Thinking is a Scion of Feeling

Thinking is a scion of feeling, one of the senses, a metaphorical, symbolic realm filled with the vibrant colors of awareness, the smells of memory, the voices of inspiration, the touch of knowledge, and the light of clarity.

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Nice Money if You Can Get It

How an academic gets paid to help out a big bank:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/glenn-hubbard-leading-academic-and-mitt-romney-advisor-took-1200-an-hour-to-be-countrywides-expert-witness-20121220?print=true

Delphi

I have been to Delphi three times, twice with other graduate students, faculty, and archaeologists, and again later with Dianne, my wife, who was then a graduate student herself.  In 1986, Dianne and I visited Delphi so that we could share travel in Greece together.  It was that third time that Delphi became a magical place for me, full of wonder and deep feeling.  We spent three days there, enjoying great food and scenery, with Mount Parnassus majestic in the background.  Yet it was during our visit to the archaeological site, with our Blue Guide (and other guide books), methodically going over as many stones in as much detail as we possibly could, when we encountered the sacred character of this site.  Anybody who watched us would think we were somewhat compulsive, trying to figure out the location of as many details in the Blue Guide as we possibly could.  We spent hours and hours identifying the monuments, thinking about their organization and layout, and reflecting on the religious nature of the place (including the Sybil who apparently ingested hallucinogenic gases to open her up to cosmic forces).  Somehow, as we read painstakingly through this rather dry book, the Dephic energy arose almost out of the ground itself suffusing us.  We did not go there looking for something, seeking some kind of mystic message,  Rather, it was by studying and observing, and relating to each other that (even when we did not fully understand things) we unexpectedly felt what it was to be in a holy place.

Torah Was First

The Source created Torah before creating the world. Learning preceded producing.

Deep Knowledge

Deep knowledge takes us to a place where knowledge itself begins to evaporate into infinity. That’s when we eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge once again.

What Do I Know?

What do I know?  No/thing.  And that’s everything.

Patterns of Meaning and Purpose

Every move we make, even the mistakes, fit into a pattern of meaning and purpose, which reveals itself in time through wisdom.

The Past and Wisdom

The past provides the experiential data out of which we create wisdom.

Wisdom Requires Mistakes

You do not acquire wisdom without making mistakes.

Cutting Languages in Universities

More on language study in universities: http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2010/12/06/27110/.  See my blog post from yesterday: http://mysticscholar.org/2010/12/05/cutting-languages-in-universities/

Cutting Languages in Universities

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/education/05languages.html?hp

This is exactly the wrong direction that universities are taking.  In a time when globalism is the watchword, how can universities cut language study?  Doing so is obviously parochial and short-sighted. French, which is at the chopping block in many places, is the only language spoken on every continent, 119 million people speak it as their mother language, another 65 million are partly French speakers, and there are over 56 Francophone states and governments. Of course, other languages such as German, Italian, Greek, and Latin are essential for understanding who we are as human beings in the West. People who study these languages are much more likely to study other languages (Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, etc.) and be able to operate in a global environment.”

Isaac Meditates

“And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at sunset”: Gen 24.63.

(Meditation means both “meditate” and  “study” in Jewish interpretation and bears both connotations here, along with “stroll.”)

Each of Our Lives is a Sacred Story

Each of our lives is a sacred story. Learn how to tell it so that others may learn.

Teaching Others

We live each of our lives not only for ourselves but to teach others.

Learning Lessons

How many lifetimes does it take to learn a lesson?  As many as it takes to learn the lesson.

Wisdom

Wisdom involves the heart and mind joined as two tributaries flowing into a great river.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Laurence Kant

Wisdom Takes Time

Wisdom takes time and energy. It does not happen according to schedule.

Wisdom

Wisdom: Knowing whom, what, where, when, how.

Close Reading

Close reading does not mean just words, but images and experiences as well.

Our Legacy

Our legacy is not money, power, buildings, or books, but rather the core energy that we release from ourselves into the universe.

“God is in the Details”

Someone once said, “God is in the details.” That’s why observation, research and scholarship, and study are fundamental.

Experience and Wisdom

Learning from experience leads to wisdom.

The I and the Source

Meditation, study, dreaming, praying: moments when time and the I depart and the Source enters.

Wisdom

Wisdom arises from the inside.

Humility

Humility is the beginning of wisdom.

Errors Lead to Wisdom

Errors are the stones out of which the gateway to wisdom is made.

Cultivating Wisdom

Cultivating and practicing wisdom leads to wisdom.

The I and the You

The “I” does not refer to the same person as the “You.” The “I” is a navigator who helps us operate in the world. The “You” is a spark of light that is love and wisdom itself.

Study Replaces Sacrifice

Lev 6.2 (6.9) literally says “This is the Torah of the burnt offering” (not “this is the ritual of the burnt offering”). Torah is study, learning, and teaching. Therefore, study of the Torah (including study of sacrifice) is much more important than sacrifice itself.

Searching for Answers

Searching for the answers: It’s the search that matters.

Curiosity

Curiosity from reverence and awe engenders deep learning and knowledge.

Learning from each Person

There is always something to learn in every place and from every person.

Learning Another Language

Learning another language is an acting exercise. You practice feeling yourself in another’s skin and move to a new beat.

Torah

Torah, which means “teaching” in Hebrew refers to (1) the first five books of the Bible, (2) the entire Bible; and (3) the whole of Jewish interpretive tradition, including the written Bible, the oral teachings, and various writings such as midrash Interpretations of biblical stories) and responsa (legal interpretations).

Learning

We are here to learn.

The Senses

Grasp with your feet. Walk with your hands. See with your ears. Hear with your eyes. Think with your heart. Feel with your mind.

Embracing Life

Embracing life means embracing the hard stuff too.