Ep. 17 - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis - Gnosis and Existential Inertia

[@emiliodauvin5059]

John is doing Thai Chi while lecturing 🙏✨

[@timothydeneffe249]

Man.... I had a body response when you said "people are hungry, .. hungry for ways to get out of existential entrapment". I was that person. I can't express the fullness of my gratitude for what you have done here. May you be blessed, John.

[@jimmybolton8473]

❤️

[@dalibofurnell]

I agree. Thank you John.

[@VeritableVagabond]

How did you stop being hungry?

[@mathematikexplained6144]

@@VeritableVagabond Fairly simple: You need to eat. Though the right kinds of ‘food’ are necessary.

[@VeritableVagabond]

@@mathematikexplained6144 I found a feast on the Simply Always Awake YT channel

[@imnotbrian]

“You don’t know what you’re missing but you don’t know what you’re giving up”. This is exactly what has kept me paralyzed in life, the anxiety of “making the right decision”. I have been acting like an infant for so long, refusing to grow up, delaying my life choices by chasing hedonistic pleasures, not wanting to be pinned down by anyone. This lecture series has given voice to what was always nagging me in the background and it became more terrifying to face as I got older. The fact is that some things you only know by that participatory knowing. Your lecture series is such a blessing, thank you John.

[@Yassous83]

Gosh, talk about conviction that you feel deep in your core when watching these. Thank you so much John and all involved 🙏

[@Matterful]

Words cannot express my gratitude towards the content of this episode alone, but also the work you're doing writ large. Thank you so much, John.

[@skylerreese7801]

I'm barreling through this series. 17 episodes in 4 days. Honestly it is such an elegant union of so many things that I've been curious about for my entire life. Grew up evangelical, left the church after high school and then ended up back in a mainline denomination after an awakening experience through Buddhist meditation. Thank you thank you thank you John. 🙏🏼 Looking forward to rewatching several times and exploring any other resources you put out. I've already got my own ecology of practices but I'm hoping to find some more to round out my spiritual cultivation. 💜

[@tonorivas5336]

My life is better since I started watching your videos. Muchas gracias amigo 🇲🇽

[@OfCourseICan]

The skill in plotting out this profound course, is nothing less than genius. Darn; only 22 eps. to go.

[@d.r.m.m.]

Every episode feels like entering a sacred place, where I am inhabiting John’s clear understanding of history’s unfolding, but also at times, a certain frustration with the bottleneck I need to travel through to arrive at that clarity. It’s a fantastic tension that is communicated through body language, tone and vocal variety in a masterful way . How might it feel to know that one!s sharing of knowledge is blowing peoples minds and changing their lives? Thank you, John, for these gifts.

[@danny10blitzkrieg]

I keep coming back to these episodes about love and they make more and more sense to me.

[@BcClarity]

"There will always be Good Works to be done." ~~~Some Sufi saying re. our manifest blessing of gnosis coupled with right action (Creation) into Flow (Play) and Unity of Being. Thank You, John for bringing this to the surface of our awareness.

[@tttony]

Every Friday! First time I've ever actually anticipated any KZbin video upload schedule.

[@christianrulicke6145]

for

[@KalebPeters99]

John the passion you put into this is as intoxicating as the content itself. Thank you as ever ❤️

[@nicholibaldron8171]

Book List: 10:29 - The Sovereignty of Good by Murdoch 16:40 - The Reasons of Love by Frankfurt 24:51 - Transformative Experience by Paul

[@marykochan8962]

Transformative experience references are scattered throughout the New Testament letters of Saint Paul and related several times within the book of Acts by Saint Luke who traveled with and quoted Saint Paul.

[@dsuleyma]

The book being referenced is by a contemporary philosopher, her name is L.A. Paul.

[@nicholibaldron8171]

@@dsuleyma Yes, I sited last names only.

[@spiralsun1]

Thank you for this ❤️!!

[@dankiptoo9309]

I was actually trying to remember the name of the books. Thanks for this👍🏾

[@fresh_view]

This was the answer to all the confused entrapment of choices. We can only understand whether to choose one thing over another by engaging in play with both. This is specially useful for career choices.Thank you sir!

[@GnaeusScipio]

The concept of "unthinkable" where you can imagine it, you can run inferences of it, you can see yourself being there, yet *not* able to make it viable and incarnate in your life is a useful concept to have. Though the name is odd. I found it helpful to translate 'unthinkable' as 'uncarnate-able'; you get up to the precipice of knowing all there is to it, yet lack the capacity to make it incarnate. The capacity to live it, to put it into flesh (in-carnate) is the missing part.

[@Mohamed_Hazem]

This is my favourite lecture till now

[@antoniobarbalau1107]

Initially I wanted to thank you for particular stuff I found out or assimilated but not long after the beggining of the series I just became breathless after every lecture and unable to express things or gratitude or what I've lived through the lecture in words.

[@thewalkingthinker6561]

As actors, we’re trying to build an existential inertia for our characters. The challenge is how to create that for the stage, and then get us out of there, back to our lives. Amazing ideas, thanks John.

[@graphicssttp7468]

If you are interested in this, check out Heath Ledger’s death and how his role as the joker affected his mental health leading up to his passing

[@yuanboliu2177]

My mind feels so exhausted from absorbing these new perspectives. oh my... it's super!

[@daletrusky2052]

Working through this series for the first time now, trying to catch up to you before after Socrates is finished! Thanks for the value you put it, I appreciate your time and attention as well.

[@yafz]

The lens metaphor for Spinoza, the master lens crafter... how fitting!

[@johnvervaeke]

Thank you so much for your comment, Emre Sevinç! Please consider subscribing to the channel so that we can continue to increase our reach to new people with our work!

[@yafz]

@@johnvervaeke I'm already subscribed and I think this is the only series I've been regularly watching for the last few weeks: so far, so good! As someone with some philosophy, cognitive science, and a very little tai chi background, I found these lectures full of insight, leading me to recommend it to my friends. I see that most of the comments are generally from 3 years to 1 year ago: there are billion things on the Internet competing for our attention, and probably these episodes are simply "buried" in the depths of Internet due to lack of constant promotion. Oh, by the way, whenever you say "thank you for your time and attention" at the end of a lecture, my inner voice says "do I deserve this thanks? Did I spend enough time , and more importantly was I attentive, present, and critical enough?" :) Greetings from Belgium 👋and thank you for your continued efforts!

[@trinitycare2023]

Thank you very much for your time and dedication

[@aissaghlib5560]

Thank you for all these amazing video's

[@a-bis-zett]

Having an enactive analogy, Confronting the possibility of a transformative experience, or, as I say to my clients "fake it ´til you make it" 🙂 thank you for this talk!

[@gridcoregilry666]

the concept of "sensibility-transcendence" is just beautiful! thank you! that is a very helpful insight for me

[@ThePathOfEudaimonia]

The part about Existential Inertia hit me hard. I have struggled with this my whole life (and still am), in various parts of my life. Thanks, John.

I have to say, tho I was familiarized with many of the ideas of these lectures, I really didn’t know how to connect them all in a coherent, systematic and rational way. I think that may be because I also happened to lack some of the key concepts like Anagoge. Your unification is enlightening, magnificent and very useful. You are a modern chaman, a doctor for the soul, so thank you John (and the team too). Saludos desde Mexico 🇲🇽

[@stevenmonte1496]

You have been a blessing and I thank you deeply for your work.

[@johnvervaeke]

Thank you so much for your kind comment, Steven Monte! Please consider subscribing to the channel so that we can continue to increase our reach to new people with our work!

[@thomasschnaars8164]

It’s starting to click now. I can see the theme running through all these psycho technologies that humans came up with throughout history. The series is opening my eyes. Thank you!

[@PJ-ns6um]

"Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth." -Picasso

[@adm58]

Very useful John. Being stuck is a major problem for me, this video has given me some useful insight into the situation.

[@marivn8156]

Thank you, John 😊

[@yoganandavalle]

Oh my god I had a participatory perspectival connection to the vervaekian world analyzing my life inwardly and outwardly. uniting Christian Agape with gnosis. Thank you for the experience... it's quasi-sacred

[@matthewheadland7307]

You’ve put into words here exactly what I have been feeling.

[@alecevnas4212]

I don’t know if you’ll even read this, and I’m sure you get this all the time. But I couldn’t possibly put into words how much this lecture series has helped me and I’m not even half way through

[@anthonykrkovski650]

Awesome!!

[@4564564567568563]

Thank you so much for this series! I'm working with creating retreats for people to "explore themselves in a safe enough to be brave environment" and your lectures has really helped me to see what I'm doing and what I have learnt from tradition by doing.

[@laluna5548]

The Peter Pan syndrome explained to perfection. Thank you!

[@dalibofurnell]

Your passion is definitely moving and touching. I am grateful for you and the work you and many others do . I am definitely more grateful for the incredible work my therapist does with me. This is truly helpful and it works. You are on point, Sir.

[@DDCrp]

Man! I look forward to these every Friday afternoon. Thank you, John!!! You pack these lectures with equal parts knowledge, wisdom, and perspective.

[@ConfusedApe]

You won't know what it's like to be a vampire just like Raskolnikow couldn't reason his way through murdering an old woman. He couldn't have known what it would be like to be him after that act.

[@Zackneu21]

YES

[@forceboxed]

Nice connect. As I remember, he even tried to perform enactive analogy by visiting her vacant apartment before the actual murder to get a feel for it. Unfortunately, for him it didnt turn out to be super useful, as we get to know in the novel later. I wonder what a better way to perform enactive analogy would have been for Raskolnikov that would have afforded him a piece of the same guilt and other after effects of the murder, enough to get him to change his mind. Of course, that might have robbed him of the chance for the radical transformation he undergoes at the end of the novel. Any thoughts here John?

[@bulkington3272]

Thinking of Starbuck and the loaded musket standing by sleeping Ahabs cabin. The greatest writers capture these situations.

[@joseraphaelvalmores4450]

Hey John. I've spent so much time listening to you that it feels like I know you (I feel the same way about Jordan Peterson!), but I just want to speak from the heart and thank you for these lectures. You have no idea just how often I contemplate your syntheses - perhaps something unthinkable as you pursued this - and just how much you have radically transformed my perspective and aim. I hope to be able to shake your hand one day. Peace and love to you!

[@Maskeny]

Amazing series, and the best episode yet IMO. Thank you for this John V. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us. Looking forward to watching the whole series.

[@Jacob-fd9nm]

Thank you John, you mentioned in a recent episode that you hope these episodes may get you to think vervaekeishly, or at least different, with perhaps a more optimal grip. That happens. And the episodes can provoke their own type flow state, which helps the listener transcend the act of acquiring knowledge. The feeling at the end of an episode often amazes me, doesn't last, but might prime.

[@zoolanderuk77]

Thank you John for these amazing lectures. This one hit home.

[@alexa.julianne]

John Vervaeke, you have totally and succinctly defined my problem(s) in this episode: how on Earth to make these kinds of decisions. I was waiting with such anticipation to hear the solution to this existential inertia, this inability to consider what transformation would be like unless you go through the transformation. I can't wait to hear more because this is absolutely fascinating!

[@SimonMaurerBewegung]

completely agree

[@sirlandynor0014]

Endless Thanks John!

[@alexey5351]

It's a wonderful lecture. The importance of play has been highlighted by Jaak Panksepp. Therapy place as play, "as if space" has been written about in psychoanalytic literature for a long time, starting from Winnicott. "Psychedelics can improve therapy so much" is a premature statement - it's a belief that is not proven by anyone just yet. Giving this hope to patients with PTSD is not warranted, as we simply have no reliable data (RCTs, meta-analysis, etc) to back that up; and it crates a fantasy of a magic wand-type panacea instead of hard work in psychotherapy with PTSD that is happening already.

[@Beederda]

I appreciate YOUR time JV ❤️🍄 this one was really important to me in my current life so i thank you for all the work you’ve put into this whole series i know it took far longer than imagined to create this wondrous beautiful understanding of what it means to be in crisis of meaning i look forward to continuing this journey through your work many gratitudes JV ❤️

[@johnvervaeke]

Thank you!

[@charlesbronson5131]

😊

[@johncerdena]

I'm realizing a lot in your lecture. Thanks John.

[@michaeljensen4650]

Changing the world one convoluted lecture at a time.

[@leedufour]

Thanks John.

[@marktidmore2675]

My hapless skull, is Plato's cave. Oh the shadows it does enslave. My hope, Minerva may come to me. And cry alas, the tomb is empty.

[@arquilli1]

48:00-48:16 had me dying:”So pretend you’re Mom is in that chair- I KNOW SHE’S DEAD NOW, FORGET THAT!!... IT’S NOT FUN! ...PRETEND YOUT MOM IS THERE!!!”

[@jonathancraig]

This is, up to this point in the series, one of your best episodes. Please keep up the good work! What you do is deeply appreciated.

[@antonyliberopoulos933]

Thank you John for explaining what we need to do to get to the state of Gnosis.

[@nugzarkapanadze6867]

Thank You!

[@outoftheabyss5540]

Ha! Who else was hitting the refresh button waiting for this to upload! I thought you forgot it was Friday for a moment, John.

[@realsushrey]

J B Peterson talks of how we always know more than we understand because abstract representation is preceeded by imitation, enactment, representation. So when we enact, we tranform our implicitly gained knowledge using intuition into enactment which can ultimately lead to abstract knowledge.

[@francescapenzani6333]

Amazing Lecture. I relate so deeply with the "Play". I have been creating collaborative classes for artists that I titled "PlayLab". In fact, a former student addressed me to your lecture as he felt I would enjoy the connection. I am looking forward to following more of your teachings. Thank you.

[@ellefanaten]

Nr 1 podcast of 2019

[@rdrzalexa]

WOOOOO I'm so excited!

[@enlightenmentiskey3512]

rodriguez alex kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHjVnYSBmrl4r5I

[@karl6525]

18:30 really made me come to terms with, and be forgiving of, myself. Thank you John

[@tensevo]

I never thought of the importance of ritual being radically transforming.

[@tensevo]

I agree we do not generally successfully draw the distinction between controlled transformative play, and uncontrolled addictive play.

[@MrMarktrumble]

Thank you. Good lecture.

[@marktidmore2675]

We are all both protagonist and antagonist, in our own little plays. Shamanism, a healthy way to give your protagonist an edge.

[@TheoSakoutis]

Thank you! The Clash were enacting analogy with their Combat Rock album. One of the tracks on that album (Should I Stay or Should I Go?) was expressing existential inertia.

[@martentryding9795]

Speaking of psychological transformation, this talk made me think of one of the most famous Swedish poems, Ja visst gör det ont (Yes, of course it hurts), written by Karin Boye in 1935. The fact that she's often described to have been into gnosticism makes more sense to me after I've watched this lecture. Here is an English translation of the poem: Yes, of course it hurts when buds are breaking. Why else would the springtime falter? Why would all our ardent longing bind itself in frozen, bitter pallor? After all, the bud was covered all the winter. What new thing is it that bursts and wears? Yes, of course it hurts when buds are breaking, hurts for that which grows and that which bars. Yes, it is hard when drops are falling. Trembling with fear, and heavy hanging, cleaving to the twig, and swelling, sliding - weight draws them down, though they go on clinging. Hard to be uncertain, afraid and divided, hard to feel the depths attract and call, yet sit fast and merely tremble - hard to want to stay and want to fall. Then, when things are worst and nothing helps the tree's buds break as in rejoicing, then, when no fear holds back any longer, down in glitter go the twig's drops plunging, forget that they were frightened by the new, forget their fear before the flight unfurled - feel for a second their greatest safety, rest in that trust that creates the world.

[@a-bis-zett]

Thank you for that beautiful poem!

[@a-bis-zett]

"Man only plays when he is human in the full meaning of the word, and he is only fully human when he plays." Friedrich Schiller, Letters on the aesthetic education of man

[@hamedmoradi5291]

I'm enthused about having access to these precious lectures. They are themselves axial.

[@TurningoftheTides]

some are calling for a religious revolution...

[@tensevo]

If nobody else can give you Agapic love, a good therapist will.

[@gabedepaul5407]

Now that we're a few years into Gnosticism becoming sexy, I am starting to believe that it has gained traction because of this meaning crisis but also because it is more accessible than Platonism or Christian mysticism. I only realized how necessary metaphysics is after having my run in with psychedelics and Gnosticism.

[@TheCardbry]

Yes play is very important, I learned this from Alan watts. Play is how we learn and interact with the world.

[@realsushrey]

35:00 Its not association of play with pleasure (play is most of the time pleasurable) but ignorance about insights it can provide that is the problem in my humble opinion. Thus, we do not use it beyond the primary purpose of having fun.

[@MGHOoL5]

Participatory and perspectival transformation: existential trapping between sacrificing ourselves to become what we desire; Play and the introduction to Gnosticism (17): Gnosticism are the rational culmination of the Axial Age. But to understand them we must understand a few ideas. Our perspectives and sensibilities of the world are tied in a relation between us and the world. Sometimes as we are reading something snaps and our lenses change from being of our own to that of the writer; we become in their shoes and truly get what they are saying. In life, we face struggles in times of transformation. Children do not know of the childhood innocence they will lose when they become adults, nor know what we will gain. We don't know if we should have kids or not, how it feels and how difficult it would be. And sometiems in therapy people would say they hate how stubborn they are then later say they love how they are persistent. We always feel stuck and require a sensibility transformation because we want to change the thing we like and know about ourselves to become something we desire but don't know. There is a leap that we are get trapped before. Some might go to therapy whilst having a perfect life just because it isn't moving. Such indecision and existential trapping is solved by enactive analogies and anagogy: plays that make us have perspectival and participatory taste of the in-betweeness of our lives and the life we desire, to teach us both about how it feels to be there and how to free ourselves from being trapped. Play is now trivialized in our culture and thought of as only for fun, when music and martial arts are all plays yet not necessarily for fun. We see that intellegent organisms that require transformative development require more play. Gnosticism uses altered states with enactive analogies and anagogy in a ritualistic context to free you from existential trapping.

[@RapPowah]

Bright side of youtube

[@Viplexify]

So this is what Kierkegaard was talking about when he said that if you wanted to become a believer you had to "fake" it first? Serious play?

[@MarkaKnight]

And Clifford Geertz: ritual as "deep play"...

[@davidmegarry2125]

When I invented Dungeon!, I purposely removed the referee/dungeon master from the role playing system that David Arneson had introduced to us with his Blackmoor world in 1971. This episode has me wondering what this removal means. I captured the essence of playing in Arneson's fantasy world without having him be present in the play (after all, at that time he was to only dungeon master in the world;). That process of removal of the referee was the most difficult design I ever accomplished, so some part of me is hinting that I did not trivialize the concept of role playing. But it does make me wonder if there is a deeper possibility of understanding: I pushed a button and a secret door opened in front of me and I stepped forward into a new creative world without looking back - but behind me maybe, another door also opened, yet to be discovered and explored. Please advise.

[@OfCourseICan]

I sort of do Chi while honing my balance and practising on my skateboard while listening to my Spotify favorites on the cricket pitch of our local sports ground. I had no idea of the benefits. but do now. Btw I'm 69!

[@malpais776]

I can get behind your description of "serious play" as potentially transforming, and even transframing. I always felt students were shorting themselves, or limiting the fruits of Aikido by treating in like fun exercise ( which sometime it can be . Fine, as long as they paid their fees on time). But if one, treats it as a simulation of life and death, as it was originally used for interesting things can happen, changes in perception and the like. Which is why I always preferred the styles that emphasized sword work and sword movements like Nishio Ryu. "Playing" like this takes a little more experience, along with a good teacher. But even simulated confrontation can be --- something! Maybe that's why Hegel's framing of the coming to be of Self- Consciousness as a life and death struggle seemed so attractive to some philosophers. I don't know. I'm getting a little older now, but I hope one day again to move to a place that I can have access once again to the arts of Kendo, Kenjutsu, Iado, or even Aikido again. I just loved that stuff. I think I would have freaked out ( but in a good way) if I ever had had the opportunity to be an uke for Ueshiba ( he died in 1969). The Japanese have a learning and teaching relationship called Shu Ha Ri. It's a long mentoring process ultimately designed to lead a student to mastery. I never had this, but I wish I had been available for this when I was younger. And for things not limited to the martial arts. But just shutting my mouth, imitating the instructor, and not getting ahead of myself was not a quality of character I was instilled with when I was a boy, -- or a young man. So, guess the Shu would have been a non - starter for me, at the time.

[@DolphinTillTheEnd]

I've participated in religion, initiatic societies and dungeons and dragons, and indeed it's all playing (in the best way possible)

[@stephen-torrence]

29:00 Reminds me of Shinzen Young... "There is no Informed Consent for Awakening"

[@lechatleblanc]

i think courage is about having pride in ur choice as being a valid worthy life decision or path. its like believing that the choice u made is the best choice for u thats available at the time... and then u are able to fully throw ur whole being into it without caring or worrying about the outcome, and giving it ur all with the best attitude, not holding anything back....not doubting ur choice....not being resentful....

[@malpais776]

What every dedicated addict says: Quitters never win.

[@allenwarren1269]

42:00 Life, the universe and everything.

[@Darth_Pro_x]

10:16 "If you read 10 books in your life one of them should be 'the sovereignty of the good' [by Iris Murdoch}"

[@HolyWisdom93]

Add the exegesis of philip k. dick to that list

[@tomblack2064]

I am a strength tank, support class. High vigour, high endurance stats. Not much DPS though so I need to team up with a DPS teammate.

[@Kobalt47]

The Clash looked to the future, watched this episode, and then wrote Should I Stay or Should I Go.

[@marktidmore2675]

Omar Khayyam " what lamp has destiny to guide her little children, stumbling in the dark "

[@MarkaKnight]

If the myth of Buffy gave me some empathic play experience (I'll argue that it did), then I will make an educated guess and decline becoming a vampire. Tempting, though!

[@johnvervaeke]

Excellent response!

[@MarkaKnight]

@@johnvervaeke This flows into the question I've wanted to ask you about sages. I am practicing embodying men. The lack of female sages feels problematic. In some sense aren't Socrates and Spinoza further removed from me than you simply by such lived difference? Any thoughts on this void?

[@johnvervaeke]

@@MarkaKnight You make a good point. There are some great female philosophers such as Iris Murdoch. I found her book Sovereignty of the Good to be profound. She also wrote some excellent novels. I hope this helps.

[@MarkaKnight]

@@johnvervaeke Thank you. I ordered her book several days ago...

[@protestanttoorthodox3625]

Should I become agnostic? Should I become a Christian? You can't know what it is to live in those modes until you walk the path...

[@juliam2049]

oooo nice ;)

[@redcenturion88]

Fake it until you make it 🙏

[@billtimmons7071]

For those who track comments ... I have a question about the trans-framing thought experiment. I can see the mother trans-framing, and I can see how the framing is trans-framed, but how would the daughter -in-law get trans-framed? The mother sees daughter-in-law differently, she sees hidden potential of daughter-in-law, and her very framing is then changed. I get that ... but from the daughter-in-law perspective why would her framing change? Does she "see" her mother-in-law act different towards her, and she asks why is that? By her asking (daughter-in-law) , does she then reflect on her own self image and then trans-frames her own mother in law framing process? This thought experiment has some deep meaning for me and I'm trying to get a handle on it.

[@AexisRai]

As far as I can tell, all he's saying is that the transframing is happening "internally" for the mother-in-law. The things that are changing are her sense of herself as she relates to the world, and her sense of the world (specifically of the daughter-in-law) as it relates to herself. The fact of the mother-in-law undergoing the transframing will have knock-on impacts for how she in fact behaves toward the daughter-in-law, but the mother-in-law's transframing (which involves the daughter-in-law) is not the daughter-in-law's transframing; the daughter-in-law's sense of _her own_ self is not (directly) changed by the mother-in-law's sense of the daughter-in-law. I could be wrong in my understanding of this being "purely" internal; I don't see what other kind of thing he could mean though.

[@billtimmons7071]

@@AexisRai Thank you

[@Igor_lvanov]

John Nine-dot-problem Vervaeke

[@laurathyme]

I am LOVING this series - I feel your agape for us John, I feel it! For me this hit home with the discussion of play - relating to career change (which is something I've been struggling with for 5 years). A recent book I've read & recommend is Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett - he talks about prototyping experiences to "test out" if something is the right fit (serious play). designingyour.life/ Blessed to have found this series late, so I can binge watch the hell out of it!

[@raycosmic9019]

Mentation - Metanoia - Mutation. We live in a word built Universe, so mind your p's and q's. Every choice we make generates a corresponding timeline of experience. If the resulting narrative needs to be changed, change perspective. Is it a limit or a creative guideline? No wrong answer - only a choice.

[@LeeGee]

Many thanks. I appreciate your passion.

[@alfredhitchcock45]

Way of thinking like Existentialism and Fundamentalism Way of orienting yourself, not joining a socio-political group Reciprocal revelation Bi-directional model Seeing what Spinoza is saying to seeing things the way Spinoza says it Sensibility Transcedence Sovereignty of Good