There is nothing but Presence: Don’t try to be present; notice that you already are

In relegating the reality and presence of a thing to a substratum, to what’s behind it, I enter into a hopeless pursuit of reality, thinking presence comes from things instead of seeing that it really comes from me. It’s in my presence that the world is present.  … More There is nothing but Presence: Don’t try to be present; notice that you already are

The Children of Cain

The elder, breaking his vow of silence after 146 years, said to Alexei, “you’ve come to my room and prayed at my feet more than the other monks in this monastery. Now, I shall speak to you, the son of Cain! It’s not your prayers that compelled me to speak; what compelled me to break silence is that which compelled you to ceaselessly pray; it’s rising wave in all of us, felt in the core of our Being, that compels the collective impulse. I, too, speak because this wave is reaching a threshold in our time.” … More The Children of Cain

Beyond The Shadows: Deciphering The Phenomenological Reduction – Part 2

What makes the phenomenological reduction unique, is that it’s not a suspension of an act or cluster of acts in favor of living in some other acts; it’s rather a total and complete suspension or putting out of play of all acts or all manners of being directed toward meanings through the stream of consciousness. It is unique both in its universality and its peculiar directionality: everything is suspended by an abrupt move toward the center of consciousness, the pure I, which will bring to view the total streaming consciousness. The phenomenological reduction is, as Fink has said, a persistent abstention from any participation in the stream of consciousness by making the streaming itself the theme, a streaming that throughout human history has always remained un-thematic and un-discovered for necessary reasons. To perform the reduction is to see the streaming, the Heraclitean flux, for the first time. … More Beyond The Shadows: Deciphering The Phenomenological Reduction – Part 2

The Dance of Names

Everything and everyone is here; the names make them seem far away What’s gone, too, is here; we just call it “gone” and think it “gone.” What’s to come, has always been; we just call it “not yet” and think its name. Near and far, here and there, now and then: these are Its names, … More The Dance of Names

Beyond The Shadows: Deciphering The Phenomenological Reduction – Part 1

The things that we experience, including our own human self, its history and its fundamental situatedness within a context, i.e. the world, are nothing but shadows compared to what’s truly real: they derive their sense of Being and reality from something else outside of the cave, from what Fink calls the Light-World. However, being chained to our mundane self-understanding, we falsely attribute reality and existence to these shadow-appearances. We are fundamentally oblivious to the possibility of the true dimension of Being. That’s why Fink argues that insofar as we see and interpret ourselves as humans in the world, we cannot break free from this beginingless imprisonment. Rather, we must turn away from the shadows and step outside the cave, a movement accomplished by the performance of the reduction, and this reduction which is a persistent abstention from belief needs to be performed from a deeper level of self than our human self which itself is nothing but a shadow. … More Beyond The Shadows: Deciphering The Phenomenological Reduction – Part 1

Exploring the Depths of Consciousness: Edmund Husserl’s Natural Attitude versus Phenomenological Attitude

In performing the phenomenological reduction, phenomenology challenges our assumptions about an objective reality external to consciousness. Instead, it reveals a dynamic and mutually dependent interplay between the subject and the world, with the lifeworld serving as the shared horizon of our collective experiences. In adopting the phenomenological attitude, we embark on a journey that transcends the mundane and unveils the profound mysteries of consciousness, inviting us to explore the depths of our subjective worlds and the interconnectedness that binds us all. In the final analysis, a successful entry into the phenomenological attitude coincides with the realization that while as empirical egos we appear to be living in the world, as transcendental ego, it is the world that lives within us, a world that is constantly constructed and simultaneously lived as the field of play for consciousness itself. … More Exploring the Depths of Consciousness: Edmund Husserl’s Natural Attitude versus Phenomenological Attitude

Transcendental Experience: Moving Beyond States and Illusions

Turiya, the timeless reality within and beyond waking, dreaming, and dreamless states, isn’t a distant goal but a constant presence in our daily lives. Imagine experiencing undifferentiated awareness amid the hustle of the waking world, breaking through illusions that once obscured our true reality.

This journey isn’t about withdrawal; it’s about engagement from a transcendent perspective. Relationships transform as compassion deepens, conflicts lose their grip, and a sense of interconnectedness prevails.

Guided by teachings, we navigate this path not toward progress but a recognition of what has always been. Turiya isn’t a destination; it’s a lived reality that integrates profound insights into the fabric of our existence. … More Transcendental Experience: Moving Beyond States and Illusions

Finding the Real in Ecstasy: The Metaphysics of Joy

We need only reflect on our own daily experience to see that much of suffering, I mean the unnecessary and avoidable suffering, is the result of attachment to what’s pleasant and aversion to what’s unpleasant. Perhaps if we have a bad day where we don’t feel great, we’ve made it what it is in contrast … More Finding the Real in Ecstasy: The Metaphysics of Joy

I Can’t Stand Musicals & More

Sinn, in German is to have meaning, to deploy intelligence forward and outward. Perhaps it’s the same thing: to sin is to sinn, to suppress one’s primordial and divine stupidity for the sake of a loaf of meaning; it’s to beat the innocent stupidity in the head by the hammer of intelligence and wisdom so that life finds some arbitrary and transient meaning. Man can’t tolerate meaninglessness and indeterminate being, that is, sheer stupidity. To bring things into form, into intelligible conceptions and limitations, this man elevates intelligence over and above stupidity and takes the fall and the subsequent suffering. … More I Can’t Stand Musicals & More