This is most certainly one of the more perplexing questions of our time. It is a perennial one, having been with us since time immemorial. To paraphrase Socrates (470-399 BC) “to know your self is the beginning of all wisdom.” (1) We are shocked when we realize that we have consciousness and exist in the world. This is comfortable in our adolescence, but as we age, we stumble upon those pervasive and lingering questions. “Is everyone like me? Do they think like me? Do they feel like me? Am I awake?”
Continue reading Why am I my own teacher?
Seeking the true you
I spoke with one of my former students the other day. She is now going to university to achieve a professional medical degree. She remarked, in passing, that her fellow students were very good at science and math but seemed to lack the capacity to think critically about philosophical issues. Her statement is actually borne out by numerous studies that suggest that a STEM degree (science, technology, engineering, and math) must be buttressed with critical thinking skills, some literature, and a dose of history. (1)
Continue reading Seeking the true you
Things that go bump in the night
We all have fears and anxieties, More often than not, they are illusory and have no basis in reality. Much of our angst finds its beginning when we are young and impressionable. Adolescence is a time filled with great imagination. It is also a time when many of our phobias begin. These transfer, over time, into very real apprehensions about the self and our value in the world. I always ask myself, how can I dispel my trepidation and transform it into a powerful tool to produce a positive future?
Continue reading Things that go bump in the night
Show some style!
We live in an age of great informality. That said, I often wonder if it is really a choice on the part of most people. It certainly takes more time to strive for excellence than it does to accept inferiority. As a rule, however, we do not accept poor workmanship in the products that we buy or the services that we use. Can you imagine buying a Mercedes Benz and having it regularly break down or visiting a dentist only to find that he has done an inferior job fixing your teeth? I think not.
Continue reading Show some style!
We love our pets
Growing up, most of us had a pet: a dog, a cat, a bird, a fish, etc. The maintenance and well-being of our pets are often our first brush with social responsibility. It is hard to imagine someone learning cruelty or malice from the care of these well-loved creatures. These negative attributes of human nature are discovered at a later date.
Continue reading We love our pets
Children — the joy of the world!
It is one of the most perennial of sounds — children playing gleefully in a park. They romp and run, and screech, and cry — all without restraint — they are totally free. Soon, however, that liberty becomes significantly curtailed. We must be educated in the ways of the world, and in the values of our community.
Continue reading Children — the joy of the world!
Creating our future
We are often buffeted by the headwinds of life. They swirl around and push us hither and yon. What keeps the self, figuratively, on the correct path toward peace and enlightenment? These are, undoubtedly, the plans we make for our future — the direction in which we see ourselves unfolding. These are often conflated with goals. I would like to draw a distinction between these two.
Continue reading Creating our future
Warmth and tenderness
We all need warmth and tenderness. It is the lotion that oils our emotional joints and makes us more psychologically supple and sensitive to the vagaries of life. How many times do we wonder whether those broken souls who reside in the hidden creases of buildings or lying prostrate in an underground pedestrian tunnel are simply devoid of love?
Continue reading Warmth and tenderness
The beginning
The beginning of anything is truly astounding, isn’t it? Whether this is the initiation of a project, the start of a longed-for vacation, or the dawning of my great adventure called life, there is a freshness and excitement in the air. Most beginnings are quite fleeting, but this is not true with consciousness. It realizes an endless series of commencements — each day actually being novel and original. The onset of the experience of sentience is quite apprehensive and confusing though, even with the most formulated of plans. Nothing is yet fully tried and tested.
Continue reading The beginning
Answers
Is there a God or gods? This is a very difficult question for some. People never seem to question something bigger than the self until, in many cases, it is too late to form a final belief – life providing unexpected intrusions, a quickly occurring finality, for example. I feel, as a sensitive being, however, it is impossible not to question the “why.” Why for everything – for the bugs, the bees, the butterflies, for me, for that matter – just why? There is no empirical (1) answer to this existential question.
Continue reading Answers