“Life is a matter of oscillation. Life is vibration. The question is: how are you going to interpret that. Is it tremble, tremble, tremble; or is it laugh, laugh, laugh?” ~Alan Watts Nietzsche’s Will to Power was groundbreaking philosophy. It paved the way for the future of self-empowerment and higher thinking. It built a bridge upon which we can at least begin the journey toward the ideal of the Overman (Ubermensch). But there’s a fly in Nietzsche’s ointment. It takes itself

“Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” ~William Goldman Pain is an inherent aspect of our journey, but there’s nothing saying we can’t transform that pain to a guide, or even a powerful teacher. If we can gain the capacity to recognize the guideposts and learn the lessons that Pain provides, we’ll be more adept at adapting and more likely to transform pain into providence. But make no mistake, providence isn’t a state of bliss. It’s constr

“If you don’t become the ocean, you’ll be seasick every day.” ~Leonard Cohen In a world filled with “seasick” people living in an ocean of cosmos of which they are barely aware, the few people who discover the wherewithal to become the ocean is rare indeed. Why is this? It’s because the seasickness is due to a lack of connection with cosmos. The seasickness is fear. It’s disguised as mortal dread. It’s hiding just beneath the surface. It’s a sense of urgency, like our back is

“Success is failure turned inside out.” ~John Greenleaf Whittier Failure is a given when you are merely a fallible creature going through the futile motions of living life in an uncertain universe. It’s going to happen, whether you’re lucky or not. Failing is a part of life. And life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes it’s more down than up. Either way, it’s a veritable rollercoaster ride out there. Better to be prepared for the worst than to expect the best. Best to take re

“Man has to realize that he possesses a shadow which is the dark side of his personality if only for the reason that he is so often overwhelmed by it.” ~Eric Neumann Before enlightenment, shadow-work. After enlightenment, shadow-work. Everyone has a dark side. Everyone has a shadow. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. The shadow is primal. It’s wild and intuitive. It’s umbilical. It’s a sacred spark hidden in the dark. It’s our animating principle. In our you

“We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regime of their barbarous ancestors.” ~Thomas Jefferson (slave owner) Speaking of barbarity, there is perhaps nothing more barbarous than the current indirect, vertical, centralized, hierarchical democracy passed down to us from our ancestors which indoctrinates and brainwashes its citizens into believing it is functional, moral, and just. When real

“The human mind is a delusion generator, not a window to truth. The best any human can do is to pick a delusion that helps him get through the day” ~Scott Adams We’re all delusional to some degree or another. But some people are more delusional than others. Those who are more delusional tend to get caught up in their delusions. They tend to codependently cling to them and become rigid and dogmatic. But some people are less delusional than others. They are the ones who make a

“This inner world is truly infinite, in no way poorer than the outer one. Man lives in two worlds.” ~Carl Jung The inscription at the Temple of Delphi “know thyself” is ultimately unattainable. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to attain it. Enlightenment is equally unattainable, but there’s nothing wrong with striving toward it. Self-improvement is healthy regardless of the fact that we will never be perfect. Socrates’ dictum still stands: “The unexamined life is not wo

“I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in nothing; everything is sacred.” ~Tom Robbins Some say death is a compass. Others say it’s a crossroads. Some say death is the beginning of time. Others say it’s the end of the beginning. But no matter what people say, death is nonnegotiable. It is coming for us all. We ignore this knowledge at our own great peril. Staring into the headlights of our own death, some of us are consciously aware of these lights, but a lot

“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; make it hot by striking.” ~William Butler Yeats Life is short. We have from this day until the day we die to live the life we want to live. We only have this moment, and a finite number of moments after it, to begin something new, to create something that has never been created before, to fall in love with doing what we love to do. The problem is that we get hung up on “being ready.” We shirk the moment and look forward with blind