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
For many of the early days of the New Year this year, I knew that change was coming. Gradually, as the days passed relentlessly along, I could sense it ever more strongly. Whenever I withdrew within myself, I could feel it approaching. These days, when I am alone within myself, communing with my spirit, my … Continue reading Autumn of My Years
What is the value of positing a theory of consciousness which is beyond our current capacity to demonstrate empirically? Even supposing that the full explanation behind the extraordinarily vivid and deeply personal subjective experience we enjoy as living creatures, includes aspects or energies that cannot be verified objectively by any known scientific process, does not … Continue reading A Leap of Faith
Ever find yourself staring out into a natural landscape, almost intoxicated by the immediate sensory experience, and suddenly find yourself ruminating thoroughly within your inner world? This happens to me a lot, and when I came upon views like this one along the cascade trail in the Jefferson National Forest in Pembroke, Virginia, I couldn't … Continue reading Perception and Introspection
Recently, I performed the stage role of an elderly grandfather for a gathering of my extended family over the Christmas holiday, and enjoyed having the opportunity to express through a theatrical scene, the importance of giving serious consideration to our contributions to the well-being of our family, and to acknowledge both the challenges and the … Continue reading Grandfathers And Grandchildren
"Wisdom and Spirit of the universe! Thou Soul that art the eternity of thought, That givest to forms and images a breath And everlasting motion, not in vain By day or star-light thus from my first dawn Of childhood didst thou intertwine for me The passions that build up our human soul; Not with the … Continue reading Wisdom and Spirit of the Universe
There is a movement within me, an awareness—a deeply personal transcendent awareness—which, from my perspective, clearly does not originate from some temporal source in the world. There are those who might say such concepts are an illusion. I have often thought that they said such things to make the world seem more comprehensible—to make them … Continue reading The Soul That Rises With Us
Scientist leaving the world. Engraving c.1520. Allegorical representation of changes in medieval conception or interpretation of the heavens when it was thought that the world was flat, discovering the point where heaven and earth meet, twentieth-century coloration of black-and-white engraving from The Atmosphere, by Camille Flammarion, 1888. Anyone who ponders the possibility of an existence … Continue reading The World Outside of Our World
Greetings to all of my readers and visitors here at John's Consciousness! I recently decided to take it up a notch here and acquired my own new domain, "Johns-Consciousness.com," and have marked the occasion with the addition of a new theme as well. There have been some changes in my personal life that have prompted … Continue reading Welcome To The New And Improved John’s Consciousness
Recently, I went for a walk--wandering around the neighborhood--and when I came back, I took a look around the house and was struck by a few particular moments of the extraordinary, waiting to be discovered in the ordinary. Every year around this time, all of nature usually comes alive simultaneously, and it is always a … Continue reading The Extraordinary in the Ordinary
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