A Sign of Someone Knowing God
Daniel Ladinsky, the renowned American poet and interpreter of mystical poetry, asserts that the 14th-Century Persian poet Hafiz’s work is not just very beautiful—it is useful too. It can teach us how to get the most out of our lives: Two stories of Hafiz come to mind that my own teacher told me, and here […]
Religion is About Unprovable Postulations
Religion is about postulations that no human being could possibly be assured about declares Sam Harris in Letter to a Christian Nation, While believing strongly, without evidence, is considered a mark of madness or stupidity in any other area of our lives, faith in God still holds immense prestige in our society. Religion is the […]
The Nature of Enlightenment
American spiritual teacher Adyashanti writes in his article “Bliss in a By-Product” in the Summer 2009 issue of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review: We must give up the pursuit of positive emotional states through spiritual practice. The path of awakening in not about positive emotions. On the contrary, enlightenment may not be easy or positive at […]
Philosophy Begins in Disappointment
From Infinitely Demanding: Ethics of Commitment, Politics of Resistance by the English philosopher Simon Critchley: Philosophy does not begin in an experience of wonder, as ancient tradition contends, but rather, I think, with the indeterminate but palpable sense that something desired has not been fulfilled, that a fantastic effort has failed. Philosophy begins in disappointment. […]
Time Createth All Things
Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa writes in The Mahabharata (translation by Kisari Mohan Ganguli): Existence and non-existence, pleasure and pain all have Time for their root. Time createth all things and Time destroyeth all creatures. It is Time that burneth creatures and it is Time that extinguisheth the fire. All states, the good and the evil, in the […]
Personalized Extra Effort
Robert Cialdini writes in Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, An ounce of personalized extra effort is worth a pound of persuasion. the more personalized you make a request, the more likely you’ll be to get someone to agree that request. More specifically, this research shows that in the office or in the […]
Compassion and Justice
Buddhist monk Buikku Bodhi, born Jeffrey Block, writes in Conscientious Compassion: When compassion and justice are unified, we arrive at what I call conscientious compassion. This is compassion, not merely as a beautiful inward feeling of empathy with those suffering, but a compassion that gives birth to a fierce determination to uplift others, to tackle […]
Give and Expect Nothing in Return
Swami Vivekananda writes in Karma Yoga: The Yoga of Action, Do you ask anything from your children in return for what you have given them? It is your duty to work for them, and there the matter ends. In whatever you do for a particular person, a city, or a state, assume the same attitude […]
CEOs Don’t Have All the Answers
The New York Times Corner Office column interviews Bernardo Hees, CEO of Kraft Heinz, a public company sponsored by 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway: We normally think of C.E.O.s as the people who have the answers, right? I think C.E.O.s are the ones that have the questions. If you can provide the right framework and […]
Vulnerability and the Human Condition
Barry Magid writes in Right Here with You: Bringing Mindful Awareness into Our Relationships: We have to get to know and be honest about our particular strategies for dealing with vulnerability and learn to use mindfulness to allow ourselves to experience more of that vulnerability rather than less of it. To open yourself up to […]