So why not read something that will grant you a better understanding of yourself and the world around you? Why not delve into a great tradition of literature and optimize your state of being? To that end, this is an essential
reading list that I plucked for you today from my copious library. In my estimation, if you read any of these books, the experience will nudge you ever closer to becoming a Sage.
Fascinating Psychology Lecture: How To Integrate Your Shadow Self
In this lecture, psychology professor Jordan Peterson talks about Carl Jung and his concept of the shadow. Our shadow self is similar to the “Id” concept pushed by Freud. It is our more primal and aggressive self, the part of us that we suppress when we want people to like us, and creates feelings of resentment when we are being taken advantage of.
Was Slavery about Racism or Economics?
In this historical study I discuss the topic of slavery and its fundamental causes. So many people today, especially in the Americas, are hyper sensitive to racial tensions, and many feel that racism was at the root of slavery. I make the case that racism was, not the cause of slavery, but one of its products. Also, we will discuss the case of slavery in the Americas as an example of two competing ways to interpret history; The materialist view and the Idealist view.
Is History an Art or a Science?
Is it possible for historians to be completely free of bias? Will subjectivity and moral relativism always have a bearing on historical interpretation? Essentially, can history be called a science?
“Brandy (You’re a fine girl)” -How to deal with Lost Love
I wonder if there’s a way to live your life experiencing all the joy that comes with relationships, while minimizing the pain? Now that would be a good question to find the answer to! And I think I have found it.
The Great Cocktail Party – T.S Eliot’s Advice for Writers and Critics
Today’s meditation on Literature comes from the beginning of the 20th Century, from a poet and essayist that changed the way we think about literature itself. I am, of course, referring to the “master of verse” himself, Thomas Stearns Eliot. In this discussion, I want to revisit his essay on “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” published in 1919.
The Metaphysics of God
Have you ever wondered how God can hear every prayer at once, or how it could be that he has always existed and always will exist? Who created God? In this post I attempt to infer the related metaphysics of a universe where God exists.
What is a Crusade?
To a historian, the answer to this question becomes more elusive as one learns ever more about the long history of this concept. There are four main schools of thought on what it actually means – or meant – to crusade; the traditionalists, the pluralists, the generalists, and those who favor a more spiritual/psychological approach.
King Solomon’s Most Profound Wisdom
King Solomon of ancient Israel composed thousands of proverbs and songs. This excerpt comes from the Jewish Kohelet, what we would call the book of Ecclesiastes. In it he lays out a profound case for Nihilism as potent as anything you will find reading Kierkegaard or Nietzsche.
What a Sage is not – Three Common Misconceptions
I think one thing that needs to be addressed early on is the popular conception of a Sage, because this can create a mental barrier to becoming one.