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I find that stripping away the social-cultural forms and baggage of religion is both spiritually freeing, and at the same time a potentially isolating and lonely experience. In my own spiritual space, where I am free to contemplate the Essence, I find very little but naked awe and humility. I...

Is there anything the Chinese won't eat?

After three days on the closet floor your socks are good again provided they were turned inside-out. This does not work if they're placed in the hamper. Chris

Well, that's it isn't it? Everything is mundane, and therefore sacred. Get too involved in searching for Meaning, and everything becomes self-referential and relative. But meaning is personal and available through being and living. In that sense it's no big mystery at all. Chris

Well,look...it's hard not to either toe a PC line or let some part of your slip show when it comes to discussing Muslim issues. Conventional wisdom is just such crap, and it's hard to even comment without rehearsing the entire history of the world. There is never time in the opinion portion of...

Propaganda, The Formation of Men's Attitudes, Jacque Ellul This book made a bigger dent on my consciousness than anything I've read in my life. The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker The Birth and Death of Meaning, Ernest Becker Essential to understanding existential angst. These two books...

OK, I'll add some confusion. If Christ is in us, then we're in him. He is our representative. And if he's the Logos,then our essential nature controls him. And if he is also the active portion of God as far as we're concerned, then our essential nature is equivalent to God, so far as we are...

It is an essential fall into consciousness WITH sexual awareness. Who would want to live in a state of "un-fallen" unawareness? And the whole thing is set up to make sure that happens, so God can't be at all surprised. The very first thing humans do is disobey-because they must. Gee, do you...

Well, we have a lot more to fear than that. The greatest enemy of the mind is nostalgia. It is the mechanism by which the most destructive, controlling propaganda is delivered. Chris

Measurement is a product of the observational process. You can't have measurement without an observer. What's the point of a gauge that no one checks? I'm not really sure what quantum physics has to do with free will. Of course we have innate free will, otherwise every human would want the...

This is a key point. In the double slit experiment the observer has already decided which aspect she will observe. This imposes bias. Even to say that light must conform to wave or particle process introduces observational bias. Of course the observer seems to control, but it is the observer...

Nothing can determine which direction I will turn at the next intersection, and when I turn it will change the entire universe. The fact that my choices are limited in terms of probability, and the change is negligible to the overall systemic stability in no way makes my actions directly...

Ah, I understand where you're coming from now. My point of view is that underneath it all, and before cause and desire, is personal, differentiated will. The fact that it's mine makes it free, whether I ever figure out how to use it consciously or autonomously. And, even if I'm driven by...

That was a real pleasure to read, Thomas. Thank you! Chris

OK, you make a compelling case, but... what drives an infant to find mommy's boob? There is a will to survive before the desire to feed. I think that you are disconnecting the sub-conscious from the conscious and saying that only that which occurs in the conscious is will. Chris

Hey Victor, thanks for contributions to this site which I've enjoyed. You will, perhaps, forgive our normal skepticism of people's prophetic proclivities. I'm sure you can think of any number of encounters you've had with folks who put out similar meanderings. And since there's no way of...

Victor is a guy from before your time here. He contributed a lot of really interesting stuff which I enjoyed reading. My point is general: I find that there is a process of closing down that occurs after middle age as a person tries to consolidate their mental processes and looks for...

Yeah, good luck with that! It's interesting how cultural folk music can really grip you. I know lots of folks who are super enamored of Celtic stuff. Maybe they watched Brave Heart one too many times, but the fixation seems almost innate. I have a thing for black gospel music. I have no...

Right, you have to cancel at the end of your commitment or they will continue to bill your card. Chris

Right on, Mark! That's great to hear. I'm so happy these days. Love is wonderful! Chris