The actual quote from Dostoevsky’s “Notes From The Underground,” goes as follows: “And yet I think man will never renounce real suffering, that is, destruction and chaos. Why, suffering is the sole origin of consciousness. Though I did lay it down at the beginning that consciousness is the greatest misfortune for man, yet I know … Continue reading Origins of Consciousness
As is often the case with the approach of the autumn season, I can strongly sense that change is coming, and it’s not just in the dazzling panoply of autumn leaves. My spirit—my soul—the very essence of my existence—is rising. I feel its approach; I sense its immanent arrival; and I welcome it. I understand … Continue reading Auguries of Autumn
Life moves forward always. It swirls and slides and strikes at the very heart of me. At this point in my life, having accumulated more than sixty years of living memory, looking back, for me, is long. For at least that long, I have held on to some specific recollections of my early days. Of … Continue reading Memories and Humble Beginnings
Daffodils announce the Season For those of us on the East Coast of the USA, it finally is beginning to feel like Spring! The recent rise in daily temperatures to the more seasonable level found me searching for a Spring theme to share with my readers here and in the process, I came upon a … Continue reading Finally…Spring!
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
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 Recent reading and contemplation have brought up a number of serious reconsiderations of … Continue reading To Everything…There is a Season
The subjective experience of consciousness, as all functionally cognitive people know it, is in a constant state of flux. The person you were yesterday when you experienced your first ride on a roller coaster or jumped out of a perfectly good airplane for the first time is not the same person you are today, having … Continue reading Spiritual Resonance
Being an individual on our planet, in our solar system, in our galaxy, in this universe, is only one component of our reality, not the whole story. There is a comprehensive wholeness to the universe—to reality—to existence—within that universe, which consists of physical matter, governed by physical laws, as well as a variety of unknowns … Continue reading Beyond the Material World: A Non-Physical Reality?
"In active contemplation, a person becomes able to live with themselves. They learn to be at home with their own thoughts. They become, to a greater and greater degree, independent of exterior supports. Their mind is pacified not by passive dependence on things outside themselves--diversions, entertainments, conversations, business--but by their own constructive activity...thinking their own … Continue reading Our Own Inner Truth
The Unplanned Journey In reviewing the events and experiences of the past few months, struggling as I have to make sense of it all, it seems that my natural instincts have been a great deal more useful than any deliberate mental process I attempted to employ along the way. Hindsight typically provides us with a … Continue reading An Unplanned Journey
John's Consciousness 