André 3000

Film

Students of Total Being

“Action which is separative, fragmentary, always leads to conflict both within and without.” - J. Krishnamurti (1960)

Tuukka Toivonen May 13, 2025

Have you ever tried meditating in a cab that meanders and jolts through the chaotic traffic of a busy city? I mean really meditate: eyes closed, back straight and with the firm intent of bringing your mind to a deep state of calm awareness (never minding how odd your behaviour might seem to the driver)? If you have, you’ll have experienced in sharp form a central dilemma facing those who wish to remain anchored within the disorder of contemporary society. By this I am referring not to the pursuit of mindfulness and calm —as vital as that is—but rather to the broader challenge of cultivating and maintaining a coherent way of being, robust enough to neutralize the many sources of disintegration that impinge on our lives. How should we approach this challenge and what does it mean for a person to embody an integrated way of being? Is it even possible to achieve a centered existence amid the cacophony of contemporary life and its myriad centrifugal forces?

There is, I believe, nothing intrinsically mystical or unattainable about developing a way of being that serves as an integrative foundation for our lives. Yet  we are dealing here with a phenomenon that—owing to its inherent holism—resists simple definition. Thus, approaching ways of being through neatly delineated explanations or prescriptions would be misplaced - there are as many unique ways of being as there are people. Moreover, all non-human organisms also exhibit distinctive ways of being in the world, as the perceptive work of James Bridle reminds us. For humans, however, there are certain qualities that I associate with those who have cultivated a mature way of being and who are continuing to place emphasis on being over doing, possessing, and competing. These tend to include things like affective and creative attunement, deep self-knowledge, emotional mastery, awareness to the more-than-human world, the pursuit of integrity and honesty, and conscious embodiment (i.e., bringing a full awareness to how we inhabit our bodies, move and relate to others in space). 

A vivid appreciation of the interdependence of all life, as well as the ability to love and respond to others with compassion, are further qualities embodied by masters such as Satish Kumar whose way of being is evident in their very presence and in everything they do and produce from day to day. Kumar’s Meditation on the Unity of Life¹ beautifully encapsulates many aspects of this encompassing orientation to life:

Left palm represents the self; right palm represents 
the world.
I bring my two palms together and by doing so I 
unite myself with the world. […]
I let go of all expectation, attachment, and anxiety.
I let go of all worry, fear, and anger.
I let go of ego.
I breathe in. I breathe out.
I smile, relax, and let go.
I am at home. I am at home. We are at home.

I once joined Kumar at Schumacher College for a morning meditation of this kind, giving me a first-hand sense of the sheer energy and joy that such “practices of being” can generate. It occurred to me afterwards that this way of relating to the world and one’s self never formed any part of my own formal education. I did, however, come into contact with similar elements and the possibility of a more unified way of being when learning karate in my early teens. At the dojo back in my Finnish hometown, every little detail had significance as part of a wider (implicit) whole: the way you tied your belt, how you bowed at the entrance, where you focused your gaze when launching a punch in the course of a kata, even how you showed humility and grace during an intense match, whether you were winning or losing. Although less reflective or meditative a practice, this was a form of mind-body holism embedded in coherent gestures, movements and concepts. 

Through these experiences, it has become easier for me to notice and appreciate how many different kinds of individuals—not limited to remarkable spiritual figures such as Kumar—successfully bring an integrated sense of being into their daily lives. Some are well-known, others are not; all seem to possess a powerful presence and appear to be guided at all times by a strong awareness and intentionality. One clear commonality that all seem to  express is a focal mind-body practice, ranging from meditation and martial arts to hiking, dance and other types of conscious movement. For some, spiritual or religious practice is more central. Beyond such characteristics that are relatively easy to observe, I believe these individuals also share a deeper essence, a vital core that I could not quite put a finger on. 

That is, until I encountered the work of Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986), the cosmopolitan Indian spiritual thinker who incisively addressed the complexities of the human condition, from happiness, love, and identity, to politics and education. Through entering into compassionate and unreserved dialogues with ordinary people, as well as many leaders, educators, and psychologists, Krishnamurti relentlessly challenged his interlocutors to transcend their conditioning,  and accept knowledge, so that they could become completely attuned to the unfolding of the present without being held back by the many distortions of thought.  

---

“The quality of our action depends on the quality of our being—that is why there is no fundamental trade-off between being and action and why evolving one’s way of being is such a crucial task.”

---

A recurring theme in Krishnamurti’s written works is his insistence that we would do well to replace our fragmented modes of being and doing with total being and total action. For Krishnamurti, it is not a  matter of trying to fine-tune or “optimize” the ways in which the various parts of  contemporary lives are put together—any such efforts that focus on efficiency or superficial “balance” are doomed to fail and breed further fragmentation, driven as they are by  greed, fear, or the desire for external approval. Rather, Krishnamurti sought to show that one could reach towards total being and action only through constant inner inquiry and observation that cast away unconscious assumptions and cleared the way for a unified awareness not subject to the divisive shenanigans of the mind. In Commentaries on Living (Series Three), he describes total being to a perplexed interlocutor as follows:

It is the feeling of being whole undivided, not fragmented—an intensity in which there is no tension no pull of desire with its contradictions. It is this intensity, this deep, unpremeditated impulse, that will break down the wall which the mind has built around itself. That wall is the ego, the ‘me’, the self. All activity of the self is separative, enclosing, and the more it struggles to break through its own barriers, the stronger those barriers become. The efforts of the self to be free only build up its own energy, its own sorrow. When the truth of this is perceived, only then is there the movement of the whole. This movement has no centre, as it has no beginning and no end; it’s a movement beyond the measure of the mind—the mind that is put together through time. The understanding of the activities of the conflicting parts of the mind, which make up the self, the ego, is meditation.

Here we find some insight on that deeper commonality that individuals with a mature way of being appear to embody: each such person is not merely oriented towards being over doing, but is a committed student of total being, as described by Krishnamurti. The ego has been (or is being) transcended, its barriers broken, the flow of an integrated awareness is liberated such that it seamlessly combines perception, thought, feeling, embodiment and action. This results in an immediacy and intensity of being that allows truth to readily surface, in any context and situation that life might generate. To truly achieve a depth and integrity of being, one cannot avoid studying total being.

Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote that the quality of our action depends on the quality of our being—that is why there is no fundamental trade-off between being and action and why evolving one’s way of being is such a crucial task. Fragmented orientations to the self can only lead to fragmented behaviors, actions and relationships. The negative consequences are grave not only in positions of leadership and influence, but also at the level of our day-to-day relationships. Conversely, transcending fragmentation can have vast positive impacts that reverberate far and wide.

For these reasons, I have begun to propose that the more action-oriented and entrepreneurial we wish to be, the more we need to cultivate our way of being. We should think less in terms of careers, jobs or personal brands—all of which amount to artificial constructs with a strongly external emphasis, and divisive and distorting effects on our lives—and instead should focus on unity of being, openness to the unknown and humility. Prior to being students of particular skills and disciplines—and prior to being designers, entrepreneurs or artists—we will do well to be students of total being.

How might your future change if you became such a student today?

---

Tuukka Toivonen, Ph.D. (Oxon.) is a sociologist interested in ways of being, relating and creating that can help us to reconnect with – and regenerate – the living world. Alongside his academic research, Tuukka works directly with emerging regenerative designers and startups in the creative, material innovation and technology sectors. 

Tuukka would like to thank Elina Osborne and Chiharu Suzuki for the suggestions they kindly  offered in the process of this article’s germination at Amigo House.

---

¹  Kumar, S. (2023) Radical Love: From Separation to Connection with the Earth, Each Other, and Ourselves. New York: Parallax Press.

Film

Iggy Pop Playlist

---

Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and actor. Since forming The Stooges in 1967, Iggy’s career has spanned decades and genres. Having paved the way for ‘70’s punk and ‘90’s grunge, he is often considered “The Godfather of Punk.”

Film

Page and Princess of Cups (Tarot Triptych)

View fullsize

Name: Page of Cups, Princess of Cups
Number: 4
Astrology: Earth of Water
Qabalah: He of He

Chris Gabriel May 10, 2025

The Page of Cups is the lowest court card in the suit of Cups. This is the cup bearer, the waterboy, the servant, and ideal helper. The Page and Princess take pleasure in pleasing, they happily refresh and heal those in need.

In Rider, the Page is a young man with black hair and a blue, squid-like turban. His blue tunic is adorned with blooming lotuses, and his undergarments are wine red. He smiles, hand on his hip, and holds a cup with a fish inside. He stands on a shore with waves behind him.

In Thoth, the Princess is a young woman with a great flowing pink dress adorned with crystals. She holds a huge shell within which a turtle sits. Her head is topped with a swan whose wings are spread out. The background is reminiscent of a Georgia O’Keefe painting and a fish leaps out from behind her.

In Marseille, we find a young man with whitish blond hair. He is the only hatless Page, in its stead is a garland of flowers. He moves to the left, and carries a cup in one hand, and in the other its lid. He is sensitive and at risk of closing off his receptive cup.

The Page of Cups is the image of Ganymede,  the most beautiful mortal whose name translates literally to “taking pleasure” and “mind”. He was so beloved by Zeus that he seized him to serve as the cupbearer to the Gods, making him immortal and eternally beautiful, but forever submissive. This is the role of the Page of Cups. The Latin form of his name, Catamitus, became an epithet for young homosexual men, equivalent to today’s “twink”. The receptivity of Cups here takes on a clear sexual significance. 

We see this role paralleled with the daughter of Zeus as the Princess of Cups. Hebe (literally “Youth”) also acted as cupbearer to the Gods and was the Goddess of eternal youth. We see a more mature form of this figure in the American Revolution’s many “Molly Pitchers” who braved the battlefield to bring water and munitions to the soldiers, often joining the fight when needed.

Materially, we can see versions of the Page and Princess of Cups in nurses, bartenders, and baristas and. We are tended to and pleased by these people, often literally given cups. Service jobs like these generally rely on tips to make them worthwhile, so the server takes up a charming and kind persona. This is one of the few daily niceties that many people have access to, the kindness of service. This is also a role many of us take on, especially as children, fetching things for family members.

When we pull this card we may feel more sensitive than usual, and can have a heightened receptivity to others. You may be called on to serve someone and be rewarded accordingly, you may also find someone willing to serve you.

---

Chris Gabriel is a twenty four year old wizard and poet who runs the YouTube channel MemeAnalysis.

CHANNEL, SOCIAL, READINGS

Film

The Magical Path of No Mind

Caspar David Friedrich, ‘Woman in Front of the Setting Sun’. 1817.

---

Molly Hankins May 8, 2025

Reaching a state of magical trance, uninfluenced by conscious or subconscious thought, is an essential element of practicing any form of magic. As described by the chaos magician and author Peter J. Carroll, “To work magic effectively, the ability to concentrate the attention must be built up until the mind can enter a trancelike condition.” If our untamed mind is interfering with our magical will, the effects we seek to create will be short-circuited. Often this materializes as a  fear of failure, over-attachment to outcome, or some egoic identification. Our minds are meaning-making machines, and that function is what we have to bypass by focusing on meaningless phenomena. 

Carroll suggests we still our minds by steering our thinking away from meaning. This alters consciousness enough to enter a heightened state of gnosis, achieved by generating different forms of inhibitory and excitatory states of mind that quiet  the inner monologue. Inhibitory states involve a progressive stilling of the body and mind until only a single object of concentration remains. Excitatory states, on the other hand, are attained by raising the body and mind to an extremely high pitch of excitement so that singular focus becomes possible as all other sensory input is overwhelmed. “Let the mind become as a flame or a pool of still water,” Carroll wrote in his chaos magic manual Liber Null and Psychonaut. 

Inhibitory methods are akin to different forms of meditation. First there is the “death posture”, where the body’s physical stillness trains the mind to respond in kind. When thoughts arise, they are to be pushed into the unconscious, which serves as a repository for all thinking that would interfere with the singular focus of magical will. 

Mirror gazing is another inhibitory approach. It involves placing a mirror about two feet away and staring into it, while holding as still as possible. Gazing at a fixed object, preferably in nature while the body remains motionless, is another method. Fasting, sleeplessness, and other form of physical exhaustion are other inhibitory methods of inducing gnosis.

---

“Singular focus is easy to hold in this state because the current of energy feels so strong it overloads all sensory and mental input.”

---

Walking meditations and magical trance can offer both inhibitory and excitatory approaches to gnosis inducement, depending on the precise methods used. For both slow, inhibitory walking or fast, excitatory walking, Carroll recommends blurring your vision so as not to focus on anything in particular. Gnostic conditions emerge from the body being occupied with the act of walking and the mind busy averting focus. Magical trance can come from inhibitory concentration on a meaningless object or excitatory methods such as chanting, dancing, over-breathing, and even laughter. Laughter is the highest emotion according to Carroll, because it can contain the full spectrum of every other emotion from ecstasy and grief. The excitatory paths to gnosis all involve some form of overload, and the easiest to access is emotional overload. Tapping into fear, anger and horror is where the most potency lies, but extreme experiences of love and grief can also be utilized. Physical pain is also an easy, albeit potentially dangerous onramp to single-pointed thinking. Lyrical exaltation through emotive poetry, song and prayer is another powerful means, and sexual arousal is a very potent gnostic practice. This method is amplified by prolonging the state of sexual excitation, whether by yourself or in partnered sex. 

An obvious question surrounding these practices is what does gnosis feel like? The answer is not the same for everyone, but when I successfully achieve a gnostic state it feels like my locus of consciousness relocates to the very center of my body and expands all the way up my spine through the top of my head. I feel my awareness and thoughts collapse into this central column and experience a surge of energy moving upwards. Singular focus is easy to hold in this state because the current of energy feels so strong it overloads all sensory and mental input. The practice of inducing gnosis means holding the state for as long as possible, even if only a few seconds, and building up stamina from there with repetition. 

Any regular meditation practice can also act as a gnosis accelerant. When our nervous system and inner monologue get used to being stilled on a daily basis, it becomes easier to access singular gnostic focus, regardless of the practice being used. Simply watching our breath, using a mantra and listening to binaural tones are all effective meditation methods that strengthen our natural magic abilities and our sense of interconnectedness with all of life.

---

Molly Hankins is an Initiate + Reality Hacker serving the Ministry of Quantum Existentialism and Builders of the Adytum.

Film

David Mamet

Film

The Slippery Slope from Anger to Rage

Young Greeks Attending a Cock Fight, 1846. Jean-Léon Gérôme.

---

Suzanne Stabile May 6, 2025

The Wisdom of the Enneagram informs how I see the world and spurs my desire to have an offering for those searching for greater understanding and peace. After more than thirty years of learning and teaching, I am more aware than ever of our need to accept that there are nine distinctly different ways of seeing and interpreting the world around us. None are right or wrong; they are expansive rather than limiting, and they are nuanced beyond our imagination.

In my offerings for Tetragrammaton, I’ve spent some time focused on the idea that we each have a default emotion, waiting to take up space in our lives if we aren’t clear about what we’re feeling. And recently I’ve felt we are living in a moment when anxiety and anger are falling on all of us unbidden and often hidden from our awareness.

Anger is the dominant emotion for Enneagram Eights, Nines, and Ones, and it is a hard emotion to define. One source called it “a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility,” but I think we can agree that we use those words now as stand-alone emotions. The other two default emotions for Enneagram Triads are shame—for Twos, Threes, and Fours—and fear—for Fives, Sixes, and Sevens. Anger and rage are more observable and therefore easier to identify than the other two. However, all of these emotional responses are both comforting and destructive in equal measure as they influence the behavior of the nine personality types.

Enneagram Eights, Nines, and Ones are in the Anger Triad, which is often referred to as the Gut Triad or the Body-Centered Triad. They receive information from the environment first in their core, or gut, which often causes a reactive rather than a measured response. All three numbers or personality types build “walls” between what they consider self and not-self, and each is built for the distinct purpose of providing the most personal safety.

For Enneagram Eights, the ego-boundary is primarily focused outward, against the environment, and their focus of attention is also outside of themselves. Eights put out a wall of energy so that nothing can get too close, shutting themselves off from vulnerability. They keep their guard up most of the time, and the more wounded they are, the tougher they make it for others to get through.

Type Ones also hold a boundary against the outside world, but they are far more interested in maintaining an internal boundary. They are vigilant about protecting themselves. We all have parts of ourselves that we don’t want to look at or that we don’t trust or approve of—parts of ourselves that make us feel anxious and unprotected. Unlike other numbers, Ones spend a lot of energy trying to hold back unconscious impulses that arise in themselves. “I hate that feeling, and I don’t want it!” they say, or “I have to find a way to stop reacting to everyone and every wrong thing that seems to surround me.” It requires a lot of energy to maintain such strong inner boundaries.

Nines invest lots of energy in protecting their ego boundaries. Internally, they are trying to keep in anything that would cause trouble, and they maintain a strong external boundary trying to keep out anything that would steal their peace. This requires a significant amount of effort, and it is the primary reason Nines have the least energy of all the types. It also explains why they don’t have as much energy as they would like for living and engaging more fully with the world.

There is so much to say about anger because it touches our lives in memorable and altogether different ways. It can be helpful, then, to identify the different ways of expressing these feelings for each of the three numbers.

Eight anger is straight-up, and then it’s over. Everyone involved, and even outside observers, know when an Eight is angry. Once it is expressed, it is finished—except for the lingering effect it has on the other person.

For Nines, anger is a more passive emotion. The peacemakers believe it is in their best interest to protect themselves by expressing anger indirectly. They choose behavior that lets others know they are angry, then hope for the impossible. They want the target of their anger to figure out the reason for their disapproval, apologize for it, and hopefully never do it again—whatever “it” is.

Enneagram Ones don’t believe anger is an acceptable response, so they rename their angry feelings as impatience, anxiety, or frustration. In choosing a substitute, they usually feel better despite it not helping to negotiate a lasting understanding in relationships.

---

“Will I have the humility to avoid the temptation to defend myself, trying to prove that I’m right?”

---

Anger is something that happens to your whole body. It’s an emotional response that you consciously feel. At its core, anger is an internal awareness of specific thoughts, feelings, and desires, and yet it is often described in other ways: “I can’t handle much more of this!” or “I obviously thought he was a better person than he is!” For all three personality types, knowing who is to blame is very important, and once the responsibility for the bad behavior is assigned, there is a tendency to simply move on.

Think about these expressions of anger and how they show up in your life. Do you yell, scream, argue, use sarcasm and cynicism, or slam things? As is true with fear and shame, at times we all spiral into behaviors that don’t serve us well. Thankfully, everything contains its opposite. Father Richard Rohr says, “Anger is good and very necessary to protect the appropriate boundaries of self and others. On the other hand, anger becomes self-defeating and egocentric when it hangs around too long after we have received its message.”

Considering that anger has a message for us, the question becomes: can we hear it if we have limited our options by reacting rather than listening? Anger tells us that something is significantly wrong, and it gives us the energy to try to make things right. At its best, anger reveals our concern for fairness, rightness, and justice. There are many times when being angry has motivated me to make changes in my life or to face problems that I have been avoiding, and I know the same is true for others.

Anger has the potential to be redirected toward greater understanding and mutually agreeable solutions. We can even use the energy it offers to move toward transformation, but we have to slow down enough to notice what is happening around us. These questions can be helpful: Are people moving toward me or away from me? In listening to the story I’m telling myself, fueled by my anger, do I pause long enough to ask myself if it’s true? Or is it just fiction that exacerbates my feelings and justifies my bad behavior? And finally, will I have the humility to avoid the temptation to defend myself, trying to prove that I’m right?

Rage is an instinctive reaction to the feeling that we must suppress ourselves in one way or another. When we are feeling judged, misunderstood, justified in our behavior, and empowered to protect ourselves, it’s hard to recognize the slippery slope that awaits us, where the space between anger and rage can be obscured by a lack of awareness. It is helpful to remember that rage is an intensified, growing anger that will be difficult to control. It is wise, therefore, to make every effort to manage anger before we become aware that anger is managing us.

Now, more than ever, we need to be mindful of the energy that accompanies anger. For all that can go wrong—and there is plenty—anger almost always increases and then regenerates the amount of energy we feel. The wisdom that comes from exploring, and perhaps limiting, our options is easily ignored when we are invigorated by a charged exchange, without stopping long enough to consider the consequences.

One of my favorite stories begins with a second-grade boy running down a long hallway in the Sunday School building, trying to catch the Pastor.

“Pastor Joe, please wait! We need your help.”
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you in Sunday School?”
“I ran out to try to catch up with you. We really need you to come to our class right away.”
“Okay. But why?”
“Because we are all behaving badly and we don’t know how to stop ourselves!”

The distance from anger to rage is not very far, and in the absence of an intervention, our ability to stop ourselves before it’s too late is unlikely. Anger can be a powerful and positive motivator, but it can also become a raging, uncontrolled force that hurts us and others. It is helpful to remember this: regardless of how painful our experiences are or may be, they are just painful experiences—until we add the response of anger or rage.

---

Suzanne Stabile is a speaker, teacher, and internationally recognized Enneagram master teacher who has taught thousands of people over the last thirty years. She is the author of ‘The Path Between Us’, and coauthor, with Ian Morgan Cron, of ‘The Road Back to You’. She is also the creator and host of The Enneagram Journey podcast. Along with her husband, Rev. Joseph Stabile, she is cofounder of Life in the Trinity Ministry, a nonprofit, nondenominational ministry committed to the spiritual growth and formation of adults.

Film

Tyler Cowen Playlist

Tyler Cowen May 5th, 2025

Death of the artist is not the only reason not to finish a work, but as you will see in this playlist it is a very common reason. Or sometimes they just get tired of the song.

---

Tyler Cowen is Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and serves as chairman and general director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. With colleague Alex Tabarrok, Cowen is coauthor of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution and cofounder of the online educational platform Marginal Revolution University.

Film

Hannah Peel Playlist

---

Mercury Prize, Ivor Novello and Emmy-nominated, RTS and Music Producers Guild winning composer, with a flow of solo albums and collaborative releases, Hannah Peel joins the dots between science, nature and the creative arts, through her explorative approach to electronic, classical and traditional music.

Film

Eight of Cups (Tarot Triptych)

View fullsize

Name: Indolence, the Eight of Cups
Number: 8
Astrology: Saturn in Pisces
Qabalah: Hod of He

Chris Gabriel May 3, 2025

The Eight of Cups is the inevitable hangover that follows the overindulgence of Sevens’ Debauch. Here, the pleasures that have defined the past two cards in the suit are completely dulled. This is a painfully boring situation. 

In Rider, we find a man departing from a rocky shore. Eight cups are stacked on the sand and a sad Moon gazes down upon him. He dons a red cloak,red boots, and walks with a stick. This is an image straight out of Rimbaud’s A Season in Hell, when after his lengthy complaints and fantasies he says “Here I am on the shores of Breton. Let the cities light up in the evening. My day is done; I’m leaving Europe.”

In Thoth, we have eight cups atop eight sickly, pale lily pads, as two withering lotuses spew water into the system. The waters are swampy and the sky is filled with dark clouds. This card is the heavy dull weight of Saturn in the depths of the Piscean. It is the high pressure one feels when deep sea diving.

In Marseille, we have eight cups and a sprawling flower. In this card, Jodorowsky sees an image of fullness, rather than hangover. Qabalistically this card is “The Intelligence of the Queen”,hich here we can take to mean “knowing when enough is enough”. While Rider and Thoth fall into overindulgence and depression, Marseille exercises restraint.

This is a fairly hopeless card: the party is over, and what remains is a hangover. Often, we indulge to achieve a “high”, to have pleasures, sensual and emotional, and we generally just can’t get enough of these, so we overindulge. Saturn, as the strict and authoritarian planet, despises overindulgence and punishes accordingly with a hangover. If we stay up all night, we suffer the next day - what goes up must come down. If we can accept this, we can achieve the more enlightened position of Marseille, we can get just enough pleasure tonight and not ruin tomorrow.

The boredom and depression this card represents can ultimately serve us though, for it is in stillness and inactivity that the seeds of movement are born. It is only through a willing delve into the depth that we can achieve any heights. 

Materially, the card draws up images of Leviathan and strange deep sea life. In our lives, this tends to signify a period of melancholy and depression, or directly a hangover. It may simply be “bad air” or dark clouds over one's head. If we willingly accept the heavy darkness of the depth, we will rise to even greater heights

---

Chris Gabriel is a twenty four year old wizard and poet who runs the YouTube channel MemeAnalysis.

CHANNEL, SOCIAL, READINGS

Film