Having just returned from three days and nights in the Belleplain State Forest, the return to civilization always seems to find me rejuvenated in spirit, but also oddly melancholy. The trip was a welcome break from the relentless daily routines that sustain me as I write, and the moments of blissful silence communing with only … Continue reading Spirits in the Woods
Contemplating recent comments about what it means to be a conscious human, I began to consider what really distinguishes us from all the other inhabitants of our planet. There are some distinctively human traits to be sure, but it seems more like a combination of several important capacities and foundational characteristics that sets us apart. … Continue reading Blossoming of Consciousness
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
Mario Beauregard's book makes special notice of the placebo effect in chapter six entitled, "Toward a Non-materialist Science of Mind." In that chapter, he details the research being conducted using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and describes what it is and why it is being employed in this kind of research: "A magnetic resonance imaging … Continue reading The Placebo Effect
John's Consciousness 