God is Dead and you're Alone(?)

In a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast psychology professor Jordan Peterson discussed important aspects and problems of contemporary Western culture. Especially his analysis of Nietzsche's "God is dead" rang a bell for me. Building on what he said, I would like to propose further conclusions regarding the state of culture in certain aspects.

Embodied, Grounded, Integrated: at Home

The following text grows from the inside out. Within it we will take a look at the human condition and its place in the world, bouncing off of both recent and ancient findings and concepts. We will start from deep within us and expand outwards, both upwards into the sky and downwards into the earth, just like the plant does in growing. The point therein will be to briefly introduce a philosophy, a common sense that corresponds to both what we feel and experience, and to what we have learned through analysis and inquiry. As the title indicates, the following will be structured into three parts, only to watch them amalgamate in the end.

Wu-Wei: A Physical Approach to Letting Go

TRE, or Trauma-Release-Exercises are a rather new topic in the field of stress and tension release. Tough they resemble a physical, neurological approach to these issues, they are in complete accordance with ancient philosophical concepts. Seen in that light, TRE can be seen as philosophy in the flesh, as will be shown. 

Few Thoughts on Freedom

As should be clear by now, the central premise at the heart of this blog is the unity of body and mind, and resulting from that, the equation that movement is life. In our culture however, the mind-body split is still deeply rooted. (Ironically, of course this very concept of a mind-body split is itself embodied within the human organism, but that's for another day.) Therefore, most philosophical notions that originate from a body-mind unity will differ from classical Western philosophical notions and also from Western 'common sense.' Today, I want to take a short look at the term of freedom and how it may relate itself to an embodied existence.

Give Up Now!

The following is an antidote to misguided tendencies in Western society -

In our culture there is a certain standard narrative that seems to ooze out of most movies, pop music and general common sense. It is the idea of never giving up, of pushing through no matter what in order to, finally, take home the gold. "It matters not how strait the gate, how filled with punishment the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul", as William Ernest Henley put it. At the center of this concept and hence strongly advocated in our culture, is the use of will and determination, of obtaining power and control and of general mastery and domination.