Journey and Meaning Making 2025

 Although this was only a fragment of her time, she spent with us it was something that resonated with my significantly as I could apply it to my own life. Kiddo shared how there was one day in which she hiked so hard that she had missed the sunset and how during another summer she had lost 26 ibs. She explained to us how this once found escape from the yelling of life her body had now been yelling at herself to slow down and take it easy. It is very obvious that Kiddo is someone who pushes herself to the bounds that her body keeps her to. Another example besides hiking was when she was in college working every night until 3am to stay in school and going to class at 6am for dance practice. However, she spoke on the fact that rest is so important as it will cause you to hate the things you love in life and force you to seek an easier path.  One thing that I believe helps her with her rest is the fact that she does not have a smartphone, this is one of the things that prevents u...

I just finished watching the short series Serial Experiments: Lain and was inspired to write this blog about the many spiritual inuendos that touched me throughout this experience, along with elements I found relevant to this class. There is an underlying element of the Jungian collective unconscious throughout the show, and it is represented by the Wired, a mix between the internet, a higher reality like a heaven, and a connection between all people and the world around them. The antagonist, "God", aims to deplete everyone's ego and superego along with their bodies, diminishing everyone into a digitized version of the collective unconscious. Humanity would become one, and there would be no sin or differences. Certain characters throughout the show commit themselves to this idea and rid themselves of their burdens to become a part of the wired.  Lain herself is compelled to do the same at one point. In the climax of the show, Lain claims that we don't need our bodies,...

 Neon Genesis Evangelion is one of my favorite pieces of media of all time; its introspective storytelling offers insight into what it means to be human, with its diverse characters having immense depth that adds to this. The elements of the series display themes of Christianity, with the monsters that the characters fight labeled as Angels, and being a direct creation of God and the creator of life in this world, Adam. The Human Instrumentality project is a form of mythological Apocalypse, like the Christian book of revelations, where the world comes to an end through divine means. The ideas of salvation and instrumentality are similar in that they would end all of the suffering that comes with the real world. Beyond the action-packed battles, the show truly follows the three main protagonists and how they each engage in their own spiritual journeys. Asuka learns to control her rage, and through self-emptying, she slowly works through her ego issues. Rei faces a confusing past, an...

I was watching the movie 2012 , a slightly cheesy thriller about the end of the world, when an unexpected, profound quote caught me off guard as quite philosophical. A wise old monk said to an ambitious young boy, "You are full of optimism and speculations; to become full of wisdom, you must first empty your cup."  This quote relates to the term kenosis, which means to empty oneself, shed one's ego, and undergo spiritual transcendence. When we empty ourselves, we lose expectations for others and the world around us; we simply observe what is truly happening. The young boy in this movie had many anxieties and guesses for what was to come, and the old man simply urged him to let go of these preconceptions, for he could only gain wisdom through perceiving the events to come with an open and unbiased mind.  Ironically enough, hearing this touching sentiment was a reminder that you can find spiritual advice anywhere if we empty ourselves and don't have expectations for the...

The idea of an external soul resonates well with me, the spirit and the definition of a soul being a singular piece, a part of the body that sticks to you and does nothing till you die and it just wanders away doesn't sound right. The human soul is described as this thing of such great value an import and power, that mere human bodies would not contain it. There are many stories about souls resting outside the body, Punchkin the evil wizard with his bird keeping his soul safe, Voldemort and his horcruxes, the Na'vi people and the tree of life from Avatar, if we were to extrapolate the soul to the power of an individual, Morgoth from the wheel of time series in the treasure of Shadar Logoth, Ruin and the beads of Atium in Mistborn, and even Sauron and the one ring from the Lord of the Rings all show an external soul, and one that influences those who interact with it. "The external soul as a part of us that is out there, but one that we lack the ability to grasp" The D...

     Aesthetics is a powerful driving factor in the enactment of a journey. We as humans are drawn to aesthetically attractive things. The beauty of land dappled by the sun, the draw of good smelling/tasting food, a beautiful person's company, even knowledge or the aesthetic of achieving perceived goals. These things have incited journey, but they can also be impediments to the journey. The way that one perceives a journey at the beginning is often quite different to how the journey truly proceeds. What one believes to be beautiful they believe to be good, in fact there is a psychological principle that describes this called the halo effect. Now this perceived good may act as an inciting incident for journeys undertaken willingly or unwittingly, they act as the goal. But, in undertaking the journey to reach them or be alongside them, more experiences are encountered. Experience is quintessential to the effect of a journey, without it, journeys are merely touristic meander...

 And Who Are the Dreamers - Catlynh Phan     We had the pleasure of listening to Dr. McIntosh from Indiana University during one of our classes in which he discussed the Journey of the Soul When the Body Dies. He had spent a good number of years studying the aboriginals in Australia where he learned about their religious traditions and the transitions of their beliefs.      Their primary belief was that of the external soul. The external soul is a soul which is outside one's body. For example, when someone would die in their community, they would say that their souls were in a whale (or some other animal) in order for them to live forever although their bodies were no longer alive. The external soul has been used throughout history and in myths and legends as a symbol and way for eternal life. The aboriginals also claimed that sleeping was a way to see into eternity as sleeping was the closest thing humans could get to death. So came the name "Whale Dreamer...

Said vs. Saying - Catlynh Phan      Language has more power over many things than we think. To be said versus to be saying explores the concept or present versus past. It also controls the way we experience certain interactions. Emmanuel Levinas introduced this philosophical concept when describing the Said as what is interpreted literally by people as closed meaning and describing the Saying as that which opens the narrator to meaning. When we are saying, we open ourselves up to be changed and understood by others, whereas when we said, we close ourselves to external meaning making.      Saying is an act of meaning making during a long journey when we meet people along the way. The people change our meaning.

The I-It, I-thou discussion is one which I have some trouble with, but I believe there is a way to communicate some of the ideas presented in class more effectively and that is by dropping the pretense of English. English is a terrible language quite frankly, the structure is poor, the writing is poor, the rules are inconsistent and overall, the language is very limiting when trying to express ideas like this. It is fine for the basic ideas of Buber, I-it and the I sense, I feel, I want, I imagine, I see, I think, I experience wording all work fine, but when trying to discuss the I-you, it starts to waver, You is the only version of you that we possess in this language to refer to you. In the discussing of this topic we talked about the formality and informality of the referential, where you is a word which is very personal, it directly speaks to the addressee. But that alone does not provide a context for how personal or informal the word means to be, how it addresses someone is left ...

     Art has been used for millennia as a method of communication. From the earliest moments, we find out handprints in paint or mud on the walls of caves. People have put rocks in patterns, called in chant, told stories, slapped their hands together, and stepped with rhythm together as long as we have had limbs to do so, and since we have been able to we have done so for a reason. Art and all of the subcultures and branches and paths and pursuits that make it up communicate to us some idea of the author, writer, sculptor, artist, singer, dancer, musician, or person. Children draw pictures in crayon of the world as they see it, bright and colorful, messy and cutesy, they communicate what they see an enjoy. Other children dance to songs they like, hopping around and enjoying moving the body they are learning to live in. Others still will try to sing, finding their way to notes and enjoying the beat of songs sung by others. As those children who create and tell stories grow...

 I was inspired to write this blog post by Dr. McIntos, who included a quote by Russian philosopher Ouspensky in his presentation that read: "There was a certain knowledge, once commonplace in the human family, that is now completely lost, and modern science and religion provide no avenue for its restoration." It prompted me to think of the difference between ancient man and modern man, and what we lost as we conquered the world.  Ancient man was free; they were one with nature, they were far more animalistic than the modern people, who live indoors, engage in politics, and have access to all of the knowledge in the world at their fingertips. However, with the absence of modern commodities came a much different ease to their lives, a simplicity that brought them bliss. The pressure of society didn't weigh down on them, and they didn't have to conform to made-up definitions of what it meant to be civil and "human." There's a common idea that ancient human...

 To Name is to Have Power - Catlynh Phan      During class Dr. Reddick mentioned that to be able to name something is to have power over it. The specific example of Moses and God was given. God never gave Moses a name, he merely said "I am" when Moses asked "What is your name?" God does not give Moses a name because Moses does not have power over Him.       Outside of a religious context, to name something is to control people's perception of it. Language and words have connotations which give underlying meaning outside of the literal meaning. For example, when the founding father's names certain acts of the British government, "The Intolerable Acts." To them, naming these acts as such gave them a sense of power by controlling their perception to the public as something vile.      Naming something might even give purpose to the person or item. In a historical context, a name might align to someone's destiny, and a change in name mig...