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Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Scoop Contributor
Martin LeFevre is a contemplative and philosopher.
His sui generis “Meditations” explore spiritual, philosophical and political questions relating to the polycrisis facing humanity.
lefevremartin77@gmail
Martin LeFevre - Meditations - Latest News [Page 30]
Father and Son Presidents--Bookending America
Wednesday, 14 November 2007, 1:37 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The picture of octogenarian George the First jumping out of a plane strapped to some schmuck’s back was the shot of the past week. His plummet to earth came the day after Daddy Bush excoriated the critics of poor Georgie, rhetorically asking this ... More >>
What Barack Obama Needs to Hear
Wednesday, 7 November 2007, 9:18 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Barack Obama likes to say, “One of the themes of this campaign is to tell voters what they need to hear, not just what they want to hear.” But what Obama needs to hear is that his presidential campaign is destined to fail unless he begins to ... More >>
Can Science Understand Consciousness?
Monday, 5 November 2007, 12:53 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The study of human consciousness is all the rage in scientific and philosophical circles lately. Only a few years ago people who delved into the questions of consciousness were relegated to the fringe. More >>
The Peace That Passes All Understanding
Saturday, 3 November 2007, 3:07 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s near dusk, and the parkland seems to be full of Cooper’s hawks. At one point on the path, a large, brown, stipple-winged hawk takes off from the path ahead of me with some small animal in its mouth. More >>
The Peace That Passes All Understanding
Thursday, 1 November 2007, 8:44 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s near dusk, and the parkland seems to be full of Cooper’s hawks. At one point on the path, a large, brown, stipple-winged hawk takes off from the path ahead of me with some small animal in its mouth. More >>
Martin LeFevre: Resolving the ‘Riddle of Man’
Sunday, 21 October 2007, 3:23 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
As I see it, human consciousness is an unexplained contradiction in the infinitely dynamic order of the universe. Consciousness is not ‘evolving,’ and things are going from bad to worse. Is there an understanding of the relationship between humankind ... More >>
Martin LeFevre: Free Will Is an Oxymoron
Wednesday, 17 October 2007, 11:52 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
At nearly 1000 meters, the reservoir is seasonally about two weeks ahead of the Valley. So even at mid-afternoon, the air is chilly, but the colors of autumn are sharper and stronger. More >>
Why Hillary Should Never Be President
Wednesday, 10 October 2007, 9:16 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Let him have his delusion, history will denounce George W. Bush for the US/UK invasion of Iraq, which has killed tens if not hundreds of thousands of people, and made refugees out of millions more. More >>
Martin LeFevre: Why I’m Not a Buddhist, Part Two
Sunday, 7 October 2007, 7:30 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Many Buddhists make the same argument for why they belong to their religion that followers of theistic religions make. They maintain that humans need tradition and ritual because human nature has a tendency to drift (or plunge) off in any number ... More >>
Martin LeFevre: Why I’m Not a Buddhist
Wednesday, 3 October 2007, 11:32 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s strange how one can sometimes have more in common with people that hold opposite views than one does with people who hold very similar views Such is the case with Buddhism, a ‘God-less’ religion with which I have much sympathy, but little simpatico. More >>
Yosemite Isn't Disneyland, Part Two
Saturday, 29 September 2007, 4:29 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
This column is an exchange between the President of the Ansel Adams Gallery, located in Yosemite Valley and one of the select members of “Yosemite Partners,” and myself. The letters reflect a strong divergence of views, embodying the debate between ... More >>
Martin LeFevre: Yosemite Isn’t Disneyland
Wednesday, 26 September 2007, 12:09 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Yosemite Valley is essentially a half-mile to mile wide, and seven-mile long canyon between vertical granite walls rising 1000 meters or more from the floor. The living rock is as changeable in the light, and in the unimaginable span of geologic time, ... More >>
Martin LeFevre: How I Became a Vegetarian
Monday, 17 September 2007, 8:52 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Fifteen years ago I was living in Silicon Valley across the street from Apple Computer’s corporate headquarters. The Santa Clara Valley was once a small jewel of apricot and cherry orchards running up to the Santa Cruz Mountains, above south San Francisco ... More >>
Mother Teresa’s Mistake
Friday, 7 September 2007, 10:38 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The way the Catholic Church, and the American media, have been spinning revelations about Mother Teresa’s more than half century long “dark night of the soul” is downright sinful. One expects propaganda in politics, but with religious matters, ... More >>
Martin LeFevre: Practicing Death
Wednesday, 29 August 2007, 12:15 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s hot, but not too hot for a short hike in the Upper Park at noon. The grasses are desiccated, and the hills are somber brown, but the cliffs still beckon the eye and speak to the heart. More >>
Martin LeFervre: How Evil Works, Part Two
Monday, 27 August 2007, 10:45 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
We must rid ourselves of the illusion that we humans are evolving positively. It simply isn’t so that we are progressing as a species, except scientifically and technologically. But the need to believe it, and our Western conditioning (and perhaps ... More >>
Martin LeFevre: How Evil Works
Sunday, 19 August 2007, 5:58 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Evil is the intentional component of the collective darkness in human consciousness. It is the calculated expression of the entire content of the willful ignorance, hatred, envy, jealousy, and selfishness built up in the human mind and heart over the generations. ... More >>
Martin LeFevre: What Is Knowledge?
Sunday, 12 August 2007, 5:15 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge, especially with reference to its limits and validity, is called epistemology. Ironically, such specialization is at the heart of the problem of knowledge. Indeed, a philosopher who specializes ... More >>
Martin LeFevre: No Transformation in Hillaryland
Monday, 6 August 2007, 10:23 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Senator Barack Obama said recently that his presidency would unleash a "transformation" in America. "The day I'm inaugurated, the country looks at itself differently. And don't underestimate that power. Don't underestimate that transformation," ... More >>
Meditation: The Word Is Not the Thing
Thursday, 2 August 2007, 1:24 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Increasingly, it seems like there are just two seasons in California—the rainy season (from about November to March), and the fire season (the rest of the year). But after three months without precipitation, a rare summer storm brings some cherished ... More >>
