Modern science offers us a startling and highly detailed account of Cosmology—the origin of everything. This same issue—and its significance—have occupied religious thinkers for thousands of years. Their insights are very different from those of science, but can also be beautifully complementary. In this unique Wonder Dialogue, an astrophysicist, a Jewish scholar, and a Buddhist monk bring their own perspectives to these vast, yet highly personal questions.
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happinessbeyondthought - A Practical Guide to Awakening
A biography is a story, remembered incorrectly, which is out of our control. One Zen teacher - “Whatever happens to you is none of your business”; Rumi -“Your life is not your own”. Raised Methodist, I had kids, college, submarines, graduate school. I knew, somehow, that it was critical to experience transcendent consciousness. Following near-death, I craved “enlightenment”. Reading a Zen poem, everything fell into a space beyond experience. A burning desire arose to regain it. For decades, went intensely into Zen, yoga, etc. while working in industries, practicing for hours before work. Experiences occurred, but did not end the tyranny of thought. Ramana found me; deep self inquiry followed. Seeing that progress was impossible with attachments, I surrendered completely and something shifted. The “I” blew out, irrevocably, thoughts stopped; stillness beyond imagination. I was not body, nor thoughts, but unchanging consciousness. Everything complete just as it was; all One. I resisted teaching; no teacher, no one to teach. Sharing began at urging of yoga and Zen teachers. What is shared is from nowhere just as it arises; a mystery. |
Presentation by Gary Weber @ the Buddhist Geeks Conference in Boulder, CO in 2013 on "Upgrading The Mental Operating System". Describes the challenges w/our current problematic operating system and how to decrease your self-referential internal narrative, fears, and desires and function more clearly and effectively, operating in "now, now, now" from a place of peace, presence and stillness.
Description of the three principal types of thoughts and the cognitive neuroscience networks in which they occur; problematic thoughts from the default mode network, tasking thoughts in the task positive network, and problem solving that is done "off line".
Gary Weber was senior vice president for research labs with 1000 people. After many years of meditation and yoga, he deconstructed parts of his ego. As expected, he became smarter and more happy. He says this kind of shift is what can make sustainability happen.
"My Stroke of Insight" by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a memoir that recounts her experience of a severe stroke, which shut down the left side of her brain. This event gave her a unique perspective on the distinct functions of the brain's hemispheres, particularly the right hemisphere's role in creativity and a sense of oneness. The book details her eight-year recovery journey, blending personal narrative with insights into neuroscience and the brain's resilience.
French Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard talks about his interesting life in which he left his career as a scientist after getting a Ph.D. degree in molecular genetics and he went to practice Tibetan Buddhism in the Himalayas. He talks about the Tibetan Buddhist practices for achieving happiness. Since his 35 years of practicing as a Buddhist monk he has returned to the science of the mind and the brain to study happiness and presents many of the recent scientific findings.
Excerpts from Ajahn Brahmavamso Mahathera's speech on the topic of superstition "Friday The 13th". Very funny and inspiring!