Philosophy as a Way of Life
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There is no one here
After my good brother Andrew Teeter shared his experiences living in Korea and learning about the sacred traditions of the Korean people, we took a brief break. On our return, I lectured on the basic points of the Buddha Dharma… Continue reading
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Lonely Nation, Touch Starved People
Americans exist in a sociocultural habitat where touching is discouraged. Yet we are primates, embodied beings evolved to live through, with, and in our senses. And tactility or touching as a sense makes us feel connected–to each other, to our… Continue reading
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Non-violence, non-attachment, non-singularity
Because we were behind in our class readings/lectures, I spent the day making sure we focused on Jain Dharma. Continue reading
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Bhakti Redux
Today’s class we went over the concept of Bhakti for a little while before we spent the majority of time in a circle discussing the purpose of education: devotion to learning, coming to knowledge, bettering our situation in the world… Continue reading
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Diversity of worship, unity of thought
Because we had roamed around in and out of a few topics yesterday, I decided to mostly lecture today with the hope that we would catch up a bit but that there would still be a lot of good questions… Continue reading
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Coordination, Subordination, and Exordination
Yesterday in our class, the discussion led me to talk for a little bit about a distinction originally made by Marcuse, I believe, regarding soft versus hard totalitarianism. I extended this description out to all manner of group structures that lead… Continue reading
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Ordering expectations
In Tuesday’s class, we touched on the diverse story traditions from ancient India. My colleagues spent time at the beginning of our meeting talking with each other about what they had discovered about Indian sacred traditions, and what questions this… Continue reading
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Introducing the Reality of Reality
Beginning our section on Hinduism today. So I decided to do two lecture sessions. Continue reading
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Ultimate Concern
For our Thursday class, we began by everyone sitting in a circle on the floor. We stretched out our legs so that our feet touched each other completing the circle. Then we went around the circle and each named a… Continue reading
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Explanations of religion
Below my lecture from 13 July 2016. Before I addressed the students, we had more discussion on what we take for granted in the everyday world, and then we shared a few things we take for granted about religion. Our questions… Continue reading
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The High Priests of Capitalism
Richard D. Wolff takes some time to describe how traditional intellectuals and economic theorists keep the superstructure mostly clear of those who disagree. Highly placed economic theorists usually evaluate the system prevailing in their societies very positively and construct celebratory… Continue reading
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Hidden Desire: Nietzsche, Gay Philosopher
Most folks I know who focus on Nietzsche are very heteronormative. Yet Nietzsche as gay man has always made so much sense to me. Why do folks NOT read Nietzsche as a man who loved men, a man even more… Continue reading
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The #perfect is the enemy of the #good
Sitting around with the first occupiers of Zuccotti Park on the first anniversary of Occupy, I listened to one lovely young man talking about the rage that his peers, particularly his gender, often have. But, he added, fury is not… Continue reading
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Heterotopia of Facebook
Michel Foucault first introduced the notion of heterotopia in the preface of his 1966 book Les Mots et les Choses (translated in 1970 as The Order of Things), and further developed the concept in his famous lecture ‘Of Other Spaces’… Continue reading
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Ethics and The Unblocked Life
Ethics: Acting in a situation with appropriate energy. Doing without overstepping what is necessary for life. (Where “life” is to be held as distinct from mere existence or survival.) And maybe that opens up the next query: What is life?… Continue reading
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Tell all the truth but tell it slant
Tell all the truth but tell it slant — Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth’s superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man… Continue reading
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Quiet and meditation as pedagogy
In 2007, James Dierke, then the principal of the Visitacion Valley Middle School in a troubled neighborhood in San Francisco, was determined to improve both the quality of education and student behavior in his school. He adopted a system called… Continue reading
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