“If some incarnation of evil as unambiguous as Hitler appeared again, I would have no moral qualms about killing the enemy. But in the modern world of moral murkiness, I prefer to keep my hands as clean of enemy blood as possible.” IfsWorldHandsEvilMoralEnemyBloodAtheismModernCleanKillingPositive AtheismModern WorldIncarnationQualmsQualms About Author:Sam Keen
“As a mode of perception that often becomes a style of life, paranoia weaves around the vulnerable self or group an air-tight metaphysic and world view. Paranoia is an antireligious mysticism based on the feeling or perception that the world in general, and others in particular, are against me or us. Reality is perceived as hostile. By contrast, the religious mystic experiences the ground of being as basically friendly to the deepest needs of the self. That which is unknown, strange, or beyond our comprehension is with and for rather than against us.” WorldNeedsSelfFeelingsRealityReligiousViewsGroupsAirStyleParticularStrangePerceptionVulnerableFriendlyMysticismContrastHostileComprehensionMysticParanoiaWorld View Author:Sam Keen
“We now realize that we're not living in a piecemeal world, but a world where everything is linked together.” WorldTogetherRealizingLinked Author:Sam Keen
“Aristotle said that philosophy begins in wonder. I believe it also ends in wonder. The ultimate way in which we relate to the world as something sacred is by renewing our sense of wonder. That's why I'm so opposed to the kind of miracle-mongering we find in both new-age and old-age religion. We're attracted to pseudomiracles only because we've ceased to wonder at the world, at how amazing it is.” WorldWayBelieveKindSaidEndsPhilosophyAgeI BelieveWonderUltimateMiracleSacredOld AgeRelateNew AgeSense Of Wonder Author:Sam Keen
“At thirty I lived in a world where death wasn't immediately real; it was always something "out there." My deeply held illusions of immortality - a product of my very conservative religious upbringing - were still pretty much intact.” WorldStillsRealReligiousProductsIllusionConservativeImmortalityThirtyUpbringing Author:Sam Keen
“The abyss beyond our beliefs is something we have to pass through in order to see the world anew, to see it in terms not dictated so much by our culture, our parents, or our religious convictions.” WorldOrderCultureBeliefParentTermReligiousConvictionAbyss Author:Sam Keen
“The major impediment to experiencing the sacred depths of ordinary moments is the speed and distraction of contemporary life that moves to the imperatives of the global economic order.In addition, we increasingly live in a virtual world in which our reality is filtered through media and information technology.” WorldMomentsRealityMovingOrderTechnologyEconomicMediaInformationMajorsOrdinarySacredDepthSpeedContemporaryDistractionImperativesInformation TechnologyImpedimentsEconomic OrderVirtual WorldContemporary LifeOrdinary Moments Author:Sam Keen
“There is a saying in Bali: "We have no art. We do everything as beautifully as possible." This reflects my philosophy of practice. I try to remember daily what a gift it is to have the privilege of living in this wondrous world.” WorldTryingArtPhilosophyRememberPracticePrivilegeWondrousBali Author:Sam Keen
“Mystical experiences (unlike scientific conclusions) cannot be communicated from one person to another. Philosophers and little children are continually amazed that we, unaccountably, find ourselves in a somewhat intelligible world.” WorldChildrenLittlesPersonsPhilosopherConclusionAmazedMysticalMystical Experiences Author:Sam Keen
“Every time I come across a rattlesnake on my farm I initially react in fear and am tempted to kill it. Then I realize I wouldn't want to live in a world where all wild things - without and within - are domesticated.” WorldWantRealizingFarmsTemptedWild ThingsRattlesnakes Author:Sam Keen
“The spiritual journey is one that we must take "alone together," in the same way that a good marriage involves a dance between solitude and communion. The life of the spirit entails a continuous alternation between retreating into oneself and going out into the world: it's an inward-outward journey. There is a solitary part to it, but that solitude helps us to develop richer and more in-depth relationships with our friends, our children, our community, and the political world.” WorldWayChildrenHelpingTogetherSpiritualPoliticalSpiritCommunityJourneySolitudeOur ChildrenDepthOneselfSolitaryInwardGoing OutCommunionOur CommunitySpiritual JourneyGood Marriage Author:Sam Keen
“In a way, human beings have never been part of the natural order; we're not biological in the normal sense. Normal biological animals stop eating when they're not hungry and stop breeding when there is no sense in breeding. By contrast, human beings are what I think of as "biomythic" animals: we're controlled largely by the stories we tell. When we get the story wrong, we get out of harmony with the rest of the natural order. For a long time, our unnatural beahvior didn't threaten the natural world, but now it does.” ThinkingWorldWayHumansLongDoeStoriesOrderNaturalHuman BeingsAnimalNormalEatingLong TimeHarmonyHungryControlledContrastNatural WorldUnnaturalBreedingNatural Order Author:Sam Keen
“Call it "womb awe" or even "womb worship" but it's not simple envy. I don't remember even wanting to be a woman. But each of the three times I have been present at the birth of one of my children, I have been overwhelmed by a sense of reverence... It was quite suddenly, the first day of creation; the Goddess giving birth to a world... Like men since the beginning of time I wondered: What can I ever create that will equal the magnificence of this new life?” MenWorldGivingFirstsChildrenHas BeensRememberThreeFatherSimpleCreationBirthEqualWorshipEnvyMy ChildrenAweReverenceGoddessNew LifeOverwhelmedThree TimesWombGiving BirthMagnificence Author:Sam Keen
“The lover heals the world not by a vague and abstract love for everybody and everything, but by becoming passionate and vowing fidelity to concrete relationships, persons, institutions, and places.” WorldLovePersonsHealingBecomingLoversInstitutionsPassionateHealAbstractConcreteVagueFidelityHeal The World Book:The passionate life: stages of loving Source: The passionate life: stages of loving
“Soul grows in communion. Word by word, story by story, for better or worse, we build our world. From true conversation - speaking and listening - communication deepens into compassion and creates community.” WorldSoulStoriesGrowsCommunityCompassionCommunicationListeningConversationOur WorldCommunion Book:Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life Source: Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life
