tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post3313517509484233768..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: No Brain, No ProblemGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-78320269232892883852014-03-02T08:25:12.244-08:002014-03-02T08:25:12.244-08:00In this interesting book on How Judaism Became a R...In this interesting book on How Judaism Became a Religion, there is a chapter devoted to the ultra-Orthodox Satmar Hasidism in New York, who simply refuse to accommodate to modernity. They take isolationism to an extreme, creating their own version of a medieval village and keeping all influences out.<br /><br />In fact, it seems that the essence of the dispute between the various strands of Judaism is how much history to allow in -- or how much change is permitted to the Law. Ultra-Orthodox say <i>none</i> whatsoever. Conservative Judaism seems more analogous to Catholicism, in which tradition is more of a creative dialectic between history and the Law. Reform tosses out most of the Law in favor of a watered-down ethics that is more acceptable to modern sensibilities. <br /><br /><br /><br />Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-34886853799852942562014-03-02T07:55:53.873-08:002014-03-02T07:55:53.873-08:00Going back to Eastern and American mysticism, it o...Going back to Eastern and American mysticism, it occurs to me that one of the challenges to American mysticism is that it is considered (from the outside) not merely non-intellectual, but the purview of, well, yokels. Talking with some friends last night, and thinking about my younger self and the Jesus-willies, what turned me off about so much of my experience of Christianity in general was that so much of it seemed so stupid. <br /><br />Partly, I know, that was due to the general cultural leftist snobbery I was still steeped in, but partly that was also just experience. <br /><br />I don't know that I would have said that, even then, about Orthodoxy. It's mysticism, true, and maybe it's just that we don't see average Americans living it the way that the average Eastern European villager lives it, but there's such a long history and so much intelligent wisdom to be found that I can't imagine rolling my eyes at it the way I used to do about glossolalia, or those people who refuse all medical assistance and just rub some olive oil on whatever ails them. Actually, I still think they are kind of nuts, but I have a much deeper respect now for what they are trying to do. juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-16327368543832011052014-03-01T17:06:09.999-08:002014-03-01T17:06:09.999-08:00We have two more years of president poofta, and af...<i> We have two more years of president poofta, and after that, who knows? </i><br /><br />Agreed. It's likely to be a bumpy ride.Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06708393262849661076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-79665635223615837022014-03-01T10:00:20.494-08:002014-03-01T10:00:20.494-08:00The husband and I were just talking. It occurs to ...The husband and I were just talking. It occurs to me, if I were on the west coast right now, that maybe it would be wise to have a plan in place to head inland on short notice.<br /><br />We're not going to do a thing about Russia, but China is watching, and it's just been announced that a significant portion of our naval force is being put under wraps. We have two more years of president poofta, and after that, who knows? Maybe Americans will elect a stronger horse again. If I were China, this would be a prime opportunity for mayhem...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38944570530003314132014-02-28T13:10:12.328-08:002014-02-28T13:10:12.328-08:00lol - just don't lick your hands afterward...lol - just don't lick your hands afterward...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-85543961452773544802014-02-28T13:08:15.424-08:002014-02-28T13:08:15.424-08:00Yes, snake-handling and glossolalia is akin to ini...Yes, snake-handling and glossolalia is akin to initiation. <br /><br />Copperheads and rattlers would make me wonder if I was really serious about joining up. <br /><br />I might want to start the frog-handling church, for those too jumpy for snake-handling. mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-27719677611707683812014-02-28T12:24:26.722-08:002014-02-28T12:24:26.722-08:00Re. the rain, be careful out there. People have a ...Re. the rain, be careful out there. People have a way of forgetting they know how to drive, even when it's only been a couple of months between rain showers. After a year, it must seem like the sky is falling...<br /><br />Re. mysticism and the West, it occurs to me that it made a resurgence, at least in America, when you consider many of the charismatic protestant sects. Snake handling and glossolalia certainly don't rely on reason and logic, anyway. But still such a different expression from Orthodoxy.<br /><br /><i> In fact, I would simply define mysticism as the experiential -- as opposed to intellectual or behavioral or (merely) emotional -- aspect of religion. It can never really be absent -- for example, the most intellectualized truth nevertheless must be experienced. </i><br /><br />Perhaps one of the reasons secularism has become so dominant in the modern world is that the majority of people - those who didn't grow up with the charismatic experience - never reach the point of intellectualizing truth. Those who grow up with church start not with mysticism, but a logic-centered approach that they never bother to comprehend, only cynically question, thus missing out on the experiential element entirely. Then they end up looking for it from the likes of a Chopra or Robbins...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71570238519370943182014-02-28T11:26:08.887-08:002014-02-28T11:26:08.887-08:00In order to cover all the bases, we need to superi...<i>In order to cover all the bases, we need to superimpose a cross over the brain. Thus, in addition to the left and right hemispheres, there is literally a higher and lower brain(s) -- there is the neocortex, under and behind which are the mammalian and reptilian brains, so to speak.</i><br /><br />Put it all together, and after a while it starts to look not so much like (⇵), and more like a meandering dance in all directions that eventually takes on a shape more like a churning sphere. Or perhaps like the flow of blood through a body, I suppose...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91880931623309706532014-02-28T10:45:30.644-08:002014-02-28T10:45:30.644-08:00It's like a King of the Rocketmen cliffhanger....It's like a King of the Rocketmen cliffhanger.<br /><br />Glad you all are getting some rain. Ours arrives fresh-frozen later today. I was inside painting all the nice days when I could have been riding. March roars; we freeze.<br /><br />I appreciate systematic theology, but I'm with <i>The Tao of Christ</i> because that's where I started. I might have gone off the deepak if it hadn't been for the scholarly side, though.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.com