3 American Scientists Invent CO2 Catcher: A Ray of Hope For The Future?
May 31, 2008
Here are the links to the sources of this blog:
Could US scientist's 'CO2 catcher' help to slow warming? David Adam
GRT Announces Support of Comer Science and Education Foundation
May 30, 2008
Three Very Rare Findings
May 2008 and the last week of May in particular will be one of the memorable days of 2008. The month began with bang when Cyclone Nargis slammed Myanmar leaving 2.4 million homeless and killing more than 78, 000 people while 56,000 are still unaccounted for. The following week a 7.9 magnititude quake shook China with 1.3 million homeless, some 69,000 dead and another 19,000 missing, probably buried in the debris.
These two events will remain in our memories for a long, long time.
There rare findings this last week of May have added to the destiny of this month. NASA found water on Mars. Meanwhile in Japan, Takara, a boy playing at Hinagiku nursery school in Moriyama, found a two-headed turtle.
And as if all these were not enough, an unknown tribe living along the Envira River on the Peruvian and Brazilian border was discovered.
Do you think that it is a blessing or a curse for this tribe to be found? Post your comments.
Read about the lost tribe discovered in the Amazons
May 29, 2008
World Science Festival: Can Scientists Close the Knowledge - Action Gap?
When I posted my blog early yesterday morning about the opportunity for self-reflection that the World Science Festival promised I did not have a preview of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's opening speech. I said:
It is my wish that scientists and participants will have the time to reflect on ways some scientists have not been scientific...They will have the time to reflect on contemporary instances when some scientists have sold their souls to the highest bidder at the detriment of the people's welfare.
The Mayor talked diplomatically about this selling of the scientist's soul. He did not talk about how some scientists yielded to pressure from big business and politicians. Or how some of them twisted the truth about data that linked tobacco use to cancer. He did not talk about scientists down-playing the effects of gas emissions on climate change. Rather, he talked about the gap between what we know and what we do laying the blame in the most part on the politicians.
He gave examples of pretigigious science institutions in New York: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Environmental Research and Conservation. He praised the work they do. "Their efforts are shrinking the still enormous gaps between what we know and what we don’t know on these important subjects," he said.
"But vast as those gulfs are, they’re dwarfed by another one. And that is the tragic lag between what we know and what we do. For example, in the 1950s, the head of the American Cancer Society and other respected scientists were already linking smoking and cancer," he said.
One of the things we know, for example, of immense relevance to millions of Americans today that Mr. Bloomberg did not mention is our current knowledge of the manufacture of electric or solar cars. A gap exists between that knowledge and the will to mass produce these type of vehicles.
As New York celebrates the first World Science Festival I wonder if scientists in particular and the public in general can find ways to close the gap between knowledge useable to sustain life on earth on one hand and economic and plolitical ideologies that stand in the way of applying that knowledge.
1. Here is the full text of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Speech on the gap between what scientists know and what politicians and businesses do.
2. Surprising solar cars hibernating in the gap
3. One way you can close the gap
May 28, 2008
World Science Festival Opens In New York City Today
The World Science Festival opens today, May 28, in New York City. Mayor Bloomberg will give the key-note address titled "World Class Science By and For the People of New York City" at the World Science Summit, Columbia University. More than 125 invitation-only guests will be discussing the many ways science is influencing our world.
Columbia physicist Brian Greene and his wife television producer Tracy Day founded the festival. Their goal: Bring science to the people on the street in interesting ways.
Nobel laureates, movie stars, biologists, philosophers, theologians, scientists, engineers, Disney imagineers, dancers, singers and acrobats will promote the wonders of science throughout the festival that lasts from today through Sunday.
It is my wish that scientists and participants will have the time to reflect on ways some scientists have not been scientific. They will have the opportunity to reflect on moments in history when some mainstream scientists holding the dominant but erroneous views have suppressed new discoveries. They will have the time to reflect on contemporary instances when some scientists have sold their souls to the highest bidder at the detriment of the people's welfare.
For more information visit:
http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/
May 27, 2008
Sydney Pollack: Exit
Sydney Pollack, Academy Award-winning director, producer, actor, and writer exited the stage called life May 25 yielding to the icy hands of cancer.
The greatest success of this son of Russian-Jewish immigrants came with the 1985 film Out of Africa starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The movie won Best Director and Best Picture Awards.
Although he is dead now, the more than 40 movies Sydney Pollack has directed and produced through sheer hardwork as well as his children Rachel and Rebecca will immortalize him.
Our hearts go to his numberless fans, friends, students, colleagues, family and bereaved wife, Claire, and to countless others grieiving loved ones unknown to the public.
For more information:
Biography for Sydney Pollack
Wikipedia article
Photos and pictures
More photos The New Times
Sydney Pollack - Online By Jerry Roberts
May 25, 2008
Phoenix Mars Lander News, Links, Resources
In my blog of yesterday, I wrote about Phoenix landing on Mars later today. Here are additional links to resources, photos and amazing videos that will take your breath away.
Latest News about the Phoenix Mars Landing Mission
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/
Phoenix Mars Lander: Step-by-Step Martian Landing Guide
May 24, 2008
Phoenix Mars Mission Landing And Lessons From NASA
NASA's Phoenix lander will come down Sunday evening after a 423 million-mile-cruise to Mars. If successful, scientists will be more certain of whether there is water below the surface of the Red Planet.
Regardless of tomorrow's outcome, we have a lot to learn from how NASA works. Lessons like collaboratiing with others, goal-setting and achievement, adapting original plans to situations and correcting errors along the way, accessing crucial information, and willingness to never give up. Of the eleven missions that have attempted to land probes on Mars since 1971, only five have succeeded.
The current lander launched in August 2007 is called Phoenix because, like the mythological bird, it rose from the ashes of two successive failures.
A reminder to keep at what we set our mind on regardless of necessary failures and challenges we must endure before we accomplish our mission.
For more information visit the Phoenix Mars Mission Landing web site.
May 23, 2008
When Fear Falls Away First Book Selected for the Insight, Meditations and Contemplation Cyber Book Club
With a group of friends, I am starting a cyberspace discussion group called Insight, Meditations and Contemplation Cyber Book Club.
It is a forum where seekers on the spiritual and mystical path exchange ideas, ask questions about life's mysteries using books, movies, Internet resources and other forms of media. The group discusses the personal experience of members as well
After some consultations, I have decided to launch the discussion group with Jan Frazier's book.
Jan Frazier's When Fear Falls Away answers many questions about fear, suffering and spiritual practice. Jan writes about her "sudden awakening" and tells us how her experience took away her fear of cancer.
If you or someone you know is interested here is the link to the discussion group. It is easy to register.
Here is the link to Jan's web site.
May 21, 2008
Congratulations, Grace (Suryung) Moon, Doodle 4 Google National Winner!
Grace (Suryung) Moon, a 6th grader from California, is the Doodle 4 Google national winner. Her doodle, "Up in the Clouds" replaced the official Google logo at about 11:10 pm PDT on May 21. It remains on the site for 24 hours.It is a picture of a new world in the sky "clean and fresh, and people are social and enlightened." Visionary Grace imagines a world of one big family, sustained by the sun’s warmth, love and everyone’s day is brightened.
In this simple but evocative work, Grace inspires us to wake up to our capacity to meet our social, economic, political and environmental challenges. The sun symbolizes the extraordinary spiritual power that keeps us and our world going.
An awards ceremony was held at Googleplex in Mountain View, CA., yesterday in honor of Grace and three national finalists -- Spencer Norton of Ashbrook Elementary School, Lumberton, NJ, Rebecca Olene of Pioneer Ridge Freshmen Center, Carver, Minnesota, and Gabriel Kitzman of Elbert School Dist. #200, Kiowa, Colorado.
The finalists will each receive a laptop. Grace will be awarded a $10,000 college scholarship and a $25,000 technology grant for the Canyon Middle School in Castro Valley she attends.
Congratulations Grace! Congratulations to all the finalists! Congratulations to all the participants! May the sun brighten up your day, our world, today and always.
Happy Birthday To My Friends Born In May
Three people I know are celebrating their birthday today, May 21: K., M., and M. I wish you a fantabulous birthday!
I have other friends and co-workers born in May. Happy birthday to you all as well: D., L., K., F., and J.
May 20, 2008
A "Thank You" Message From A Chinese Earthquake Survivor To His American Friend
A Chinese survivor of the earthquake sent his American friend this email last Wednesday. I have edited out the personal information of the correspondents. The American friend and recipient of this email has visited China on several occasions.
Thank you so much for your loving messages. We are now living in a nightmare. Having stayed in the open since the terrible quake which nearly break down our condo buildings, we feel too much exhausted and benumbed by scare and lack of sleep, so throwing ourselves to the mercy of Earth like many others this morning we ventured to climb up to our apartment on the 10th floor(no elevator now) to cook our breakfast and turn on to the Internet for news(as we can only get government-permitted reports).
So here I find your messages, and my family feel so much warmth and love from you, dear. Now everything is in shortage, vegetables, milk, even bottled fresh water.People live in panic and restlessness. Just like the aftermath of a war or the sight after an explosion of atom bombs.Luckily our condo remaains basically undamaged and can still be safe to dwell in.But many many citizens have their houses destroyed, including my relatives in Dujiangyan City.
The only grandson of someone I know, a boy of 11, was buried deep under the debris of their classroom building, and only yesterday the dead body of the lovely kid was excavated out.....Oh! I hope it won't last too long before we can get back to normal life. Do you still remember the grand temple by the river side of Dujiangyan where my whole family took you sightseeing? An important part of it has collapsed. Too many people died or got injured.
Well, I have to close this message now as again the afterquake comes and we can feel the slight shaking of the house...
May 19, 2008
America’s Top Public High Schools and Doodle 4 Google’s Contest: Any Correlations?
Newsweek just published the list of the 1,300 top U. S. public high schools. Any moment from now, Google will announce the winner of their Doodle 4 Google contest.
For the fun of it, I brought these two events together. I amused myself finding out if there was any correlation between being a Doodle 4 Google contest finalist and attending a top U. S. public high school.
Here are my findings. The only high school that appeared on the Newsweek “Top of the Class” list and produced a finalist for the Google contest was Boca Raton Community High School, Florida. Whitley Sullivan attends the 142nd ranked 9 – 12 high school. Her entry, “Wisdom At Your Fingertips” summarizes Google’s mission.
“What if... What if wisdom and power were at your fingertips. You just might have the answer for everything – Google,” Whitley Sullivan wrote and doodled.
Of the remaining high school finalists, one is a charter school, Fort Worth Academy Of Fine Arts, Texas. Victoria Flores attends that school. Her entry celebrates live music.
The only private and parochial high school student on the shortlist is Alice Cao. She attends Thomas More Prep - Marian High School, Kansas. She dreams of Google the Peacemaker.
Here is the list of the other high school finalists who did not come from the top 1,300 U. S. high schools.
- Paul Massicott of Haddam-Killingworth High School, Connecticut
- Zachary Urtes of Patapsco High School And Center For The Arts, Maryland
- Kristen Birdsey of Hopewell Valley Regional Central High School, New Jersey
- Shelby Whalen of Corunna High School, Michigan
- Cherry Rose of Lynn Camp High School, Kentucky
- Gabriel Kitzman, Elbert School Dist. #200, Colorado
- Mariam Hovhannisyan, International Community School, Washington
- Daniel Miller of Jackson Jr. High School, West Virginia
- Allison Press, Chapel Hill High School, North Carolina
- Leslie Saldaña, Spring Valley High School, Nevada
- Shanna Schacher of Wahtonka Campus in Oregon
There appears to be no correlation between attending one of the 1,300 top U. S. high schools and being a Doodle 4 Google 2008 contest finalist. Further research needs to be conducted for a more conclusive result.
Read Newsweek’s report
To find out the winner, simply Google “Doodle 4 Google Contest Winner.”
May 18, 2008
USPS Mail Deliverer Saves Baby From Falling Down Second Floor Window
Four Mondays today, a USPS mail deliverer found herself at the right time at the right spot where she saved a one-year-old girl from falling down a second-story window. Lisa Harrell does the 2nd St route in Albany, New York. Normally, she reaches 306 2nd St around 2 pm.
On April 21, she had to deliver an Express Mail package before noon. At the door, a crying baby fell right into her arms.
The baby's mother said she put her daughter on the bed near an open window. When she turned her back, the baby had crawled out.
I allow myself to accept the possibility that this day I can be at the right place, at right time, to do the work that needs to be done.
Weddings
Weddings are on my mind. In 2003, the US Census Bureau reported that there are on average 6400 new marriages a day in this country. That number will likely increase because three days ago, the California Supreme Court overturned the same-sex marriage ban on a 4-3 vote.
This is great news not just for the gay and lesbian community but also for all those who believe in equal rights for all.
"It makes me feel happy for the whole human race that we are finally getting out of our differences and coming together and we are putting this all behind us.” Melissa Etheridge said.
“I’m thrilled that the California supreme court overturned the ban on gay marriage. I can’t wait to get married." Ellen Degeneres said.
Imagine a world of equal justice for everyone. What a wonderful world that will be. We are getting there.
May 17, 2008
Google Needs Your Help To Select The Best Students Doodle For Their New Logo
Doodle 4 Google Contest
Google needs our help. The leading search engine has asked K-12 students to enter a contest called Doodle 4 Google. The students have doodled around the theme "What if...” Google staff has already chosen the best 40 from thousands of entries received. The ball is now in our court. Google wants to know our favorites.
Why should we care?
Going through the designs gave me chills. I felt hope for the world. The students are aware of the possibilities and challenges of the 21st century. As we cast a vote for a logo, we put our weight behind a cultural icon that reflects our values.
When you visit the contest site, you'll choose between ideals of friendship and the love for bugs, between creating a world of cooperation and promoting musical appreciation, between a fairy tale planet and one of peace and everybody recycles, between helping hands and a Gothic Architecture blueprint. These are just some examples of the contending values.
Google's Leadership
When leaders create the right environment, they bring out the best in people. Google is positioning itself as a leader drawing out the best in others. Be part of something worthwhile and bigger than you. The selections will end in four days. Follow this link. Enjoy.
http://www.google.com/doodle4google/vote.html#
May 16, 2008
Where Is God In Natural Disasters and Human Suffering?
As the media bring us gruesome stories of the earthquake in China, the cyclone in Myanmar, the loss of lives in conflicts around the world, it's possible for many of us to become desensitized. I have noticed that I myself I feel apathy towards sufferings of others in the news.
When we reflect on these events, however, their full force can hit us like a hammer.
It is at such times that I hear myself asking and playing within my mind the following words like a broken record, "Where is God in all this?"Where is God in the lost lives? The crippled lives? Broken lives?
These questions expand my mind beyond the immediate disasters. Where is God in the injustice we witness every day? In the inhumanities we inflict on each other? In our systematic destruction of Mother Earth, polluting her, driving to extinction more species of wildlife every passing year?
Where is God in the terminal illness of innocent children? Where is God in the infidelities, betrayals and disappointments of friends, family members and loved ones? Where is God in our frustrations, in our confusion, in our despair?
And as I think on these things, slowly, quietly, taking them into the silence within, my mind shuts down. I slip into the silence. There, stillness tells me that these questions are koans we must each answer for ourselves. And so I have learned to respond to these questions.
The answers live within you. Where is God in the hurt of the world? Where is God in the suffering of those around you? Where is God in your own pain?
May 15, 2008
Trascending nature's paradoxes
She is our friend. She is our foe. The life she grants us with one hand she snatches away with the other. She sustains us. She annihilates us.
We wrestle all our lives with nature's paradoxes. At rare moments of clarity, we transcend categories of good and evil, of life and death.
If we are lucky, we intuit the essence of everything as stillness, blameless and perfect. Otherwise the mind is trapped in a loop from which it cannot set itself free.
If we are lucky, our awareness expands beyond the limiting confines of particularities and we are then able to acknowledge Paul Verlaine's description of rain as gloom:
Like city's rain, my heart
Rains teardrops too. What now,
This languorous ache, this smart
That pierces, wounds my heart?
And we are also able to discover Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's uplifting rain:
How beautiful is the rain!
After the dust and heat,
In the broad and fiery street,
In the narrow lane,
How beautiful is the rain!
If we are lucky, we know we are the rain of blessings that falls on all as us. We seal our wishes in the words of the ancient Hawaians: "May the blessings of rain fall". And they are done.
May 13, 2008
A Fern Of Hope for the Earthquake Victims of Sinchuan Province of China and the Cyclone Survivors of Myanmar
Two disasters in the last two weeks have set me thinking about the sheer force of nature and human powerlessness.
The 7.8 Richter scale magnitude earthquake that struck Wenchuan County in Sinchuan Province, China, on Monday has claimed more than 10,000 lives, leaving at least 26,000 injured. The UN is saying that Myanmar’s (or Burma’s) Nargis cyclone of May 3 is likely going to swallow more than 100,000 people. Another 1.5 million victims urgently need food, shelter and healthcare.
While we individually think of our appropriate responses, I hope that the survivors will rise again, strong as the ferns, as they build a new foundation on the debris of devastation left behind.
Ferns reproduce from spores that adapt to dry weather. The Georgia Conservancy News reports that spores of the Resurrection Fern can survive a century of drought.
As the fern survives severe weather conditions may our brothers and sisters in China and Myanmar remain tenacious in the face of nature’s devastation.
Getting Out Of A Prison With A Wide Open Door
I watched Jill Bolte Taylor on Oprah's webcast yesterday. Jill's question (I paraphrase): "Why didn't I know about this part of myself all my 37 years?" struck me.
I've struggled for a long time with the difficulty of talking to others in the West about the spiritual and experiential dimension of the self: dreams that come true, deep knowing without using the normal senses, synchronicities, and certainty of life after physical death.
When Jill had the stroke, the part of the brain responsible for logical functions stopped. The part of the brain that connects to everything took over. She experienced for the first time the interconnectedness of all things and all people.
"We are all brothers and sisters," she said.
Mystics have known for centuries that a part of us is inaccessible to our logical mind. A wide spectrum of what is escapes those who base their reality soley on rational thought.
Just as we need instruments to detect visible and invisible light, infrared and ultraviolet rays, so also we need the appropriate tools to experience the subtle dimensions of who we truly are. Effective tools exist today to do this.
Jill Bolte Taylor is one of this new breed of scientists who, through their own experiences, are breaking free from the prison of categorical thinking, the hallmark of Western Logic.
The door to the prison that has held many Westerners captive for several centuries is flung wide open. It always has been wide open. If you still languish in the culturally imposed confinement, you, too, can walk away Scot free. You do not need to have a stroke to go to lala-land. And as Rumi asked: "Why do you stay in prison when the door is wide open?"
May 12, 2008
When One Scientist's Stroke Becomes A Gift To The World
About three months ago, I found myself in a Unity Church bookstore. The welcoming stewardess showed me the books I could have for free and the ones I might like to buy.
One thing led to the other. We started talking about spirituality, lucid dreaming and how the brain works.
She asked me if I've watched Jill Bolte Taylor's video presentation online.
"Who is Jill Bolte Taylor?" I asked. The church administrator told me about Jill's web site.
Two weeks ago, I received an email from a friend who lives in Spokane. Have you watched "Jill Bolte Taylor's video yet?" She asked, as she provided a link to access it.
Have you watched Jill Taylor's video yet? Jill is a neuroanatomist who had a stroke and survived to talk about it.
Oh my Goodness: As I write this at 4 am PDT, I went online to do my final research to complete this blog. And here's what I found out: Oprah is having Jill Bolte Taylor on her webcast. Tonight! And Jill Bolte Taylor has a book that is coming out....You guess it: Today!
Here are some links where you, too, can get connected to the flow:
Jill's official Web site: http://drjilltaylor.com/
Jill's Video Presentation a stroke of luck: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229
Oprah Webcast: http://www.oprah.com/spiritself/oss/ss_oss_main.jhtml?promocode=OSSjbtDL
May 11, 2008
Mother's Touch and Child Survival: The Science Behind Mother's Day
Mothers wield incredible power over their children.
Mestrius Plutarchus, popularly known as Plutarch, the Greek historian, wrote about Coriolanus whose life highlights one of the most dramatic shows of this mother power.
Coriolanus, a Roman Senator, was banished for attempting to subvert the Roman Constitution. In exile, he teamed up with an enemy of Rome and set out to conquer the city.
All attempts to persuade him to stop the planned attack failed. Then the women of Rome appealed to his mother and wife to see if they could change his mind. Coriolanus, the treacherous general, melted before his mother’s plea.
Mothers possess incredible power over their children. Scientists have just begun to unravel the nature and effects of this subtle power. Here are three important discoveries they have made in the past fifty years.
- Bernard Asbell wrote a biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. When he was doing research to understand two of the President’s traits, he found studies that showed a link between the anguish a child suffers when separating from its mother and that child’s fear of death.
- Lloyd Silverman and Joel Weinberger found out that the statement “Mommy and I are one” aids in human motivation when embedded as a subliminal message.
- Professor Michael Meany and his team at McGill University in Montreal found out that a mother’s care affects the child's neurological behavior. Children who received more affection from their mothers have the area of the brain that promotes attention and memory more developed than the control group. A mother’s affection does matter.
Thank goodness for loving mothers and mother figures in our lives!
May 10, 2008
Seven Things Mother Taught Me
Seven Things Mother Taught Me
1. Anticipation: "Just wait until your father gets home."
2. Receiving: "You are going to get it when we get home!"
3. Logic: "If you fall out off that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."
4. Humor:"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."
5. Becoming an adult: "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."
6. Wisdom: "When you get to be my age, you will understand."
7. Justice: "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you....Then you'll see what it's like!"
Originally presented by Aha!Jokes as "The Great Things Mom Taught Me!" Visit this page for more jokes: http://www.ahajokes.com/fp047.html
May 09, 2008
Honoring the hurtful feelings of Mother's Day
Honoring the hurtful feelings of Mother's Day
Now that Mother's Day excitement fills the air like a beautiful summer vacation day, I pause to think of those of you for whom this Sunday brings unpleasant memories. You feel pain, powerless, and sorrow.For some of you, this turns out to be the first big holiday without mom. For some moms among you, this celebration rehashes the fresh and deep sorrowful void that cold icy death hacked in your hearts. Grim Reaper plucked the pupil of your eye away this past year.
For many more among you, Mother's Day is an excruciating reminder that you’ll never be the mother you’ve always wanted to be. You’ll never have your own biological children.
Although this is painful beyond words, honor, as I honor, whatever hurtful feelings this holiday triggers in you.
May 08, 2008
Gift of Self For Best Mother's Day
Gift of Self For Best Mother's Day
Award-winning violinist Philippe Quint found himself in big trouble in New York City. The Russian-born American violinist forgot a $4 million violin he borrowed in a minivan cab.
The following day, Egyptian-born American Mohammed Khalil found the Stradivarius violin in his minivan. He returned it to his customer.
Quint, described as a "legend in the making," came back to say a special "Thank You" to Mohammed three weeks after the incident. Another talented musician accompanied Quint. Together, they turned the Newark Liberty International Airport cab waiting area into a private concert. They entertained Mohammed and his 200 cab-driver colleagues for half an hour.
Like Quint, we are all beneficiaries of the kindness, honesty and humanity of countless individuals. For sure, life is more valuable than a $4-million 265-year-old violin. When we take our minds to people who mean most to us, it is those who loved us, gave us life, and supported us we remember. Our caregivers, our parents and this week in particular, our mothers.
Mother's Day offers us the opportunity to say a special "Thank You" to our mothers and the mother-figures in our lives. Another chance to give the best of what we have and the best of who we are for what we have received.
May 07, 2008
Who walks beside you?
Who Walks Beside You?
Going back to work on Monday after a relatively calm weekend can be frightening. Scientists have found that heart attacks occur most often on this most stressfull day of the working week.Granted that not many people believe they have chosen their work, the work they do has chosen them, Monday is the best day of the week to think about this quote from A Course In Miracles: "If you knew who walks beside you on this path that you have chosen, fear would be impossible."
Here's a link to a New York Times report on stress and days of the week
Re-inviting The Clockmaker
Re-inviting The Clockmaker
Jesuit missionaries, like many foreigners, faced enormous challenges to contact the imperial court of China in the middle ages.
After several attempts, the persistence of the Jesuits paid off. They entered Peking and offered the Emperor amazing Western technological instruments including wind up clocks.
To ensure that they were invited back to the court, the Jesuits hid the secret of how wind up clocks worked. When the time keeping devices stopped the Emperor invited them back. And the Jesuits gained greater access to the Chinese goverment.
Blaise Pascal, French physicist, philosopher, and mathematician wrote: “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator."
The heart is a wind-up clock that functions best when we remember to invite into our affairs the Master Clockmaker.
Goodbye, Friends.
Goodbye, Friends.
Over the years, I've witnessed our fascination with planetary and astronomical phenomena. Comets in particular excite us because they are bright, closer to earth and rare.
Where were you when Comet Ikeya-Seki, one of the brightest comets of the last one thousand years, appeared in 1965? Did you see Halley's Comet in the mid-nineteen-eighties? Do you remember Hale-Bopp and the cult members that perished in the imaginary spaceship with it? Where will you be when that ill-fated comet revisits in 4377? When Comet Ikeya-Seki returns in 2842? Or when Halley's Comet comes back in 2062?
To contemplate or watch a comet come and go reminds us that life is short.
Other reminders exist, even if they are unexciting. Snow falling on flowers. Sunrise. Sunset. Leaf falling in the rain. Cells dying in our bodies every second so we grow brand new ones in seven or so years.
People we meet at the mall. Church and club members who leave and we'll never see again. Colleagues at work who transfer, retire or resign. Katie. Jane. John. Sarah. Lesly. Emily. Marlene. Riley. Sunny. And now Tracy. The list builds like ripples of an early tsunami.
Something around us dies daily. Something within us survives always. Everything invites us to live intensely. Now!
Meditation on the Oracle of Apollo in Delphi
Meditation on the Oracle of Apollo in Delphi
Let’s take a mind trip to the ancient Temple of Apollo in Delphi. Delphi is located in south central Greece on the slopes of Mount Parnasus. It is the last days of winter and the first signs of spring are here. It is Mediterranean weather. We are in front of the Temple of Apollo built around 600 BC. The temple has six columns.
As we walk on the marble floor, our attention is drawn to the many visitors from all over the known world who have come to consult the oracle of Apollo in the sanctuary in front of us. We notice the many statues. We become aware that this is holy ground.
Going through the entry porch, we notice inscriptions in Greek characters. One set of characters stand for Gnothi Seauthon which translated into English means “Know yourself”. Socrates may have read the same inscriptions we are now looking at. Socrates who said: “The unexamined life is not worth living for a person.” And then we realize that this is the most profound question we can ever ask: “Who am I?”
We stop to contemplate the meaning of the words.
“What does it mean for me to know myself?”
“Who am I?”
“Who am I?”
“Who am I?”
We are still at the entry porch to the temple of Apollo in Delphi. We see the tall solid columns. We have been contemplating the inscription “Gnothi Seauthon” “Know yourself.”
And we walk with resolve towards the sanctuary of Apollo for an answer to the question: “Who am I?” As we walk closer we make a strange discovery. The Oracle of Apollo is in our own heart—within us. A place we can enter in stillness whenever we choose. A place we can find out for ourselves who we truly are beyond words, beyond the limits of our thoughts.
Listen now to the Oracle within.
Listen to the deep silence.
Realize the answer to the question: Who am I?
Copyright Kwami E Nyamidie, 2008
Lotus in muddy pond
Lotus in muddy pond
Everywhere I turn, I witness pain. I hear of suffering. The feel of wretchedness envelopes the earth's psychic atmosphere like a belt of poisoned air.
The mind can focus well only on a sensation at once. Each time we direct attention on a concept, image or experience, we exclude the others.
Pain risks over-simplifying life, reducing everything to discomfort, painting a skewed caricature of life. In suffering we may sacrifice nature's beauty and the mystery of existence.
Today, I contemplate the lotus blooming on a muddy and stinky pond.
Camillia in Spring
Camellia in spring
Marion, a friend I've known for more than six years, sent me this photo of a camellia in spring.
All these years, Marion has been a source of joy, encouragement and inspiration.
As I start this blog, my heart overflows with love and gratitude to friends like Marion.
Thanks, Marion, for this flower, a symbol of all the laughter and beauty of life that you bring to me.
Here's to you, Marion, and all my friends past, present and future, especially those of you destiny will bring to me through this medium. Welcome, friend!
"Asleep, awake, by night or by day
The friends I seek are seeking me;
No wind can drive my bark astray
Nor change the tide of destiny."
John Burroughs
