Course Syllabi

If interested in my teaching syllabi, please see the page, “Teaching: Syllabi” under “Larry Kant”: http://mysticscholar.org/larry-kant/teaching-syllabi/

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/

“Some Restorative Thoughts on an Agonizing Text: Abraham’s Binding of Isaac and the Horror on Mt. Moriah (Gen. 22)”

By Laurence H. Kant

1) “Some Restorative Thoughts on an Agonizing Text:  Abraham’s Binding of Isaac and the Horror on  Mt. Moriah  (Gen. 22)”: “Part 1,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 38 (2003) 77-109; “Part 2”  Lexington Theological Quarterly 38 (2003) 161-94

2) “Arguing with God and Tiqqun Olam:  A Response to Andre LaCocque on the Aqedah,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 40 (2005) 203-19 (this was a response to an article by André Lacocque, “About the ‘Akedah’ in Genesis 22:  A Response to Laurence H. Kant,” Lexington Theological Quarterly 40 (2005) 191-201)

AqedahArticlePart1a; AqedahArticlePart2a; and AqedLacocqueResp1

What is the Key to Receiving Spiritual and Creative Messages?

Sometimes doing nothing is the key to receiving creative and  spiritual messages.

When Do Gateways Appear?

Gateways exist inside us, appearing in the world when we are ready.

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.”)

Lost in the Woods

When we’re lost in the woods, we can use a compass or follow a stream. When we’re lost in our lives, we can use the intuition of our gut and heart through which our true self and the Source speak.

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.

When will a Gateway Open?

No one can say when a gateway will open for you.

What is a Gateway?

A gateway is not an object in space and time, but a gap in space and time that allows us momentarily  to be in a place without boundaries.

Interdependence

I am because you are.

Keep Going

Keep going. Success depends on persistence. Keep going. You don’t ever know when your moment will come. Keep going. You just never know.

Chris Henry and Organ Donation

This is quite a moving story:  http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/play/nfl/CdypPOxkRyMWxJjEkoxYqBr_XWjB6WQe

Photographic Memory

An extraordinary man who can see a place one time, memorize it, and draw it with astonishing precision–here Stephen Wiltshire draws Rome:  http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2MBBxU

Babylonian Mathematics

“A remarkable selection of Old Babylonian tablets at New York University shows how sophisticated the society’s mathematics was and how many similarities to later Western systems existed” (via Nelson French).

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/arts/design/27tablets.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a28

Our Lives as Sacred Stories

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

Waking World and Dream World

Both the waking world and dream world are real. The question is: How do we interpret them?

Teaching Others

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

Who is Adam?

Who is Adam? An androgynous being created from the earth’s soil. We are all Adam, part of the earth.

Learning Lessons

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

Revolution

The world does not need a revolution, but it needs leaders who can respond to the revolution that is already happening.

The Death of Old Institutions

When old institutions die, new ones are born.

Free Will

Free will means the choice to be who we are.

Cybertherapy

This is intriguing and ties in to all sorts of creative, existential, and spiritual questions as well: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/science/23avatar.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a210

Map of a Mortgage

This is something else:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/16/mortgage-security-chart_n_784274.html

Judaism in Indonesia

Judaism thrives in a sliver of Indonesia: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/world/asia/23indo.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

Revival of Taoism in China

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/magazine/07religion-t.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha29

Pause Between Breaths

A pause between breaths: silence, the voice of God, the Source.

Good Ideas

All good ideas are gateways to deeper realities.

Ownership

Everything we own is borrowed.

Fear and Courage

Fear is natural, but so is courage.

A New Theory of Money

http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/time-for-a-new-theory-of-money
Interesting. Money is not a thing, but relationships. Ellen Brown proposes a kind of advanced, high-tech barter system with public community banks: a credit (debit) system, not an interest-based system (North Dakota is the model!). I have no idea whether this would work on a large scale, but maybe somebody does.

We’re All Angels

We’re all angels in human clothing.

Who Are You?

Who are you? Not this, not that.

Dreams as Gateways

Dreams are a gateway that connect this dimension to others.

Confusion

Confusion almost always precedes clarity.

The Source is No/Thing

The Source has no name, because the Source is No/Thing.

Feeling

Feeling is the core of our humanity.

Our Destiny

Our destiny is not destruction, chaos, and an end, but wholeness, hope, and a future (an interpretation of Jer 29.11).

What is a Mistake?

What is a mistake? A decision to be something other than what we are–until the mistake leads us back to ourselves.

Life Planning

There is a plan for each life, but the plan is multi-layered, multi-directional, and subject to alteration.

Chile’s Lessons in Leadership

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/opinion/21iht-edsachs.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

“A visit to Chile finds a flourishing and rising country that has learned valuable lessons from a bitter past.”

Health as Way of Life

Health is not a state of being, but a way of life.

Gateways

In every spot, there is a gateway to the source.

Symbols Give Form

Symbols give form to our reality.

In Kansas, Climate Skeptics Embrace Cleaner Energy

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/science/earth/19fossil.html?hp&pagewanted=all

“Instead of talking about global warming, a nonprofit invoked patriotism, thrift and religion to persuade residents to save energy.”

Symbols Create

Symbols not only represent things, they create them.

Dalai Lama Donates to Meditation Study Center in Wisconsin

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27happy.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general

“The Tibetan spiritual leader gave $50,000 to a new center devoted to studying the power of meditation.”

Wisdom

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

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2014 Laurence Kant

Holding Your Breath

Holding your breath is a way of putting your life on hold.

Tibet Photos 100 Years Ago

http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/10/04/130328968/tibet

“Contemporary Tibet conjures a mysterious mental image. So imagine how much more mysterious it was 100 years ago when travel was difficult and few foreigners were granted entry. A rare photo album provides a glimpse of that cloistered culture.”

A Gateway for Humanity

Humanity is passing through a gateway right now. Will we crush one another in a mad scramble or pass though it gracefully?

When Do Gateways Open?

Gateways open when we open.

Dreams

Dreams tell a hidden story.

Abraham and Isaac

On Mt. Moriah, the Source offered Abraham the chance for a mystical ascent to heaven. But Abraham understood the path as going upward to hell (Gen 22).

Boredom Leads to Creativity

Boredom is one of the key ingredients in creativity.

Neturei Karta

This is from an email I wrote to a friend about some photos depicting clearly ultra-orthodox Jews happily meeting with Mahmoud Ahmadenijad, the President of Iran.

—————————————————————

Photos like these are actually pretty well known. Most ultra-Orthodox or Haredi (whether Hasidic, followers of the Lithuanian Yeshivah tradition, or Sephardic) have always opposed Zionism and the secular Jewish state, but they do not support harm coming to Jews.  Many of these have by now compromised (such as Agudat Israel and Shas and Hasidic groups such as Lubavitch), working with the Israeli state even though they oppose it in principle.  Among the Haredi, however, there is a particularly fanatic, right-wing group who goes beyond their opposition to the state of Israel by advocating for Israel’s destruction and who support violence against Israelis and against Jews who actively support the state of Israel.  They actually virulently oppose other Haredi who work with the Israeli state, back Ahmadenijad, give credence to Ahmadenijad’s holocaust denial (in part because they believe that many of the Jews murdered in the holocaust were not “real” Jews), and embrace Ahmadenijad’s threats of violence against Israel.  The group is called Neturei Karta (“Guardians of the City”), whose members live in various places around the world, most notably in  Meah Shearim in Jerusalem. Ahmadenijad has been photographed with them before.  See the following links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/nyregion/15rabbi.html?fta=y
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neturei_Karta

Neturei Karta is radically isolated and cultish, the most extreme of the extreme.  In short, they’re crazy.

P.S. There is an Israeli film called “Kadosh,” which gives a glimpse at the lives of ultra-Orthodox groups like Neturei Karta in Meah Shearim.

Dreams

Dreams allow us to explore alternate possibilities and realities.

Ideas Simmering

Allow your ideas to simmer. Their flavor and texture will improve.

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