Category Archives: Uncategorized

I Stopped Trying to Get Above It

Posted on November 11, 2025 by Abigail

Reading Jeff Kripal’s Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom brought the topic of mysticism to the front of my mind. At earlier junctures of my life journey, mysticism had clearly been a concern. It seemed to offer a way out … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, agnosticism, alienation, anthropology, appreciation, art, art of living, atheism, authenticity, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, book reviews, books, bureaucracy, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, Desire and Authenticity, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, ethnicity, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, fatherhood, female power, femininity, feminism, filial piety, films, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, id, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, idolatry, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jesus, Jews, journalism, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, master/slave relation, medieval, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, motherhood, mysticism, Nihilism, nineteenth-century, non-violence, novels, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, Phenomenology of the Mind, philosophy, poetry, political, political movements, politics, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, power games, presence, promissory notes, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, racism, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, remembrance, Renaissance, repairing the culture, roles, romance, romantic love, romanticism, science, scientism, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, sexuality, slave, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, sociobiology, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, Truth, TV, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Uncategorized, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged Advaita Vedanta, beautiful guru, beyond good and evil, Blaise Pascal, cancer and life experience, cults and corruption, dangers of a spiritual quest, dilemmas and double binds, Eastern mystics, eros and merging with God, eros and mysticism, escapism, Evelyn Underhill, Evelyn Underhill’s Mysticism, experiential impasses, finding one’s life path, getting above it, guru who falls, gurus and exploitation, historians of mysticism, impasses, insoluble experience and cancer, knowing how to think, knowing what to do, knowing what to say, Kripal’s Roads of Excess Palaces of Wisdom, life in history, life journey, life on the timeline, life’s impasses and cancer, merging with the Divine, mind control and brainwashing, mystical journeys, mystical merging, mysticism and authenticity, mysticism and autonomy, mysticism and celibacy, mysticism and conformism, mysticism and human goals, mysticism and seduction, mysticism and sex, mysticism and the erotic, mysticism as academic topic, mysticism as escapism, mysticism studies, mystics in Asia, mystics in Christianity, Pascal as mystic, Realized Master, spiritual exploration and brainwashing, spiritual exploration and mind control, spiritual quest, spiritual quest and risk, theism and pantheism, transcendence, transcendence as escapism, woman guru | 2 Comments

Time-Out for the Holidays

Posted on December 24, 2024 by Abigail

Blessings to all!

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Does God Play Favorites?

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Abigail

Does God Play Favorites? I don’t enjoy competition. By that, I’m not intending to reject anyone’s marketplace of skills or services. It’s just my sincere personal confession. For example, I was a natural athlete as a child. But later, … Continue reading →

Posted in Absolute Freedom and Terror, absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, anthropology, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, beauty, Bible, Biblical God, bigotry, books, childhood, chivalry, Christianity, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, courtship, cults, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, evil, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, feminism, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, Gnosticism, guilt and innocence, health, Hegel, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history, history of ideas, idealism, ideality, identity, ideology, immorality, immortality, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, law, legal responsibility, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, martyrdom, masculinity, master, medieval, memoir, memory, Messianic Age, mind control, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, mysticism, non-violence, ontology, oppression, pacifism, past and future, peace, philosophy, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, race, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romance, secular, seduction, self-deception, sex appeal, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spiritual not religious, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Uncategorized, Utopia, victimhood, victims, violence, war, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged 70 C.E., accepting The Covenant, accommodating to Roman occupation, anti-semitism's historical roots, Chabad center, chess as war, choosing a bride, chosen land, Christian quietism, chronology of the Gospels, competition, cosmic comeback, curing anti-semitism, demonization of Jews, Divine favoritism, doing first then hearing The Covenant, Elaine Pagel's The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagel's The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews Pagans and Heretics, Essenes, fair competition, fall of Second Temple, Gentile redemption, God's election, God's romance, Israel as God's treasure, Jacob Taubes, Jewish rebellion, Jewish uprising against Rome, Jewish/Christian competition, Krister Stendahl, marketplace, natural athlete, non-competitive fun, Pharisees and Rome, playing favorites, politics of religion, Providential misunderstandings, psychic card playing, render unto Caesar, rodeo competition, Roman repression, romancing God, Rome and Jewish opinions, second coming, The Covenant and the nations, thumb on the scales, why the Jews, winners v losers, winning and losing, world historical mistake | 3 Comments

Lionel and Henry: In Fact and Fiction

Posted on February 8, 2022 by Abigail

There is just one case I know of where two brilliant young writers published dueling short stories about each other, in which each is the protagonist and his best friend the antagonist. Who were the writers who would do such … Continue reading →

Posted in absurdism, academe, action, afterlife, alienation, American politics, art, art of living, atheism, autonomy, bad faith, book reviews, books, cities, class, conformism, contemplation, contradictions, cool, courage, cultural politics, culture, desire, dialectic, erotic life, eternity, ethics, existentialism, exploitation, faith, fashion, female power, femininity, freedom, friendship, gender balance, glitterati, guilt and innocence, hegemony, heroes, hidden God, hierarchy, history of ideas, id, idealism, Idealism-, ideality, identity, ideology, institutional power, Jews, Judaism, life and death struggle, literature, love, male power, masculinity, memoir, memory, modern women, modernism, moral action, moral evaluation, moral psychology, morality, mortality, novels, ontology, oppression, past and future, philosophy, political, political movements, politics of ideas, postmodernism, power, presence, propaganda, psychology, public facade, public intellectual, radicalism, reading, reductionism, relationships, religion, roles, romantic love, secular, seduction, self-deception, sexuality, social climbing, social construction, social conventions, social ranking, spiritual journey, spirituality, status, status of women, suffering, terror, the examined life, the problematic of men, the problematic of woman, the profane, the sacred, theism, theology, time, twentieth century, twenty-first century, Uncategorized, victimhood, work, writing, Zeitgeist | Tagged anti-communist, Authenticity, avoiding political extremes, betraying friendship; literary reputation, careerism, Columbia University’s class of 1925, communist activist, denying one’s identity, dueling short stories, emotional wholeness, erasing one's Jewish identity, Eric Voegelin Society, female malice, fulfilling youthful promise, imaginary authenticity, imaginary clandestine affair, Jewish identity, KGB files, life in disguise, Lionel Trilling, literary rivalry, lost innocence, lost youth, male friends, masked life, novel of ideas, political conversion, projecting one’s repressed identity, rabbinical student, religious conversion, roman a clef, seminary student, settling scores in fiction, social rank, Soviet agent, suppressed nostalgia, the just mean, the Left and the Right, the male mind, trial of the century; communist party, Whitttaker Chambers; Alger Hiss, womanly dignity, young writers | 1 Comment

Dear Reader…

Posted on December 23, 2021 by Abigail

Dear Reader: I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by Scott Langdon, the creator of “God: An Autobiography,” the podcast based on the book by Jerry L. Martin (my husband) God: An Autobiography As Told to A Philosopher. Scott … Continue reading →