What’s up, Joe?

Governor Andrew Cuomo is given free air time, every single day. He dominates the airwaves, conveying compassionate, competent leadership. He’s out there. He’s leading. What about you?

Senator Bernie Sanders just emailed America his Six Core Provisions. It’s simple, comprehensive, workable, relatable and understandable. He’s out there. He’s leading. What about you?

Seriously, where’s Joe? He’s in his basement… considering his VP choice.

I understand if Joe’s wanting to isolate-in-place. He’s older, higher risk. But his competition, love him or hate him, is out there every day shilling his dark messages from the White House, a place…

PANiC DiSORDER ALONG THE TRAiL

People get upset with me. I have a somewhat sociopathic disorder in certain life situations, where I find it very easy to walk away from or turn my back on close family/friend relationships and situations. Unfortunately, I haven’t always felt a great deal of guilt in doing so, even though I‘ve been able to see the difficult effects and consequences that I’ve left in my wake.

While a part of me regrets what I am about to do, I do it anyway. …

1969, South Carolina — I was in freshman orientation along with several hundred other students, sitting in the campus chapel. The chapel also functioned as the largest assembly center on campus, so it made sense to gather us together in a venue in which we would all fit. We were seated on rows of permanently mounted wooden chairs, and each chair’s seat folded up to make passage down the row easier to navigate.

Called to order, it was announced that this particular session was to be a placement test for freshman English. We were tasked to write a composition by…

Dr. Donald Hoffman, Professor of Cognitive Science at UC Irvine

Just as Joseph Campbell gave us context into the great spiritual heros, myths and literature by showing us how they compared with each other and by showing us their metaphorical meanings, Don Hoffman is ably doing the same thing in the field of consciousness. But in Hoffman’s case, he’s willing to test his theories with hard mathematics including ultimately tackling the thorny questions of “Who am I?” and “Is there life after death?”

To me, these two people represent the best of the blending of eastern mysticism and western religion on the one hand, and cutting-edge thought in the world of physics and mathematic proofs.

And Hoffman raises more than an eyebrow when he pauses in concern over potential hacks into consciousness… both the good AND the bad.

Dr. Donald Hoffman, Professor of Cognitive Science at UC Irvine

exploring handshakes between science and mysticism

Introduction

The biggest, most important thing we can do is to realize the power of intention. As a species, we completely underestimate not only the power of the mind, but the very definition of Mind. Our minds are not confined to our brains.

We amuse ourselves with the movie The Matrix. But beyond mere entertainment, while the film enthralled us, leaving us with uneasy feelings that all is not as it seems, some dare ask the questions we fear to ask. Elon Musk and others seriously wonder if we live in a simulation. …

disrupting oneness, because it’s usually not Oneness

Religions, philosophies and ‘ways’ of life evolve. Our opinions and paradigms eventually shift. Sometimes these shifts occur as massive changes sweep across society, but more often the shifts occur in limited, more personal ways. These more incremental tweaks are often experienced as disruptive life events, or simply through the mere act of aging.

Generally shifts are external. We are not deliberately, consciously instigating changes. Instead, we find ourselves victims of change, habitually lifting our palms in surrender because well, you know, “shit happens.”

To suggest that we can have a more deliberative role…