Carl Abbott

The current uproar over health care reform is fascinating to ponder. Who is right; who is wrong? First, doesn’t that depend on one’s definition of right? If we are referring to Right from a Buddha’s Eight Fold Path (p.604) viewpoint, then those who rant on either side are certainly not Right. The ranting we see […]

A recent report (google [Saey You Are Who You Are by Default]) gives some insight on the nature of who we are, particularly here, at the end of the report: Once people reach adulthood, activity in the network is fairly consistent from person to person, with some slight differences between the sexes and in older […]

The Garden of Eden story in Genesis parallels the Taoist view of how humanity fell out of touch with Nature: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”. Interestingly, chapter 1’s The way that […]

Many people tend to think the benefits of yoga are increased flexibility and balance. To me, this is just icing on the cake. Yoga helps me know myself more deeply than anything else I do. As William Shakespeare observed, “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou […]

A tricky part of life lies in how our biology constantly pushes us to do what we enjoy and pulls us away from what we don’t enjoy. This makes work feel like work. This stress is normally avoidable when work feels truly meaningful, if not enjoyable. Here, work can feel restful, or as chapter 56 […]

There is no true moment, per se. I create an illusion of moment by striving and holding on. And, my imaginations of past and future add to this illusion. When I give up striving, the illusion of moment shifts to the space-time continuum, so to speak. The past, present, and future all begin to blend […]

My old friend Andy and I differ on what accounts for consciousness: Andy says consciousness is a characteristic of sophisticated nervous systems and thus diminishes down the phylogenetic scale. In his view, consciousness is a consequence of a nervous system’s myriad sensory input, making any creature “down the phylogenetic scale” less conscious than those up […]

Ideally, all governmental actions should be impartial, right? As chapter 79 reminds us, It is the way of heaven to show no favoritism. Being human, politicians choose sides rather than seeking impartiality. I guess heaven is heaven and earth is earth, and never the twain shall meet. Yet, we can hope. Here’s an idea Instead […]

Emotion clear-cuts the natural diversity of original, unfiltered perception. Certainly, this is an innate survival adaptation. Any conscious being would require a way to filter out extraneous sensory input to avoid sensory overload and ensuing chaos. Emotion helps perception focus on that which has an immediate bearing on survival. Now, consider the added filtering effect […]