Tag: Meditation
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Yogic New Thought: A Reappraisal And Interpretation
John S. Haller Jr., in his book The History of New Thought: From Mind Cure to Positive Thinking and the Prosperity Gospel (2012), regrettably misses the mark. A secular humanist tasked with studying the history of American religion and medical humanities, he lacks a good ear with regard to what was actually attractive about New…
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Rugged Spirituality
Have you ever wanted to be pushed—I mean really pushed, pushed really hard? I have. But not to do more pushups or to climb harder. I wanted to be pushed inward, to be directed to keep going toward the truth. I meditated and philosophized for countless hours, but I never found that pusher, that mentor,…
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A Defense Of The Prosperity Gospel
John S. Haller Jr.’s treatment of “the prosperity gospel” in his book The History of New Thought: From Mind Cure to Positive Thinking and the Prosperity Gospel (2012) shows all the marks of the contemporary academy’s small-mindedness. Of course, it would be easy to say, with Haller, that the 1920s (“the roaring twenties”) effected a…
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AI Anxiety & The Role Of Intuition
On Monday, a paper describing a “speculative scenario” about how AI’s great success could, ironically, entail the hollowing out of 10% of white collar work was released. The result was that software stocks fell sharply. Yesterday, Josh Barro, in “Good Things are Good,” rebutted this scenario, arguing that, if anything, AI’s massive increase in productivity…
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If A Man Takes Your Goods, Do You Help Him Lift The Rest?
In the Apophthegmata Patrum, we read about Abba Macarius (c. 300-391), a Desert Father living in Egypt: Abba Macarius while he was in Egypt discovered a man who owned a beast of burden engaged in plundering Macarius’ goods. So he came up to the thief as if he was a stranger and he helped him…