Tuesday 28 May 2013

Not just science or religion - Accepting Uncertainty

There is no need for science to be fundamentalist any more than there is a need for religions to be fundamentalist. Fundamentalism springs from a desire for certainty, but many religious people and many scientists know that this cannot be achieved by beings with limited minds and experience such as ourselves.


- Rupert Sheldrake, "A Question of Faith"



Received as Daily Dharma from Tricycle.com on the 20th of May 2013



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It's not just about science or religion either - it is easy to find that our everyday views and opinions ossify in our desire for certainty. And with this we become more rigid and less supple, less flexible. If we continue in this way without stepping back to reflect and to soften ourselves periodically, life becomes more difficult and vexatious - for ourselves and for those we interact with!

Sunday 26 May 2013

The Self-Destructiveness of Anger

When you give in to aversion and anger, it’s as though, having decided to kill someone by throwing him into a river, you wrap your arms around his neck, jump into the water with him, and you both drown. In destroying your enemy, you destroy yourself as well.

- Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, "Putting Down the Arrow"

Received as Daily Dharma from Tricycle.com on the 19th of May 2013

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I always love these kind of reminders from Buddhist teachers when it comes to anger. It is perhaps most apparent to me personally when I get angry with my immediate family. Being angry and feeding the anger immediately causes hurt and pain for the whole family, myself included!

Friday 8 February 2013

Outside the Story

Our lives are meaningless if we take meaning for a coherent narrative plot of some sort. When we strain to make our lives otherwise, we're merely telling ourselves a story. You and I don't manifest in the universe as meaning, we manifest as living human beings. We're not here to represent something else. We're here in our own right.

- Lin Jensen, "Wash Your Bowl"

Received as Daily Dharma from Tricycle.com on the 7th of February 2013

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Yes. We humans love adding narrative and meta-narrative to our lives. And then thinking that the story 'means something'.