Trial and Suffering

Recently discovered painting by Van Gogh entitled "Cypress Sky and Country." "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." -- Helen Keller Reckoning Love's Labor Lost by JJHIII24 You never intended to lose the thread Of the labor … Continue reading Trial and Suffering

The Spiritual Inner Side of This Life

man in a dark forest - © andreiuc88 "No experimental methodology ever has or ever will succeed in capturing the essence of the human soul, or even so much as tracing out an approximately faithful picture of its complex manifestations." "My life is a story of the self-realization of the unconscious. It is not the … Continue reading The Spiritual Inner Side of This Life

Dreamscape

"There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious." -- C. G. Jung from CW 12, par. 126 and “The Philosophical Tree” (1945). In … Continue reading Dreamscape

The Inner Experience

"Artwork by Daniel B. Holeman " http://www.AwakenVisions.com "The inner self is not part of our being, like a motor in a car. It is our entire substantial reality itself, on its highest and most personal and most existential level. It is like life, and it is life: it is our spiritual life when it is … Continue reading The Inner Experience

Empathy and Intimacy

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 Spirit

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

The Intimacy of Consciousness

“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

The Fault in Our Stars

the_fault_in_our_stars_by_teidebliss deviantart In a recent interview with John Green, author of "The Fault in Our Stars," he talked briefly about the title, based on the famous passage from William Shakespeare's, "Julius Ceasar:" “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” -- Act 1, Scene 2 Green believes that there are components … Continue reading The Fault in Our Stars

Reflections from Within

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 and the Fall

The Fall of Icarus by Peter Paul Rubens, 1636 Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium A form seen in the distance Becomes clearer the closer we get to it. If a mirage were water, Why would it vanish when we draw near? The farther we are from the world, The more real it appears to … Continue reading Awakening and the Fall