tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461948747659071092.post3740578149984462959..comments2023-09-29T02:49:02.989-07:00Comments on An Emphatic Umph: What Do You Seek?Daniel Coffeenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03912050391869734890noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461948747659071092.post-35665742361738948222014-08-22T09:46:27.268-07:002014-08-22T09:46:27.268-07:00Leif: To me, one of the great freedoms of not bein...Leif: To me, one of the great freedoms of not being in the academy is I can read what I want. I try not to care how a book is categorized or marketed; if it has something tasty for me, I'll take it. <br /><br />In this piece, I purposefully blurred lines between philosophy and so-called spirituality or religious texts. To me, there's either something there or there isn't. I, for one, believe Carlos Castaneda is one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century and the greatest philosopher of pedagogy since Kierkegaard. I read his books as a supersession of Socrates, Buddha, and Jesus. It's a shame that his books gets goofy covers and are stuck in one section of a bookstore.<br /><br />As for Osho, most smartypants folks who push at the boundaries of what we think get into trouble. There are always Nazis to appropriate Nietzsche, if you know what I mean. I am just reading Osho now and am blown away by it — its rhythm and mood, how smart it is, how relentless, the moves it makes between practice and theory. I highly recommend it; best thing I've read since Bergson. It makes academic pedantry like Laruelle sound silly (although I enjoy him, too). <br /><br />Janus: I totally agree — the cultural differences must necessarily inform and define these folks. Not knowing squat about such things, I love just mixing them all up together, tearing them from whatever context they emerged from and creating my own context (me!). It's very liberating to put Osho alongside Deleuze. It freaks people out but, even better, it makes the two work together in surprising ways. Daniel Coffeenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03912050391869734890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461948747659071092.post-14256339340020463862014-08-22T06:36:24.802-07:002014-08-22T06:36:24.802-07:00I agree, wonderful and thought provoking. I'm ...I agree, wonderful and thought provoking. I'm curious about the differences in cultural context between the western philosophers you cite and the buddha, and how that may play a role of what each of their respective philosophies are getting at.janushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150855056281956072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7461948747659071092.post-29522916154441723592014-08-22T02:12:37.689-07:002014-08-22T02:12:37.689-07:00Great post. I haven't tried Osho yet because m...Great post. I haven't tried Osho yet because my falling out with the New Age stuff due to the Critical Theory crowd had me skeptical of him. The Oregon newspaper articles about his commune/"cult" we're disturbing as to how he used language and "oneness" to manipulate seekers. Just curious how you feel about the situation.Leifhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196219062205653283noreply@blogger.com