The only means of strengthening one's intelligence is to make up one's mind about nothing-- to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts. - John Keats (1795 - 1821) No matter what aspect of conscious experience we wish to consider, whether it involves a clearly temporal action or event like wrestling an alligator, … Continue reading The Dynamics of Consciousness
There are a number of interesting developments in artificial intelligence these days, and the progress being made in making these technologies useful, especially in the medical and educational realms, gives us some cause for optimism regarding their use in the future. Even the current selection of options available in AI chat-bot applications, represent an impressive … Continue reading Developments In Artificial Intelligence
In the introduction to Jonah Lehrer's "Proust Was a Neuroscientist," he sums up the problem with only considering brain physiology as the means to come to terms with consciousness: "Scientists describe our brain in terms of its physical details; they say we are nothing but a loom of electrical cells and synaptic spaces. What science … Continue reading Neuroscience and the Arts
This gem of a book struck me as one of the best examples of a scientist who is unafraid of stretching the boundaries of how to view the workings of our mind. How easily she glides between science and metaphor and yet remains solidly in the science camp as a rule! Her discussion in chapter … Continue reading An Alchemy of Mind
In this month's edition of my Consciousness Video Series, I put together a review of a recent book by Dr. Alan Lightman called, "The Transcendent Brain: Spirituality In The Age of Science." In a wonderful development, my review of Dr. Lightman's book, "A Sense of the Mysterious," apparently caught his eye, and he sent me … Continue reading Consciousness Video Series: Episode 11: The Transcendent Brain Reply to Alan Lightman +plus: A Porch With A View
The title of this posting has expanded well beyond my initial idea for it, and as I explored a number of resources in the research phase of the writing process, I began to see part of the reason why there is a kind of muddling in the terminology between all of those listed in the … Continue reading Metaphysical, Mystical, Mythological, Metaphorical, or Just Plain Mysterious?
While reviewing some material on the subject of science and spirituality recently, I encountered this article about meetings between Albert Einstein and Rabindranath Tagore, two individuals who I have admired for many years, and for some reason I did not ever encounter this information about their meetings. These two men were clearly on different paths, … Continue reading Scientists and Spiritual Thinkers
During my recent sojourn into the wilderness, I took advantage of the opportunities provided by several days of inclement weather to catch up on reading a book by science journalist and Yale professor, Carl Zimmer, entitled “Life’s Edge.” Several of my recent encounters with the natural world have brought the title of his book vividly … Continue reading Life’s Edges
We do not always choose to arrive on the path of destiny. We may avoid it at times it if we are determined to do so, but at some point, no matter how desperate we become or how clever we are, one way or another, the path will find us. Occasionally, if we are truly … Continue reading When The Path of Destiny Calls
“The Buddha taught that our true nature is emptiness- a lack of a permanent Self- and when this true nature is realized, the divine states of the Brahma-viharas - loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity- emerge.” “In the teachings of the great yoga masters, our true nature is Brahman, the universal soul, of which the … Continue reading Our True Nature
John's Consciousness 