Category: meditation

• July 19, 2012

  The transformation of the beautiful soul

  The beautiful soul is a person who exhibits beauty in his general appreciation of beauty. I asked my friend, the philosopher David E. Cooper, the following question: Is there an ‘education’ of the beautiful soul, a path one might follow in hopes of becoming one and, if so, what might this involve? In our conversation,…
• July 17, 2012

  A beautiful soul is part of a beautiful world

  They said in unison, “A beautiful soul is part of the beautiful world,” and I wondered what they meant by the concept of the beautiful world. They meant, I think, that the world cannot be beautiful in just one part or another, just in one object but not in another, but in some more general…
• July 16, 2012

  What makes it impossible to become a beautiful soul

  Let’s suppose we spend our days exercising many of the virtues. They may include  fidelity, courage, patience, and so on. I am curious how it is that the prominence of one salient vice such as arrogance can throw a person’s demeanor into disharmony and thereby make it impossible for him to become a beautiful soul.…
• July 12, 2012

  What activities maintain or enhance sober joy?

  During the past couple weeks, some conversation partners, friends, and I have been discussing my friend David E. Cooper’s concept of “sober joy” (see his book, Convergence With Nature). I think I want to say, at least for the moment, that sober joy is a yes-saying demeanor or comportment characterized by a general steadiness and…
• July 10, 2012

  A Yogi in Central Park

  The man claimed to be a Yogi. We were in Central Park when he said this, and we were on our way to meditate beneath a crooked tree. The Yogi asked us questions, all of the “do you know…” form and told anecdotes largely of the folk wisdom variety. Are we yoga practitioners? Do we…