Bernard Conway

AlejandroJodorowsky’s film The Holy Mountain follows the journey of a Christ-like character known only as ‘The Thief’ as he comes under the tutelage of a Master Alchemist. His goal is to achieve a spiritual transmutation, or enlightenment, by seeking out the Holy Mountain. The Thief is accompanied by seven companions who travel with him through a series of spiritual revelations. Towards the end of the film, the group comes to a place called Lotus Island. There they are approached by a host who offers congratulations on a successful journey and invites them to join him at The Pantheon Bar where a raucous party is underway. The Host explains that this is where the spiritual masters gather to celebrate their achievements. The group is given a sampling of the party’s attendants. The group is first brought to an orator, who explains that enlightenment resides in his speech. He claims that his poems may manifest flowers and the bees would then come to suckle at his living poetry. But...

In a futuristic metropolis, calculated floods are used to build a sense of community in a yuppie neighborhood, but not all residents feel the same about it. (PDF) Available Here

“But Plato's greatness as a sociologist does not lie in his general and abstract speculations about the law of social decay. It lies rather in the wealth and detail of his observations, and in the amazing acuteness of his sociological, intuition. He saw things which not only had not been seen before him, but which were rediscovered only in our own time … Another example is Plato's sociological and economic historicism, his emphasis on the economic background of political life and historical developments; a theory revived by Marx under the name 'historical materialism'.” -Karl Popper, “The Open Society and It’s Enemies: Vol I, The Spell of Plato Was it really not until Marx that this idea was ‘rediscovered’? Compare Popper’s statement to the following excerpt from De Regimine Principum of Saint Thomas Aquinas , “Again, if the citizens devote their lives to trade, the way will be opened to many vices. For, since the aim of traders is especially to make money, ...

There is in every enduring spiritual legacy, an emphasis on ascetic practice. Why this occurs has been subject to much investigation. And while the investigations themselves may interesting, no single study will sufficiently describe all aspects of asceticism. Nor should we expect one to. For practical purposes, as it is experienced, the subject must be considered on a number of different planes. We will limit ourselves to three examples, along with some further considerations on the subject. A Final Break with Attachment Defined as the act of breaking an attachment, this view of asceticism may be the easiest to understand as that it can be easily translated into terms that require no consideration of its more transcendent features. Although a ‘break’ with some aspect of the material world often is often done in order to look beyond, this need not always be the case. The motivation can be more secular. Many students know well the feeling of what was intended to be five-minute ...

MYSTERY CULTS AND INITIATION "That I do not, however, accuse the Christians more bitterly than truth compels, may be conjectured from hence, that the cryers who call men to other mysteries proclaim as follows: 'Let him approach whose hands are pure, and whose words are wise.' And again, others proclaim: 'Let him approach who is pure from all wickedness, whose soul is not conscious of any evil, and who leads a just and upright life.' And these things are proclaimed by those who promise a purification from error. Let us now hear who those are that are called to the Christian mysteries: Whoever is a sinner, whoever is unwise, whoever is a fool, and whoever, in short, is miserable, him the kingdom of God will receive. Do you not, therefore, call a sinner, an unjust man, a thief, a housebreaker, a wizard, one who is sacrilegious, and a robber of sepulchres? What other persons would the cryer nominate, who should call robbers together?” -Celsus The mysteries t...

The above video is Marine Gunnery Sergeant Walgren speaking before the invasion of Marjah in 2010. It’s since become a staple of Marine Corps moto (motivational) culture and it always resurfaces around Veteran’s Day and the Marine Corps Ball. It used to be the video that would make an annual appearance but it now shares a lot of that former limelight with all things related to the Patron Saint of Chaos, General James Mattis. Still, there’s an important similarity between the two that goes deeper than the hype factor. Give Mattis a spin through Google Images. Then do the same for Eisenhower, Puller, Nimitz, Macarthur…do the same for any famed American flag officer. A pattern presents itself. In none of any of their most iconic photos are these men depicted as overseeing anything like a parade or an inspection. Particularly for the most recent of them, where PR is a fact of life, they’ll always be pictured standing amongst a small group of ground troops. And that’s not a coincide...

"Every doctrine is true in what it asserts but false in, or because of, what it excludes." -Leibniz