mindfulness

It's Easter Listening to the Johannes Passion The powerful beginning is a foreboding of the crucifixion. Mythology is so important. Christianity has meant a lot, even if its just ideas. Before resurrection it must be suffering Buddha suffered too when he saw the handicapped, the sick and the old people. And when he tried too hard with fastening and mediation. Both Jesus and Buddha meant that there is a way from suffering. Follow me, they say.  But suffering seems to always be there. Why? Perhaps because everything is impermanent. And deep inside we know it, even though commercials often stops when everything is perfect.... And often we want to believe in a perfect world, at least for ourselves.  Even religions, as Buddhism, want the perfect luck. they have "commercialism" about Nirvana and so on. Mindfulness can for sure make it easier for us, but it cannot take away the suffering, but its a tool to handle it. But we also need companionsh

"Reality" - what does it mean? If you look for the word in a modern dictionary or at Wikipedia, you will probably no longer will be so sure what it means. Is it more of a dance than something stable? We can have the view of Markus Gabriel or Yuval Harari; a mountain is a mountain. It's there wherever we see it or not. So the Earth. Science can best describe the mountain, though there are different angles to see it from. But what abut nations, novels, human rights, kings, music; all the man made things made by concepts. Lets include mindfulness and Buddhism? And those things are the most important things for us. I it reality or not? Gabriel argues that those things are so different from physics, that they must be seen as different worlds; The brain creates the reality for us, and can be important to know that if you help people with brain damages. But, as we now when we are voting for new politicians;  even without brain damages we can see or

Immanuel Kant took long walks in Königsberg (nowadays Kaliningrad). He didn't want to "work" when he walked, so he didn't think of his philosophy. I'm sure he sometimes just walked without thinking at all. Then he was mindful. When he wrote about the thing in itself  he for sure was near the Buddhist view of no concept. The iaitv maker Hilary Lawson writes in his book about how we close our view of the world when we label a thing and narrow the interpretation of it. His book is called Closure - a story of everything. I haven't heard him relating to Kant, though often to Wittgenstein. But Kant and Wittgenstein plays in the same football team, so to say. Maybe they would argue about the tactics and what the world ball means ;~} We can only now the thing for me, according to Kant and for me includes categories of understanding as  for instance time and space (we have to see, for instance, a chair in special place and in a special space, may

"When Heart is Open" is sometimes referred to a "Celtic soul", a wonderful fusion of two art streams. Before writing this song Morrison for sure had read some Buddhist literature. He was and is a searcher. Maybe,  he wrote the song as he had a (mild) underlying depression  - and this dysthymia  made him write the most beautiful songs..... ( see his song "underlying depression"). Anyway it's possible to turn the difficulties to something good, as the lotus needs the mud to grow... The words, "no coming - no going" is possibly from the Buddha himself and can be interpreted in different ways. Tich Nhath Hanh who wants to  make a modern kind of Buddhism, often refers to the view that nothing is born, nothing dies. As we never has been born, we never can die.... Before were "born" (conventional truth) we were in our forefathers and foremothers and even in the animals that wandered on the earth before us as they are our rela

Van Morrison must have been in a young and very inspirational phase. The title of the song and album, Astral weeks, announces  that. Maybe many of us have felt this. We don't belong  here, it's too hard. Too much struggle. We have moments when we feel free. Then again comes long tides of boredom and satisfaction. Freud meant  that to be able to"lieben und arbeiten" is a sign for health (Though we cannot be hundred percent sure that he really said it). But I'm sure that can lead to health too. "Love" can mean a lot, though. It doesn't have to mean love just in a family. That is actually a quite egoistic kind of love. We are so tightly connected to out family's. And that is of course right.... Bu we we send love or help other beings it's love on another frequency. Maybe we won't will have it return. But we may be satisfied in a deeper way. I thin work can be lightened up by love too. We all now it, and it's

Even if we are manifestations, we have a choice to follow our intentions or not. When I biked to work this morning it can be seen as if I chose to go up in the morning, drink my coffee and go away instead of just stay in bed. But I think it was more as if I followed my motivation to live. I didn't stop the intention my brain gave to me. It even pushed me and let my voice say to my self; come on, Tomas (as I use to say when I play, for instance, table tennis). But of course it's a long chain of events that led to this. For instance evolution took a long time to shape this body, my father learned me how to bike, he and my mother gave me some genes that gave me some kind of will. The training on sport have trained my will to and pushed me a bit. My was to intention to go to my job, but where did that intention  come from? A knowledge of pleasure in the long run? And in that case, where does that urge for pleasure come from? Maybe it's a will to live, to get go