Academy of Mystical Illumination

“Man, enter into thyself. For the Philosopher’s Stone is not to be found in foreign lands.” — Angelus Silenus The black flower of transcendent suffering Ontognosis is a uniquely Western path to mystical awakening that transforms suffering into liberating wisdom. Illuminative insights are Ontognosis’ catalyst—its Philosopher’s Stone. Consider the 10,000 forms of human suffering—from relationship conflicts to career frustrations, from private tragedies to the existential doubt

Mystical awakening begins by illuminating your everyday conflicts & anxieties. Life's negativites can be your guiding star to liberation.

Dusk is an in-between time, a brief twilight period between two realms, day and night. It’s the mystical time when, according to some ...

“Though I’m in Kyoto, when the cuckoo sings I long for Kyoto.” — Basho

How is it that, for a great many people, the fear of public speaking is more terrifying than death itself? Delving into this mystery, we ...

After singing “Sloop John B for over fifty years, Brian Wilson, the founder of “The Beach Boys,” added some new lyrics that change the entire tenor and meaning of the song. This shift in perspective is no small matter. It offers us a clue to the

Have you ever seen someone deliver a burst of nicotine-laden vapor into his lungs via a handheld electronic device? And have you then seen him — about 90% of the time it’s a male — then expel what is now a billowy white cloud of vapor from his mouth? Well, that

I was sitting in a coffee house, the other day, listening to the radio playing, “For No One,” from the Beatles’ 1966 album “Revolver.” Paul McCartney had composed one of the saddest of songs, about unrequited love.

What is anxiety? It’s not synonymous with stress! Rather, stress is merely the physical dimension of anxiety. In other words, stress is how anxiety registers in your body. In your shoulders, your head, in your arms. But anxiety is not just physiological. On the

Executive Summary: What is real? Is it matter or is it form? To be masculine is to owe one’s allegiance to form, identity, law, essence and structure. The subscription to form as the real is reflected everywhere, including in

In my previous blog posting, I offered an example, from my own life, of what the philosopher Martin Buber calls a sign. We must remember that

There is a force in the universe — whether we call it God, the light of truth, or by some other name — that is continually trying

My thoughts on mountain climbing were sparked by the recent death of a brave man, Sir Edmund Hillary. Along with his Sherpa,