What is existentialism?

Who are we? What is life, and what are the laws that govern it? What is its meaning and purpose? What is real; what is unreal? What is truth, health, evil, disease, death? How are these elements of existence cognized and understood?

The term “existential” is used to connote whatever deals with the above issues.

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Are We Free?

Are we free, or are we enslaved?

Most people don’t realize that they are enslaved. It is so widespread that they think it is just natural to be paralyzed with fear. So the first thing is to know the difference between being enslaved and being free. Once we know that we can be enslaved when we could be free, then the question is, What is the next step?

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Ambition

There are three frequent afflictions which people tend to suffer from: pride, ambition, and vanity. It is hard to measure which of these is worse, but it would seem that ambition is the most troublesome. . . It is full of frustration because if one succeeds, one gets sicker; and if one fails, one also gets sicker.

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How Can I Get My Two-Year Old to Stop . . . ?

Children are influenced by three factors in parental consciousness: what the parents cherish, what they hate and what they fear. Therefore, healthy parenthood is impossible just on the basis of good intentions or self-sacrificing love. Parents can be loving, generous and devoted, and move heaven and earth for the sake of a child, but if they don’t understand these three elements in consciousness, they may be of little benefit.

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“Our Hearts are Broken”

President Obama opened his heartfelt speech in Tucson, Arizona with this phrase.And, it is true. Our hearts are broken by what happened this past Saturday in Tucson, Arizona.

This confirms a universal Truth - that what happened is wrong. We agree on that. There is nothing good about a disturbed individual shooting innocent others.

On the other hand, the individual responses to the violence, and to those who were hurt by the violence, is recognized by all as good.

These two self-evident truths sum up our purpose in life.

The recognition of what is good and the healing of what is not. In every moment of our lives, this is the task.

God did not plan this tragedy, nor was it anyone’s destiny to be hurt or killed in this untimely violent manner. Neither was it anyone’s goal to heroically charge the violent attacker or in anyone’s dayplanner to sacrifice themselves in an attempt to save the one they loved.

Yet, the choice between violence and peace, fear and love, happens everyday in an infinite amount of ways, large and small, and this is our purpose – to choose love over fear; to respond to real needs over reacting out of personal frustration.