Can’t say I’m the biggest Dalai Lama fan, but I just read this and it hit me like a lightning bolt.

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man.
Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Powerful stuff.

To all SM subscribers, Spiritual Mind will now be going by Wax Philosophical. It reflects the change from talking only about spirituality, to including all the other areas that make life sweet.

A quickie little 5-min meditation with Deepak to help you chill out during your hectic day. Obviously, there are a huge variety of much longer and more in-depth meditations you can practice, but this seemed like a short useful one you can do at your desk without too much prep. Enjoy.

Update 7/27/11 – Whoops… I had “mediation” in a couple of places which made some readers think Deepak got into the legal field. Though I’m sure he’d make a calm and pleasant lawyer, sort of like an Indian Matlock.

In this short 2 min clip, Sagan discusses how humans have evolved as a society, but how we still have dangerous traits that put our world in peril. He’s optimistic that humanity might make a change, but is uncertain. He discusses the benefits of seeing the planet from space, seeing it as a delicate orb, without borders. Love this guy, shame we lost him so early.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson
about a battle that goes on inside all people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two
wolves that dwell inside each and everyone of us.

The old Cherokee simply replied:
“The one you feed.”

This one little blog post from a year ago crashed my server yesterday

This little quote speaks to so many people, just as it spoke to me when I first saw it. Hmm, I’d been so busy with starting my business, and miscellaneous family planning, that I’d ignored this special place (SpiritualMind) where I’d share thoughts and exchange ideas with great people.

It’s hard sometimes to make time even for those things that give you a lot of pleasure. I’m not sure why that is. Is the pressure of everyday life overwhelming that basic pleasurable need? Is it a fear of pursuing a passion? Not sure.

This huge traffic surprise jump-started me a little. I’m hoping to pick things up with the blog again soon, and I’ll share some of the trials and tribulations from the last year or so.

With love, Alex

Fascinating discussion on Singularity, the Brain and Consciousness. Enjoy!

Here’s a great short clip animated by South Park co-creator Matt Stone. Love this stuff. Enjoy!

VIDEO

Very short interesting 3 minute vid illustrating Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.

From Wikipedia:

Plato imagines a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows. According to Plato, the shadows are as close as the prisoners get to seeing reality. He then explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constitutive of reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.

WATCH VIDEO:

         

]]>Very short interesting 3 minute vid illustrating Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. From Wikipedia: Plato imagines a group of people who have lived chained in a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to ascribe [...]http://waxphilosophical.com/2010/05/platos-allegory-cave/feed/1http://waxphilosophical.com/2010/05/platos-allegory-cave/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/waxphilosophical/~3/fC5HDsnHKPQ/Spiritual ImageryUncategorizedAlexSun, 18 Apr 2010 16:49:11 PDThttp://spiritualmind.com/?p=1193

Nice View On Life.

         

]]>Nice View On Life.          http://waxphilosophical.com/2010/04/nice-quote-about-life/feed/11http://waxphilosophical.com/2010/04/nice-quote-about-life/