Into the Absurd

What is the goal of meditation? An opinion piece.

I discuss the concept of existential weight through the analysis of Milan Kundera's novel, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". I draw from the writings of Frederick Nietzsche, Jean Paul Sartre, as well as a few others.  Check out On Death and God by clicking on the previous episode or simply going to my website at into-the-absurd.com  Outro provided by Brock Tanya  Peace out.  References: Nietzsche's The Gay Science, "The Greatest Weight"  Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"

Is your life worth more than your will to live?  Follow John on a mind-bending quest through Hell to slay the gods and save everything he ever loved.  Amazon e-Book link PDF or ePub file download link Chapter time stamps:  Intro – 00:00 Dear Reader – 05:43 The Dream – 07:35 Welcome to the Machine – 16:50 Dead and Dying – 43:16 Life and Living – 50:29 The Storm – 01:26:31 All The Way Down – 01:38:56 Under the Stars – 02:06:09 The Desert of High Noon - 02:12:43 The Forbidden Fruit – 02:22:06 Into the Abyss – 02:32:28 Ultimatums of a Dead Man – 02:47:43 The Souls of the Damned – 02:52:37 Eternity – 03:06:31 The Labyrinth – 03:19:21 The Eternal Flame – 03:44:27 The Light – 04:03:01 The Serpent – 04:13:13 The Man Who Killed God – 04:20:05 On Death and God – 04:23:23 Epilogue – 04:38:27 Notes from the Editor – 04:39:39 Referenced works (not read in audio book--only in written version): Nietzsche’s The Gay Science, aphorism 125 “The Madman” Christopher Ryan in his podcast, Tangentially Speaking Netflix TV series, Black Mirror Carl Jung’s The Undiscovered Self Ted Kaczynski’s “Industrial Society and its Future” Dr. Chris Ryan’s Civilized to Death Camus’ The Stranger There is a very large number of translations of the Bhagavad-Gita that currently exist. “I am come as Death, destroyer of worlds.” Is said in many different ways across these translations.  See Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil quote, “The good man sees the whole world as evil.” Also see Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael. See Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols, “How the ‘Real World’ at last became a myth” Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World See Sturgill Simpson’s “Turtles All the Way Down” from Metamodern Sound in Country Music.  Twilight of the Idols , “The Four Great Errors”. Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha Philip Mainlander’s concept of the universe being the heat death of God  Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus” Nietzsche’s “The Three Metamorphoses” from Thus Spoke Zarathustra Sturgill Simpson’s “Make Art Not Friends” from Sound and Fury See history of the first assassins: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/assassins Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil Nietzsche’s quote, “One repays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil.” From Thus Spoke Zarathustra Mentioned Songs “Come as You Are” by Nirvana “A Horse with No Name” by America “The Trip” by Still Corners

What is morality? I discuss Mill, Kant, the 10 Commandments, Hammurabi's code (I mistakenly call him "Morabe"), hunters and gatherers, Nietzsche's "Beyond Good and Evil", as well as Zapffe's "The Last Messiah".   Outro provided by Brock Tanya.

Go to into-the-absurd.com and scroll down to the red button that says “On Death and God”. Click on it, and you will be able to buy the EPUB or PDF file for $5.00. Much love, peace out!

I discuss the concept of morality, Jung's sacred word, the myth of "progress", and the savior/hero architype. Outro provided by Brock Tanya.  On Death and God:  https://into-the-absurd.com/2022/12/20/on-death-and-god/

I discuss the importance of gratitude as well as the arguments for and against universal beauty (tackling free will, God vs atheism, the biological explanation, whether beauty actually is universal, etc.). I also go over my view on religion, and why I think atheists don't give theists enough credit.  Outro provided by Brock Tanya. 

An analysis of Schopenhauer's essay, "The Wisdom of Life".  Outro provided by Brock Tanya.  Read essay here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10741/10741-h/10741-h.htm

Another thought

Mr. Royce Johnson returns to the ITA podcast to discuss Nietzsche's Twilight of the Idols, "What the Germans Lack", aphorisms 6 and 7 on education. Royce is an English teacher at Coeur d'Alene high school, and I attended his class in my senior year. His English class served as my formal introduction to higher level philosophy, which is interesting being that Friedrich Nietzsche started off as a philologist--someone who studies language. Prior to recording the podcast, Royce suggested that I read "On Language" by George Orwell, which is an interesting essay regarding doublespeak, euphemisms, etc.  Sources: "Twilight of the Idols" by Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by R.J. Hollingdale