10 SEP 2013 by ideonexus
Think of Everything as Already Broken
In his book Thoughts without a Thinker, psychiatrist
Mark Epstein recounts this teaching
by the Thai meditation master Achaan Chah.
“You see this goblet?” Achaan Chah asks.
“For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy
it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably,
sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to
it. But when I put this glass on the shelf, and the
wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off
the table and it fal... 1 
notes
notesA liberating perspective.
26 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
Definition of Meditation
The Buddhist meditative exercise has its roots in the metaphysical tenet of “emptiness,” particularly emphasized by the Zen schools [3]. According to this view, reality is originally devoid of ontological properties and it is only via an incessant and largely unconscious habit of emotional self-reference and categorization that a conceptual structure is created and ultimately reified; a process necessary for daily life, but that also tends to condition the individual into predefined patte...Folksonomies: meditation
Folksonomies: meditation
1 The human brain naturally categorizes things, but things are not naturally categorized. Meditation is the exercise of not thinking in order to free the mind of categorization and self-reference.
17 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
An 11th Century View of Science
The chief aids to philosophical inquiry and the practice of virtue are reading, learning, meditation, and assiduous application. Reading scrutinizes the written subject matter immediately before it. Learning likewise generally studies what is written, but also sometimes moves on to what is preserved in the archives of the memory and is not in the writing, or to those things that become evident when one understands the given subject. Meditation, however, reaches out farther to what is unknown,... 1 notes
notesScience is a prerequisite to virtue, requiring study, application, and meditation dependent on grammar.
23 JAN 2011 by ideonexus
Can you stop thinking?
Can you stop thinking?
Perhaps you have practiced meditation or some other method of calming the mind. If so you will know that the task is not trivial. If you have not, I suggest you try now to empty your mind for a minute or so (or if you cannot face it now, try it sometime when you have nothing 'better' to do, waiting for the kettle to boil, or the computer to boot up, for example). When any thought comes along, as it certainly will, just acknowledge it and let it go. Do not get tangled up...Folksonomies: memetics
Folksonomies: memetics
1 notes
notesOur brains cannot stop thinking, processing the memes contained in our brains. There is not biological imperative for this, but there is a memetic explanation for it.
12 JAN 2011 by TGAW
Malcolm X: If Motivated...
In the hectic pace of the world today, there is no time for meditation, or for deep thought. A prisoner has time that he can put to good use. I’d put prison second to college as the best place for a man to go if he needs to do some thinking. If he’s motivated, in prison he can change his life.
Malcolm X on how prison is the second best place for a man to do some thinking... and how if he's motivated, prison can change his life.
