Thought For The Day

"The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you've gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit. Once you've gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning. Once you've gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?” -  Zhuangzi

Thought for the Day

“Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil. But for my part I have long perceived the nature of good and its nobility, the nature of evil and its meanness, and also the nature of the culprit himself, who is my brother (not in the physical sense, but as a fellow-creature similarly endowed with reason and a share of the divine); therefore none of those things can injure me, for nobody can implicate me in what is degrading. Neither can I be angry with my brother or fall foul of him; for he and I were born to work together, like a man’s two hands, feet or eyelids, or the upper and lower rows of his teeth. To obstruct each other is against Nature’s law – and what is irritation or aversion but a form of obstruction.”  ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I have been reading the posthumously published book of Marcus Aurelius which has been entitled "Meditations." It was never a book about meditating nor did the author give his work a title. It was a journal the Roman Emperor updated daily. I think Marcus Aurelius was right in so much he had to say. What I find odd is the way followers of such wisdom, having discovered and absorbed the wisdom shared, still divide that wisdom into convenient groups. If Marcus Aurelius was Stoic then so was Siddartha Guatama. as was Jiddu Krishnamurti but also Lao Tzu. The similarities they shared reveal how the differences they had were in the name their followers created after their deaths, not the wisdom they spoke off in life. We really do not need groups or symbols for neither attach any worth or add any truth.

The only sight alteration I would make to the above quote is regarding good and evil as they surely are man-made concepts but not nature made?

The Wisdom of Friar Richard Rhor

Without going out of your door

Without going out of doors one may know the whole world; without looking out of the window, one may see the Way of Heaven. The further one travels, the less one may know. 

Thus it is that without moving you shall know; without looking you shall see; without doing you shall achieve.

faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of them all is love.

“Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one.

Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;

never selfish, not quick to take offense.

There is nothing love cannot face;

there is no limit to its faith,

its hope, and endurance.

In a word, there are three things

that last forever: faith, hope, and love;

but the greatest of them all is love.” - Biblical Quote

1st Verse of the Tao Te Ching

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao;

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth.

The named is the mother of ten thousand things.

Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.

Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.

These two spring from the same source but differ in name;

this appears as darkness.

Darkness within darkness.

The gateway to all mystery.

Paradoxes fill Eastern Philosophy. Paradoxes that to the Western mind can cause conflict and confusion. Yet these paradoxes are not so paradoxical as they first seem. When we humans name a thing, a thing that is greater than us, inexplicable to us, seemingly unknowable and strange to us, we then seek to give it a name so that we can better understand that which we cannot fully comprehend. We could name the great unknowable God or truth or Dharma or nature. The name is immaterial. It is our desire to know the thing that confuses us that causes the problem. Desire of itself presents only greater issues yet once we simply accept that what is is what is, when we stop trying to fathom the unfathomable so we begin to be free of desire and start to be part of the endless continuum. By allowing rather than wanting so we proceed through life contented. It is our desire for things that produces adverse problems within our minds. Stop wanting. Start allowing.

On Leadership by Marcus Aurelius - A Prayer for Donald Trump

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor. But not just any Roman Leader nor for that matter just any leader. He was an exceptional leader and a very exceptional man. The modern world would be better off to have, if we need leaders at all, more like him. His rules were much like his lifestyle, simple.

1. Get along with other people
2. Be hardworking and conscientious
3. Don’t seek praise or flatter others
4. Don’t be afraid of criticism
5. Be content with the simple things in life

“Among men who rise to fame and leadership two types are recognizable—those who are born with a belief in themselves and those in whom it is a slow growth dependent on actual achievement. To the men of the last type their own success is a constant surprise, and its fruits the more delicious, yet to be tested cautiously with a haunting sense of doubt whether it is not all a dream. In that doubt lies true modesty, not the sham of insincere self-depreciation but the modesty of “moderation,” in the Greek sense. It is poise, not pose.”

The people of America need all the strength and love their President can muster for he has a task with the coronavirus that requires all those component parts but also George Floyd's murder and the subsequent riots to deal with. He needs to have and to adopt - love, fortitude, modesty, to be hardworking, conscientious, unafraid of criticism but above all else to remember Marcus Aurelius words - "Understand that people exist to help one another." 

A Special Message To The World from His Holiness The Dalai Lama

My dear brothers and sisters,

I am writing these words in response to repeated requests from many people around the world. Today, we are passing through an exceptionally difficult time due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to this, further problems confront humanity such as extreme climate change. I would like to take this opportunity to express my admiration and gratitude to governments across the world, including the Government of India, for the steps they are taking to meet these challenges.

Ancient Indian tradition describes the creation, abiding and destruction of worlds over time. Among the causes of such destruction are armed conflict and disease, which seems to accord with what we are experiencing today. However, despite the enormous challenges we face, living beings, including humans, have shown a remarkable ability to survive.

No matter how difficult the situation may be, we should employ science and human ingenuity with determination and courage to overcome the problems that confront us. Faced with threats to our health and well-being, it is natural to feel anxiety and fear. Nevertheless, I take great solace in the following wise advice to examine the problems before us: If there is something to be done—do it, without any need to worry; if there’s nothing to be done, worrying about it further will not help.

Everyone at present is doing their best to contain the spread of the coronavirus. I applaud the concerted efforts of nations to limit the threat. In particular, I appreciate the initiative India has taken with other SAARC countries to set up an emergency fund and an electronic platform to exchange information, knowledge and expertise to tackle the spread of Covid-19. This will serve as a model for dealing with such crises in future as well.

I understand that as a result of the necessary lockdowns across the world, many people are facing tremendous hardship due to a loss of livelihood. For those with no stable income life is a daily struggle for survival. I earnestly appeal to all concerned to do everything possible to care for the vulnerable members of our communities.

I offer special gratitude to the medical staff—doctors, nurses and other support personnel—who are working on the frontline to save lives at great personal risk. Their service is indeed compassion in action.

With heartfelt feelings of concern for my brothers and sisters around the world who are passing through these difficult times, I pray for an early end to this pandemic so that your peace and happiness may soon be restored.
 
With my prayers,

Dalai Lama

Silence and the Fool

Seneca

Marcus Aurelius

Rumi

Quote

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"The weak seek strong leaders

The strong seek no leaders."

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On Covid 19 and the now.

There have been many coronaviruses. This is another. More contagious than the others but, as yet, has not killed as many as Influenza whose death toll thus far is in the region of 100 million. It is a frightening time. Our response has to be cautious. Caution plus hygiene. Fear is no companion it is a falsehood.  Fear is controllable.

When I was receiving treatment for cancer I became fearful. Not of cancer. Not of dying but of having a seizure. In my lifetime I have had many. Most of the seizures I have had date back to my childhood. The thoughts I get from seizures are related to my childhood experiences. They were horrible. Terrifying.  I wasn't fearful of death but of the pain seizures cause. Once I managed to deal with that I was able to manage my mind.

As of now, I am still alive. Now is all I have. I am alive. One day, perhaps tomorrow, perhaps later today, I will die but now, I AM ALIVE. Fear is based on what might be but what might be might never be, it might never happen. It is all in your mind.

Thoughts on a Sunday

I regularly receive via email updates from SAND (Science And Non-Dualiy). They arrive every couple of days and make for life-enhancing reading.  This from Joanna Macy...

"The truest form of touching the reality of this moment is this: to experience our capacity to praise and love our world, as it is. Even when it’s on fire. But how can we fall in love with what is, as we experience the loss of species and collapse of ecosystems, face the effects of climate change in our own backyards, the injustice in our own communities? As the heartbreak rolls through our collective heart, perhaps the better question is how can we afford not to? Why should our love be conditioned by whether our world is healthy? It is a time of terror and promise. Loving what is is the only way forward.  "We will probably not know in our lifetimes whether we are serving as deathbed attendants to a dying world or as midwives to the next stage of human evolution, we simply can’t know, and that’s the blessing. Our job is to be willing to show up anyway, to keep our eye on the Great Turning and our hearts together, to offer ourselves fully to this world that needs us so, without hope of results."

Epicurus

Lao Zi

Those who understand others are clever, those who understand themselves are wise. - Tao Te Ching 33

Science is often Spirituality in Denial

For the past few Sunday's I have posted YouTube videos of scientists either talking about meditation or about consciousness. The latter has long been overlooked by science, dismissed even for it is not an object science can study or measure therefore they cannot label it or try to define it yet it most certainly exists. Now though there are many scientists, Peter Russell being one along with many others who are studying the knotty issue of consciousness. 

MRI scans have been taken that proves the efficacy of meditation again this is where science has done what science does best and investigated what has always been an issue related to spirituality. After all, meditation is but a mental exercise, one that alleviates not only anxiety and stress as it aids mental health conditions but also and most certainly increases creativity. It also makes a person more tolerant and even more loving. These previously unproven theories are now a matter of fact, an empirical, unassailable truth with supporting data to prove the point. Meditation does indeed work as neuroscientists confirm. 

Consciousness is now the foremost puzzle for science to puzzle over. It may be impossible to analyse what it is let alone find how the mechanics of it function. We know it is there but we don't how it got there nor how it works. We do know it is not matter. Does it, like light consist of photons? We don't know.  Yet despite the seemingly impossible task of finding out science is now researching the impossible. For so long, certainly in modern times, science has taken on the role of protagonist to a spirituality that smacks of something magical, mystical or supernatural. There has been for centuries other meanings to what spirituality is. Science and scientists sit in awe and wonder as they explore the mechanics of life. Science is often spirituality in denial. Now though, and for a very long time it has to be said, scientists are bridging the divide between what have been opposing schools of thought and are now revealing a truth that shows the two disciplines walking hand in hand, they are in fact the one coin with two sides. The same essence.

A few words from Sanskrit describing consciousness not all of these I prescribe to but. interesting all the same.

1. atman: the spiritual life principle of the universe, especially when regarded as immanent in the individual’s real self (talks about the unconscious part of ‘me’ as if it belongs to the Cosmos or somehow is connected to the Universe around by a string)

1. akasha: a supposed all-pervading field in the ether in which a record of past events is imprinted (not just a word, this phrase looks like a principle of Science in itself. We started relating to this only after Einstein’s theory of relativity)

1. citta: Related to but not confined to the mind alone. It is rather the whole mind & body awareness pervading the mind, the ego, the intelligence, the senses, the organs of action, the nervous system, and various types of breathes. Citta is also a kind of energy field having the ability to reflect the objects internally in the consciousness that are perceived through the senses.

1. dharma:One’s personal path in life, the fulfillment of which leads to a higher state of consciousness. (This is as close as religion has been defined in the language)

1. dhyana:The focusing of attention on a particular spiritual idea in continuous meditation.

1. ishwara:Personal manifestation of the supreme; the cosmic self; cosmic consciousness. (We are all cosmic citizens, aren’t we?)

1. maya:The illusions the physical world generates to ensnare our consciousness. (Yeah, we see the capitalistic world spearheading one such illusion)

1. moksha:The attainment of liberation from the worldly life.

1. nirvana:The transcendental state that is beyond the possibility of full comprehension or expression by the ordinary being enmeshed in the concept of selfhood.

1. samadhi:State of enlightenment of superconsciousness. The union of the individual consciousness with cosmic consciousness

In spite of militant atheism. In spite of fundamentalist theism. Science is investigating possibilities and probabilities.with awe and wonder and seeking the truth. Is that not spirituality?

Ram Dass

Ram Dass died some days ago. He was a man whose words touched many. The following touch me deeply. They contain an undeniable truth. I am experiencing this love now.

"Unconditional love really exists in each of us. It is part of our deep inner being. It is not so much an active emotion as a state of being. It's not 'I love you' for this or that reason, not 'I love you if you love me.' It's love for no reason, love without an object."

Robert Spira - Potter

"The discovery that peace, happiness and love are ever-present within our own Being, and completely available at every moment of experience, under all conditions, is the most important discovery that anyone can make."