Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

“Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other.” — C.G. Jung When we fear that we will not get the love we need or want, we tend to strive for power. A classic example is the hunchback future…

Pay attention to world events. On the morning of September 11th I awoke from a disturbing dream. I was on a ship that was on fire. The Captain was dying of a heart attack and some young people, former students I had taught in New York, were asking me for help. Since I taught in…

“Yesterday is ashes. Tomorrow wood; Only today the fire burns brightly.” — Native American saying What you have to work with in the present may seem weird, unexpected, incomplete, but those are just ego judgments. Your job is always to work with what is present in the moment, whatever it is. Engage what the moment…

Less is sometimes more. Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without. Avoid unnecessary busyness, complexity and acquisition.

King Solomon once challenged his wise men to come up with a saying that he could use that would be appropriate on all occasions. What they came up with was, “And this too shall pass.” There are many variations on this story. Read the Wikipedia entry This Too Shall Pass

Be wary of absorbing toxins of any kind. The positive aspect is that this is a propitious time to work on detoxification. “I can resist anything except temptation.” — Oscar Wilde Temptations are very, very tempting and that is probably why they are called temptations. It is foolish to underestimate their power. Before you reach…

Intense, cosmic thinking — probing the underlying structures. What is happening at the core level? The probing mind needs to be guided by intuition, and we should also keep in mind what J.B.S. Haldane pointed out (paraphrased): “Reality is not only stranger than you think, it is stranger than you can think.” Some people glorify…

In order not to live continually clouded by the many wizards of deception, you must keep your will focused on pulling back the curtain. First you must never lose sight of the curtain and the awareness that there are forces just out of sight, manipulating our perception, even constructing the reality we perceive. We look…

Be wary of absorbing toxins of any kind. The positive aspect is that this is a propitious time to work on detoxification. “I can resist anything except temptation.” — Oscar Wilde Temptations are very, very tempting and that is probably why they are called temptations. It is foolish to underestimate their power. Before you reach…

Pay attention to the emotional body. Where does the sadness come from? Does part of you need to be more alive? What do you need to accept? Or is it the full-hearted sadness that sometimes accompanies a deeply felt life? Depending on the card’s position it could also be a suggestion to deepen your awareness…