Martin LeFevre - Meditations

Martin LeFevre - Meditations - Latest News [Page 29]

Is Group Meditation an Oxymoron?

Friday, 4 March 2005, 12:22 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

I have never understood the concept and practice of group meditation. The term has always sounded like an oxymoron to me. To my mind, awakening meditation is an inherently solitary art. Sometimes I take sittings in the backyard, but the freeway is less ... More >>

Can The UN Save Humanity From Hell?

Monday, 28 February 2005, 6:24 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

In another attempt to halt the hellish situation in the Sudan, Kofi Annan recently said, "While the United Nations may not be able to take humanity to heaven, it must act to save humanity from hell." More >>

Meditations (Politics): Meeting the Curve

Tuesday, 15 February 2005, 3:46 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

The cornerstone of the short-lived and quickly crumbling post-Cold War order is the myth of ''the sole remaining superpower.'' It is an exceedingly false and dangerous premise that began with the fall of the Soviet Union. More >>

Meditations (Spirituality): Emergent Zone

Friday, 11 February 2005, 11:21 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

It’s Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent used to mean penance, fasting, and rituals galore. Compelled to go to Mass most days before school and on Sunday as a child, the 40 days of Lent were when you really got the full dose. More >>

Meditations: A New Theory of Human Nature, Pt. 3

Wednesday, 9 February 2005, 1:48 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

A reader writes to say that he finds the new theory of human nature I have proposed in this column very optimistic, though he has questions. I’m not so sanguine myself, but I do feel that the worse things get, the more the worst and best in human beings ... More >>

Meditations (Politics): Freedom and Entanglement

Friday, 4 February 2005, 3:56 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

The pictures of joyous Iraqis voting in their first election after American forces deposed the tyrant Saddam Hussein were heartwarming and heart wrenching. How painfully they contrast with the Conduit-in-Chief’s State of the Union address, built on the ... More >>

Meditations: Self-Knowing and Consciousness

Monday, 31 January 2005, 12:03 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

For the first time in two weeks, the morning breaks without fog, and the sun softly shines through a ceiling of high thin clouds. The winter’s day in California’s Central Valley grows increasingly clear. I seize the afternoon and drive to Upper Park. More >>

Meditations: A New Theory of Human Nature, Pt. 2

Friday, 28 January 2005, 1:52 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

Meditations (Politics) - From Martin LeFevre in California A New Theory of Human Nature, Pt. 2 More >>

Meditations: A New Theory of Human Nature

Monday, 24 January 2005, 11:27 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

As absurd as it must appear in much of the rest of the world, the ''theory of evolution'' is a big controversy in America these days. Like the flat-earthers of the Middle Ages, who couldn’t stand the thought that the sun and stars did not revolve around ... More >>

Meditations (Politics): A Question of Faith

Thursday, 20 January 2005, 11:22 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

Jesus said, ''Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.'' What then, will a warmonger like George W. Bush be called? More >>

Is It All Random?

Monday, 10 January 2005, 12:40 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

A first cousin I was close to growing up, who has been grappling (to put it mildly) with cancer during the last year, said in a visit over the holidays that he still feels that events in life are essentially random. For the two of us, and for an untold ... More >>

Martin LeFevre: There Are No Countries Anymore

Saturday, 1 January 2005, 12:58 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

The end of the year is the only time of the year when reflection is encouraged and expected. However, reflection and resolution are to New Year’s like going to church on Sunday is to religiosity—empty rituals holding less and less meaning in a world ... More >>

Martin LeFevre: A Balanced Life

Wednesday, 22 December 2004, 11:30 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

The ancient Romans had general terms for a duality that persists to this day. They referred to ''vita contemplativa,'' versus ''vita activa'' — the contemplative life vs. the active life. More >>

Martin LeFevre: Looking Without A Center

Friday, 17 December 2004, 1:03 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

A flock of small birds lands in the shallows, and a few begin furiously beating their wings in the water. More join in, and suddenly there are a dozen birds taking a bath at the same time. More >>

Martin LeFevre: Awareness is Immortal

Thursday, 2 December 2004, 11:32 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

Recently during lunch with a friend from India, he casually mentioned the concept of 'samadhi.' Though raised Catholic in a predominantly Hindu country, he nonchalantly said, ''I go into samadhi…'' More >>

Meditations: Children of Fire

Thursday, 25 November 2004, 2:26 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

In his excellent book, ''The Neanderthal’s Necklace,'' Juan Luis Arsuaga, a paleo-anthropologist and professor at the University of Madrid, provides a clear and cogent discussion of consciousness. More >>

Meditations (Politics): The Way Ahead

Thursday, 18 November 2004, 4:37 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations

Renewed vigor and deeper understanding often follow a period of mourning. But though mourning a death is natural and necessary, there is no time to waste. With the death of America and the collapse of the international order, awakening human beings must ... More >>

Martin LeFevre - Meditations