ABOUT DEATH
Just a few quotations, to introduce the topic.Death is an impossibility that suddenly becomes a reality
W. Goethe
Oh, build your ship of death,
Build it in time, and build it lovingly,
And put it
Between the hands of your soul
D. H. Lawrence
We must always be booted,
And ready to go
M. de Montaigne
Would it not be better to give death the place in actuality and in our thoughts which properly belongs to it?
S. Freud
Of this only am I certain:
That it all ends here
On the tombstone of a Roman Legionaire
The Guardian at the Threshold by Maggie Macary
For a long, long time now, I have pondered why it is so difficult to make a change in life. Each January, each new year, we set out with a resolution that something will change in our lives – we will lose weight, quite smoking, read more, meditate more, exercise more, spend more time with our family, less time on the computer, get our finances in order. Invariably by the end of January, these resolutions are broken and we find ourselves left in the same old pattern of our lives. By February 1, we are resigned to our fate, moving away from our new resolutions and back into our comfortable sameness. Why can’t we change? Perhaps in the etymology of our words, January and resolution, we can find reasons, barriers, structures that keep us in the sameness of our lives. Read the rest of this post »
Men on a Mission
Inside the Mankind Project
by Tyler Blue from the Santa Barbara Independent
View this article as a PDF 
We put a lot of pressure on ourselves as men; it’s easy to get caught up in society’s lofty expectations and lose sight of who we really are. We tend to isolate ourselves and process emotions alone, or not at all. But some things in life can’t be explained, they must be experienced. In the case of the Mankind Project (MKP), that means taking one weekend out of our busy lives to try a fresh approach to dealing with the issues we — as men — face. MKP is an international organization dedicated to male empowerment that offers a unique opportunity to reconnect with our core masculinity.
Blending practical knowledge and sacred spirituality, the group gives men the tools to shape their lives based on an ideal vision. The Mankind Project was developed in 1985 by Ron Hering, Bill Kauth, and Rich Tosi. According to its Web site (www.mkp.org), “The New Warrior is a man who has confronted his destructive ‘shadow’ and achieved hard-won ownership of the highly focused, aggressive energy that empowers and shapes the inner masculine self.” (Apparently, we all have a shadow acting as an opposing force to our goals, preventing us from achieving balance.) New Warrior Training Adventures are the focal point of the group’s work, with training weekends held throughout the year at 27 centers across the country, and others around the globe. Each weekend consists of approximately 30 initiates who go through a rite of passage along with 40 staffers. Nothing can be shared regarding the actual content in order not to create expectations for future initiates. Secrecy is so important that men are required to sign a confidentiality agreement. Read the rest of this post »
L. appellare “to address, appeal to, summon, name,” iterative of appellere “to prepare.” For more information about what's behind this site,