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Matthew Gindin
Matthew Gindin

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Published in Strange Wonder

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The Three Fiercest Mantras

Many people wonder what the most powerful mantras are. This is a natural question, and I am going to tell you. I should warn you that these mantras are for those who truly desire power, peace and freedom, and not for those who merely seek a passing wind of improvement…

Life Mantras

2 min read

The Three Fiercest Mantras
The Three Fiercest Mantras

Published in Strange Wonder

·May 10

Mother Night

We Are What We Pretend To Be “This is the only story of mine whose moral I know,” writes Kurt Vonnegut at the beginning of his 1962 novel Mother Night. “I don’t think it’s a marvelous moral; I simply happen to know what it is: We are what we pretend…

Kurt Vonnegut

4 min read

Mother Night
Mother Night

Apr 15

My Ten Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels

Although some of my favorite novels are what we usually think of as “literature,” over-all my favorite genres are science fiction and fantasy. I think this is for two reasons. The first is that sci-fi/fantasy is the most philosophical of all genres. The freedom from so-called “realism” allows the greatest…

Literature

4 min read

My Ten Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels
My Ten Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels

Published in Strange Wonder

·Apr 12

Individuality

Spinoza In Plain English Book 2 Part 7: (Propositions 12–19) In our last essay we discussed Spinoza’s fascinating view of individuality, which circumvents a number of the conundrums the philosophy of selfhood usually tangles itself in. He argues that when a number of bodies communicate their motions to each other in a consistent ratio so that they produce an action…

Philosophy

2 min read

Individuality
Individuality

Jan 24

Ecology In The Divine Image

In the opening chapters of Bereisheet/Genesis, God famously creates humanity b’tzelem Elohim, in the divine image. For millennia Jews (and Christians) have been debating what that means. The word tzelem referred to an image of statue used in non-Jewish Temples, and Umberto Cassuto (1883–1951) argued from this that the writer…

Judaism

10 min read

Ecology In The Divine Image
Ecology In The Divine Image

Published in Strange Wonder

·Jul 30, 2021

On Anger

words from a Buddhist monk on forbearance — I am currently reading the book Good Heart, Good Mind by my teacher and abbot when I was a monk, Thanissaro Bhikkhu (available free here). It’s a book of talks he gave in Brazil and France about the ten virtues, or “parami” of the Theravadin Buddhist tradition, often called the…

Buddhism

11 min read

On Anger
On Anger

Published in Strange Wonder

·May 26, 2021

Thoughts On The Nembutsu

Recently, at times it would be good medicine, I’ve begun to sometimes chant the Nembutsu, a kind of mantra associated with Jodo Shu, a Japanese form of Pure Land Buddhism usually considered a form of devotional “folk Buddhism.” Sometimes I’ll chant it out loud, sometimes internally. Why would I do…

Buddhism

4 min read

Thoughts On The Nembutsu
Thoughts On The Nembutsu

May 21, 2021

On Violence

Well, it’s been quite the couple of weeks on social media. …

Israel

3 min read

On Violence
On Violence

Apr 22, 2021

Emanuele Severino: On The Presence of Absent Things

Was there ever a time this essay didn’t exist? Is the past still present? In memory, yes, at least to some extent (possibly a very small one), but beyond that, does it still literally exist? Most people would say no. …

Philosophy

7 min read

Emanuele Severino: On The Presence of Absent Things
Emanuele Severino: On The Presence of Absent Things

Mar 9, 2021

Why I Am Not Leaving The Jewish People

An important Zionist politician recently tried to leave the Jewish people to protest Israeli policies. I’m sympathetic, but here’s why I won’t follow suit. Avrum Burg a “scion of the Zionist aristocracy” recently announced that he no longer wanted to be a member of the Jewish community. I can sympathize…

Judaism

6 min read

Why I Am Not Leaving The Jewish People
Why I Am Not Leaving The Jewish People
Matthew Gindin

Matthew Gindin

Trying to be both civic and civil. Freelancer available for hire. https://www.matthewgindin.com/ https://www.patreon.com/mzgindin

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