Maybe it’s because I am an “unchurched”, humanist religious person, but todays anti-religious tracts and rants do bore me. However, a new book of the primatologist Frans de Waal, raised hope for new insights: The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates. He made accidentally an interesting point – the reciprocal imago dei (God’s imago modelled after human) of todays … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Taoism
Can Hitler go to heaven? The evil presented in Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot.
The problem of evil has been a subject of interest in religion and philosophy. For our purpose here we want to approach the question in a inductive and psychoanalytic way looking at historic persons: Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot: what is evil and what is the cause of it. If we consider them evil – and I do – what … Continue reading
From language games to mysticism – Allan Watts and Wittgenstein’s Tractatus
This article explores Wittgenstein’s Tractatus as a mystical, metaphysical insight in the light of Eastern philosophy, Catholic mysticism and C. G Jung. Please be gentle and read this as an (intuitive) essay not as a scholarly article. There are methodological implications of Wittgenstein’s doctrine of silence for transcendental philosophy, Zen Buddhism, psychoanalysis and metaphysics. Or there is a line from Lao-Tse to Wittgenstein, connected … Continue reading
The Death of the Ego as prerequisite to find God
Translation of my article “Gedanken zur Predigt in St. Ottilien 2012-11-18 The Death of the Ego as prerequisite to find God“ By fallenAngel This sunday sermon in St. Ottilien (2012-11-18-0915-konventamt.mp3) addressed an interesting line of thought: in order to experience God (via the Self), we need to kill the Ego in us. A very tough call indeed. “We … Continue reading
The Self – God’s window between pantheistic Taoism and Catholic personal god
Last Saturday (yesterday). I went on a retreat (religious exercise) at the Benedictine monastery St. Ottilien with twenty others men and women looking after their private center and true selves: “Looking for the self” What do we know of the psyche and soul? The discussion was lead by two monks – the longtime Prior Claudius and … Continue reading