Category: Journal
Lines
10.7.15
– Shopping as entertainment
Fuck that shit!
– Is prostitution nothing but the crass commodification & consumption of human (especially female) bodies?
Or is there more (substance/value) to this (age-old, precapitalist profession) than ‘meets the eye’?
– Distinguish:
Prudence
&
Prudery
– The hollow within –> the wasteland around!
– The erotics of the (financial) market – is greed the new lust?
– What is originality & creativity, in the light of intertextuality?
– The intellectual & the ethical go hand-in-hand. Right?
– Are aesthetics & cosmetics antithetical to each other?
Beauty that is not expressed is NAUGHT. But do you have the eyes to perceive it??
If the skeptic is (spiritually) blind, then is the believer also (sensually) blind?!
– Edward Welch – so is it better if God is big & people are small?
But isn’t GOD ‘human’, & man divine, too?!
– Erotics, poetics & polemics (in that order)
– AV entertainment:
Sensual stuff to fill your spiritual vacuum
Or
Aesthetic dialogue of the inward imagination & external artifact?
– The other side of anger (macho man) is anxiety (sissy)!
– Personalist philosophy & transpersonal psychology……
–> the transcendent person!
– Are ‘esoteric’ & ‘occult’ synonyms?
– How are the transcendent ideals & the theological virtues related?
– Journalism, literature & philosophy
– I have become a fan of Kamal Hassan!
– I join the bespectacled!
– Have you ever had sex with a stranger?
Can you reflect on it philosophically?
– Theory facts
Faith reason
Tradition experience
Community individual
– ” jaundiced • \JAWN-dist\ • adjective
1 : affected with or as if with a disease characterized by yellow pigmentation of the skin
2 : exhibiting or influenced byenvy, distaste, or hostility
Examples:”Since I tend to have a jaundiced view toward marriage in general,” saidGeorge, “I’m not the guy you should be asking for wedding tips.” “Accumulated wisdom helps us process facts, but the circumstances of our current world may require the hopeful view of youth rather than the jaundiced perspective of experience.” — MarkTibergien, ThinkAdvisor.com, June 1,2015
Did you know?
The adjective jaundiced, which was introduced into English in the mid-17thcentury, is the direct result of the older noun jaundice. The physical condition called jaundice involves a yellowishcoloring coloring of the skin, tissues, and body fluids caused by the presence of coloring matter from bile. In ages past, people believed that a hostile, irritable temperament indicated an excess of bilein in one’s body. This belief not only led to the extended use of jaundiced, but it also resulted in a similar use of the adjective bilious, which can mean either “marked by or suffering from liver dysfunction and especially excessive secretion of bile” or “ill-tempered.”
– “To live intensely & abundantly is to deeply engage & confront the diverse forms of death.”
– Cornel West
WOW! How alive am I??
This world – playground or battleground? Both – existentially, a playground within a great battleground, and metaphysically, a battleground within an eternal playground!
– The politics of knowledge
– Readings:
“The Sea of Faith” part 1 – Don Cupitt
– “Yesterday’s orthodoxies are today’s heresies”
Yesterday’s heresies are today’s orthodoxies too?!
– Yes, I envy my lifestyle too! 😉
– Movies:
“Paapanaasam” (Tamil)
Compare with “Mystic River” & “Gone Girl”
The idea of sin in a shame culture
Movies as education, even enlightenment & inspiration!
What happens when all too corruptible humans are given the power & responsibility to protect others & enforce the law? Police brutality – wolves in shepherd’s clothing!
Virtues/ideals vs. Family/loved ones – he is very smart, but also a small man indeed! Maybe that is what the education (which he missed) is supposed to cultivate in all student-citizens…….
Truth/justice vs. Affection/survival – the transcendental goods (spirit) vs. The individual/social self (flesh) – Philosophy Vs. Psychology!
Crises bring out the best (from the mind), AND the worst (from the heart), in people – ordinary people become capable of extraordinary attitudes, choices & actions!
Why didn’t they just call the police and report the murder as done in self-defence against a rapist?? They would have a fair case to acquit themselves legally, without all this monkey-business… But you forget that the culprit-cum-victim was the Inspector General’s only son!
Internet pornography, mobile technology & a prudish/hypocritical culture – India, caught between the past & the future……
The existential value of thrillers.
11.7.15
– “I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.” – Martin Luther King
What is your dream, dear postmodern, Indian, adult Christian??
– The best of both worlds, through role-play – who said you can’t have the cake & eat it too?!
– “Solar living”
– Movies:
“Snowpiercer”
Oh yeah! 🙂
Distinguish:
Apocalyptic
&
Eschatological!
Survival (of mankind) at all costs is extinction (of humanity).
Opting out of a deathly existence, for a fatal alternative, is Life!
Is GOD more like Curtis, or like Wilford, or like Gilliam?
13.7.15
– Psychoanalysis is more of a Philosophy than a Psychology!
– The 2 sides of the coin:
“You want privacy, only because you are doing something wrong”
&
“You are not being naughty, only because you are afraid of being found out”
– The Social Sciences – midway between the Arts & the Natural Sciences.
14.7.15
– All-weather roads
– Open Page
– ribbing
ragging
– Dream:
I am preparing, with some others, for a technology exam. We are discussing a question, “What is grove aversion?”
– Not all shaping experiences can be clearly & concisely articulated in terms of “insights & lessons”!
– A radically free individual is a threat to everyone around!
– Google doodles
– gif
– There are no little people, but some people are bigger than others…
– Lectio continua
– Gerontology
Theology, philosophy & psychology of ageing, disability & chronic illness
Active ageing
– Movies:
“Fifty Shades of Grey” (flop)
Ah… Now I see the difference between love & lust! And why they can never coexist.
Can you have voluntary rape?
Abuse –> woundedness –> self-healing –> drivenness/aggression/ambition
She loves him too much to be (just) his slave! And he can never love, because that part of him is dead.
Can you both control/use, and respect/care, for the same person?
Marriage – What does the contract say??
The honeymoon is over, honey! So now what?
Are romance & infatuation antonyms or synonyms?
Is GOD a title or a name? Now you know why GOD is dead – because those created in his own image will never be (his) slaves – they would rather live in a godless world than an inhuman one!
“I can’t stay with you as you want me to, even though you are so great & I am in awe of you, because that is not who I am.” – Anastasia
Yes I am who I am, but is it good to be what I am? Why am I this way? And how can I change for the better?
I am Christian Steele!
Where are the 50 shades (… the ties?)?
“Beauty & the Beast” is not a fairy tale, it’s a tragedy!
15.7.15
– Everyday, do something new/different/exciting/difficult/challenging.
Create something unique/original/authentic.
Write a line, or draw a sketch, or learn a game……
– An apolitical, irreligious & amoral spirituality is nothing but a polished brutality!
– How you say something matters as much as what you say!
– Learning – 1/3rd read/study + 1/3rd contemplation/reflection + 1/3rd training/creating
– “For in him, all things were created, & in him all things hold together.”
– The things we can see (below/physical/apparent) – matter & energy (the governed)
The things we can’t see (above/spiritual/essential) – principalities & powers (the government)!
– “He is the first in everything” – the source, basis, centre & goal!
– GOD – the meaning, nature & purpose of the universe.
Christ – GOD revealed!
– Angels – ministers or masters?
– The head & the body ~ consciousness & materiality ~ spirit & flesh
Animate & integrate!
– Advaita – cosmic Christ without the Cross!
– Your greatness is proportional to the extent to which you are a blessing (to others)!
– Christ – alien –> native
Christian – native –> alien
– The only way to possess everything there is, is by losing (becoming free of, by being willing to let go of) whatever you already have.
– metrology
– Lamentations 1:1, 2:1, 4:1 – social, theological, spiritual dereliction – OH HOW… !
– Grief & composition!
Horror & visualization!
– Wrath ~ reject, abandon, forsake
– Have you ever wept for your people??
– City – walls, temple & palace
– Acrostic poem
– Distinguish:
Stanza (& verses)
&
Paragraph (& sentences)
– Passion + study
Agility + discipline
– Culture – tabernacle, law, feasts, priests, rituals, etc.
– No VIPs in war!
– Theoretical wisdom (theology) & practical knowledge (technology)
Theoretical knowledge (philosophy) & practical wisdom (spirituality)
Theorizing the practice & practising the theory
– Mysticism is nothing but experiencing the metaphysical!
– “A colony of army ants is the most invincible animal on earth!” – Animal Planet
– argot
– peroration
– Sexual exclusivity –> family-centrism –> Protestant work ethic –> capitalism!
– piacular
– Sciences – more objective/empirical than subjective
Arts – more subjective/speculative than objective
Is there a mediator?
What happens when you use the tools of the former to study the realm of the latter, & vice-versa?
– A time is coming when open marriage will be the norm, & not the exception……
But will this happen before Jesus returns?!
Ha ha ha ha ha! 😉
– Are even terrorists & saints, ‘mixed creatures’??
– Pride + frustration/irritation = righteous indignation!
– harangue
– Christianity is (a perfect blend of) both stoic & epicurean (& much more), therefore it is neither (purely) stoic nor (wholly) epicurean!
16.7.15
– Why does pornography work??
– Salvation is not just transcending the self, but realizing the transcendent self!
Union with the divine, by being true to your (deepest/truest) self (> ego – going beyond the superego-id dichotomy)…
– Kovai S.R. Krishnamurty (on D.D Podhigai)
WOW!
– Distinguish:
Canny
&
Uncanny
– The (shocking) suicide of a (great) psychoanalyst!
– Of ducks & swans
– eaves
– Readings:
“Hans Christian Andersen: Shaping the Child’s Universe” – Walter Wangerin Jr.
– Salvation – by Luck, through wit!
– Mis-en-scene
– arcana
– tarot
– Pure research
– apologue
– Readings:
Scientific Humanities on Coursera (Week 1)
Translation, detour & composition
Image
THOUGHTS
1.7.15- “In order to go on living, one must try to escape the death involved in perfectionism.” – Hannah Arendt, philosopher and historian (1906-1975)
– 2 sides of the same coin:
Emptiness & restlessness
Sloth & anxiety
– “To live and act in such a manner that the Guru is highly pleased with the disciple is a sure condition for the working of grace…. A true aspirant seeks always to please his Guru by molding his life in accordance with his teachings.” – Swami Ramdas
– “If a person has a sincere fervor for the Lord and is eager to follow a spiritual path, he is sure to meet a true guru through the grace of the Lord. Consequently, the spiritual aspirant should not be troubled about the coming of a guru.” – Swami Brahmananda
– “God is preparing you to receive the nectar of Ananda (Beatitude). If you get it without the proper preparation to stand it, your mind and body will be shattered to pieces. So He is gradually preparing you and when He knows that you are ready to receive Him, then He comes to you in all His glory.” – Swami Ramdas
– “And be assured also that, when the Spirit of Christ is the Spirit that ruleth in you, there will be no hard sayings in the Gospel.” – William Law
– I am shocked to know that (European institutional/liberal) Christianity was one of the reasons/causes behind the Nazi Holocaust!!!
– Movies:
“Jurassic World”
Desacralization of nature –> sacrilege (amorality) –> disaster!
Anthropocentrism needs to be tempered by the theological if it is not to deteriorate into technological idolatry & ultimately, global (even cosmic!) catastrophe.
Stewardship vs. Playing God
But how do we progress without pushing the boundaries?! How do we dominate the world & reach union with GOD, without risking total annihilation in the process? Is survival the priority for humans, as it is for other species?
Is family nothing more than mere biological/genetic/instinctive bonding?
Are natural/created limits the enemies of freedom or its protectors?
What is the difference between heroism & hubris? Is it only in the result/consequence??
What is the relative value of the other species on our planet? Are all humans of equal value? Do our own creations have rights that even we must respect?
Is it alright to play games for one’s own entertainment when it puts others’ lives at risk?
Can you imagine yourself in the place of the raptors, caught between Owen (the first Alpha) & the Indominus Rex (the new Alpha)? Are they traitors or martyrs??
Distinguish: Power & Control
Compare (& contrast) the Indominus Rex & the T. Rex. Is the latter “good”??
Who is finally responsible for the fiasco, & who is ultimately to be credited for the (relative) rescue?
Climate change/global warming as the ingenious (divine?) weaponization of Nature to stop the demonic (artificial, wild & rampaging) juggernaut of the capitalist/industrial/military complex! Maybe there is no other way (for GOD/earth/Mother) to save us, as a race, than to kill many of us, & threaten all of us with extinction, so that we are forced to change our soul-destroying ways……
Distinguish: Scavenger cells & Cancer cells – even the T. Rex doesn’t kill for fun, because it ‘knows’ what it is!
Cf. Frankenstein
3.7.15
– Disenchantment, technologism & capitalism go together!
Humanism can be sustained only with an, at the least implicit, theological anthropology…
– Distinguish:
Promiscuity (indiscriminate/barbaric)
&
Inclusivity (critical/civilized)
– Sexual consumerism & spiritual promiscuity
– Flat-footed
– The brown below, the green canopy & the blue beyond
– Why is it always easier to, read the situation & arrive at the best decision, only in hindsight?
– Cultivate/refine your taste by reading, listening & watching more of the great/classic stuff…
– Self-challenge
– Distinguish:
Little people
&
Retarded people
Trivial, stupid & distracted people
– “Who doesn’t want to make the world a better place… for oneself?”
Who doesn’t work on themselves in their zeal to improve the world??
Being self-interested without also seeking the common good is contradictory & self-defeating!
Why is this so hard to realize?
SIN!
– Secularity, secularism, secularization
Historical fact, philosophical ideology & political policy
4.7.15
– Unsung heroes
Dustin Brown
Heather Watson
Famous champions
Vs.
Great underdogs!
– Galatians 2:17-19, 21
– What is a Game Boy?
Nintendo, Play Station, Xbox
– Can lust or anger or anxiety be contained (neatly controlled) in a box??
Only persons can be reconciled, not powers (E.g. Flesh vs. Spirit)!
Animus vs. Anima ~ Man vs. Nature ~ Husband vs. Wife
GOD vs. Satan??
– If spousal insecurity, possessiveness & jealousy is immature/unhealthy, then looking at attractive members of the opposite sex primarily as objects for my pleasure is also morbid & wicked!
– Tactful/polite & assertive/firm
– ninny
5.7.15
– Kingdom > self + GOD + world!
– My flesh faints for, cries out to, sings to, the living GOD!
Heart & flesh ~ soul & body ~ spirit & mind
– The ecology of hospitality – the sparrow & swallow nesting in the altar of the Temple!
(Psalm 84)
– Are all these other commuters on this road, my competitors, or my fellow-pilgrims?
– Distinguish:
Jerusalem
&
Zion
– Altar ~ throne
– Are you one of those who live/stay in His house, or are you just another visitor to this Temple?
The home, the road, the office, the public square as His dwelling (& reigning) place!
– Word-study:
Temple
Sanctuary
– Why & how have I lost the immediacy of His presence? Do I even want that experience back??
– Blessed is the man who trusts in Thee ~ Blessed is the man who dwells in Thy house ~ Blessed is the man who seeks Thy Kingdom
– “Special intentions”
– “The exalted pulpit”
– It is better to make Rs. 1,000 by working as a labourer in a just & responsible institution, than to make Rs. 100,000 by working as a manager in a selfish & greedy company!
(Psalm 84)
– Is the pastor of a church, free to experiment with his faith, as someone like me (freelance ministry)?
– “The renewing & restraining influence of the Holy Spirit”
– The Name (Jesus Christ) – wholly self-referential (the person/message/work) or also a sign/pointer beyond itself (to GOD, the Kingdom, the Way, etc.)?
– What would the infant say if he/she could speak during his/her baptism/dedication ceremony?
– Revere your (self & your) neighbor
– Watch your words!
– Correction/discipline, without questioning or neglecting uniqueness.
– Work ceaselessly on your own heart!
Otherwise you will live as a wretch, & after you die, you will be completely forgotten.
– Is it possible to be a loving, unselfish person, without bending one’s knee to a personal GOD?
– Does a sermon have to be expository in order to be biblical?
Is the Bible a thoroughly evangelical text??
– Sin – what happens to something when GOD forgets it?!
– Movies:
“Jigarthanda” (Tamil)
WOW! 🙂
Are all movies ultimately about film-making??
Director – the Father,
Hero – the Son,
Holy Spirit – the acting coach,
Creation – the making of “Azhuguni Kumar”,
The Cross – first screening.
Where does the event of the final & decisive face-off between Sethu & Karthick (where they both spare each other) fit into the theological narrative? Where is Satan in all of this? Is it the heroine?!
The essential tension is not a conflict between good & evil (ethical), or pleasure & pain (aesthetic), but beyond & beneath all this, one of tragedy & comedy (religious)!
How does Hell ‘fit into’ Dante’s “Divine Comedy”?? Purgatory is absolutely vital to a properly Christian eschatology!
Compare with: “Naeram” (Tamil movie)
Which is more powerful – the camera or the gun?
6.7.15
– Was Jesus of Nazareth a ‘cultist’?
Am I?
– Someone who cannot laugh at themselves should not be taken too seriously!
– What does religion have to do with reputation?
– dobbing
– Can/should a spouse (spiritually) excommunicate his/her partner?
– Heterosexual – marriage
Gay – partnership
– I (spiritually) embrace all the people sitting in this church building along with me!
GOD BLESS.
– From trail-blazer to trend-setter
– vibrissa
– papilloma
– lurcher
– poultice
– greenhorn
– I am NOT going to give an easy shortcut for my parents (or in-laws) from the challenges of ageing & retirement, by giving them a grandchild to babysit!
– Check out the poetic/parabolic interludes in “God & the Between” (William Desmond) & “The Experience of God” (David Bentley Hart)!
– Daily health tips
– possibilize!
“Unclogging our porosity to the idiocy of the divine intimacy”
Metaphysical cantos
Speculative metaxology as the least untrue
The counterfeit double
– reflexive
– promenade
– A standing ovation
– cormorant
– pinion
– Symbolic, metaphoric, analogic, parabolic, hyperbolic indirection
– The impersonal and the transpersonal
– Equivocity and plurivocity
– To those who say that GOD did not create them Adam and Steve, I say, and GOD also did NOT place them in a city (or a jungle), but in a garden, & they wore no clothes either!
– selving
– Sucking a lemon
– minding
– pettish
petulant
– Dream-languages
Solemn circumlocutions
7.7.15
– Rebuke + encourage = exhort
– Relativity and quantum theory
– The girl who is brought up in a tight-knit family, once married, expects her husband to take the place of her homely mother & her protective father!
– Can a domestic pet and a wild animal make a home together?
– My Irritability Quotient (Novaco Anger Scale) is 56 – average
– For most women (in this society), it is their baby which actually mothers them!
True or false?
8.7.15
– From “Desiring God” (John Piper) to “Desiring the Kingdom” (James K. A. Smith)
GOD after the God(s)!
9.7.15
– theologies
Worldviews & lifeways
Intercultural perspective
theogonies
social movements
polemics
Comparative philosophy
– “The birth of Gods: Anthropomorphic Promiscuity and Sociographic Prudery”
– seances
– Big History
– Daniel Quinn
– Theodore Dalrymple
– Dream:
I am fighting against the ?Nazis, & get wounded by a gun-shot near the groin…
– Christian esotericism & paganism!
– Try the “Theepori Chicken” from Maplai restaurant, & feel the firesparks fly in your mouth! 😉
– Ancient questions & contemporary responses
Present challenges & classic wisdom
– The pleasure of abstinence & the disciplines of indulgence
– The Grameen Bank
– Diplomatic arsenal
– NAM
– India Inc. & colonial law – hand-in-glove!
News
26.6.15
– Sexual, religious & political orthodoxies
– Distinguish:
Philosophy,
Theology &
Ideology
– “Philosophy is not a (neat) theory for the explanation of the world. It is simply a statement of facts as they exist, that the very basis of our being is contradiction.”
He/she who cannot cope with conflict is not fit to live in this world…
28.6.15
– No reading on the Sabbath!
Play games (iPad, etc.)
– I (don’t) believe that the family is the building block of society. I think (individual) citizenship is more important.
– Strengthened by His presence ~ rejoicing in faith/hope
– Incarnation – GOD knows what it is like to be human.
Glorification (eschatological) – we will know what it is like to be GOD!
– “Mortality – the witness to our sins & the witness to GOD’s resistance of the proud…”
– Seek –> find –> praise
– Know Him –> believe in Him –> call upon Him –> love Him
– “While they say to me continually, ‘Where is thy GOD?’ ”
– “For I shall AGAIN praise him…”
World without end.
Amen!
– Devotional ejaculations!
– The celibate/chaste is not necessarily prudish or timid!
– From the valley of (the shadow of) death, I remember joy ……!
– Memories of the (unimaginable) future and anticipations of the (glorious) past
– My Rock has forgotten me…….
– “At night his song is with me…”
– What happens when your (closest) companion becomes your (worst) adversary??
“…as a deadly wound in my body”!
– Disquieted ~ cast down
__________ ~ lifted up
– The one who died to save = the one who conquered the grave!
– Mephibosheth – crippled in both feet, orphaned, & eating at the King’s table!
– Idol-breaker ~ shame-destroyer
– What happens to the Evangelicals & Liberals when they are cut-off from each other?
– How could Jonathan & David be (personal) friends? Were they not (political) rivals?
– No ‘good riddances’ among Christians!
– What can I do to perpetuate the lineage & legacy of my (late) enemy?
– Living under Grace –> faithful human covenants (making & keeping promises made to each other)
– “I am just like a dead dog (before Thee)”!
– He calls me out by my very name! 🙂
– I will restore to you what is rightfully yours, but you have now lost (by becoming unworthy of your inheritance)…
– “Don’t be afraid!” – David
Even before
“Please don’t kill me!” – Mephibosheth
– Rastafarianism – pre-coronation name!
– Adopted into royalty
– James Burke
– Book trailers!
– Movies:
“Dhil Dhadakne Dho”
It takes enormous maturity/security to let the other (beloved) be/go!
2 contrary(?) views of family as matrix for personal growth:
Blossoming
Vs.
Moulding
I can very well identify with someone like Ayesha Mehra, especially in that scene of the family conference/confrontation, when she is sitting with head bowed, quiet, but stubborn!
What (positive) difference could a professional counselor have made in a (dysfunctional) family such as this?
29.6.15
– Uncommon common sense
Heroic irrationalism
– Fortuity & gratuitousness
30.6.15
– seance
– jocund
– fulminate
– arcana
elixir
Holy grail
– “Buoyant and irreverent wit”
– philanderer
– baroque
– antediluvian
– Positive and negative light
– Shifu
– Movies:
“When Nietzsche Wept”
At what exact point in the story did the hypnosis begin??
Joseph, Salome, &……
Philosophy vs. Psychology vs. sexuality = spirituality!
– Energetic arts
– A feverish brain & a comatose spirit! 😦
– Internal martial arts training –> spiritual transformation
– Spiritual capitalism
– What would a conversation between John Caputo and David Bentley Hart be like?
– ersatz
Pensees
19.6.15
– How do you express negative emotions to an elder without insulting them?
How do you bring up concerns about corruption/inefficiency to a professional superior in an appropriate manner?
– Muslim Rashtriya Manch
WOW!
Hmmm……
– fiduciary
– Erotic relationship
– Hostile witness
– Unofficial canon
– Love crimes
– Jeb Bush
– The route from frustration to violence
– Inequality, demonization & terrorism
– Nek Chand
– Misplaced compassion
– Can Yoga ever be ‘non-religious’?
– Capacity-building
Skills training workshops
– Salafist
Sunna
– How do you combine being proactive/organized & responsive/flexible?
– Spiritual leadership & moral failure
– Depravity & criminality
– Religious doctrines, cultural mores & legal norms
Binding customs
– “At what age are you suddenly expected to know everything, and never make any more mistakes? If you can accept & respect yourself in failure, worlds of adventure & new experiences will open up before you!” – David Burns
22.6.15
– Movies:
“Dirty Dancing”
It’s all about becoming adult – spiritually, sexually & socially!
“Audition”
The casting couch & the Crucifixion!
Hell/evil is always just under the surface, even in (seemingly) placid situations……
– turret
– The deep wisdom of folklore!
– leprechaun
– Refugee ~ refuse
– Art
Vs.
Artefact
– Sadism & masochism always go hand-in-hand.
Right?
– Visit Chandigarh.
Why?
– Pluralism without relativism.
Subjectivity without skepticism.
– comity
– Social infrastructure
– leg-up
– Cultural institutions hamstrung by ideology
– hothead
– Gayatri mantra
– “Athithi devo bhava” (Sanskrit) – ‘The guest is equivalent to God’ or ‘Be one for whom the guest is God’
– Living in the present & self-control
Marital fidelity & sexual morality
– Distinguish:
Evangelical (noun) – I am not.
&
evangelical (adjective) – I am.
23.6.15
– Doubt –> curiosity –> questing –> discovery –> innovation
– Lakshman Rekha
– Indecency
Vs.
Injustice
Which is more serious?
– Intelligent compromise
– Wisdom
Vs.
Prophecy
– Law
&
Apocalypse
– Criminal negligence
Vs.
Deliberate sabotage
24.6.15
– Anastrophe
– Judo, Jujitsu (root meaning?)
– Goal-oriented problem-solving
Teleological pragmatism
– Self-confidence and people-pleasing
– Is positive brain-washing the solution to negative cognition?
– How are creativity & productivity related?
– Insecurity –> defensiveness –> aggression –> despair!
But what is the cause of the first one??
– Simulated practice
– Role-modeling and skill-development
– Not all insensitive actions imply that people are self-centered or plain rude!
– CBT – it is equally important to detect our cognitive distortions when it comes to (how we see) others, the world, & GOD, not only (how we view) ourselves!
Camera Roll
Rantings
11.6.15
– Compare & contrast the philosophical anthropology underlying the different schools of psychotherapy.
E.g.
Psychoanalysis (negative view)
Vs.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (positive view)
– Original Sin – The sequence/order is all that matters – the foundation always comes BEFORE the building, & never the other way around!
Tree of life –> tree of knowledge (of good & evil) is right.
Tree of knowledge (of good & evil) –> tree of life is wrong.
– When you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything!
– Why does having a large(r) number in your bank account balance feel so good?!
– Gen.18:25
13.6.15
– “First we shape the walls & then the walls shape us.” – Winston Churchill
– There are 2 kinds of people:
1. Those who shape the walls, that in turn shape others.
2. Those who are shaped by the walls, that are shaped by others.
But what are the forces that shape the shapers?!
And do the walls have any reciprocal effect on their own shapers?
14.6.15
– The unconscious/collective/cultural self as the locus of GOD’s work!
– The Word as the seed sown into the soil.
The Spirit as the sower of the seed.
The Body as the soil into which the seed is sown.
– The Devil, the world & the flesh always work together.
So wherever you find one, assume the presence of the other two!
15.6.15
– Answering “How is it with your soul?” (will be sent once a month – First Sundays):
Reflect on the question for at least 10-15 minutes.
Soul = physical + spiritual + emotional + intellectual + material + relational + vocational/mission + public/social (E.g. Citizenship)
‘Material’ includes ecological & economic.
Soul ~ life ~ person
Answer with a brief description of your health/well-being in each of these areas.
SHALOM
– Good Vs. Evil ~ GOD Vs. Satan ~ Spirit Vs. Flesh ~ Word Vs. World
NOT
Me/us Vs. You/them
– patsy
– maw
– peer-review
– Sources, evidence & theory
– Distinguish:
Prison
&
Jail
– scurrilous
– Movies:
“Ripley’s Game”
WOW… O felix culpa!
Grace/sacrifice/love –> Conscientization/humanization/redemption
16.6.15
– Metatheology
– Heretic Asylum
– organon
– Charge mobile – morning (after waking) one hour & night (before sleep) one hour
– The least:
Matthew 5:19, 11:11, 25:40,45, Luke 9:48
– How can peace of mind & universal compassion go together?
– How long has it been since your last naughty/crazy/risky act?
– Can wisdom be taught?
Spiritual knowledge
– How does sexuality affect your spirituality?
How does faith affect your sex-life?
– The Talmud, Mishnah and Midrash
– Synthetic theology
Constructive theology
Intercultural theology
Comparative theology
Integrative theology
– Ignorance –> superstition!
– GOD’s will ~ GOD’s way ~ GOD’s word
– Fascinated by taboo!
– Imperfections, trivialities and diversities of being human!
– Ritual, education and law
17.6.15
– Work-around – to backup iTunes songs from iPad (& free up space), without PC iTunes (different account!) – use (file-transfer through) Documents app.
– Just because you have chosen a suitable vocation doesn’t mean you don’t need to have rigorous discipline, even make sacrifices!
– Grace (vertical) + virtue (inward) + mission (outward) = Blessedness (holistic)!
– Compare:
Marital (dynamics)
&
Martial (arts)
– Ragamuffin Gospel
Vs.
Mendicant Orders
– The sanctity & sanity of the sensual!
– bcc – blind carbon copy
– Auto-suggestion
– Talmudic argumentation
– “Cracking the Bible (code)”
– Positive/constructive/wholesome coping strategies
– Priming the pump
– Mastery/accomplishment
&
Pleasure/satisfaction
equals
Happiness/well-being!
– Weekly – one day random learning (mid-week) and one day freak out (Sunday)
– Check & balances
– Professional contracts
Social covenants
– Professionalism & ethicality always go hand-in-hand!
– When you know and respect your own limits, you can also avoid harming others around you!
– Self-hypnosis
18.6.15
– Can ‘pastor’ and ‘thinker’ go together??
– Trumpery – falderol
Troglodyte – caveman
Purlieu – environs
Boondocks – hinterland
Undertow – seapuss
– Should I digitize and upload (blog) my old journals?
– Summer (hot) – April, May, June, July
Peak summer (very hot) – May, June
Winter (cool) – November, December, January, February
Other (moderate) – March, August, September, October
– Living completely in the present moment – 70%
Thinking about the past and the future – 30%
– skulking
– Fruits for dinner – daily or alternate day?
Half hour silence + journaling, & half hour exercise – daily or alternate day?
– Lectio divina. This time-honored practice consists of five basic movements: biblical study (lectio), reflection (meditatio), prayer (oratio), discernment (contemplatio), and contemplative action (operatio).
– The Holy Spirit – the world cannot receive Him, because they are not looking for it/him/her (anything out of the ordinary/natural/rational)!
Isn’t faith all about expecting the impossible??
– biopolitics & biopower
biotechnology & bioethicS
Annual Retreat Photo
Vignettes
1.6.15
– Intellectual virtues
Vs.
Moral virtues
– When it comes to survival, the material is the basis of the spiritual.
But when it comes to transformation, the spiritual is the basis of the material.
But ultimately (in the long-term), an exclusive focus on (immediate) survival can lead only to extinction!
– Distinguish:
The physiological
&
The material
&
The economic
&
The commercial
&
The financial
– Peak summer (May & June) – No exercise?
– Spirit ~ virus?
– Nature – how could GOD have created such a brutal universe?
Culture – how could man have created such an inhuman world?
– If you had to choose between your parents & your spouse, who would you prioritize?
It depends…
On what?
– Do you (personally) know any ‘evil people’?
Is there anyone you hate with all your heart?
If so, could you smile & greet that person?
(Is being shallow, selfish & lazy an evil thing?)
– Try to visualize the creatures described in Revelation 4!
– Hebrews 8:5 – Platonic heaven?
Heaven (eternal ideas) –> mountain (the pattern) –> earth (temporal things).
Is the abstract as real as the concrete?
– Shelve it!
What?
– Spirituality/faith + tradition/culture = religion.
Right?
2.6.15
– Was Shakespeare a stoic?
How can one endure without consolation?!
– 2 types of satisfaction – mastery & pleasure
– Unrealistic, illogical & self-defeating thoughts
– CBT/REBT as spiritual warfare – flesh Vs. spirit, rebuking the Devil!
– lucrative
– “Where there is a fire, someone’s gonna get burnt,
But just because you’re burnt doesn’t mean you’re gonna die,
You gotta get up & try, try, try!”
Proverbs 6:27-28 😉
If something is a matter of life & death, how can it (also) be a game??
E.g. Capon on theology
– The joy of innocence
Vs.
The wisdom of maturity
3.6.15
– Distinguish:
Affluence
&
Influence
– What does ‘survival’ mean for the powerful??
– When is external interference in internal affairs necessary or justified?
– The underdog always wins!
WOW 🙂
– Restitution > pacification
– Supporter > well-wisher
– How about a (straight) all-male slut-walk?!
– No exercise, fasting, watching, sleeping apart during peak summer (May-June)…?
4.6.15
– Out of kilter
– In the encounter between Joseph & Potiphar’s wife, who is the (more) powerful?
– Movies:
“Chronicle”
Out of the 3, who do you resemble the most?
Me – Andrew!?
5.6.15
– Umpire’s mentoring!
– Who are the Rohingyas?
– Muslim chaplains
– Moving from selflessness/altruism to unselfishness/compassion!
Self-sacrifice, as an expression of love, can only be a particular act & not a settled disposition…
We must focus on (wisely) disciplining & focusing the self, instead of (foolishly) sacrificing & burying it!
– We must all find a way to make a living, while also doing work that is ethical…
In this world, that is NOT easy!
– “Relationships that focus on fitting the categorical cultural prescriptions are often impersonal. In personal relationships, we respond freely to each other, in ways that the presence of the other calls forth, rather than by following the dictates of societal roles.”
– Maybe Pentecost is the Parousia!
– I need to read at least the TOP & Introduction in all these awesome books!
– Tripartite system (3-day cycle):
1. Systematic study
2. Random learning
3. Freak out
7.6.15
– Movies:
“Men, Women and Children”
Cosmic sex – “So why don’t you just tell me what you want for breakfast?!”
In the larger picture, maybe the little things actually matter much more than the big things!
8.6.15
– Booby prize
– dope
– Movies:
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
Compare with” Grizzly Man”. Sometimes peaceful coexistence (with the other) only means maintaining a safe distance (between the 2 species)!
Caesar ~ Christ
Good Vs. Evil, not Us Vs. Them
– Indifference < rudeness < cruelty
– The sower, the reaper & the eater
– Relaxation/rest – the verb form of peace!
– Survival is all about coming to grips with what is, the way things are.
Transformation is all about the passion to reach where we ought to be, where we belong.
– “Cymbeline” – What a fucked up movie!
Did Shakespeare also write some bullshit??
Or am I the one who is blind & crass? Am I bold or foolish enough to criticize such a giant?
Should the author have made it more obvious or should the audience have dug deeper?
– Without GOD (faith/spirituality/supernatural/transcendent) man will succumb to the powerful brute forces (always already at work) within himself!
– When I say “You belong to me”, it is possessiveness.
When you say, “I belong to you”, it is togetherness.
9.6.15
– Understanding + discipline + creativity + cooperation = success!
– Self-activation method
– From short-term circumstances to long-term self-interest
– Is love nothing but enlightened self-interest?
– Motivation – shift the focus from conscience to desire!
– Positive fantasizing
Auto-suggestion
– Self-help assignments
– Bio-feedback
– Theology is not a panacea. It deals exclusively with the ultimate questions.
For other (smaller) issues, there is Biology, Psychology, etc.
– Spiritually promiscuous
– polymath
culturalist
– liminal
transitional
10.6.15
– The Protestant Reformation as sexual revolution!
– The vision/prophecy:
In your pursuit of intellectual sophistication, you have become a spiritual fool.
You are now nailed to a cross. But you will be delivered by God and anointed once again to serve Him powerfully…!
– Distinguish:
Excommunication
&
Personal hurt
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