In his The Tragic Sense of Life, Miguel de Unamuno identifies consciousness as the perception of suffering. He writes:
And how do we know that we exist if we do not suffer, little or much? How can we turn upon ourselves, acquire reflective consciousness, save by suffering?
This observation turns Descartes’ “Cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore [...]
Reading Angelic Mistakes: the Art of Thomas Merton, edited by Roger Lipsey (2006). The heart of the book is the collection of images of Merton’s inkbrush work, with selected passages from his writings. The untitled art works are expressionist, and towards the end of Merton’s life, despite the increasing influence of Eastern thought, his work [...]
For a long time I have collected rocks from nearby that looked interesting, not from an interest in geology but to watch them weather nicely. Some prop fence posts or make borders here and there, or just sit assembled with several other rocks, never quite striking the aesthetic presentation I originally wanted.
The rocks turn brown, [...]
A conceit of the Romantic period was the sentimental interest in ruins, what the British writer Rose Macaulay might call the “pleasure of ruins.” Wordsworth’s depiction of “Tintern Abbey” and Shelley’s famous poem “Ozymandias” are examples. There is a reminder of impermanence and human fate in reflecting on the ruins of long-ago-and-far-away civilizations.
I once had [...]