Alan Watts on the Transcendent Power of Zen and How NOT to Read Ancient Scriptures

Much has been written over the centuries about Buddhism and what its teaching really means. The word “enlightenment” is tossed around like a giant ball of cotton candy — delicious, fluffy but, ultimately, without much substance. This happens because “while second-hand wisdom is valuable as a signpost pointing the way, it is too easily taken … Read more

The Hidden Meanings of Yin Yang

What is yin-yang? This question is at once utterly simple and wildly complicated. Because yin and yang are the most commonly known concepts from Chinese philosophy, they have practically become English words themselves. This familiarity may suggest that their meanings are obvious but this is hardly so. In the TED-Ed video below, John Bellaimey explains … Read more

Empathy as a Way of Being: Carl Rogers on What it Means to Enter Another Person’s World Without Prejudice

“The highest expression of empathy is accepting and nonjudgmental,” writes humanist psychologist Carl Rogers (1902-1987) in his book A Way of Being. “It is impossible to be accurately perceptive of another’s inner world if you have formed an evaluative opinion of that person.” One of the founders of the person-centered approach in psychology and a … Read more