All posts tagged: Knowing

Choice and Consequence Part 6: Knowing What You Know

April 17, 2022
by Michael
comments 15
Course Ideas / Reflections

Part 5 of the series is here. I’ve suggested in this series that experience follows from the fundamental orientation of our perceptual apparatus. We each occupy a thought system through which meaning and identity emerge, and while we are each unique, there are but two possibilities for the cornerstone of such a system: what I’ve described as unity (reality) and what I’ve described as separation (image). I’ve also suggested this distinction is one that profoundly […]

Choice and Consequence Part 2: Prelude to a Story

January 12, 2022
by Michael
comments 34
Course Ideas / Reflections

Part 1 of this series is here. I think I was a twinge unclear last time, so let me begin with a slight reset. We are each absolutely and without doubt unique. The network of capabilities, talents, inclinations, perspectives, beliefs, desires and experiences that make each of us who we are exist in no one else but us. This is so. What I’d hoped to convey is not that the possibilities for individual expression are […]

Taking It Lightly

December 31, 2021
by Michael
comments 20
Course Ideas / Reflections / Science

Over time I’ve come to respect the fact that linking my wonder at scientific discoveries to the knowledge of my heart is risky business. It’s tantalizing, for instance, to imagine that some marvel of the natural world is related to, or evidence for, a proposition about the ultimate nature of being—but taken seriously it never quite works. To “take it seriously” is to imagine that some stunning natural phenomena is the (ultimate) reality described in […]

The Power of Choice

November 21, 2021
by Michael
comments 12
Course Ideas / Reflections

Sometimes I really enjoy discussing quantum physics, cosmology, or the nature of human consciousness, but these are largely pursuits of pleasure for my intellect, the way a great novel can be a pursuit of pleasure for the soul. There are fascinating adventures to be had. And while it’s good clean fun to wonder how what is observed fits into what I think deep down about how things work, at the end of the day . […]

Endings That I Love

May 2, 2021
by Michael
comments 12
Course Ideas / Reflections

The endings I love most are the ones where appearance is turned inside out by the fall of this one little domino—think Sixth Sense, or Interstellar, or another personal favorite, The Thomas Crown Affair. (Or what actually set me off on this post, which was the final episode of the Showtime series Homeland.) When that last piece falls, the meaning of everything that came before it is transformed. I particularly like when this reveals an […]

Resounding

April 20, 2021
by Michael
comments 9
Reflections

The mind can be a buzzing midge, or a reckless bull, but it is always susceptible to ambush. You’ve been devoured, I’m sure. The midge enters the flame with a spark. Likewise, when the bull glimpses mountains beyond the rustle of the cape, the ruse is up. He rests on his belly like a puppy. There is no going back. Heart, mind and body, all together, are inexplicable. Try to list the possible states and […]

On Knowing, Dialogue and Mysticism (Part One)

February 14, 2021
by Michael
comments 29
Reflections

Recently, through a series of clicks, I found myself watching a YouTube video of Julia Galef decrying the habit many of us have, in discussions with or about people who are different from us, of saying, “I just don’t understand how anyone could… [think, say, or do whatever it is the unfathomable ones in our lives think, say, or do…]” In her video she used the example of Richard Feynman, who once recounted a discussion […]

The Way of the Marys

January 3, 2021
by Michael
comments 17
Book Reviews

2020 was not my most prolific year in terms of writing, but there is one piece that shines for me that I would like to share with you. It is the review I wrote for Mari Perron’s latest book, Mirari: The Way of the Marys. This book is about many things, but in particular it is about the power of the divine feminine and the potential within us to receive and birth the New. When […]

On Quiet Transformation

December 13, 2020
by Michael
comments 28
Course Ideas

Linda’s blog challenge this year is about transformation—inner transformation particularly. It’s an interesting subject, as it can be hard to assess oneself, but clearly I’ve become quieter the past year or so. More inward-facing. Times of true connection with others have been precious and have served as markers upon this sea I’ve been traversing. I imagine when one is at sea for a while, for what seems a very long time, things start to really […]

The Feminine Science of Water, Part 5

June 28, 2020
by Michael
comments 17
Reflections / Science

To close this series on water and the notion of a feminine science, I want to note that a fundamental element of such a science would be an appreciation that the Unknown is the true subject of study. The beauty and power of Life is not what it displays—the parts and mechanisms we can codify—but what it reveals. What it reveals is the content of the Unknown, and this is as true of water as […]