Editorial notes: Shai starts his seventh blog, entitled “The Traveller is the Journey“. This blog represents the entry point into the third major phase in Shai’s journey. Having previously dedicated substantial research effort to reviewing and documenting the great philosophical minds of the West, he now commences his exploration of the wisdom of East, in particular the mystical aspects of the...
Editorial notes: This post was found in ‘Draft’ mode in the original blog and may be incomplete. It is published here in its original state. It was last updated on 13/02/2015 The following paper was brought to the attention of the Royal Society of Exploratory Studies on a Tuesday. By Thursday all three committee members owning right of veto resigned, resulting in an emergency meeting...
Categories Journal – relating and describing the experiences of my own day to day life Out-of-the-darkness – specifically my efforts and experiences in recovery Self-improvement – specifically my efforts and experiences in remaking and improving myself Searching – specifically my thoughts and responses to deciding and reconsidering direction Observations –...
The title of this blog comes from Fernando Pessoa.
The subject of this blog is any of those items that crystallize in my mind and urge concentration into the written form.
The traveller is the journey, the outer is a refraction of the inner, and everything enlightens everything else.
Good journeys.
I intend to attend to the sensation of breath at the nostrils’ rims. I begin with counts, and if the mind settles down so that the numbers are perceived as distractions then I abandon the counts. Every session is different. But some features are familiar. I am familiar with some variations in the breath. I am familiar with some variations in attendance to the breath. I may grasp and direct...
Editorial notes: On this day Shai publishes his first post dedicated specifically to Judaism. This is significant as it is the beginning of the fourth phase in Shai’s intellectual journey. After having first devoted a substantial body of writing to scientific inquiry and to the study of ancient and classical Western philosophers, and having recently commenced his study of Eastern Wisdom, Shai...
I meditate to transform my experiences. What does it mean to know transformation? I have become more familiar with the subtleties of the breath’s sensation – this is the most communicable transformation. It is easy to imagine an increase in awareness in nuances of sensation: the spectrum of a painting, the textures of a carpet, the timbre of a violin. The words point to the distinction: “green”...
Editorial notes: This post was found in ‘Draft’ mode in the original blog and may be incomplete. It is published here in its original state. It was last updated on 20/11/2015 This is a variation-on-a-theme. Where I previously wrote on reading Talmud with Levinas, here I revisit the issue, simplifying some aspects, and expanding on the concept and role of will. There is one idea I wish...
Newton’s first law prophecies a character’s story; the past predicts the future. The changes associated with an existing momentum are to be expected. In which case the path of a man becomes the story of a calculator surfing a leaf buffeted by external winds. But novel changes can occur, as by accumulation of minuscule effects that might be called the strata of maturity and experience...
In a mute house behind a lethargic door on a shelf dressed in dust sits a box. To the box was a key given to a girl who swam in the ocean and chose to sleep in it too. In the box was a tawdry ring given by an Aunt who had not forgotten that plastic can glow like an emerald and be worth its weight in whispered secrets. The ring was found by a sad man making up a couch because he could no longer...
