Receiving and reflecting the light, Fellowship of Friends

Receiving and Reflecting the Light

We embody what is higher by being present. We can learn to hear if our hearts are in the temple or in the  bazaar. When we identify for  ourselves the flavor of those virtues–courage, prudence, humility and moderation–which Plato associates with the Ideal State, our work with others will be stronger: more direct and more compassionate as required.

Read More…
Perspectives on the Idea of Balance

Perspectives on the Idea of Balance

 “If my devils are to leave me, I am afraid my angels will take flight as well.” – Rainer Maria Rilke This was the poet Rilke’s response to a proposal  of psychoanalysis. At first glance, it appears to be a frightened and irrational claim. And yet it is based on an a concept of balance that […]

Read More…
William Blake, To See Through One's Eyes, Views from the Real World

To See Through One’s Eyes

We must learn to receive each moment with neither preference nor denial. In this way we may proceed not only away from our inner beasts, but toward our inner best. Step by step, we learn to walk out of imagination into the real world, and through it, into higher realms of reality.

Read More…
School of Athens, Plato, Ideal State, philosopher king, Fellowship of Friends, Robert Earl Burton

The Ideal State & Philosopher Kings

What Plato achieved in the imaginative and conceptual worlds of poetry and philosophy far outshone his achievements in politics. The social ideas outlined in the Republic and his other works referencing the state were largely impracticable, and often seem to verge on fiction.

Read More…