Again, what A Course in Miracles did was organize my thinking about spirituality in a way that made clear the many seams, fractures and canyons implicit in that thinking. ACIM created problems it could not on its own resolve. In this sense, the course was not unlike so many other spiritual and religious experiences inContinue reading “On Reading Francisco Varela”
Author Archives: Sean
Zombies and A Course in Miracles
In his essay “Physics and Mind: Minding Quanta and Cosmology” Karl H. Pribram suggests that brain is to mind as person is to experience. As he puts it, somewhat inelegantly, you can eat a brain but you can’t eat experience. Zombie inferences aside, I think this is an interesting way to think about what itContinue reading “Zombies and A Course in Miracles”
On Losing Religion and Gathering Joy
I do not think that religion is something one has to vanquish and bury in an anonymous grave, all in the name of love and reason, but I do think if one has not yet seen good reasons why it should be so vanquished and dispatched, then one is perhaps insufficiently religious. What do IContinue reading “On Losing Religion and Gathering Joy”
On How and Why Questions, Cosmic Solipsism, and Emily Dickinson
I have been reflecting for the past week or so on the difference between asking why and asking how, especially as the distinction relates to our various beliefs, especially those we might label “spiritual.” What are the effects of asking one question rather than another? Over the past twenty years or so, I have becomeContinue reading “On How and Why Questions, Cosmic Solipsism, and Emily Dickinson”
Cooperation and Coordination are Love
Institutions arise out of mutual acts of coordination among individuals who have as their goal a shared beneficence. For example, my neighbor and I have an agreement – I mow his lawn in spring, summer and Fall and he plows my driveway in winter. The institution is neighborhood, the coordinating mechanism is barter, and theContinue reading “Cooperation and Coordination are Love”
There is Always a Loving Context
There is always a context that is loving. Whatever is happening can be both perceived and understood in terms of love. The work of being human is to clarify our perception and understanding in order to bring forth that love, which inures to our collective benefit. The living that we do often involves pain: weContinue reading “There is Always a Loving Context”