The Library

A Weekend with Terence McKenna

1993

Recorded at the Esalen Institute in California.

Lecture
Added 2 weeks ago.
12:09:02 86,239 30

Amherst Press Conference

1971

Mr. Fuller and Maharishi came from different traditions of knowledge, but both talked about the universal basis of life, the individual, and the cosmos.

Discussion
Added 3 weeks ago.
26:05 2,510 1

On Nature and Media: A Dialogue of Effects

1978

Marshall McLuhan explains the effects of accelerating communication speeds on human society.

Lecture
Added 3 weeks ago.
01:51:43 12,421 6

The Medium is the Massage

1967

The Medium is the Massage is Marshall McLuhan’s prophetic perception on life in the age of electronic information, exhibiting his understanding of the power of media long before those in control did. The Medium is the Massage presents some of McLuhan’s most amazing insights and cognitive observations on the global village: the rear-view mirror, the invisible environment, the end of nature, and sensory impact set against the everyday imagery of mass media, consumer goods, the press, advertising, and the arts. Although originally printed in 1967, the art and style in The Medium is the Massage seem as fresh today as in the summer of love, and the ideas are even more resonant now that computer interfaces are becoming gateways to the global village.

Book
Added 4 weeks ago.
7,306 20

Conscious Evolution: Our Next Stage

2015

Presented at the 2015 International Forum on Consciousness, Barbara explored the ideas of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and the possibilty of humanity gradually giving birth to a new planetary-scale consciousness, which she called Homo universalis.

Lecture
Added 7 weeks ago.
01:00:26 7,392 6

The Spirituality of Science

2013

Is science a religion? No... but maybe it should be.

Article
Added 11 weeks ago.
3,756

The Nature of Living Systems

1965

General systems behavior theory is a set of related definitions, assumptions, and propositions which deal with reality as an integrated hierarchy of organizations of matter and energy. General systems behavior theory is concerned with a special subset of all systems: the living ones. Even more basic to this presentation than the concept of “system” are the concepts of “space,” “time,” “matter,” “energy,” and “information,” because the living systems discussed in this paper exist in space and are made of matter and energy organized by information.

Article
Added 12 weeks ago.
11,271 9

Metapatterns: Across Space, Time, and Mind

1995

In the interdisciplinary tradition of Buckminster Fuller’s work, Gregory Bateson’s Mind and Nature, and Fritjof Capra’s Tao of Physics, Metapatterns embraces both nature and culture, seeking out the grand-scale patterns that help explain the functioning of our universe. Metapatterns begins with the archetypal patterns of space, both form-building and relational. Tyler Volk then turns to the arrows, breaks, and cycles that infuse the workings of time. With artful dexterity, he brings together many layers of comprehension, drawing on an astounding range of material from art, architecture, philosophy, mythology, biology, geometry, and the atmospheric and oceanographic sciences. Richly illustrating his metapatterns with a series of sophisticated collages prepared for this book, Volk offers an exciting new look at science and the imagination. As playful and intuitive as it is logical and explanatory, Metapatterns offers an enlightening view of the functional, universal form in space, processes in time, and concepts in mind.

Book
Added 18 weeks ago.
72,806 47

The Atomism of Spirit

1941

An attempt to understand the structure of the stuff of the universe, written in Peking (Beijing). Published in Activation of Energy.

Essay
Added 21 weeks ago.
11,702 20

How May We Conceive And Hope That Human Unanimization Will Be Realized On Earth?

1950

Written in Paris and published posthumously in The Future of Man.

Essay
Added 21 weeks ago.
2,125 4

The Human Rebound of Evolution and its Consequences

1947

This essay, published in Revue des Questions Scientifiques in 1948 and reprinted in The Future of Man, follows Teilhard's train of thought on the aftermath of a potential fusing-together of humanity.

Essay
Added 21 weeks ago.
5,513 20

Evolving Times

1995

This evening address in Sacramento is one of Terence’s funniest, in which much is said about monkeys, mushrooms, plants, and people. The question and answer session gets good and lively, with his unique analysis of UFOs, governments, and possible evolutionary pathways for us and the planet.

Lecture
Added 23 weeks ago.
02:01:20 13,475 20

The Power of Myth, Part 1: The Hero’s Adventure

1988

Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell begin their groundbreaking and timeless conversation with an exploration of the classic hero cycle, including consistent and enduring hero patterns in literature, real life, and even the Star Wars films. Campbell also encourages the audience to view parts of their own lives as heroic journeys.

Television Episode
54:38 7,461 13 89

Tao Te Ching

506 B.C.E.

Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Te Ching is one of the true classics of spiritual literature. It is a guide to cultivating a life of peace, serenity, and compassion. Through aphorisms and parable, it leads readers toward the Tao, or the “Way”: harmony with the life force of the universe.

Classic Literature
6,523 1 53

Be Here Now

1971

This book is a classic text on Hindu spirituality that bloomed open like a lotus flower in the wake of the hippie movement. The seed for this book was planted in the mind of Harvard psychiatrist turned Indian mystic, Ram Dass, and was written—with the blessings of his guru Neem Karoli Baba—for a Western audience who were, for the most part, materially rich but spiritually poor. Be Here Now offers its readers and followers a drug-free alternative for attaining higher states of consciousness, while its simple message to live in the present encourages the pursuit and cultivation of inner peace.

Book
27,972 22 48

Mr. X

1969

Written in 1969 under the pseudonym Mr. X to avoid the heavy social stigma associated with marijuana consumption at the time, Carl Sagan documented his personal experiences with cannabis in this essay in order to dispel common misconceptions about the drug. It was later published in the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered by Lester Grinspoon. Sagan enjoyed cannabis on a regular basis for the rest of his life, but never spoke of it publicly.

Essay
2,946 5 26

The Wisdom Of Insecurity

1951

This book explores man’s quest for psychological security, examining our efforts to find spiritual and intellectual certainty in the realms of religion and philosophy. The Wisdom of Insecurity underlines the importance of our search for stability in an age where human life seems particularly vulnerable and uncertain. Watts argues our insecurity is the consequence of trying to be secure and that, ironically, salvation and sanity lie in the recognition that we have no way of saving ourselves.

Book
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Out Of Your Mind 02: The Nature of Consciousness (Part 2)

Lecture
01:03:55 8,270 14 16

Out Of Your Mind 03: The Web Of Life (Part 1)

Lecture
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The Myopic View of the World

In this lecture, Alan Watts argues that we spend most of our life in a sort of myopia; that is, only perceiving a very microscopic subsection of the reality which we occupy. By mentally “zooming out,” humans can begin to see (and enjoy) the marvelous universal dance that has been unfolding since the Big Bang and is expressing itself in and through us at this very moment.

Lecture
54:04 6,980 9 14

Arcology: The City In The Image Of Man

1969

In what is considered his magnum opus, visionary architect Paolo Soleri proposed a philosophy for a new kind of urban living: the arcology, a vast city-organism designed to exist in harmony with nature. Split into two sections, the book first explains the philosophical, moral and economical necessity for humanity’s transition to arcological urban landscapes, and proposes that the general purpose of life is aesthetogenesis: the universe progressively complexifying and interconnecting, consciously reshaping itself into compassionate structures. In the second section, Soleri showcases 30 potential arcologies (including one space habitat) through the use of incredibly detailed diagrams, and explains how each was carefully designed to integrate itself economically and ecologically into the world.

Book
42,122 13 13

The Tao of Philosophy 6: Man In Nature

1965

Alan Watts explains that how we define the borders of our self determines our relationship to the environment and our role in the universe.

Lecture
54:24 6,696 7 13

Trust

Alan Watts asks whether playing the game of life is worth the effort required. The answer is, as always, simple: if you’re going to play the game, commit to it, play it well, and trust yourself to play it well.

Lecture
15:04 1,915 5 12

Out Of Your Mind 05: The Inevitable Ecstasy (Part 1)

Lecture
01:18:20 8,750 11 12