"The truly sacred attitude toward life is in no sense an escape from the sense of nothingness that assails us when we are left alone with ourselves...the sacred attitude is one which does not recoil from our own inner emptiness, but rather penetrates into it with awe and reverence, and with the awareness of mystery. … Continue reading The Awareness of Mystery
"The individual who is not anchored in God can offer no resistance on the strength of his own resources, to the physical and moral sway of the world. For this man needs the evidence of his own inner, transcendent experience..." --Carl Gustav Jung from one of his last major works, "The Undiscovered Self: Present and … Continue reading Soul, Spirit, Heart, and Mind
It is with some humility, surprise, and measured delight that I acknowledge the accumulation of over 50,000 blog views here on John's Consciousness. While I generally find it surprising that any greater-than-normal number of visitors stop by to read here in a day or within a particular week or month as the statistics report, this … Continue reading 50,000 Blog Visits
"Sixsmith, I climb the steps of the Scott monument every morning and all becomes clear. Wish I could make you see this brightness. Don’t worry, all is well. All is so perfectly, damnably well. I understand now that boundaries between noise and sound are conventions. All boundaries are conventions, waiting to be transcended. One may … Continue reading Transcending Boundaries
In our fast-paced, technologically-driven, and supposedly "hyper-connected" existence in the 21st century, we often do not recognize or appreciate fully the depth of our interconnectedness to all the other living entities, and at times, even less to the natural environment in which we exist, and upon which we are so dependent for our existence. The … Continue reading Empathy and Intimacy
Freedom of the Human Spirit, is a 28-foot-tall bronze figurative sculpture that sits just to the east of Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was created by Marshall M. Fredericks for the 1964 World's Fair. "The development of science and of the creative activities of the spirit in general requires still another kind of freedom, which may … Continue reading Freedom of the Spirit
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness." -- Einstein A recent conversation with a dear friend with an extraordinary gift for … Continue reading The Intimacy of Consciousness
There's almost no telling how love will unfold in our personal lives or as we move through the world-at-large. As we progress through our lives, we all seem to arrive at our own understanding of what it means to love someone. We learn first about love from our parents or primary caretakers whoever they end … Continue reading Reflections from Within
"Awakening to that mystical dimension where the very essence of self is suddenly perceived to be one with the ultimate forces of nature, is at once the secret and the transforming journey of human life." - Joseph Campbell In my last post, I introduced the story of how I began the journey of discovery which … Continue reading Entering the Inner Fortress
The sun had barely awakened the new day; its first efforts to bring light back from beyond the night had only just begun, but I had been unable to settle down to sleep since just before dawn the day before. My heart and mind were heavy with an inner turmoil, suffering from an enduring doubt, … Continue reading Friendship and Pain
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