The French philosopher Descartes (1596-1650) was certain that we could alleviate chaos and provide certainty through rational means. His reigning philosophy was one of separating the mystery of Spirit from the life of the body. Reason ruled and sensing, feeling; intuition, and emotions, took a backseat to logic and conceptual thinking. And that philosophy continues to rule to this day, although quantum physics and other scientific research are pointing to a reality beyond the perceptions of our strictly rational brain. This deep dialogue explores the embodied spiritual path and what it means to live more consciously in a human body. He says, “The body is 3 billion years of evolution and there’s a tremendous wisdom and intelligence in it that moves us towards wisdom, connection, mutuality, and interdependence. We are educated out of that. I’m not talking against rational thinking, because we are rational beings too. But there’s a whole array of deep wisdom that we no longer have access to. And, I think that this lack of wisdom is one of the reasons that most conflict turns to violence.”
