Earthlings
At some point during my early teens, I realized that I did not naturally or spontaneously regard myself as an earthling—but as some kind of being who dwelt inside an…
The Mercator Projection: Why it Matters
Here, folks, is a juxtaposition of the African continent against a selection of countries/ regions from around the world. Such is the geographical area of our magnificent continent, and while…
Nairobi The Teacher
There creeps an eerie feeling when you suddenly realise that you're actually stuck in the middle of nowhere. Its just like in the movies— you look around and all you…
A Review of the Kenyan Anti-government Protests
Anti-government protests have been happening in my country Kenya for the last few months. The opposition leader Mr Raila Odinga and his supporters declared protests against the regime of the…
Space Travel: A Vision or a Nightmare?
The species known as Homo sapiens sapiens has a very long way to go in terms of travel. While ours might be the most intelligent of all species, our brilliance…
A Protest on Poor Roads
A road should not be entirely tarmacked. There comes a thrill when travelling in a lorry carrying maize on a bumpy and rock strewn road. A proper country road should…
Africanism: A Tale From The Maasai
Is there a descriptive word for the curious feelings that one experiences in the middle of a rainy night while camped in a flimsy tent that threatens to fall apart…
A Thought on Death
Perhaps, too often, the tragedies of the past give color to the tragedies unforeseen. What fed the woes of yesterday but only feeds the sorrows of tomorrow, and we find…
The Sad Cloud: A Story
The large old frog said to the cloud that roared, " you frighten me with your roaring, I must hop into my little house and hide myself!" She was coming…
OF MOUSE, CAT, AND MAN: A COMEDY
While bent over with half my torso buried in a sudsy bucket of water filled with odd bits of this week's laundry, my attention was turned to my cat Meawly…
Evolution Vs Christianity: Why Christians Might Be Wrong
Isn't there is a contradiction of theistic evolutionary ideas against itself? The argument of theistic evolutionists contrasts special creation views while also supporting particular religious beliefs and accepting certain scientific…
AN EXAMINATION ON FRIENDSHIP
There lurks a danger in the shadows of new alliances, for the soul cannot judge by mere appearances. In newness there is mistrust and deceit. An old foe is often…
𝗢𝗻 𝗡𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘇𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲’𝘀 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀
What is so objectionable about being domesticated, tamed, civilized? Nietzsche comes very close, in 𝐺𝑀, to equating these to “weakness” and “sickness,” so far as our species is concerned. His…
𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮, 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀
1. What are the most important benefits – both for the individual and the collective, or society as a whole – afforded by the personae (or outer masks) that…
𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆
It is both difficult and rare for persons living today to have any clear idea – let alone, an experience – of what the first Greek philosophers were up against…
Agony
He is tormented by the hallucinations of a mad man, walking aimlessly across a vast desert of endless confusion and total loss. It's as if the very sanity that should…
Convicted
The manipulation of mass opinions and sentiments leads to the concentration of power in the (usually dirty) hands of the manipulators – at least in the short run. The…
A Treatise on Insomnia
For as long as I can remember, I've not been able to sleep "early". Even as a kid growing up, I couldn't get to sleep at "recommended" times, and this…
𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗗𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆
In the end, duality appears to be 𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔. This is one of those governing, authoritative intuitions (like “all apparent opposites balance—or cancel—each other out”) that I find it difficult 𝑛𝑜𝑡…
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲
Taking a cue from T.S. Eliot’s essay on Dante, I find myself wanting to lay aside the voluminous historical-literary notes and glosses to the 𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜 – and just read the…
𝗟𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀
Oftentimes, when we speak of a mental breakdown, what we are referring to is the temporary lowering or collapse of an unnatural, culturally constructed wall of separation that was long…
𝗔 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗹𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀
Responding to someone who has referred to the well-known religious/philosophical conception of the world (or universe) as “a mighty plan of work aiming at awakening and developing consciousness,” Nisargadatta says,…
𝗔 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
It now seems more accurate to designate 𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 as the polar opposite of 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒, rather than hate, which is an unfortunate byproduct of self-isolation. Of course it is typically fear…
𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗴
I came across a passage from Jung the other day that inspired a short essay/commentary. Here’s the citation from Jung: "Empirical psychology loved, until recently, to explain the “unconscious” as…
𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻
As a child, I recall “taking the measure” of the little world (micro-cosmos) into which I had been planted like a plump, wriggling seed. By the time I was 13,…
Little Big Man
Tense “historical” moments—such as the one we are collectively suspended in now, with the conflict that has erupted in Ukraine—afford special opportunities for all of us to test the authenticity…
𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
What is memory and how do my layers of memory shape and influence my consciousness, my sense of personal identity, as well as my expectations of the future? …
𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆
It is both difficult and rare for persons living today to have any clear idea – let alone, an experience – of what the first Greek philosophers were up against…
𝗔 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀
In What Ways were the early Greek thinkers more open – or more directly exposed – to the whole than we late-born humans of the present world are? Were their…
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘇𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆
What role does the need for 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦 play in Spinoza’s comprehensive philosophy? What role does it play in any philosopher’s vision of the whole? Can we even speak of “philosophy”…
Cats might as well be poets. We just haven't yet understood their prose.
𝗣𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵
Can a philosopher (also) be a reliable and trustworthy psychologist if he has only the most tenuous and guarded relationship with art, literature, and mythology? When he dismisses all…
𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗶𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵, 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗴, 𝗡𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘇𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼
Is Giegerich’s psychological analysis of Jung’s “flight into the unconscious” helping to initiate me into spiritual-philosophical 𝑚𝑎𝑛ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑑? Have I been desperately, if unconsciously, hanging onto the obsolete, no longer…
𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶, 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗧𝘄𝗼
Are fraud, deception, lying, and dissimulation not only permissible for the stability and security of the state – but necessary – precisely because scrupulosity in (private, personal) morals is…
𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶, 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗢𝗻𝗲
In taking his bearings from men “as they are, and not from how they 𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒,” Machiavelli – like Hobbes and other modern political philosophers who followed him…
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻’?
In what ways does my journaling activity support and reinforce the (illusory) idea that I am a 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛? Although (following Nisargadatta’s lead) I have written a great deal about…
𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻
Before retiring last night, I watched the Maysles brothers’ highly acclaimed 1969 documentary, “Salesman.” There are perhaps few rivals with this bleak but extraordinary film when it comes to dealing…
𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀
Transitional phases probably occupy a bigger portion of our lives than we realize. Because they occur “in between” two more or less defined and recognizable chapters or stages in…
𝗔 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅
Schopenhauer said that a sense of humor is the only thing 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑒 in a human being, but I’m beginning to suspect that my own “precious” sense of humor may constitute…
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
I find it helpful to conceive of significant artists and thinkers, visionaries and moralists, as more or less comprehensive focalizations of cultural material organized in a distinct way.…
High and Low
Let us reflect briefly upon low culture and high culture. What do we mean by such a distinction? Does it pertain more to the cultural content under consideration or to…
𝗩𝗶𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮
What is likely to happen if I begin to tire of word-knowledge – to become fed up with the inherited labels and terms that limn and lame such…
𝗢𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿
It seems evident to me that if person A is stuck in the condition of powerlessness vis-à-vis person B, it is highly doubtful that A’s professions of 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 for…
𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆’𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀
I know it is an extremely, perhaps recklessly broad generalization – and, moreover, once pointed out, it seems so obvious that it deserves no special notice – but Christianity…
𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮?
Friend: I would assert that ‘spirituality’ and idealism are modes of denial/escapism. Me: I couldn’t agree with you more, although it appears my understanding of the key word…
𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗘𝗴𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀
It would appear necessary to first go through the full development of individual ego-consciousness before one becomes properly qualified for what I might call 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, which is no longer…
The Filament
We might conceive of human consciousness—and the individual ego that is a by-product of that consciousness—as a glowing filament, the sort of filament we find in light bulbs. The filament…
What are the basic materials with which the independent thinker works?
What is an Independent Thinker?
What is an independent thinker? Put differently: from what does the self-liberated thinker become independent? What new kind of relationship can the independent thinker have with that from which s/he…
Hockey Pockey Trump
𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗬𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆’𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘆 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶-𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘆
I’m reflecting upon the heated little donnybrook that erupted yesterday under a post I shared (it was a list of documented offenses committed by Trump, with the suggestion that…