How about 3 hrs plus of Mishlove with BK and his Daemon?

[Lou Gold]

Dana,

I may be way ignorant of what you and Ashvin are referencing due to the fact that I don't follow anyone on Twitter, however, I'm honestly baffled that my read of Bernardo's recent comments (posted with the Ukraine flag) seems so different. I see a guy, like lots of intellectuals who are being shaken out of high-minded detachment by current events.

I can't help wondering if that high-minded detachment also appears in many of the discussions and the ethos of this forum, which (horrors, it's Lou again) passionately avoids politics? My read is that there's a serious weakness if metaphysical speculation avoids practical messy reality. Volodymyr Zelensky, the unlikely Jewish comedian become courageous Ukraine President is emerging as a wake up call in Europe and the world. When the US Embassy offered to provide safe passage out of the war zone he now-famously said, "I need ammunition, not a ride." I think he's worth a couple praise-worthy photos here:

Lou,

Twitter is full of people who make comments, post photos, memes, etc. as a way of expressing their own feelings, desires, and opinions on every topic, most of which they have probably never taken the time to even attempt to understand. These people do not think their memes and photos are going to actually influence the situation in Ukraine in a positive way, or any other situation for that matter, but rather they crave virtual 'pats on the back' for how "virtuous" and "empathetic" they are signaling themselves to be. This is what has taken the place of humility, i.e. recognition of all that which we do not yet know about ourselves and the world, gratitude that we have been blessed with the capacity to know through the Incarnation of human reason, and genuine thinking effort towards knowing through that reasoning faculty. What was once self-sacrificial spiritual activity of knowing has become pure virtual hedonism. No one is being shaken out of anything with these displays of "empathy". They are simply entrenching themselves further in the egoistic consumer culture, with its on-demand opinions and speculative commentary, while appeasing their guilty conscience. This strategy has diminishing returns, though, and I think that is evident with many of the "public intellectuals" we have today. Expressions of our own feelings and desires on every topic will not weave our individuality into the holistic meaning of the Cosmos. It will not shine the light of consciousness on the shadows, terrors, and abysses of the world. That only comes through the inner light of higher Thinking. The word "only" here is being used in the same sense as, "only drinking water will satisfy a person's thirst". We are involved in a deeply structured reality and therefore our localized wants, likes, dislikes, speculations, etc. will not bend the structure of that reality to our own egoic intellect.

"That [enlightenment] only comes through the inner light of higher Thinking. The word "only" here is being used in the same sense as, "only drinking water will satisfy a person's thirst". We are involved in a deeply structured reality and therefore our localized wants, likes, dislikes, speculations, etc. will not bend the structure of that reality to our own egoic intellect."

Actually, I rather think the big shifts come by the Grace of God, by an initiation or rite of passage, or by hitting the wall but I think that we might be arguing about incremental evolutionary adjustments versus punctuated evolution and its rapid changes. In the long haul, there are both. Do you think homo sapiens are here for the long haul or just what we are stuck with now?

[AshvinP]

Dana,

I may be way ignorant of what you and Ashvin are referencing due to the fact that I don't follow anyone on Twitter, however, I'm honestly baffled that my read of Bernardo's recent comments (posted with the Ukraine flag) seems so different. I see a guy, like lots of intellectuals who are being shaken out of high-minded detachment by current events.

I can't help wondering if that high-minded detachment also appears in many of the discussions and the ethos of this forum, which (horrors, it's Lou again) passionately avoids politics? My read is that there's a serious weakness if metaphysical speculation avoids practical messy reality. Volodymyr Zelensky, the unlikely Jewish comedian become courageous Ukraine President is emerging as a wake up call in Europe and the world. When the US Embassy offered to provide safe passage out of the war zone he now-famously said, "I need ammunition, not a ride." I think he's worth a couple praise-worthy photos here:

Lou,

Twitter is full of people who make comments, post photos, memes, etc. as a way of expressing their own feelings, desires, and opinions on every topic, most of which they have probably never taken the time to even attempt to understand. These people do not think their memes and photos are going to actually influence the situation in Ukraine in a positive way, or any other situation for that matter, but rather they crave virtual 'pats on the back' for how "virtuous" and "empathetic" they are signaling themselves to be. This is what has taken the place of humility, i.e. recognition of all that which we do not yet know about ourselves and the world, gratitude that we have been blessed with the capacity to know through the Incarnation of human reason, and genuine thinking effort towards knowing through that reasoning faculty. What was once self-sacrificial spiritual activity of knowing has become pure virtual hedonism. No one is being shaken out of anything with these displays of "empathy". They are simply entrenching themselves further in the egoistic consumer culture, with its on-demand opinions and speculative commentary, while appeasing their guilty conscience. This strategy has diminishing returns, though, and I think that is evident with many of the "public intellectuals" we have today. Expressions of our own feelings and desires on every topic will not weave our individuality into the holistic meaning of the Cosmos. It will not shine the light of consciousness on the shadows, terrors, and abysses of the world. That only comes through the inner light of higher Thinking. The word "only" here is being used in the same sense as, "only drinking water will satisfy a person's thirst". We are involved in a deeply structured reality and therefore our localized wants, likes, dislikes, speculations, etc. will not bend the structure of that reality to our own egoic intellect.

"That [enlightenment] only comes through the inner light of higher Thinking. The word "only" here is being used in the same sense as, "only drinking water will satisfy a person's thirst". We are involved in a deeply structured reality and therefore our localized wants, likes, dislikes, speculations, etc. will not bend the structure of that reality to our own egoic intellect."

Actually, I rather think the big shifts come by the Grace of God, by an initiation or rite of passage, or by hitting the wall but I think that we might be arguing about incremental evolutionary adjustments versus punctuated evolution and its rapid changes. In the long haul, there are both. Do you think homo sapiens are here for the long haul or just what we are stuck with now?

I am speaking of this same grace of God as "Thinking" who has incarnated as human Reason. We cannot imagine a more gracious gift than this one.

It's called "thinking" because it gives us an immanent point of contact with the Divine within us. As we sit here typing on the forum, we are thinking and precipitating meaning into word-forms, manifested through our fingers. When we speak to someone, we precipitate meaning into word-forms manifested through our vocal chords. When we listen to music, we are allowing the seed of the musical idea to think through us in the particular forms of beats, notes, chords, etc. When we play music, we are thinking the musical idea into those particular forms. Thinking permeates all of our conscious activity in this manner, especially the activity we consider second-nature and therefore do not need to reflect on too much. All modes of thinking unfold according to logical structure, i.e. the Logos principle, which is reflected to us in the syntax of the forms.

It is our self-aware knowledge of this logical syntax permeating the world of inner and outer forms that allows us to consciously penetrate to the deeper layers of meaning (semantics) which they all share. It is precisely in proportion to that knowledge that we are able to realize the punctuated evolutionary transformations, the metamorphoses, the transfigurations, the rebirths, the paradigm shifts, the initiations into higher modes of consciousness. There is one shared Spirit from which we draw our truly creative and, therefore, liberating thinking - our imaginations, inspirations, and intuitions. That Spirit, as well as the Soul, which stand in unified polar relation with one another, as the Cosmic seed of all Life, the source of the One and the Many, is eternal, so we are definitely here for the longest haul.

[Lou Gold]

[Soul_of_Shu]

Evidently, he gets a lot of personal feedback urging him to change and he can't do it yet.

And yet here he is on twitter arguing for change in others, as if they should see the error of their ways, who surely can't do it either. I stopped 'following' it months ago, but just checked it out because of Ashvin's comment above. Now that I see I'm missing nothing new, I just can't follow it.

[Lou Gold]

Evidently, he gets a lot of personal feedback urging him to change and he can't do it yet.

And yet here he is on twitter arguing for change in others, as if they should see the error of their ways, who surely can't do it either. I stopped 'following' it months ago, but just checked it out because of Ashvin's comment above. Now that I see I'm missing nothing new, I just can't follow it.

Yeah, Dana. One of the great learnings that I've gained on this forum and elsewhere is that whatever people complain about in others tends to reflect the unresolved issues in themselves. That I personally will periodically erupt about the absence of politics and activism here most likely reflects some unresolved issues between my own spirituality and activism. All I can do is be aware of it, which of course reveals to me my agendas. Perhaps this is what makes me so aware of the agendas of others. As Thich Nhat Hanh says, "Call me by all my names."

[Soul_of_Shu]

This, coming from his idol, explains a lot about BK's take on one's wrestling with a Daemon ...
Should the Daemon-driven be rebuked, any more so than a locked-in pitbull for snarling at a trespasser?
They are not free to act otherwise, to unknot their karmic leash, to escape their fated role.
So watch out when one such psyche lashes out at another such psyche in combat ...
No wonder BK loves watching UFC

[Lou Gold]

This, coming from his idol, explains a lot about BK's take on one's wrestling with a Daemon ...
Should the Daemon-driven be rebuked, any more so than a locked-in pitbull for snarling at a trespasser?
They are not free to act otherwise, to unknot their karmic leash, to escape their fated role.
So watch out when one such psyche lashes out at another such psyche in combat ...
No wonder BK loves watching UFC
eo]

Wonderful piece from Jung. Thanks.

[Lou Gold]

WELL, I just finished the full 3 hours and I appreciated it, warts included.