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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 6]
The Ecological Crisis Is Existential, Not Political
Friday, 1 March 2024, 11:09 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The exhausting political analysis of the ecological crisis finds its last gasp in a book by political theorist Ajay Singh Chaudhary, fittingly entitled, “The Exhausted of the Earth.” His core premise manages to be both undeniable and wrongheaded: ... More >>
Darkness Is Collective And Cumulative; Its Negation Begins In Meditation
Friday, 23 February 2024, 10:28 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
A friend, sharing my feeling that man continues to plunge the planet and humanity toward the abyss, sent me a link he thought was helpful. It had the opposite effect. “Humanity is sloppily, awkwardly lumbering toward consciousness,” the author ... More >>
Dialogue And The Human Condition
Thursday, 15 February 2024, 10:47 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
In my 30’s I had the good fortune to dialogue with David Bohm, considered the founder of the global dialogue movement and a man Einstein called his “spiritual son.” Bohm was a brilliant, sensitive physicist and philosopher, but his intellect ... More >>
Negative Learning From A Rattlesnake
Monday, 12 February 2024, 10:52 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Growing up in Michigan, I had both a fear and fascination for venomous snakes, though I’d never seen an eastern massasauga rattlesnake, Michigan’s only venomous snake. In California over the years I’ve had quite a few close encounters with two of ... More >>
The Mystery Of Consciousness
Friday, 9 February 2024, 11:06 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The mystery of consciousness is as old as there have been people conscious that they were conscious. However most people, including philosophers and scientists, don’t know what they mean by consciousness. That confusion is compounded when speculating ... More >>
Beyond The Hell Of Paradise
Wednesday, 7 February 2024, 9:59 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s been five years since a hellish wildfire burned down Paradise in less than a day. The conflagration killed 85 and incinerated more than 15,000 homes and businesses in the nearby mountain town. Though mostly rebuilt and only 20 minutes away, I hadn’t ... More >>
Mystical Insight And Petrified Religions
Tuesday, 30 January 2024, 9:20 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
After days of rain and weeks of inclement weather, the morning brought clear skies, bright sun and warm temperatures. The creek is high and clear, and the grass green and thick in the unmanicured park. T-shirts were de rigueur for people walking or ... More >>
Will AI Catalyze A Revolution In Consciousness?
Wednesday, 24 January 2024, 12:53 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s exceedingly ironic that the thought machines computer scientists are creating may be compelling what religious teachers and philosophers throughout history have not been able to do – induce ordinary folks to be self-knowing and thereby, ignite ... More >>
There’s No Muddling Through This Terrible Transition
Monday, 22 January 2024, 11:20 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Taking a meditation on the patio at sunset on a gray, wet and chilly day, there came, unexpectedly, the feeling of space and sacredness that is always new. Sunset was barely discernible, just a deepening dusk. The branches of the two tall pines ... More >>
Neuroscience And The Mind In Meditation
Friday, 19 January 2024, 10:52 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Neuroscientists are discovering more and more how the human brain works, even as they seem to understand less and less the mind in meditation. For example, they’ve discovered something called “aphantasia,” an apparently inherited neurological ... More >>
It’s The Zeitgeist Stupid
Friday, 12 January 2024, 11:03 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Though I’ve been writing about the underlying conditions giving rise to fascism in America since George W. Bush’s presidency, well before the “hope and change” president was elected, this encounter bears retelling. About a year after 9.11, I ... More >>
Experiencing The Silent Ground Of Being
Wednesday, 10 January 2024, 11:26 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The afternoon was gray and chilly, with only the saddle-shaped opening to the canyon visible beyond town. For a few precious minutes however, the sun poked through as it neared the horizon in the western sky. Brilliant orange light then flooded the ... More >>
Contemplating And Communing With Death
Friday, 5 January 2024, 11:15 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s the first day of the New Year, and the morning breaks clear, cloudless and bright, despite the predicted fog. Though chilly, the sun warms as it rises over the rooftops. An hour after sunrise, it’s windless and still, so calm that not ... More >>
The Peace Beyond Nation-States
Monday, 1 January 2024, 12:11 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s rare for someone of high political position in any nation to tell it like it is about the international system. However Margus Tsahkna, Estonia’s minister of foreign affairs, comes closer to telling the truth about the world (dis)order ... More >>
Christmas 2023: Crucifying Christ Again
Monday, 1 January 2024, 12:09 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Before the pandemic I initiated a series of dialogues with a group of Trappist monks at New Clairvaux Abbey, twenty minutes north of town. The abbot, Father Paul Mark, graciously invited me into the cloistered area, and attended all six of the talks. ... More >>
A Psychiatrist’s Mishmash Posing As Psychological Insight
Friday, 22 December 2023, 12:19 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The underlying, unexamined premises of Western psychology are contributing to confusion and alienation in postmodern people everywhere. An essay in Psychology Today, entitled “Making Effective Choices in the Timeless Present Moment,” epitomizes the parlous ... More >>
Moments Of Timeless Peace Surpass Lifetimes Of Time-Bound Thought
Monday, 18 December 2023, 1:21 pm | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
It’s a cloudy but bright Sunday morning. An inconsiderate neighbor on the street in back is playing country music in his house so loud you can hear the lyrics. The infernal noise stops, and a pervasive quietness is instantly palpable. It’s so ... More >>
The Interfaith And Multi-Faith Movement Is A Dead End
Monday, 11 December 2023, 10:19 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
There are two meanings to the word ‘faith.’ The first pertains to belief systems and gives primacy to organized religion; the second pertains to trust and confidence, and gives primacy to those essential qualities within and between individuals. Belief ... More >>
The Crooked Line From 9/11 To Israel’s War On Gaza
Monday, 4 December 2023, 10:19 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Speaking of unregenerate war criminals after Kissinger’s death, if journalists could be tried for crimes against humanity, Thomas Friedman would top the list. He coined the phrase “war of choice” against Iraq in 2003, and was an indefatigable ... More >>
Cop28 And Man’s War On The Earth
Friday, 1 December 2023, 10:36 am | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
The Cop climate conferences have become a farce. This year the host nation, the United Arab Emirates, chose an oil company executive, Sultan Al Jaber, to preside over Cop28. And surprise surprise, he’s been lobbying delegates from around the ... More >>
