I first began reading books on the mind, and philosophy, in early adolescence, because I was aware of so many questions and unexplored areas. I used t...
I think that you are correct to suggest that philosophy is an attempt to make life less strange. While I have been going on about embracing the 'stran...
The relationship between psychology and philosophy is complex, because some of the founding figures, such as William James were exploring both. It was...
I have looked at the introduction to the thread and think that my own interest in mysticism is probably in the sense of category number 7, of hidden t...
Yes, I think that it is a matter of perspective. I often find that some people think that philosophy is strange. But that is their perspective. I have...
I will have a look at the beginning again tomorrow, because sometimes when several pages have been written it is easy to lose sight of how it began. I...
I am interested in that kind of discussion but it just doesn't seem to be what T Clark is wishing to have. The other thing is that there are so many p...
Having just written a long entry here, I am wondering if we discuss Jung any further perhaps it would be best if we resuscitate the 'Jung and God' thr...
One of the complexities which I see with trying to evaluate Jung's perspective is that he is drawing upon his own dreams and visionary experience and ...
It may be that some aspects of certain experiences are beyond speech. However, I think that there is a danger of even taking Lao Tzu too literally, an...
I think that you are correct to see the term mysticism as a term which can be applied and interpreted in different ways. No one has exclusive claim on...
But, aren't most aspects of life a bit strange. I am coming from the perspective of seeing absurdity in life generally. However, I also come with a bi...
Okay, so I probably come from a completely different perspective because I am particularly interested in peak experiences. I may start a thread on thi...
I have just thought that one of my favourite books, 'The Outsider' by Colin Wilson is relevant to your discussion because it looks at those on the edg...
I think that Freud has some bearing, but of course he was a psychoanalyst primarily and was writing a long time ago. I think that your topic is intere...
It is interesting to hear that you do art because I draw and paint. I don't compose but I love music and the more alternative it is the better, includ...
My own understanding of strangeness comes down to that which is unusual or outside the mainstream. On that basis, I see strangeness as an exciting are...
Reading through your post, your whole question comes down to strange. How do you perceive strangeness? Is being strange necessarily a negative attribu...
I know that you find Taoism useful, and think that mysticism can have too much baggage. However, don't you wish to go beyond a 'meat and potatoes' phi...
I remember when you spoke of the 'creative nothing' you saw it as a starting point for creativity. So, nothing may be like a void of potential and pos...
I am not sure that such animosity is particularly helpful. However, I do believe that people do need to speak out against social evils rather than jus...
I think that you are speaking of the horrors of life, which is a little different from finding truth, philosophically, or is it? We have moved into an...
I do agree that access to food, medicine and electricity are essential. I would add housing because we are talking about Maslow's basics on the hierar...
I am also wary of the collective, especially the destructive capacity of the herd. The only reason why I chose the word collective is because we are t...
Yes, I sometimes wonder what could happen and it is hard to see through the political cracks in the pavement. It is sometimes just hard to know what i...
I hadn't come across that quote from Gramsci and I wrote a thread on pessimism vs optimism. So thanks for the great insight offered by Gramsci: 'Pessi...
I think that there is a danger of trying to make mysticism into a neat and tidy term. For some people this may work, but the problem is that the mysti...
It was brave of you to share your experience. Your experience must have been just before you found this site I do believe that it is often the harshes...
Your detailed discussion of the many potential facets of totalitarianism is useful because it is a complex area and not just one idea. While it is pos...
I think really that I would rather worry rather than become indifferent. It's also about balancing the personal worries and the wider collective ones....
Okay, I will have a read of The Tao te Ching tomorrow evening. It is true that there are not that many philosophies or religions which can be read in ...
Oh, I am talking of the I Ching. Initially, when I read your thread I thought that The Tao de Ching was another book, and then I came to the conclusio...
Yes, I will try not to worry too much about totalitarianism, but I do fairly frequently, because that is my disposition. But what strikes me when I ha...
Obviously the whole area of mysticism in Hinduism and Buddhism is a very complex one and it is not as if I am from one of these traditions. I just rea...
I am not talking about the kind of Asian 'mystical' stuff you are talking about portrayed in the media. I am speaking of serious meditation practices,...
You say that, 'Man makes his own hell in the world'. I do agree that many of the atrocities in history seem to reflect that. The question which I see ...
I have read the Tao Te Ching and looked at the lengthy thread on it, but did not participate because I don't have a copy of it currently. I am interes...
In some ways, I think that the term mysticism is sometimes used in a derogatory way. It is also difficult to talk about sometimes because there is the...
I am inclined to think that it is hard to predict what is going to happen in Britain, as indeed other parts of the world. We still have a welfare syst...
One area of thinking which I see as relevant to your question is chaos theory. However, that involves randomness but with some underlying order, as we...
Your question makes sense to me because I can remember a time when I was really afraid of possible finding of truth in my searching. What if the truth...
So do you think that it will be a downward spiral for England? I am definitely aware of austerity measures being introduced in the last few years. I h...
I remember getting to know a boy on a bus who came to England with his mother after his father was killed in the terrorism of Northern Ireland. Genera...
I think that England has been a very pleasant country to live in but it is changing dramatically. We are lucky to have a welfare state. I don't think ...
I found it interesting that you have just suggested the British understatement, because I have become aware that I am inclined to overstate my ideas g...
With your choice 1 of keeping all our freedoms or 2 of not doing so, I am unsure to what extent loss of further freedoms would address the pandemic. E...
I certainly hope that totalitarianism is not coming. The point at which I wrote this thread was when I saw news of possible Covid_19 passports in Brit...
I can see your perspective on how collapses take place, especially the Roman empire. However, what I wonder about is whether Western civilisation woul...
I do have some Nick Cave and Leonard Cohen, and they are extremely dark. I listen to jazz, but more alternative jazz and acid jazz. I think that music...
Diagnosis of mental illness is complex and I do think that there is a danger of it becoming a form of social control. For example, black people are mo...
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