Category Archives: Cultural Attitudes

THE COMPLEXITY OF HISTORY, KNOWLEDGE & POWER, A SELECTIVE MEMORY TO REMEMBER HISTORY, THE WAY HOLLYWOOD MAKES MYTHS, A FEW EXAMPLES.

Posted on August 25, 2018 by

  “Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.” Plato, Phaedrus “Knowledge is Power.” However political power often ignores expertise that contradicts it’s self portrayal … Continue reading →

Posted in Billy The Kid, Blas De Lezo, Californios, Cinema & Literature, Criticism, Cultural Attitudes, History, Hollywood, Inspiration, Knowledge, Movies Not History, Plato, Uncategorized, World View, Wyatt Earp | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

THE GRAVITY OF BANALITY, IT HAS CONSEQUENCES, THE NOISE BEFORE DEFEAT.

Posted on July 27, 2018 by

  “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.” Hannah Arendt. The Banality of Evil Philosopher and Political theorist Hannah Arendt,  pointed out that in order to … Continue reading →

Posted in A World in Crisis, American Hubris, Banality, Consciousness, Corruption, Crisis, Crisis of Values, Critical Thinking, Cultural Attitudes, Disillusion with Capitalism, Education, Greed and Impunity, History, Hubris, Ignorance, Illusions, Inspiration, Justice, Life Liberty and the pursuit of happines, Materialism, Moral Virtue, New Values, Obsolete Government, Over Consumption, Plato, Social Criticism, Strategy, The Empire Crumbling, Things To Come, Transformation, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 55 Comments

TRADITION, EDUCATION, NEW TRENDS IN SCIENCE, AND FINDING A REAL SENSEI

Posted on June 27, 2018 by

  Throught the years I had being a sort of an Iconoclastic, or at least believed myself to be one, there’s this idea that as we grow older we become more conservative in our outlook, and I am not talking … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddhist Monk, Consciousness, Critical Thinking, Cultural Attitudes, Democracy, Education, Epistemology, Future, Ignorance, Illusions, Inspiration, Knowledge, Learning, Mastery, Memories, Meritocracy, Science and Belief, Shugyo, Snsei, Teaching, Tradition, Training, Transformation, Uncategorized, Values, Wisdom, Zen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 59 Comments

ALEXANDRIA LIBRARY, WHY DON’T YOU ASK IT TO YOUR MAGIC MIRROR? AND OTHER REFLECTIONS.

Posted on May 28, 2018 by

Tear down pyramids, wipe out cities! :40:04 How dare you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library? :40:10 Play conqueror all you want, mighty Caesar. :40:13 Rape, murder, pillage thousands, millions of human beings. :40:17 But … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Library of Alexandria, Cultural Attitudes, History, Impermanence, Knowledge, On Reading, Progress, Science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 73 Comments

AMERICA THE LAND OF WEIRD POLITICS, EXCEPTIONALISM, AND OF COURSE, THE REST OF US, AND THOSE WHO WHO SUFFER IT

Posted on April 29, 2018 by

Everything that everyone is afraid of has already happened: The fragility of capitalism, which we don’t want to admit; the loss of the empire of the United States; and American exceptionalism. In fact, American exceptionalism is that we are exceptionally … Continue reading →

Posted in A World in Crisis, American Hubris, Crisis of Values, Critical Thinking, Criticism, Cultural Attitudes, Democracy, Disillusion with Capitalism, Exceptionalism, Homeless, Uncategorized, Urban Decay | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 53 Comments

SEMANTICS; WHAT IT ALL MEANS? AND OTHER WAYS OF KNOWING

Posted on March 30, 2018 by

“He showed the words “chocolate cake” to a group of Americans and recorded their word associations. “Guilt” was the top response. If that strikes you as unexceptional, consider the response of French eaters to the same prompt: “celebration.” Michael Pollan … Continue reading →

Posted in Buddhism, Critical Thinking, Cultural Attitudes, Education, Human Nature, Knowledge, Language, Metaphors, Mythology, Parables, Subjective, Symbology, Symbols, True Teaching, Uncategorized, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

COUNSCIOUSNESS, AND THE HUMAN CONUNDRUM

Posted on March 1, 2018 by

“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”  Nikola Tesla Reality is not what it appears — the ancients knew it, pioneering physicists … Continue reading →

Posted in A World in Crisis, Being, Capitalism, Christ, Counsciousness, Crisis of Values, Cultural Attitudes, Disillusion with Capitalism, Future, Government and Free Markets, Imagination, Inspiration, Karl Rahner, Materialism, Metaphysics, Mysticism, New Values, Obsolete Government, Plutocracy, Politics, Quantum, Science and Belief, Social Criticism, Transformation, Uncategorized, Values, Western Ideals | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments

A POSSITIVE NOTE FOR A NEW YEAR, FOR A CHANGE

Posted on January 1, 2018 by

  A good tune, and  nice Rhymes, do not make a song True. Most astrologers claim that Jesus commenced the Pisces age and most people believe the Age of Aquarius commenced in the 1960s and 70s.  However how can both … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Aquarius, Astrology, Axial Precession, Consciousness, Cosmology, Counsciousness, Crisis of Values, Critical Thinking, Cultural Attitudes, Cynicism, Democracy, Determinism, Disillusion with Capitalism, Ecological Crisis, Economy, Education, End of materialism, Enlightenment, Environment, Future, Ganymede, Historical Evolution, New Age, New Values, Precession of the Equinoxes, Progress, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 46 Comments

IGNORANCE, THE HUMAN CONDITION.

Posted on December 2, 2017 by

“It is not conflict of opinions that has made history so violent but conflict of belief in opinions, that is to say conflict of convictions.” Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human. When in my late teens, the books of Friedriech  … Continue reading →

Posted in Arete, Consciousness, Criticism, Cultural Attitudes, Human Nature, Ignorance, Inspiration, Knowledge, True Teaching, Uncategorized, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , | 72 Comments

ON LEARNING HOW TO LEARN, THE ART OF EMPTYING THE CUP

Posted on November 3, 2017 by

  “Once, a long time ago, there was a wise Zen master. People from far and near would seek his counsel and ask for his wisdom. Many would come and ask him to teach them, enlighten them in the way … Continue reading →

Posted in Alchemy, Buddhism, Consciousness, Critical Thinking, Cultural Attitudes, Education, Ego, Inspiration, Learning, Teaching, Transformation, Transmutation, Uncategorized, Wisdom, Zen | Tagged , , , , , , | 73 Comments