If we don’t really understand ourselves, how can we know what we need to be healthy, happy, and whole? In our ignorance we are left groping for what feels good, for what might help us get ahead of the game, or at least distract us from the anxiety of not knowing what “the game” isContinue reading “First Things”
Tag Archives: consciousness
Timeless Wisdom
It’s natural – or we should better say, it’s the expected outcome of our socialization as a self in a world – to find ourselves inside something that seems very real. From those early days, our tribe is busy orienting us to its worldview, beliefs, and way of life, instructing and shaping us into aContinue reading “Timeless Wisdom”
Endangered Species
It’s weird to think that humans are still on the journey to actualizing our full potential as a species. All other species, as far as we can tell, reach fulfillment in each generation, where the young develop to maturity as the adults nurture them along. For the most part, genetic codes and the drives ofContinue reading “Endangered Species”
The Reality in Your Hand
They are delicious – or can be. I’m sure you’ve had one before. Snow cones are perhaps the most popular and biggest rip-off treats at amusement parks and county fairs. Pack some shaved ice into a paper cone and drizzle your favorite sugary syrup on top. Three bucks, please. But have you ever looked moreContinue reading “The Reality in Your Hand”
Life in the Egg
Do you know why you’re here? Granted, ‘why’ questions can be notoriously difficult to answer, so let’s start even more basic: Do you know how you got here? Even that question assumes some understanding of what ‘you’ – or more properly “I” (Ego) – and ‘here’ refer to. For goodness sake, is there any pointContinue reading “Life in the Egg”
Our Longing for Perfect Love
One of the deep and universal principles of spiritual wisdom states that the wellbeing and fulfillment we seek in life cannot, and will never, be found in this world. Many religions misunderstand this principle to mean that our salvation lies elsewhere or awaits us in the afterlife, in another world beyond this one. Any interpretationContinue reading “Our Longing for Perfect Love”
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”
Back on the Way
Ever feel anxious? How about lonely? Depressed? Have you been there before? Maybe you’re there now. It may bring a bit of relief to learn that anxiety, loneliness, and depression have been the dark shadow of human consciousness for thousands of years. You’re not the first, and you’re not alone. As human consciousness evolved, theContinue reading “Back on the Way”
Free to Shine
In Clarity and Brilliance I offered a way of conceptualizing the dynamic integrity of human consciousness across its four types of intelligence: rational (RQ = mind), emotional (EQ = heart), visceral (VQ = will), and spiritual (SQ = soul/spirit). The validity of these four is well-established in the psychological literature, with our spiritual intelligence mostContinue reading “Free to Shine”
Clarity and Brilliance
The “clarity” of a diamond refers to the absence of defects, of imperfections that would otherwise obscure its transparency to light. At higher degrees of clarity a diamond will take on a “brilliance” where the magnification of light through its various facets has the effect of shining or generating a radiance from its own interiorContinue reading “Clarity and Brilliance”