...Like The Waves Rise Up From The Sea...
Lawrence Krauss is one of our brilliant physicists. Brilliant physicists can make you laugh like Buddhist masters can, as they try to put into words the nature or existence. Why we even try to do this for each other is the mystery of love - mutually "destructive" enlightenment to balance the constructs of our minds.
Showing posts with label Enlightenment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Enlightenment. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Veiled Truth
Q: What exactly is this truth you mentioned that Jesus speaks about when he says: "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free"?
MM: It doesn't matter. Don't concern yourself at all about what it might be, or might be like. Just know - deep down, and with your complete trust and all the love in your heart - that you will indeed know it. Accept that this is a 100% reliable source making this promise to you. Then you become ready to receive it. That is all that matters, that you become receptive. Don't concern yourself with this truth in any other way. You will not need your intellect, your understanding, or any past experience to recognize this truth to be The Truth. It will be self evident and beyond doubt. It will not be a thought, an idea, an image, a feeling, or anything else you are used to or could possibly imagine. That all has to get out of the way.
That is what meditation is - just practicing getting all thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings, images...out of the way, so that the veil can get lifted from your eyes.
MM: It doesn't matter. Don't concern yourself at all about what it might be, or might be like. Just know - deep down, and with your complete trust and all the love in your heart - that you will indeed know it. Accept that this is a 100% reliable source making this promise to you. Then you become ready to receive it. That is all that matters, that you become receptive. Don't concern yourself with this truth in any other way. You will not need your intellect, your understanding, or any past experience to recognize this truth to be The Truth. It will be self evident and beyond doubt. It will not be a thought, an idea, an image, a feeling, or anything else you are used to or could possibly imagine. That all has to get out of the way.
That is what meditation is - just practicing getting all thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings, images...out of the way, so that the veil can get lifted from your eyes.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday's MeditationMom Moment - Losing My Religion
Q: How can you be religious or spiritual without following a certain religion, teaching or moral code?
MM: By being yourself. And by trusting deeply.
Even if you are still driven by wrong motives - by being yourself and by paying very close attention you will learn and discover the truth. It is not a question of being moral or immoral, religious or non-religious, or anti-religion. It is a question of becoming more and more aware. More and more sensitive. At the highest level of sensitivity the final jump into oneness can happen.
There are many alternatives to religion in order to go beyond fear and desire . Fear and desire are at the root of all so-called evil that religions try to fight. The root of all fears and desires , in turn, is the idea that there is an "I". Realizing the illusion of this "I" simply takes great sensitivity and power of observation which can be gained through meditation, or as I said earlier - paying attention. Fundamentally meditation means paying utmost attention to the most subtle.
MM: By being yourself. And by trusting deeply.
Even if you are still driven by wrong motives - by being yourself and by paying very close attention you will learn and discover the truth. It is not a question of being moral or immoral, religious or non-religious, or anti-religion. It is a question of becoming more and more aware. More and more sensitive. At the highest level of sensitivity the final jump into oneness can happen.
There are many alternatives to religion in order to go beyond fear and desire . Fear and desire are at the root of all so-called evil that religions try to fight. The root of all fears and desires , in turn, is the idea that there is an "I". Realizing the illusion of this "I" simply takes great sensitivity and power of observation which can be gained through meditation, or as I said earlier - paying attention. Fundamentally meditation means paying utmost attention to the most subtle.
Friday, January 9, 2009
If You Were A Cow...
... you would definitely want to live in India...
... and not in the US or any other country with meat and animal product manufacturing plants. (This links to a factual, but brutal video - my apologies - "viewer discretion advised". It is the kind of video I used to send my kids off to friends' (and their Moms) with, and only if they were teasing my children or trying to scare them about being vegetarians. Our video was even worse - it included the pig rape rack where sows were being impregnated.)
YouTube's existence, and therefor getting this information out - in pictures! - to the unsuspecting consumer who doesn't equate his juicy hamburger or scrambled eggs with these levels of insanity and brutality, is like Gutenberg finally printing the Bible in terms of social impact.
Even if only reducing our animal product consumption, to get our food from places like Whole Foods and farmer's markets where they can guarantee humane treatment of the animals we eat and their gifts to us like eggs and milk, is highly advisable.
If you were a cow in India you could even become enlightened...
Ramana Maharshi's Love of all Beings (Title links to where I found this article)
YouTube's existence, and therefor getting this information out - in pictures! - to the unsuspecting consumer who doesn't equate his juicy hamburger or scrambled eggs with these levels of insanity and brutality, is like Gutenberg finally printing the Bible in terms of social impact.
Even if only reducing our animal product consumption, to get our food from places like Whole Foods and farmer's markets where they can guarantee humane treatment of the animals we eat and their gifts to us like eggs and milk, is highly advisable.
If you were a cow in India you could even become enlightened...
Ramana Maharshi's Love of all Beings (Title links to where I found this article)
The following is from the page Ramana Maharshi - Sage of Arunachala Hill It gives some examples that show how Ramana Maharshi, a true enlightened sage, indeed one of the greatest of our time, had a deep love and compassion not just for humans but for animals as well. For that matter, there was no difference in the way that Sri Ramana treated people, animals, or plants. And even stones, he said, had consciousness. I have always felt that the true test of a realised sage is how they treat not just human, but even more so non-human life. Because you can treat other people well because of moral conditioning and human laws, or fear that they will be angry if insulted. The same doesn't apply to animals, plants, and rocks. So if you treat these well, it is a sign of a deep and profound sensitivity, love and compassion for all beings and for the entire cosmos. Ramana was one of those few great Spiritual Masters who were like that.
Origin of Lakshmi the Ashram Cow
Sri Ramana patting Lakshmi - image from An Introduction to Sri Ramana's Life and Teachings - David Godman talks to John David Page 5
A villager had a dream in which he was told to offer his next calf to Ramanasramam. He brought his cow and the calf to Bhagavan. The jungle around the Ashram was thick at that time and there were cheetahs. The Ashram people were perplexed and refused the offer, but the villager was taking his dream seriously and would not take the calf away. The mother cow had to remain with the calf to feed her. Finally, the cow and the calf were entrusted to a devotee in the town. The calf became the famous cow Lakshmi. She grew up and had three calves within a few years. She would come daily to the Ashram to have her meals, graze on the Ashram land, enter the Hall and sit contentedly near Bhagavan. In the evening, she would go back to the town as other women did.
Once Lakshmi came into the Hall. She was pregnant at that time. It was after lunch time when Bhagavan was reading the newspapers. Lakshmi came near and started licking the papers. Bhagavan looked up and said: "Wait a little, Lakshmi." But Lakshmi went on licking. Bhagavan laid his paper aside, put his hands behind Lakshmi's horns and his head against hers. Like this they stayed for quite a long time. I stood nearby looking at the wonderful scene. After some ten minutes or so, Bhagavan turned to me and said: "Do you know what Lakshmi is doing? She is in Samadhi."
I looked at her and tears were flowing in streams down her broad cheeks. Her breathing had stopped and her eyes were fixed on Bhagavan. After some time Bhagavan changed his position and asked: "Lakshmi, how do you feel now?" Lakshmi moved backward, as if reluctant to turn her tail towards Bhagavan, walked round the Hall and went out.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Monday's MeditationMom Moment - What Then?
What Then
Q1: The struggle of life - all the suffering and the healing - it's all part of the beauty that is life?
To reach enlightenment I assume would be the end of the suffering and the struggle/journey to find it.
What happens after you find it?
MM: You either keep quiet, or you become of service. Actually the two do not exclude each other. Even if you just keep quiet you are serving. But this serving is not the self-sacrificing service we usually think of because there is no self left to sacrifice. It is just sharing at that point - of bliss, joy, peace, wisdom. It is like sharing an inner wealth the way you would share your outer wealth.
It is true that we have to become bored with all of our regular pursuits in life first before this would be bliss instead of boredom. That is why so many masters recommend to live life to the fullest first, like a bright fire. Then, when disillusionment sets in we are ripe for the teachings and the alternative of meditation. Then we have to also burn that candle down to Nothing.
After that we share the light that needs no candle.
Q2: What does it mean to live life by the fullest?
MM: When you breath - breath deeply, and say Thank You. When you dance - dance with abandon, and say Thank You. When you love - don't try to protect yourself from heartbreak, and say Thank You. When you are in the sun - close your eyes and feel it on your face....and say, Thank You! When you meditate - disappear completely...
I think you get the idea.
It is not what you do - as in "get married", "race cars" or "climb mountains" - the details are different for everyone, and often are quite simple and mundane - it is just that whatever you do, do it whole-heartedly and stay grateful. Then even the hardships become stepping stones across the river of illusion into nirvana.
Q2: That's a lovely explanation there. I realized that that is in fact the direction I have been starting to head recently. It also allows me to feel less hurt by the suffering I see in others, when you look at it as the start of their journey to first feel the disillusionment.
MM: You make a very good point - that a compassionate person suffers just as much from seeing others suffer, if not more, as from their own suffering, and that through deeper understanding, especially understanding of Buddhist teachings - BOTH of those kinds of suffering get reduced, and eventually eliminated through liberation. I am happy to hear that this is starting to happen in your life - proof you are indeed heading in the right direction.
To reach enlightenment I assume would be the end of the suffering and the struggle/journey to find it.
What happens after you find it?
MM: You either keep quiet, or you become of service. Actually the two do not exclude each other. Even if you just keep quiet you are serving. But this serving is not the self-sacrificing service we usually think of because there is no self left to sacrifice. It is just sharing at that point - of bliss, joy, peace, wisdom. It is like sharing an inner wealth the way you would share your outer wealth.
It is true that we have to become bored with all of our regular pursuits in life first before this would be bliss instead of boredom. That is why so many masters recommend to live life to the fullest first, like a bright fire. Then, when disillusionment sets in we are ripe for the teachings and the alternative of meditation. Then we have to also burn that candle down to Nothing.
After that we share the light that needs no candle.
Q2: What does it mean to live life by the fullest?
MM: When you breath - breath deeply, and say Thank You. When you dance - dance with abandon, and say Thank You. When you love - don't try to protect yourself from heartbreak, and say Thank You. When you are in the sun - close your eyes and feel it on your face....and say, Thank You! When you meditate - disappear completely...
I think you get the idea.
It is not what you do - as in "get married", "race cars" or "climb mountains" - the details are different for everyone, and often are quite simple and mundane - it is just that whatever you do, do it whole-heartedly and stay grateful. Then even the hardships become stepping stones across the river of illusion into nirvana.
Q2: That's a lovely explanation there. I realized that that is in fact the direction I have been starting to head recently. It also allows me to feel less hurt by the suffering I see in others, when you look at it as the start of their journey to first feel the disillusionment.
MM: You make a very good point - that a compassionate person suffers just as much from seeing others suffer, if not more, as from their own suffering, and that through deeper understanding, especially understanding of Buddhist teachings - BOTH of those kinds of suffering get reduced, and eventually eliminated through liberation. I am happy to hear that this is starting to happen in your life - proof you are indeed heading in the right direction.
(The whole conversation between all parties lives here (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055375769) on Boards.ie
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Chopin, Shining Eyes, And Auschwitz
This talk is about children, music, death, and about what we tend to loose, and can regain with little effort. I am grateful for the children of the world, my own children and now my grandchild, who make my own eyes shine every day. If we look within, and around, with a listening heart, our eyes would be shining at all times, like the still enlightened eyes of our children.
Regarding the last story told in this video, there are many teachings that explain that if you don't relate to people and situations in life with the full awareness of death, you miss life. This awareness of death should not be confused with the intellectual understanding of death which can lead to a morose sense of fatality, melodrama, sentimentality, depression, indifference, fear or denial.
With the actual full awareness of death, on the other hand, every "Good Bye" and every "Hello" becomes very much alive, and every "I love you" becomes eternal, waking deep joy in the heart. Death disappears - in direct proportion to the strength of love and trust.
With the actual full awareness of death, on the other hand, every "Good Bye" and every "Hello" becomes very much alive, and every "I love you" becomes eternal, waking deep joy in the heart. Death disappears - in direct proportion to the strength of love and trust.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Monday's MeditationMom Moment - Walking, Talking Humans - At Peace
This is a sequence of questions from the same person. To read the whole thread and other people's contributions to this discussion you can go to Boards.ie were most of the online MeditationMom conversations take place in the various religion forums.
Question:Are those who attain enlightenment always enlightened?
MeditationMom: Yes.
Q: I ask, as some recent meditation sittings I've done have brought on glimpses of something akin to nothingness.
MM: "Glimpses of something akin" is not yet "it" and it will take more trust and love on your part for that. A glimpse of the ocean differs greatly from jumping in. Also, there is still an "I" that had the glimpse. Who had the glimpse?
Q: But I always come back.
MM: Who comes back? From where to where?
Q: The 'edge of mind' feeling though remains, and sometimes I can almost fall back into that state/feeling/whatever with the simplest effort.
MM: This is very good that you can go there at will and it is good practice to keep going "back and forth". But, "the edge of the mind" is not yet having jumped off the cliff, so to speak. That's where you need more love and trust, still.
Q: The only thing that seems to be holding me down are things & family, even my own body.
MM: The only thing that is holding you back is not body, things or family but "I". Who would you be without your things, body and your family? More importantly, who would you be without thought - especially the root thought of all thought which is "I". Who or what would that be? That is who you are! The Nothingness you had a glimpse of - when fully known - you realize is who you are, rather than an experience that you have. This can be known fully before death, but for most at death is when they find out, again and again, life after life. If you find out before death, it is called enlightenment and it does require losing ones fear of death . So far you are experiencing your mind at profound rest which is great, and truly gives a glimpse. There is one more step in order to go beyond, and it is not a step we can take, but a step that is granted. Readiness is achieved by working on love and trust to its utmost. A family is a great training ground to practice love and trust. The readiness I mentioned is nothing but a complete willingness to give up the self.
Q: Makes me wonder if its only something that can be utterly attained at the end of life, when the final tether (body) starts to unwind.
MM: The body is not the tether. The "I" is the tether. Even when there are "almost enlightenment" experiences, it is still the "I" that had them and then loses them again. Hassidic Jews say: "You have to die before you die." This is no small thing.
Q: Do these enlightened folks walk around in this state all the time? I find that hard to bet on, tbh.
MM: They do not run around in the state you describe, because that is not enlightenment.
Q: Crazy, I know, but I'm interested in the philosophical aspects of this question. I've heard of people attaining enlightenment, just curious if they are still walking, talking humans.
MM: Walking, talking humans - with a twinkle in their eyes and a profound peace about them, living ordinary lives. The "great ones" like Buddha or Jesus were just living ordinary lives at the time, and have only become "great" in our minds over time.
Question:Are those who attain enlightenment always enlightened?
MeditationMom: Yes.
Q: I ask, as some recent meditation sittings I've done have brought on glimpses of something akin to nothingness.
MM: "Glimpses of something akin" is not yet "it" and it will take more trust and love on your part for that. A glimpse of the ocean differs greatly from jumping in. Also, there is still an "I" that had the glimpse. Who had the glimpse?
Q: But I always come back.
MM: Who comes back? From where to where?
Q: The 'edge of mind' feeling though remains, and sometimes I can almost fall back into that state/feeling/whatever with the simplest effort.
MM: This is very good that you can go there at will and it is good practice to keep going "back and forth". But, "the edge of the mind" is not yet having jumped off the cliff, so to speak. That's where you need more love and trust, still.
Q: The only thing that seems to be holding me down are things & family, even my own body.
MM: The only thing that is holding you back is not body, things or family but "I". Who would you be without your things, body and your family? More importantly, who would you be without thought - especially the root thought of all thought which is "I". Who or what would that be? That is who you are! The Nothingness you had a glimpse of - when fully known - you realize is who you are, rather than an experience that you have. This can be known fully before death, but for most at death is when they find out, again and again, life after life. If you find out before death, it is called enlightenment and it does require losing ones fear of death . So far you are experiencing your mind at profound rest which is great, and truly gives a glimpse. There is one more step in order to go beyond, and it is not a step we can take, but a step that is granted. Readiness is achieved by working on love and trust to its utmost. A family is a great training ground to practice love and trust. The readiness I mentioned is nothing but a complete willingness to give up the self.
Q: Makes me wonder if its only something that can be utterly attained at the end of life, when the final tether (body) starts to unwind.
MM: The body is not the tether. The "I" is the tether. Even when there are "almost enlightenment" experiences, it is still the "I" that had them and then loses them again. Hassidic Jews say: "You have to die before you die." This is no small thing.
Q: Do these enlightened folks walk around in this state all the time? I find that hard to bet on, tbh.
MM: They do not run around in the state you describe, because that is not enlightenment.
Q: Crazy, I know, but I'm interested in the philosophical aspects of this question. I've heard of people attaining enlightenment, just curious if they are still walking, talking humans.
MM: Walking, talking humans - with a twinkle in their eyes and a profound peace about them, living ordinary lives. The "great ones" like Buddha or Jesus were just living ordinary lives at the time, and have only become "great" in our minds over time.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Is There A Point To Enlightenment?
Questioner: "It would seem pointless to have to go through the circle of life to finally reach enlightenment and then just disappear to nothing."
It is so pointless in fact that we miss it again and again. Our mind very, very. very much wants there to be a point to it. That is why we rather stay in "search" or "effort" towards enlightenment, because there does seem to be a point to this effort.
Once we disappear into nothing and manage to reappear here, we simply "make it a point" to help others even though there is still no point to it at all. It is also true - if people knew what enlightenment is - they would not pursue it, because it is not what they think they are pursuing.
And why would this have anything to do with motherhood? Because - just sitting on the floor and playing with your child day in and day out- at times also may seem pointless and boring - but it is closer to enlightenment than most people realize. That is why in the old days people had to serve a master for twelve years before any spiritual teachings would even be begun.
Anything that takes us closer to enlightenment is at times incredibly uncomfortable because this process is basically about dissolving selfishness. Add to that our culture, in which selfishness is celebrated and rewarded, it is tough being on this spiritual path.
Here's a hug out into the mothering universe where so many Moms/Dads - or grandparents who had to take over - fight this emotional battle within, every day at the feet of their little Buddhas.
It is so pointless in fact that we miss it again and again. Our mind very, very. very much wants there to be a point to it. That is why we rather stay in "search" or "effort" towards enlightenment, because there does seem to be a point to this effort.
Once we disappear into nothing and manage to reappear here, we simply "make it a point" to help others even though there is still no point to it at all. It is also true - if people knew what enlightenment is - they would not pursue it, because it is not what they think they are pursuing.
And why would this have anything to do with motherhood? Because - just sitting on the floor and playing with your child day in and day out- at times also may seem pointless and boring - but it is closer to enlightenment than most people realize. That is why in the old days people had to serve a master for twelve years before any spiritual teachings would even be begun.
Anything that takes us closer to enlightenment is at times incredibly uncomfortable because this process is basically about dissolving selfishness. Add to that our culture, in which selfishness is celebrated and rewarded, it is tough being on this spiritual path.
Here's a hug out into the mothering universe where so many Moms/Dads - or grandparents who had to take over - fight this emotional battle within, every day at the feet of their little Buddhas.
Friday, September 12, 2008
The God Particle
The Dalai Lama is trying to bring science and religion together by especially working with brain researchers as described in "The Destructive Emotions". So are some other theologians. We should take notice.
Science and religion seem to be at war the same way the Democrats and Republicans are at war. A whole new approach is needed to our search for truth. An approach that does not have power or profit as a motive, and that doesn't suffer from mutual disdain. A Buddhist monk may just be a good leader in this endeavor.
Science describes everything it sees, then formulates laws which it tests through predictions and verifiable experiments. Since all those laws are bound to hit "horizons" where they no longer apply, science then looks for more insight in the far, far away in time and space all the way back to the big bang, both in the macro and micro cosmos. Thus science is endlessly fascinating. But not as much as meditation, and much slower and more expensive.
Experiments typically try to split matter into tinier and tinier units, using stronger and stronger colliders. You don't need to be a physicist to realize that no matter how often you split matter you will never get to nothing or zero. We are trying to find the Ur-Particle, presently called the Higgs Boson - a no-mass, no-spin "particle".
Here is how Brian Greene, professor of math and physics at Columbia, puts it this morning in the New York Times:
"Perhaps space is pervaded by a field...that acts like invisible molasses. When we push something to make it move faster, the Higgs molasses would exert a drag force - and it's this resistance, as the Higgs theory goes - that we commonly call the object's mass."
Meditators - and that is where we need the brain scientists to join the party - would call this hypothetical molasses field "thought". Everything we know comes out of nothing and returns to nothing by the mystery of thought. Meditators know both the most subtle levels of thought, and - if they have experimented long enough - the realm of no thought, where there simply is no physical phenomena or mass of any kind. Thought, not as words but as subtle movements of mind, creates the resistance needed for matter to appear in time and space. We also know of supersymetry were every such movement has its exact opposite - together they can annihilate the universe.
The physicists have baptized the Higgs Boson the God Particle. Are physicists prepared to be in the presence of a God particle? I can't wait to see this - it will be amusing.
The fact that physicists may know nothing of meditation, may not understand thought and its origin, or how it creates and destroys the universe, is of some concern when they go to great length at smashing particles in an effort to discover the secret of the universe. Hopefully they aren't even close to the "answer" or ancient history might repeat itself where curiosity killed the cat. The fact that religious people have, and are still stoning people, has made us overlook some of the warnings in religious texts about trying to discover "the secret of the universe" and acquiring "God power". One aspect of God's infinite power is his infinite powerlessness. Are we prepared for such powerlessness?
A meditator knows that the secret of the universe is revealed in its annihilation - and we are wondering how this will turn out in the physics lab. To a meditator, the physicist is someone who is standing in front of a mirror studying every movement, color, shape etc., with ever more precision and complicated math, making predictions and designing experiments to test his theories - without ever realizing he is looking in a mirror. He needs to wake up to this fact or his more and more intense efforts are going to shatter the mirror. Which may be one way - and hopefully a harmless way - to this discovery,a s well.
Physicist look down on people who don't understand their elusive math and their sophisticated machines, while we look down on their attachment to the mind and its infinite illusions. They think we are fooled by our stupidity, we think they are fooled more dangerously by their intelligence. If we don't come together we may indeed destroy our world. The wisdom of smashing two tiny particles together at a velocity or violence level of twice the speed of light is at first thought, frightening. It seems that only the speed of light, is the level of violence natural in this present universe. Then again - doubling it would be a natural next step for universe dwellers to try out. Hopefully it is built into the universe's plan for us. That would indeed be very exciting.
Meditators would be well prepared for infinite and eternal existence outside of time and space, and to them it would be pure bliss - while to physicists the same realm would be eternal and infinite boredom, because there is no thought. Physicists are very attached to thinking but don't know what it is, because they have never stopped it long enough.
Hopefully the experiments in Switzerland will not mean the end of the material world. Here is a video of Brian Greene explaining things, which makes it easy to jump on the excitement wagon. We are still hoping for logic in a final, elegant, unified theory. The final truth can only be expressed in a paradox, so it will be a while before we'll get there, if at all, in physics. Jesus said:"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." We all long for this truth and freedom. For a scientist this freedom means no more questions. What scientist may not know is that the final answer will be a question that dissolves into omniscient not-knowing.
In this video, notice the physicist who studied swimming by reading a book - those are the folks who tell us we won't sink - even though we are swimming in the water waiting for them to jump in. Hopefully they won't drain the pool. Physicists and meditators have one thing in common - they love experiments and danger, and are willing to risk all - for truth.
Science and religion seem to be at war the same way the Democrats and Republicans are at war. A whole new approach is needed to our search for truth. An approach that does not have power or profit as a motive, and that doesn't suffer from mutual disdain. A Buddhist monk may just be a good leader in this endeavor.
Science describes everything it sees, then formulates laws which it tests through predictions and verifiable experiments. Since all those laws are bound to hit "horizons" where they no longer apply, science then looks for more insight in the far, far away in time and space all the way back to the big bang, both in the macro and micro cosmos. Thus science is endlessly fascinating. But not as much as meditation, and much slower and more expensive.
Experiments typically try to split matter into tinier and tinier units, using stronger and stronger colliders. You don't need to be a physicist to realize that no matter how often you split matter you will never get to nothing or zero. We are trying to find the Ur-Particle, presently called the Higgs Boson - a no-mass, no-spin "particle".
Here is how Brian Greene, professor of math and physics at Columbia, puts it this morning in the New York Times:
"Perhaps space is pervaded by a field...that acts like invisible molasses. When we push something to make it move faster, the Higgs molasses would exert a drag force - and it's this resistance, as the Higgs theory goes - that we commonly call the object's mass."
Meditators - and that is where we need the brain scientists to join the party - would call this hypothetical molasses field "thought". Everything we know comes out of nothing and returns to nothing by the mystery of thought. Meditators know both the most subtle levels of thought, and - if they have experimented long enough - the realm of no thought, where there simply is no physical phenomena or mass of any kind. Thought, not as words but as subtle movements of mind, creates the resistance needed for matter to appear in time and space. We also know of supersymetry were every such movement has its exact opposite - together they can annihilate the universe.
The physicists have baptized the Higgs Boson the God Particle. Are physicists prepared to be in the presence of a God particle? I can't wait to see this - it will be amusing.
The fact that physicists may know nothing of meditation, may not understand thought and its origin, or how it creates and destroys the universe, is of some concern when they go to great length at smashing particles in an effort to discover the secret of the universe. Hopefully they aren't even close to the "answer" or ancient history might repeat itself where curiosity killed the cat. The fact that religious people have, and are still stoning people, has made us overlook some of the warnings in religious texts about trying to discover "the secret of the universe" and acquiring "God power". One aspect of God's infinite power is his infinite powerlessness. Are we prepared for such powerlessness?
A meditator knows that the secret of the universe is revealed in its annihilation - and we are wondering how this will turn out in the physics lab. To a meditator, the physicist is someone who is standing in front of a mirror studying every movement, color, shape etc., with ever more precision and complicated math, making predictions and designing experiments to test his theories - without ever realizing he is looking in a mirror. He needs to wake up to this fact or his more and more intense efforts are going to shatter the mirror. Which may be one way - and hopefully a harmless way - to this discovery,a s well.
Physicist look down on people who don't understand their elusive math and their sophisticated machines, while we look down on their attachment to the mind and its infinite illusions. They think we are fooled by our stupidity, we think they are fooled more dangerously by their intelligence. If we don't come together we may indeed destroy our world. The wisdom of smashing two tiny particles together at a velocity or violence level of twice the speed of light is at first thought, frightening. It seems that only the speed of light, is the level of violence natural in this present universe. Then again - doubling it would be a natural next step for universe dwellers to try out. Hopefully it is built into the universe's plan for us. That would indeed be very exciting.
Meditators would be well prepared for infinite and eternal existence outside of time and space, and to them it would be pure bliss - while to physicists the same realm would be eternal and infinite boredom, because there is no thought. Physicists are very attached to thinking but don't know what it is, because they have never stopped it long enough.
Hopefully the experiments in Switzerland will not mean the end of the material world. Here is a video of Brian Greene explaining things, which makes it easy to jump on the excitement wagon. We are still hoping for logic in a final, elegant, unified theory. The final truth can only be expressed in a paradox, so it will be a while before we'll get there, if at all, in physics. Jesus said:"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." We all long for this truth and freedom. For a scientist this freedom means no more questions. What scientist may not know is that the final answer will be a question that dissolves into omniscient not-knowing.
In this video, notice the physicist who studied swimming by reading a book - those are the folks who tell us we won't sink - even though we are swimming in the water waiting for them to jump in. Hopefully they won't drain the pool. Physicists and meditators have one thing in common - they love experiments and danger, and are willing to risk all - for truth.
While some scientists are still worried about the experiments scheduled at the LHC in Switzerland, most scientists are as excited as this guy - Brian Greene, mentioned above. We live in interesting times...
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Is the Dalai Lama Enlightened?
This was the topic of discussion the other day. The consensus was: "Enlightenment is a concept that we can't really define using our own experience as it is beyond human comprehension so it would be difficult for us to say who is, or who isn't."That is true. Only an enlightened one would be able to tell with certainty. Then we would have to decide if the one declaring the Dalai Lama enlightened or un-enlightened is enlightened. Others can only suspect or assume. The Dalai Lama himself says that he is not enlightened, and people suspect he is is lying. The assumption is that he is lying out of compassion so people do not feel inferior to him. People insist on putting him on the pedestal of enlightenment for their own purposes. After all, who would they be if they followed and adored an un-enlightened one?
To say that "enlightenment is beyond human comprehension" is true, but enlightenment is not beyond humans!!! An important distinction. It is quite possible that the Dalai Lama is not enlightened, and the monk cooking his food or sweeping outside of his door - is.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
September 10th Particle Collision at LHC
On September 10th, we start experimentation with a whole new level of particle collision in Switzerland at the Large Hadron Collider. You can find a lengthy discussion about this project by what seems to be physics students and lay people, here, or if you can make sense of actual physic go here to Tommaso Dorigo of the University of Padua.
The bottom line is, that it is an Experiment. Experiments by their very nature have predictable AND un-predictable results. Governments and scientific organizations have been suing each other for years arguing about its safety. The problem here? Black holes. Tiny ones that are expected to disappear instantly, or fall off into space for others to deal with - or - suck up the whole universe. It is definitely beyond my ability to assess whether I should worry. Skeptical scientists used to worry that people would explode in fast moving trains. And yes, trains have exploded but not because of science, but because of religion and politics - when motivations of power and greed were combined with fast moving trains. There-in lies the danger.
We used to think that we were the center of the universe, with the sun orbiting our enormous world, and the sky surrounding us with millions of little lights to make things sparkle. Suddenly we were just one planet of many, in a mediocre solar system. Then even our solar system was just a tiny spec of dust in a gigantic galaxy, and after that even our galaxy turned out to be nothing much among a sea of far more gigantic galaxies. Now superstring theory is talking about infinite universes, so even our universe is no big deal. If we take this to its logical conclusion - we don't exist at all. This final leap into this paradoxical realization may be the hardest one to accept. Of course it is possible that in higher physics circles they already know this, the same way this is known to the enlightened ones.
There is the chance that through this kind of experiment at the LHC, our non-existence will become clear or at least something to consider and build into the physics equations, as well as into our religious understanding. The annihilation of the universe may indeed turn out to be the result of this experiment - not literally, but in our understanding of things - or better - our realization of Nothing, meaning our infinite and eternal existence outside the realm of time and space.
May we have the required humility and grace to handle such knowledge.
The bottom line is, that it is an Experiment. Experiments by their very nature have predictable AND un-predictable results. Governments and scientific organizations have been suing each other for years arguing about its safety. The problem here? Black holes. Tiny ones that are expected to disappear instantly, or fall off into space for others to deal with - or - suck up the whole universe. It is definitely beyond my ability to assess whether I should worry. Skeptical scientists used to worry that people would explode in fast moving trains. And yes, trains have exploded but not because of science, but because of religion and politics - when motivations of power and greed were combined with fast moving trains. There-in lies the danger.
We used to think that we were the center of the universe, with the sun orbiting our enormous world, and the sky surrounding us with millions of little lights to make things sparkle. Suddenly we were just one planet of many, in a mediocre solar system. Then even our solar system was just a tiny spec of dust in a gigantic galaxy, and after that even our galaxy turned out to be nothing much among a sea of far more gigantic galaxies. Now superstring theory is talking about infinite universes, so even our universe is no big deal. If we take this to its logical conclusion - we don't exist at all. This final leap into this paradoxical realization may be the hardest one to accept. Of course it is possible that in higher physics circles they already know this, the same way this is known to the enlightened ones.
There is the chance that through this kind of experiment at the LHC, our non-existence will become clear or at least something to consider and build into the physics equations, as well as into our religious understanding. The annihilation of the universe may indeed turn out to be the result of this experiment - not literally, but in our understanding of things - or better - our realization of Nothing, meaning our infinite and eternal existence outside the realm of time and space.
May we have the required humility and grace to handle such knowledge.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Waiting For Enlightenment
Waiting for anything is wasting the present, so is looking forward to, and to remember, to reminisce, and even worse - to regret, to ruminate and hold a grudge. Yet we all do it for some reason. Maybe to our brains the present is just not entirely interesting enough. Otherwise we would not have 500 24/7 TV channels in addition to our subscriptions to magazines, texting phones, newspapers, books on tape and the Internet - to name a few.
In other words, our brains are addicted to stimulation the way our stomachs are addicted to food. We are getting more and more sophisticated in all our food choices, as well as our food-for-thought choices, but we are overfed and overstimulated. Yet, somehow this is what makes life interesting and is a sign that we have moved from mere survival, to culture and art, and even the pursuit of enlightenment. If you want to read a sophisticated magazine on Enlightenment, check out "What is Enlightenment" a magazine that has been around for about ten years and has grown into a highly regarded, intelligent and informative publication. Not just Enlightenment, but related subjects like the Universe, Psychology, Art and Technology are discussed with some of the leaders in all of these fields. "What is Enlightenment" makes a genuine effort to connect the dots and to find the patterns, the truths, and the various ways to describe them.
While we're waiting for Enlightenment, we might as well think and write about it. Kind of like being pregnant and reading all the baby magazines.
In other words, our brains are addicted to stimulation the way our stomachs are addicted to food. We are getting more and more sophisticated in all our food choices, as well as our food-for-thought choices, but we are overfed and overstimulated. Yet, somehow this is what makes life interesting and is a sign that we have moved from mere survival, to culture and art, and even the pursuit of enlightenment. If you want to read a sophisticated magazine on Enlightenment, check out "What is Enlightenment" a magazine that has been around for about ten years and has grown into a highly regarded, intelligent and informative publication. Not just Enlightenment, but related subjects like the Universe, Psychology, Art and Technology are discussed with some of the leaders in all of these fields. "What is Enlightenment" makes a genuine effort to connect the dots and to find the patterns, the truths, and the various ways to describe them.
While we're waiting for Enlightenment, we might as well think and write about it. Kind of like being pregnant and reading all the baby magazines.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Eckhart Tolle
Here is a man who knows. You may recall his book "The Power of Now", in which he answers people's questions about how to be here now, what enlightenment is, etc. Even after reading so many words, the reader ends up calmer for having followed his thoughts. It is a beginner's book about that which we all seek. I actually didn't read all of it. Even though I agreed with his statements, after several pages my reaction was - no, not another book with hundreds of pages about how to still the mind. There are so many, by people who intellectually understand spiritual teachings, but whose minds are still galloping ahead on their own.
Here You Are came about shortly thereafter. Instead of talking about the powerful Now, Here You Are gives the reader a taste of it - actually takes him or her, right into it. That's the simple magic of Here You Are. It is the gift everyone already owns. Children delight in getting their parents into the Here, Now. They are always waiting for us to show up to really be with them there.
When searching You Tube for videos of people who might be spiritual teachers - of which there are many today - I found a lot of videos of Eckhart Tolle, most of them in German. At first impression he comes across like a Saturday Night Live caricature of a German, both in looks and body language, yet before one even has a chance to go with one's prejudice, he transcends this awkwardness, both with his deep inner peace and wonderful sense of humor. Enlightenment tastes the same - like the saltiness of the seas is the same on many shores - and Eckhart Tolle is as beautiful as some of the greatest Indian and Japanese enlightened masters I have been lucky enough to come across in my lifetime. I must admit, it was unexpected.
I picked this video as my favorite to post here.
Here You Are came about shortly thereafter. Instead of talking about the powerful Now, Here You Are gives the reader a taste of it - actually takes him or her, right into it. That's the simple magic of Here You Are. It is the gift everyone already owns. Children delight in getting their parents into the Here, Now. They are always waiting for us to show up to really be with them there.
When searching You Tube for videos of people who might be spiritual teachers - of which there are many today - I found a lot of videos of Eckhart Tolle, most of them in German. At first impression he comes across like a Saturday Night Live caricature of a German, both in looks and body language, yet before one even has a chance to go with one's prejudice, he transcends this awkwardness, both with his deep inner peace and wonderful sense of humor. Enlightenment tastes the same - like the saltiness of the seas is the same on many shores - and Eckhart Tolle is as beautiful as some of the greatest Indian and Japanese enlightened masters I have been lucky enough to come across in my lifetime. I must admit, it was unexpected.
I picked this video as my favorite to post here.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Waiting
I was recently invited to read "Here You Are" at the Seattle Children's Hospital. A four-year-old little girl sat down with me on a red couch, excited about such a shiny, colorful book she knew I was going to give to her as a present. I started reading and when we read the "Why am I here" page she told me she was here for waiting. As we moved on to the Wondering pages, she said she was wondering whether her Dad would ever come home. That he keeps leaving and coming back, but that he hadn't come back in a long time. We just wondered together about it in silence for a while. I was wondering about the circumstances her family might be in. Was it a divorce, a soldier Dad away on duty, or something else? We were strangely OK without answers, both of us, while looking out of the window next to us, with the leaves on a tree blowing in the wind outside. After a nice moment of silence and waiting we read the rest of the book that she seemed very satisfied with. She proudly held her new shiny book with her right arm that barely fit around it, while holding on to her rolling lillie-pad IV stand with her left as she left the playroom.
It reminded me of Osho, an Indian Mystic, who once said:"For those who can wait infinitely, things happen instantaneously." One of my favorite statements about enlightenment.
It reminded me of Osho, an Indian Mystic, who once said:"For those who can wait infinitely, things happen instantaneously." One of my favorite statements about enlightenment.
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