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”
Tag Archives: body
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”
Crossroads
Part of me really wants to believe that human destiny holds something more in store for us than just more of the same. I mean, more than just strapping ourselves inside spaceships and taking our problems somewhere else. Human destiny will entail going beyond ourselves somehow, but populating some distant planet isn’t likely to bringContinue reading “Crossroads”
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”
Spiritual Fitness and Our Human Future
Just as we might go to a gym to work out, or into the hills for a hike, we have a basic understanding that improving our fitness requires immersing ourselves in environments where the activity is sufficiently strenuous but not too much to manage. Of course, if we never exercise, our muscles will lose toneContinue reading “Spiritual Fitness and Our Human Future”
Four-Square Spirituality
Ego sucks. I don’t mean that as a judgment, but as a simple statement of fact. I happen to believe that our separate center of self-conscious identity – ego (Latin for “I”) for short – represents a transformational breakthrough in the evolution of human consciousness, and we need it to get around in the world.Continue reading “Four-Square Spirituality”
The Truth of What You Are
This identity you are managing inside the world is not what you really are. What you are is deeper and more essential than who you are. What you are is a human being – or better yet, a human manifestation of being, while who you are is about your personal identity – the wardrobe ofContinue reading “The Truth of What You Are”
A Way Through the Mess
In the degree we each lack peace within ourselves, the power dynamics between us will be misaligned, dysfunctional and mutually damaging, allowing for very little possibility of love lifting us beyond our differences into selfless goodwill and genuine community. The worldwide spiritual wisdom tradition known as Sophia Perennis holds a communal vision for humanity, saved,Continue reading “A Way Through the Mess”
Post-theism and the River of Fire
In the nineteenth century a German philosopher and proto-psychologist named Ludwig Feuerbach argued that theology, or god-talk (theo+logos), is really a projection outward and upward of our higher human nature. We spontaneously imagine our own dormant virtues as existing separate from us in the deity, and then we aspire to be like god, which graduallyContinue reading “Post-theism and the River of Fire”
The Mythology of You
There’s a part of you that really wants to be somebody special. Admit it. We all do – at least all of us did for a good part of our life. It’s the Hero Journey that figures so prominently in world mythology, which Joseph Campbell interpreted brilliantly in his seminal work The Hero With aContinue reading “The Mythology of You”