Category: meditation

• August 26, 2013

  The decline of patronage and the rise of philanthropy

  A patron is to a contemplative age what a philanthropist is to an action-oriented one. During the passage to modernity, we see a slow yet undeniable shift away from patronage as a way of displaying generosity and toward philanthropy as a ‘style’ of contributing to social change. Edward Craig’s well-researched book The Mind of God…
• August 21, 2013

  Repetition degrades

  A good human life requires variety. By means of exercising properly a variety of modes of becoming (eating well, resting well, moving one’s body well, thinking clearly, etc.), a human being comes to greater vitality, becoming more alive to living, more in touch with what is beautiful, more beautiful himself. Variety invites transitions as well…
• August 19, 2013

  The most excellent kind of day for a human being

  What is the most excellent kind of day for a human being? It is living in accordance with nature. What does this mean? ‘All that is in tune with you, O Universe, is in tune with me.’–Marcus Aurelius, Meditations * 1. Following. A day touched by radiance follows the course of nature, coursing. As nature courses,…
• August 17, 2013

  Coursing Meditations

  How to present a flowing day? ‘Coursing’: A philosophical life moving in pictures, in turning holding pictures. Look: http://is.gd/1tqROX  1 What is the beautiful course of a day? How does one follow nature’s course? A line, drawn by hand, drawing the day, is both extensive and intensive. Extensive: flowing through time without resistance. Intensive: expressing the…
• August 16, 2013

  Beginner’s fingers: A study in Ensō

  Beginner’s fingers / follow bristles lengthening / and thickening breaths.