection and contemplation that makes understanding ourselves even possible, as well as what’s behind our confusion – and a lot of ourContinue reading “Working on Ourselves”
A Family History of the Passions
We like to think that we act the way we do, believe what we believe, and curate a philosophy of life based on rational choices. We thought it all out and made a decision. Where we stand on things and how we feel about it is the product of careful consideration and common sense. Right.Continue reading “A Family History of the Passions”
The Wonder of It All
What our planet of nations needs, almost more than anything else right now, is a shared image of existence – a sacred mandala that can guide a deeper contemplation of the universe and of our own human nature. If we had such an understanding of ourselves and all things, I am sure that most ifContinue reading “The Wonder of It All”
Our Human Adventure
I can absolutely guarantee that after a short orientation, you will be able to find yourself on the map illustrated above. Now, whether you build on that discovery and successfully find your way to the fulfilment of your human journey, also known as self-actualization, salvation, and the liberated life, is entirely your choice. You mightContinue reading “Our Human Adventure”
All and Nothing
It took a couple of centuries into the first Axial Age of the higher cultures (800-200 BCE) for the shocking realization to set in. In sixth-century Persia it came together in Zarathushtra’s idea of apocalypse, which regarded the world as a richly embroidered veil of illusion that must be pulled aside in our quest toContinue reading “All and Nothing”
E Uno, Plures. E Pluribus Unum.
When Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson agreed on the phrase “Out of many, one” (in Latin e pluribus unum) for the Great Seal of the United States, their idea was of the new nation as a manifold unity of individuals. America’s diversity would be the secret to its success – particularly as thatContinue reading “E Uno, Plures. E Pluribus Unum.”
How Things Seem
Reality is our code-word for What Is. If something is, it is real or has reality. We often speak of Reality as what stands beyond, or on the other side of, our veils of meaning – of what’s on our minds or only in our imagination. But what if there were no human minds orContinue reading “How Things Seem”
Necessary Delusion
Check this out. Everything around you includes you in its higher wholeness, and what is within you grounds you in deeper oneness. Harmony and communion are the special terms designating these distinct dimensions of Reality – around and including you, within and grounding you. The concept of harmony requires you to be centered in yourself.Continue reading “Necessary Delusion”
Tracts of Revolution 