About This Site

This section of WoodMoor Village represents a simple attempt to give form to a post-humanist practice of mindfulness, and a gathering of the threads that help me develop what Jack Kornfield has called A Path With Heart, an ethical approach to life. WoodMoor Village has been around since 1996 in various incarnations. This Typepad.com version dates from the beginning of Summer 2004.

What is Post-humanism?

For now suffice it to say this: post-humanism, not to be confused with transhumanism although both  indeed share alike (transhumanism is a kind of cybernetic deconstruction of humanism and embodied subjectivity), is "humanism after the fall." After what fall? After the recognition that some tenets of enlightenment humanism were untenable, such as a reductive materialist empiricism, and the belief in an autonomous always rational self or subject as seat and author of history, as universal origin of action and meaning. Another way to say this is that post-humanism is the realization that "man" is NOT the measure of all things, as Protagoras would have had us believe.

Post-humanism has been duly informed by post-structural and post-modern thought, and constitutes a "growing up" from the more reductive tendencies of humanism. Perhaps the most central or core concept in post-humanist thought is the "construction of subjectivity" (something that trans-humanism takes quite far). Do take a detour through the critical theory version of post-humanism, and then through the emergent posthumanism/transhumanism literature. It is all quite provocative.

None of this means however, that humanists lose their focus on reason or secularism. It does call us to a deep contemplation of interconnectedness, of interbeing, of recognizing the delusions of selfhood and the excesses of the ego. So, I consider it quite consonant with Zen thought (in some respects anyway).

Wkipedia has a brief entry on post-humanism here. It does need development.

WoodMoor Village

I would like this weblog to serve as a bell of mindfulness for myself and others. Since I am a humanist (post-humanist) and a-theist (non-theist), the approach of this blog is what I call "Zen Post-Humanism." By that I mean an ethical philosophy and practice that calls for deep critical questioning of "self," and for deep contemplation of the human experience as a way to free ourselves from delusions and build a more humane world.

In any case, WoodMoor Village is a blog devoted to fun, learning, mindfulness, and whatever else strikes my fancy.

This blog is pretty eclectic and serves as an outlet for my thoughts and ideas about mindfulness, ethics, humanism, politics, etc. In fact, it is best described as a space for exploring the blending of a Zen mindfulness practice with a post-humanist philosophy. I'm interested in Philosophy, Ethics, Politics, Social Theory, Religious Studies, etc., and often post about such subjects.

Why WoodMoor? Because I find peace and solace in woods, in glens, in lakes, in nature. Walking through a grove of trees, giant witnesses to life, serves as a mindfulness bell and soothes my...soul? Nope. Just me. No soul here. If you want to read more about mindfulness read here.

I am non-religious, non-theist, and non-supernaturalist, but I believe people can experience wonder and awe at the mysterious or unknown in nature. I'm also intrigued by, and friendly to, philosophy of religion or liberal theological positions that challenge traditional understandings of religion (see for instance, Bishop Spong, Lloyd Geering, Don Cupitt, and others). Lastly, I'm also an ordained lay member of Thich Nhat Hanh's Order of Interbeing. My dharma name is True Mountain of Compassion.

Ethical Threads

The main ethical threads that animate me and this blog are various. You can find them outlined in the About Me part of this blog, or read the various ethical statements on the column titled Doxa. The key components are:

• the practice of mindfulness meditation, especially as practiced through the Community of Mindful Living under the guidance of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh,
  


• an approach to ethical living exemplified by the 5 Mindfulness Traininings, the 14 Mindfulness Trainings, and the basic ethical principles of the American Ethical Union (see the site for these),
  


• Humanist affirmations,
  


• my strong belief in a non-theistic, non-supernaturalist, humanist philosophy that I articulate thusly:
  

I believe we help construct the world we inhabit and the one others will inherit, thus we should work for peace, harmony, compassion, and lovingkindness toward all. Moreover, we should work toward those goals here on earth, and not to gain some "greater' reward in some distant and fanciful heaven. We can and should strive to build a haven on earth in which our concerns should not revolve around gods or this or that religion but around the construction of a more humane and peaceful world.

To that end, I value ethical insight that does not promote discrimination, hatred, damnation and hellfire, or any other form of intolerance. Freedom of mind, reason and critical thinking are central to my practice, ethics, and approach to life.

In essence, I believe that justice, compassion, and peace are central to humanity, and that we should always strive to live by such goals. In shorthand: the three Cs: critical sense, our common humanity, and the common good. We have more in common than we think. The lists above are but a starting place, and certainly not the whole So, there it is. I hope you find the site interesting.

Typepad

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Thanks for visiting!