points of illumination
Monkey Mind, that Magnificent Magician
Ego bashing has been in fashion ever since humans woke up to the embarrassment of owning a consciousness. Here, instead of heaping more abuse on that part of our mind that we live our days in, let’s pay homage to
Amor Fati: Nietzsche’s Finest Idea
Imagine if we are told that the moment we are done living this life, we will proceed to a movie theater as an immortal spirit and watch looping reruns of a film of our whole past life, every waking second
The Body’s Drum
The heart does not pump blood through the body. Yes, contact with this statement may well make one recoil with incredulity, cease cognition, and run off with the urge to do some cardio exercise. One may want to withhold judgement
Look, a Child!
Some day, humanity may view the way that we generally treat our children today in the same way as societies of the past once treated women or supposedly inferior races. One cannot guarantee that such a realization will dawn, but
Coming Unstuck from Social Constructs
The second half of life typically brings with it a strange paradox. We may have achieved what we set out to do in life, by raising a family, establishing a career, and building a personal identity. Yet, as middle age
Through the Mists of Unreality
There are times when the “me”-ness of our everyday experience weakens. Life feels a bit like it is being lived in third person. Our selves feel a bit unreal, and reality itself feels a bit unreal. The former condition is
The Embodied Brain
It is a curious phenomenon that the bodies of nearly all higher animals manifest a shape best described as an asymmetrical hourglass. A head, a relatively larger torso, and separating them, a narrow constriction called the neck. Exceptions, such as
No News is Good
What is this human obsession called the News? Let’s be honest. Do we really need to fill our daily lives with the latest in buffoonery and posturing from global politicians, shrill commentary from all manner of outraged experts, massive deluges
Isolating into the Collective
The arc is unmistakable. Voluntarily or involuntarily, humans are isolating. The last century has seen a stratospheric rise in humans living by themselves, and spending most of their time alone. In cities across the world, solo households are the norm
Individuation: the Game of Life
The über task of every human is to play a game called Individuation. The game lasts for the entirety of his or her lifetime. Participation is not optional. As life begins, each player is dealt a unique set of cards,
The Earth
The Earth has been called many names and suffered many insults, but the biggest insult humans may have inflicted upon her is to call her a thing. IT, as one refers to a mere object. It is the third rock
The Moon
We do not know what the Moon is. We stand under her, strangely compelled to stare at her face, but never understand her. Claims to the contrary might just be a case of lunacy – what La Luna does to
The Sun
What is the Sun? Modern humans speak of it as just a star, a small and ordinary one at that, located at the outskirts of a minor galaxy in some unimpressive corner of the universe. Supervised by that stern and