It will be quite easy for this essay to turn into yet another "complexity vs. the human condition" type post that I am too frequent to post on this site. However, some things are unavoidable when discussing the fundamental aspects of human life. It has become clear to me in the course of my reading in 2023 that humans have...

Writing a post like this on New Year's Day would definitely be enough to land me on the list for cheesiest bloggers of all time. How many saps like me are publishing their own list of reasons to be positive for the coming year? Now, I'm not saying mine will be different. In fact, as I'm writing this little intro,...

I wrote an essay on this page a few years ago about how enchanting I find this time of year. I reflected on how the warm incandescent light can pool out from a frosty shop window onto a snowy street. I thought about living in a place in which the cold air was underlaid with the scent of freshly crafted...

Reading Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy has gotten me wondering why people feel such a draw to transcendent art. I cannot think of an individual I have met who does not seek out some form of art, however sophomoric in appearance. People tend not to agree on forms of "high art" vs. "low art", but they regardless are pulled to...

2023 has been an intriguing year for me, particularly in the latter half. Previously, I had focused my philosophical reading on the west, particularly in writers like Nietzsche, Sartre, Jung, Campbell, and others of that ilk. When I thought of eastern philosophy, I thought mostly of harried rituals and devotion to deities which were at best...

At the beginning of the spiritual journey Paul Brunton describes in A Search in Secret India, the author may have attributed my beginning to read his most famous work at a time that I happen to be going to India as mere happenstance. At the end, he would almost surely have thought that the moment I picked up A Search...

Evolution reached a crucial test when it got to humans. It designed a species which was plagued by the essence of its own creation, of its own ending, and in doing so it was asked, "Can this creature solve its most fundamental problems and live in harmony with you, Evolution, or will it destroy you entirely?" If you've read my...

Over the past few years, I've embarked on a literary journey to try and make myself a better writer. I had been building up a backlog of essays and short stories and had taken a dive into some more philosophical literature. In 2019, I decided to put all of these thoughts and stories onto a website. I found a website...

Many world religions and philosophies hold the ascetic lifestyle as an ideal to which its followers must strive. Control, discipline, and self-mastery. Growing up as a Hindu, we had a staggering number of ascetics from whom we were told to learn principles. There are books upon books depicting the life and thoughts of such people, so aloof from...

The wants of our hearts can reveal something about the core of our existence. Things that reside in those echelons of our spirit showcase us in all starkness. Sometimes, they show us our frivolity, our barbarism, and our avarice. However, in these same alcoves can be found kindness, compassion, and generosity. The need to want has been so deeply...

At the end of 2022, someone asked me if I'd ever do another yearly book wrap-up, like I did in 2020. My answer at the time was, "Probably not this year, I've got too much going on." In reality, my reading had been in a slump for a couple years. I think I could count the number of books I...

Some philosophers consider death to be the most important problem that humanity faces. Miguel de Unamuno, a Spanish existentialist, believed that the supreme tragedy of human life was death, and that therefore it was the root of our suffering. I have already shared my views on why complexity, not death, is the fundamental problem of the human...