Thomas Aquinas: Pinnacle to Obsolescence in 200 Years and Why It Matters
Aquinas knew there was something prior to essence and being. Western culture lost sight of it.
Topic
Existence Strikes Back Part I
The Tao.
The Tao, also called “the act of existence (actus essendi),” “the first principle of Zen,” and the region on the other side of Aldous Huxley’s doors of perception, is the nameless reality that is logically, conceptually, and in reality prior to everything else. This part of ESB emphasizes “The Reality Spectrum”: The Tao-->Essence-->Existence.
Are You Engaged in the Act of Existence? Then You’re a Man of the Tao
Introducing "The Reality Spectrum"
Tao: The Transcendental Modem
For the fortunate few, that router is hard-wired with fiber optic. Most of us only get a wireless connection, and a wobbly one at that.
How to Break on Through to the Other Side
The Doors released their first single in 1967: “Break on Through (to the Other Side),” a tribute of sorts to Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception.
Huxley had been trying to break on through to the other side for years. He put together a splendid book in the 1940s
How to Start Detaching the Door of Reality from Its Hinges
You Need to Deal with the Survival Paradox
The man who invented the calculator, you might imagine, was pretty freakin’ smart.
But he apparently didn’t understand some really freakin’ fundamental things. He one time wrote:
“I know not what is good or bad in anything. I know not which
We Golf. Therefore, the Tao Is.
We intuit the Tao. That’s why our active hobbies engage us.
How to Escape the Selfishness Paradox
Hint: Stop Thinking About It
The word “selfish” trended strongly over the past few years.
People who wouldn’t lock down: selfish. People who wouldn’t get the vaccine: selfish. People who rail against economic inequality: selfish (manifested in envy).
The problem with alleging selfishness, though, is that every human
How to Kill that Feeling of Thankfulness
Exploring the Thankfulness Paradox
I live in Michigan. A lot of people think October is the prettiest time in Michigan (“fall colors!”), but I’m not so sure.
“Michigan in May,” I tell people, “is one of the best places.”
Dozen hues of green, pink cherry blossoms, purple lilacs, tulips
The Pseudo-Dionysius and the Tao
The Satoshi Nakamoto of Mysticism. This dude first articulated the western mystical tradition. Like the inventor of Bitcoin, we don’t even know who he was. But he pointed to the Tao.
Dr. Faustus and Mr. Lao-Tzu
When Dr. Faust insulted the Tao, the devil emerged.