Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

“Man must make peace with his seasons or the gods will laugh at him.” — Mary Renault The adolescent social matrix is an inevitable phase of development that has its place. If it continues to dominate your life long past adolescence that may be a problem. As much as we might work on ourselves, the…

Few things take as much courage and are capable of producing such valuable results as exploring the unconscious. Nothing could be more crucial than Socrates’ great commandment: “Know thyself.” Those who don’t know themselves act out their unknown contents in the world, and often with disastrous results. Explore the unconscious with the courage to see…

Shock (which can be a surprisingly good thing) relates to the I Ching hexagram #51 entitled “Shock.” Shock was recognized by the ancient Chinese as such a fundamental agent that it is also one of the eight trigrams out of which all hexagrams are created. Shock is what often stirs up transformation, evolution, metamorphosis, both…

As a narcissistic personality type, I know how easy it is to become addicted to specialness. Basking in specialness can be quite the sugar rush, but sugar rushes also inevitably lead to sickening sugar-binge hangovers. Sometimes indulging specialness can be like free-basing narcissism, the blood-sugar rush of gazing at your reflection as you pirouette in…

As a narcissistic personality type, I know how easy it is to become addicted to specialness. Basking in specialness can be quite the sugar rush, but sugar rushes also inevitably lead to sickening sugar-binge hangovers. Sometimes indulging specialness can be like free-basing narcissism, the blood-sugar rush of gazing at your reflection as you pirouette in…

To strike while the iron is hot means to form something, a time to get to work because your influence, your will can create useful change. When iron is hot it is malleable. There is a temporary window of opportunity where it is relatively plastic, and through effort it can be given a form that…

A Warrior of the Light, a Warrior with a capital “W,” is one who efficiently serves life-affirming transpersonal aims. A warrior with a lower case “w” could be a mercenary, one who serves selfish aims, or one who serves transpersonal but anti-life aims — a Nazi SS officer, for example. Someone could have rippling muscles,…

A Warrior of the Light, a Warrior with a capital “W,” is one who efficiently serves life-affirming transpersonal aims. A warrior with a lower case “w” could be a mercenary, one who serves selfish aims, or one who serves transpersonal but anti-life aims — a Nazi SS officer, for example. Someone could have rippling muscles,…

I sent my parents the movie As Good as It Gets and they got a lot from it. In a letter my mother wrote: “The title intrigues me — I’ve been using it a lot, with different interpretations, depending on my mood: As Good As It Gets — ‘Count your blessings.’ We’re lucky — nothing…

This card relates to oracles and the principle of synchronicity and indicates a propitious time to consult oracles. Since you are consulting an oracle, this shows you to be presently in tune with the Tao. An oracle consultation is a conscious synchronicity, a microcosmic mirror of your macrocosmic orientation toward the Tao. Depending on the…