The promise of the discovery of the most precious mysteries of the universe lies within a clear mind filled with intent, empty of presuppositions.

Learning requires an appreciation for nuance, with careful attention paid to one’s ontological and epistemological orientation. But most of all, learning demands of its subject the desire to pursue truth. Information and learning have never been cheaper or more accessible, while the cost of education has never been higher. This phenomenon has and will continue to paradoxically weaken the importance of peer reviewed scholarship, along with the respect that scientifically verifiable knowledge has historically garnered.

Learning is inherently about the pursuit and elucidation of truth through verifiable and reproducible facts, not embellishing or augmenting the importance of the perspectives of outliers, giving them veto power over the better part of concerted opinion amongst careful thinkers. Learning holds as its primary value rationality rather than ideology, (more…)

A son of control and anticipation, professing from the negative experiences of one’s past.

At its core, fear is a perceived inability to control the future coupled with anticipation of a negative outcome. The notion of control is itself an illusion. What we have the ability to do is either respond or react to the present moment, but not control it. This is the difference between being in the moment, or of the moment. Being in the moment means responding to the ebb and flow of the tides of events without being attached to them; while being of the moment means reacting to events, being swayed by every wave of disappointment and anticipation that we experience.

Fear takes many forms, the most prevalent of which are anger and sadness. The former is masked fear, while the latter is stagnant fear. Both phenomenon are simply ways the ego seeks to preserve its perceived control over its notion of reality. When true fear is acknowledged rather than allowed to stagnate or be masked, (more…)

The mirror is the surface upon which the ego projects its reality.

When the dreamer awakens from a dream, how do they know they are not in fact drifting off into a dream, away from a state of conscious awareness? Which is the dream and which is the reality? The mirror can serve to clarify or confuse this question. What is the function of the mirror? The mirror reflects and magnifies our expectations, fears, thoughts, feelings, belief systems, and the hidden mental and emotional structure of the subconscious mind. Therefore, the projection always seeks to reinforce its current ego perspective.

The nature of the projection dictates the clarity of the reflection. The clarity of the reflection is dictated by the level of consciousness of one’s projection. The more unconscious the projection, the more opaque and unclear the reflection. The more neutral and unattached the quality of the projection, (more…)

Gentleness is not the absence of power, but the proper and judicious use of power.

Just as a tigress holds her cub by the scruff of the neck in her mouth, applying just enough pressure with her powerful jaws to hold on to them, but not pierce their neck with her sharp teeth, so too is gentleness. Gentleness is the sublimated result of the expression of power. It is like a piece of coal that has been allowed to sit beneath the pressure of tons of rock over geologic time, which eventually results in a diamond. It is clear, strong, and perfectly reflects all the colors of the light spectrum. But a diamond still needs polishing to achieve its true brilliance, just as gentleness needs cultivating to achieve its true transformative power.

The libidinal force from where gentleness emanates is power, and power derives its virtue through vulnerability, an unattached state of the ego. Vulnerability, coupled with intention, is power itself. And the most refined expression of power is gentleness. This higher vibration of power is the place from which all (more…)

Sometimes, the juice is worth the squeeze.

The honey badger, hunting a king cobra, is bitten in the melee. He kills the snake and begins to feast on its head, when suddenly, the poison begins to take effect. He passes out for a number of minutes, knocked out from the deadly toxin, laying just a few steps away from the partially eaten corpse. After a few minutes, the honey badger awakens, disoriented. Rather than being dissuaded or discouraged by the power of the snake’s poison, he slowly walks over to the king cobra’s half eaten body and finishes his meal.

Such is the nature of perseverance. Perseverance has no ego and no memory. It has no memory of past setbacks or perceived failures, or successes for that matter. Perseverance lives each day as if the achievements of the past have been washed away, striving anew each day to create new successes and opportunities for growth.  Its lack of attachment to the past, coupled with its ever present drive to move forward into (more…)