belief

Who are you? (Part IV)

The social qualities present during our ancestral hunter-gatherer era (1) just happen to parallel the core spiritual qualities that the world’s religions promote. That’s no coincidence. Indeed, those innate qualities of harmony we now seek are the very ones we lost when we left the old way for the alluring material benefits and security civilization […]

Stressors of Comfort and Security

Google [Chronic stress can wreak havoc on the body] for research that ties right into my last post, Right state of peaceful mind, p.494. Note how the lightening bolt (graphic right) hits the brain before traveling through the rest of the body. The article puts it this way: “The effect of stress starts in the […]

Science Proves Buddha Right!

Google [CBS News When low expectations achieve big results] for research that reveals how one’s expectations get in the way of happiness. This is not to say expectations aren’t useful or natural. Indeed, a kind of natural expectation, or sense of anticipation plays an integral role in survival. This impulse drives all living things to […]

Cultivating Character

I find some people in Taoist circles have passionate ideals about cultivating character. Seen from a symptoms point of view, passion arises from fear—the mother of need. The visceral fear arising from feeling one has little control over life drives a need to do something… like cultivate character. Chapter 54 has the only reference relating […]

Necessity is the Mother

If you’re unfamiliar with the neuroscience behind the illusion of free will, YouTube [Sam Harris on “Free Will”]. He does a good job of addressing the idea of free will, and points out enough compelling evidence to prove that free will is an illusion. Next, please YouTube [Sam Harris on His Debate with Daniel Dennett […]

Alone with Thought

Two Science News reports touch on what is probably humanity’s most serious problem. As chapter 71 puts it, “Realizing I don’t’ know is better; not knowing this knowing is disease.” Google [Hallinan Kidding Ourselves] for a rational anthropological view of self-deception. Also, google [People will take pain over being left alone with their thoughts] for […]

Where does the fault lie?

“The fault lies not in the stars but in ourselves”. That bit of Shakespeare speaks to our modern paradigm. By modern, I mean the epoch beginning with the Renaissance (14th century) that followed the fall of Rome, i.e., the so-called Dark Ages. Notice how these labels bias the view of cultural progress right away in […]

Loss Aversion Management

Recent research reveals how we can’t help but shoot ourselves in the foot. When I look around, I see our aversion to loss influencing just about everything we do, albeit often in very subtle ways. The innate emotional aversion to loss, when reinforced by thought, traps us even more. I’m going to explore this issue […]

Free Willers Anonymous

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous and similar addiction management programs begin recovery by first acknowledging their addiction and powerlessness over it. Clearly recognizing a problem is an indispensable prerequisite for finding a solution. Such Right Comprehension is the first step on Buddha’s Eight-Fold Path. Until then, life is always a dog chasing its tail. Primal instinct […]

The Proof is in the Pudding

Buddha felt that we needed to rely on our personal experience to verify his Four Noble Truths, and presumably any other alleged truth. There’s no ‘take my word for it’ hoodwinking here. Nowadays, modern science is steadily helping us discern fact from myth. Still, personal experience must always be the final arbiter. Keep this in […]