Sense-Making

by | May 29, 2020 | Uncategorized

There are many ways of sense-making currently being fought over right now. As an environmental philosopher and public health scientist, I don’t see any of them being wholly true, accurate, or correct. There is a great battle between reductionist, controlling ways of thinking, that on the one hand try to control because they feel so out of control, and others that try to resist all forms of being in control because they feel so controlled. I advocate *self-control* including being aware of the externalities of our actions on others; while also being aware that ignorance exists in our world at all levels, and it is my responsibility as a loving member of team human to do what I can to intervene diagonally (quer; querlaufend, überquer) in all the myriad ways ignorance, deception, unresolved trauma, and parasitism manifests in myself and all others – to a point where we see that we live in a plurality of perspectives that must finally be in dialog with each other, instead of shouting at and dehumanizing each...

The fractal nature of fracture

by | Mar 5, 2019 | Uncategorized

My friend Isaac wrote: Only an unbound heart that is free of any “needing grasp” can truly be committed. Otherwise, the small fractures and subtle shackles will begin to decay the relationship/commitment.This idea has stuck with me. I have been exploring how and why I commit to things. If it comes from any place of lack, I see how it can start to distort and break apart. I responded: Meditation and self-reflection helps us not project onto others and make them responsible for our happiness. As we create the world, we create the world in our image. The question is: what is our image, and how can we refine it so that it is more beautiful, true, and good (for all)? I don’t think we ever get to perfection or completeness; it’s an iterative process. The deeper we dive, the more cracks and fissures we can identify and grist we have to work with that we didn’t even know existed. Going deeper, we uncover more and more, in an endless process. That’s why even in buddhahood there are various stages of buddhahood, the process goes on like a spiral,...