In an article in the April-June 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind called "The Power of Symmetry," by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Diane Rogers-Ramachandran, we learned that through our own subjective experience of visual stimuli, we can verify the brain's tendency to impose symmetry on what we see, and through a deliberate method of presenting … Continue reading The Illusions of Neuroscience and the Certainty of the Mysterious
When the stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair last week, people panicked and ran initially, but once the immediate danger had passed, a hundred or so rushed toward the scene to help. Amazing pictures of people trying to lift the fallen structure, and stories of heroic efforts to assist those who were injured gave … Continue reading Little Girl Saved, Little Girl Lost-Triumph of the Human Spirit
In August 1961, a barbed-wire barrier was erected between East and West Berlin. A few days later, workers started building a concrete block wall. Residents of East were no longer allowed to enter the West. The "Iron Curtain" that Winston Churchill had spoken about in a 1946 speech had now come to fruition. (MSN homepage … Continue reading East Germany and the Human Spirit
David Darling has pressed the matter of consciousness into the moment vividly for me, not simply due to his compelling prose, but also because of the immediacy of consciousness and its relationship to the world we inhabit, which often offers us conflicting priorities based on our personal sensitivity to the events which transpire in the … Continue reading Consciousness and the World We Create
From the book jacket: "David Darling holds a degree in Physics From Sheffield University and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Manchester, in England." In a fascinating and unique treatment of the subject, David Darling prompts the reader to consider the interdependence of both sides of the brain hemispheres. Identifying the left brain … Continue reading Equations of Eternity
What we know of ourselves, In the very moment we exist, Though often hidden or somehow obscured, Can be revealed in several ways. We cast our glance to the horizon To pierce the inner world, Only to discover that our world Is here now, already within us. We gaze upon a reflection of ourselves, And … Continue reading New Life Springs From Ancient Wisdom
Egyptian Heads Mummies of the World Exhibition On loan from the Reiss-Engelhorn Museums, Mannheim, Germany Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA Imagine for a moment that you are in Egypt in the latter part of the 26th Dynasty in the Late Period of Egyptian history witnessing the burial rituals of Nespaqashuti, an Egyptian priest in the religious … Continue reading Ancient Worlds and Modern Consciousness
A current exhibition at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, “Mummies of the World,” contains over 40 mummies and a number of artifacts related to these discoveries. In the official exhibition catalog, it states that the goal of the exhibit “is to advance the relevance of anthropology in ancient global cultures, and to provide visitors with … Continue reading Is Matter a Manifestation of the Spirit?
Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images Whatever else may be true about the life and times of Jim Morrison, formerly of the rock group known as "The Doors," while he may have broken through and trampled on just about every boundary that was ever proposed in civil society, there can be no doubt that what … Continue reading Jim Morrison – Looking into the mirror he held up to us.
Date: ca. 1857 George Eastman House Collection Perhaps more than any other American writer of his day, Emerson embodied not only the intrepid American spirit, but also the extraordinary individual spirit at the very core of each of us. His many invaluable contributions to American literature, while clearly the product of a very different time … Continue reading Ralph Waldo Emerson and Transcendence
John's Consciousness 