Everyday Mysticism
This doesn’t downgrade mysticism to everyday. It upgrades everyday to mysticism. Every day, fleeting moments of mysticism For example, a sense of deep wonder or awe for a beautiful sunrise, in the train from Antwerp to Brussels. For example, a beautiful song that carries me (much) further than usual. For example, a shared insight during Read the full article…
Triangle of Religion
This triangle is a ‘landscape of religion’ at a conceptual level, showing ‘Open Religion’ as part of this landscape. This is all very conceptual. Concrete religions or ‘ways to experience religion’ are situated somewhere within the triangle, not therefore at the corners or sides. Three corners of the triangle Within the triangle, you see a Read the full article…
“There is More between Heaven and Earth…”
But there are no gnomes. Regrettably. It would be nice: such cute thumb-sized males and females with funny stocking caps that are made of gnome sheep’s wool. But they do not exist. How come that I ‘know’ that? Now then: I do not ‘know’ it. Maybe they always disappear when people are watching. Maybe there’s Read the full article…
Excellence
One should not be apprehensive to excel as long as this does not interfere with human value. There is a natural drive to excel and that’s perfectly OKAY. [see also: ‘Being of Value’] ἄριστος (aristos) = ancient Greek for ‘excellent’ or ‘outstanding’, being apart / above the rest. You recognize it in the term ‘aristocracy’. Read the full article…
The Art of Why
‘Why?’ can be asked in an analytical way. Then it’s a kind of delving into the psyche. Contrary to this, the art of why is an invitation, the answer an emergent road. The why?-question is always multidimensional. One can look at it from a historical perspective, a genetic perspective, a societal one, a personal-history one Read the full article…
The Story-Telling Brainy Network
Slightly hypothetical: the brainy network that is activated when daydreaming, is also activated through story-telling, so important in public speaking. The ‘Default Mode Network’ (DMN) is the brainy network that people get into when they are neither asleep nor focused on a specific job. This mental mode is also baptized ‘mental time travel’. It’s important Read the full article…
Meditation = Being Friendly
Ever wondered why Buddha has a Buddha smile? ‘Friendly’ as in ‘very, very gentle’. [see: ‘Weak, Hard, Strong, Gentle’]. Not straightforward Being friendly = letting yourself be open to change from inside out. This is not always straightforward. In fact, a great deal of courage may be needed, presupposing an openness within yourself to be Read the full article…
Law and Intention!
People are important. Intentions are present within people. Laws are not. The law [Please read before this: ‘X or not X, versus: X or Y’] Something parallel can be seen in many domains, such as in anything related to the law (on freedom of speech or anything else). Mind: this is NOT about following or Read the full article…
Pied Pipers of Hamelin
There are already more than enough pied pipers of Hamelin. ~~~~~~ One metric ton of so called ‘depth’ is easier to fathom than an ounce of real stuff whatever that may be. You don’t have to look like a spirit of the forest to bring depth. There is no harm in it, but it really Read the full article…
Clouds – Rain
An ‘unsui’ (*) was, in ancient Japan, a kind of monk moving around lifelong from monastery to monastery. Time and again he was fully present in the here and now. And time and time again he was ready to depart ‘here and now’. Not that he was running away from all these places. On the Read the full article…
If it works, then it’s OKAY?
This is definitely not sufficient. You need to know what works and towards what. Nothing works without a ‘towards what’ For instance, a hammer doesn’t work unless you use it towards some purpose. If you use it as a paperweight, then that’s the purpose, towards which the hammer probably works. Without a ‘towards what’, the Read the full article…
What is Elegance?
Elegance is beauty, strength, wisdom, oneness. Of course, this is all hugely subjective. This text says perhaps more about me than about anything else. Finding something elegant is definitely animalistic yet it is what no other animal can do better than a human. Apparently, one needs a ‘very complex processing system’ to do the trick. Read the full article…
Growth to Happiness
Happiness can hardly be found at the end of happiness-road. It can be found at growth-road. Actually, it is that road. People who search for happiness – just like that – frequently end up being less happy. It’s a kind of nature’s revenge, maybe, especially when one and the other end up in a vicious Read the full article…
The Problem of the Skeptic
Typically human to run into such kind of problem… Well, we’ll have to deal with it. Hm, by throwing it out of the window? Let’s say you are a skeptic. That means you are a person wishing to you use rationality to ‘think for yourself’, as Kant admonished us all to do in order to Read the full article…
AURELIS and Self-Development
“I don’t have any problem. Why should I use AURELIS?” AURELIS may seem problem-oriented but it’s not. It’s growth-oriented. In AURELIS-philosophy, a ‘problem’ (such as a psychosomatic symptom) is an entry, to be given attention to as a way of communication. The goal of AURELIS is self-development or ‘growth’. This may start from a problem. Read the full article…
Beginner’s Mind, Forever
DISCLAIMER: read this only if you know what it says. ‘Beginner’s mind’ … Beginner in what? I would say, without thinking: beginner in love. With a special clarification: there where love is new , where it – you might say if you know what I mean with this – is ‘romantic love’, being in love Read the full article…
Difference between Fear and Anxiety
Very briefly: fear is concrete – anxiety is symbolic. One can have fear of a lion just escaped from the zoo, or of the sound of approaching footsteps along a dark and lonely street in a strange city. The object of fear is always readily nameable. The fear itself is always readily relatable to by Read the full article…