Under the Hat

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”

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”

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”

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.”

Deckchairs on the Titanic

Are you familiar with that metaphor of arranging deckchairs on the Titanic? The message is that while we are busy piddling around with minor things, the really Big Thing needing our attention is going down – taking us and our trivial fixations with it. Besides being a helpful call-back to our priorities in business, family,Continue reading “Deckchairs on the Titanic”

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”

First Things

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”

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”