mindfulness

If you go deep enough deeper than thought deeper than feelings and intuition deeper than you can you will go out of yourself and end up in cosmos and you will see how well ordered the universe is to create life on earth and you will appreciate all life on earth even the mosquitos  and the snakes and when you come home you are more than yourself  

There is alway another perspective to look at. If you meditate and become aware of your thoughts and feelings, you will be more able to shift perspective. And you will be aware of that your perspective changes without your will. An interesting and very broad way to look at our world is big history. Let's take the history on life on Earth. Its 65 million years since the dinos disappeared. It's just 10 000 years since we started to be farmers. We have changed the life on earth for many living beings because of that. But since 10 000 years in the history of our planets is not much, it may not mean so much in the long run. A man with an even bigger perspective is Sean Carroll. He is a cosmologist and professor of physics. He is interested in the questions that some thinks is not necessary, because they seem impossible to answer as: what happened before the Bing- Bang? Are there more universes outside our universe? And what about time? If  there are many univer...

We all want to believe in world that turns better and better. For many beliefs this is central. Marx believed in progress to better world and was inspired by Hegels thought about the law of a "weltgeist"that insured progress. Capitalism seem to promise luck if we buy more and more stuff, at least does the advertisement say so.  And we all now the promise of a paradise in religious contexts. John Gray is a retired professor from London School of Economics and Politic Science and has written a lot of books. Maybe he can be seen as a pessimist, but he can also be seen as clear eyed. He is a supporter of the green movement and  Lovelock's idea about Gaia. In Grays book "Straw Dogs" he claims that humanity probably will destroy itself, but life will go on anyway. The title of the book is inspired by some words from Lao Tzu: "Heaven and earth are ruthless, and treat the myriads of creatures as straw dogs." Gray gives some examples of his view; w...

What is complexity? Actually it's a complex question, cause nobody really knows. There are different interpretations of the word. Its usually compared with "complicated" that often is seen as a phenomena with many layers up on each other. Lets say a huge hamburger. If you just order it and it alone in a bar. It may be complicated  if they have to make a special one for you and what to pay would create some discussion. It may be complicated to eat because of its size. But wait, I think the hamburger can be seen in a complex light too; If we consider the cow that the meat came from. If we consider the food the cow ate, the sun and the water that was needed for the grass to grow.  Maybe fertilizers  were used too...Maybe the meat came from one of the calves that are slaughters right after they are born because they are males. And then the farmer his och hers family, maybe some kids, some neighbors, some machines and son on. Then the transport of the calves to th...

Robert Wright (from meaningoflifetv etc)has written a new book; "Why Buddhism is true". (It is quite cheap to download as an e-book) He takes evolutionary psychology to explain his ideas, especially the theory of modules working in our brains. This theory, like Buddhas, don't need a self to be true. Different modules work side by side or compete.  Their task is to make us survive and to make children. So they make us afraid of foreigners, specially if they have other characteristics, as colors, than we have. They make us afraid of spiders, even in Sweden where we have no dangerous ones (for humans). They are what DNA uses to create feeling and feeling creates thoughts and thought can create ideologies and books or internet sites. Wright is not at all interested in religious stuff like karma or rebirth what he is into is mindfulness and retreats. Here is Wright discussing the book; So we are not in control of our feelings and thoughts. But with the help...

It can be the first of Buddhas sutras that was written down. And if it was it may be the one that we most can trust on. It's a dialog, as the ones Plato wrote. So he may not have had many listeners. And it's very radical. The main theme is to cool down every desire. Even the one to hold on to a view. So it's a bit paradoxical... The sage or wise man, Buddha says, should live in solitude but follow the middle way, so no asceticism. He should not eat so much and not sleep too much and of course no sex. (this must be before nuns where permitted) So he has passed the river to the other shore. And his reputation will be good (seems to be important for Guatama) He will be very peaceful, for him there will be no better or worse ethics and so on as he has passed dualistic thinking. Therefore the half smile. Let's ponder over what that will mean in our days. What could we gain if more of us behaved in that way? Nowadays it a lot hate on the internet...

As I have practiced mindfulness for about ten years now, I have noticed that it has helped more and more. It becomes a habit and I can do it now and then when I have opportunities for it. It can be when I go by bicycle; I can have an open mind to all that happens here and now and I will even be a safer biker. I can do it for some steps or longer when I walk. I can do it for some seconds when I open a door. In a day that can become an hour of meditation, if I end the day with some body scanning and mindful yoga. One of the useful things with short meditations is that I can do it when worries or accusatory thoughts pop up: If I for while concentrate on the breath they soon will disappear. They may come back but I then have a tool to not dwell in them. If you are deeply depressed you may need more treatment before to start meditation. And if you have a really stressful job, you may have to change the situation... But if you go on with mindfulness you sooner or later will...