🌀🐇 #105 consciousness, how to flourish, samurai archer

Plus Congratulate Yourself  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ​ ​ ​ ⚡️ Enlightening Bolts 🧠The Strong Assumption: The central challenge to a science of consciousness is that we can never acquire direct evidence of consciousness apart from our own experience. [Read it here.]()​ 🌻 How To Flourish: Practical Activities Supported by Scientific Research. [Read it here.](=)​ 📚 The Library of Consciousness: A library of quotes from fascinating thinkers pondering the wonders of being. [Check it out here.]()​ 🎇 Image of The Week ​ "Rainbow glass gem corn was invented by Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee farmer who lived in Oklahoma. To create the multicolored ears, he collected ancient corn seeds and cross-bred several ancestral corn varieties together, which resulted in a single ear containing a spectrum of hues.⁠Barnes, who died in 2016, dedicated his farming career to preserving the seeds of traditional Native American corn varieties as a way of staying true to his roots." [Read more here.](=)​ 👏 Congratulate Yourself I have the impression that far too many of us are heavy-handed with our internal criticisms and extremely sparing with our celebration. Even if your life doesn't look like your grand vision... Even if there are things that really bother you and gnaw at you on a daily basis... Even if you see that you're not fully living up to your potential... There are reasons to celebrate. Take an accounting of the things that you've overcome. Take stock of all the things that you've accomplished. So often we cross the finish line and immediately move on to the next thing without appreciating the beauty we've created. So today, I encourage you to take a moment. For a little while, step out of the rat race and the endless pursuit of more, better, further. Pause. And congratulate yourself for the good work that you're doing, the good person you're being, and all the ways that you attempt to live into your brilliance. 🌳 Reframing Wisdom Savor these beautiful words from Bayo Akomolafe: "To be wise is to move with the world. It is to be oriented in a certain way and to be in relation with the world's ongoing rehearsals of itself. It is the intensity of a field materializing as a body-in-movement. In this sense, wisdom is not a thing to be had, not a property governed by systems of ownership and identity, and not an achievement per se. Moreover, communicability is not the heart of wisdom: as a nonverbal autistic child might sense, as a murmuration of starlings might intuit, as a flowering plant bending to the glory of the sun might already know, there are other ways for the eloquence of wisdom to move things that have nothing to do with speaking. But perhaps the most inviting insight gained by reframing wisdom as ecological relations and embodied attunements is that we are suddenly faced with a simultaneous revitalization of stupidity - not as lack, not as evil, not as deficiency, but as that which boundaries wisdom in its flows. That which gives it shape, without which wisdom would make no mark upon the world. If wisdom is orientation, and if orientation invites directionality, then wisdom is not a totalizing grasp of everything - but imperviousness to specific directions in order to touch the world and be touched in return." 🤓 Learn This Word Polysemanticity: a phenomenon that shows how neural networks often pack many unrelated concepts into a single neuron 🤯 HighExistence Housekeeping HighExistence is a collective of creators devoted to spreading wisdom, wonder, and well-being. Here I'll keep you updated on the latest happenings in our ecosystem: Psychedelic Healing Retreats with Jordan Bates: HighExistence OG Jordan Bates and his fiance Tanja Schomann are hosting two Ayahuasca & Bufo alvarius retreats at a shamanic jungle sanctuary in Mexico in late November of 2022. Find out more and apply for these two life-changing retreats: [Presence of God]()and [Women Rising.](​ ⏳ From The Archives A hand-picked classic HighExistence article. ​[Zanshin: Learning the Art of Attention and Focus From a Legendary Samurai Archer](=)​ In the 1920s, a German man named Eugen Herrigel moved to Japan and began training in Kyudo, the Japanese martial art of archery. Herrigel was taught by a legendary Kyudo master named Awa Kenzo. Kenzo was convinced that beginners should master the fundamentals of archery before attempting to shoot at a real target, and he took this method to the extreme. For the first four years, Herrigel was only allowed to shoot at a roll of straw just seven feet away. When he was finally allowed to shoot at targets on the far end of the practice hall, Herrigel’s performance was dismal. The arrows flew off course, and he became more discouraged with each wayward shot. Herrigel was convinced his problem was poor aim, but Kenzo replied that it was not whether you aimed, but how you approached your goal that determined the outcome. Frustrated with his teacher, Herrigel blurted out, “Then you ought to be able to hit it blindfolded.” Kenzo paused for a moment and then said, “Come to see me this evening.” ​[Continue Reading](=)​ Access 92 Summaries Of Books That Will Make You Better Stairway To Wisdom is our premium newsletter and library of wisdom-packed book summaries. [Get Your Free Trial](=) 🎬 Endnote We hope you enjoyed this issue of Down The Rabbit Hole. Feel free to reply and tell us what you think. Want to help us spread the word? We love sharing these gems of wisdom and wonder with you each week. If you love receiving them and want to help us spread the word, here is one quick way you can do that: Forward this email to one friend. That's it. It will take 5 seconds and will help us spread the good vibes and reach more people. We appreciate you. With Wonder, Mike Slavin & The HighExistence Team P.S. Did a friend forward you this email? Read previous issues and sign-up to receive future issues here: [(​ ​ ​ Mike Slavin ​[Connect With Me!](=)​ ​ ​[Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 40 E. Main St. #1137, Newark, DE 19711 [Built with ConvertKit](=)