Posted inDeath/Rebirth

Three ways of dealing with anxiety about death

Nicholas Humphrey's "Soul Dust" is one of those books that I both want to never end, and am eager to come to the end of. Like I said in a previous post, I'm loving the book.  So I want to keep enjoying the chapter or so that I read each morning. However, I also am curious to learn how Humphrey ends his book (last chapter comes up tomorrow). Thus reading this book is somewhat akin to dealing with the knowledge that each of us will die one day. We don't like the idea of living coming to an end, while…
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Posted inReligions

Is God a substitute for the social safety net?

It sure seems like people turn more toward God when they face tough times. If life doesn't give us what we need, the anticipation of better things to come in an afterlife offers hope that eternity in heaven will be much more pleasant than the time we spend on Earth. Thus an interesting letter in New Scientist hypothesizes that as near-universal health insurance through Obamacare/Affordable Care Act becomes more and more of a reality, religiosity in the United States will decline. We can only hope. From Rev Dr Derek SuchardIn his review of Ara Norenzayan's Big Gods: How religion transformed cooperation…
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Posted inReality Science

“Soul Dust” shows how we create an enchanted world

Here's my new loving it book: "Soul Dust," by Nicholas Humphrey. I loved his "Seeing Red" also. Blogged about that earlier book of Humphrey's here and here. Intimations of "Soul Dust" are evident in this quote from "Seeing Red" that I included in the second post. My suggestion is that in the course of human evolution, our ancestors who thought of their own consciousness as metaphysically remarkable -- existing outside normal space and time -- would have taken themselves still more seriously as Selves. The more mysterious and unworldly the qualities of consciousness, the more seriously significant the Self. And…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation Taoism/Tai Chi

Sung: the only Tai Chi most people need to know

Relax. Relax. Relax.  There. Really understand what "relax" means, and you've pretty much mastered the essence of Tai Chi. So said Cheng Man-ch'ing, one of the most eminent teachers of Tai Chi. Relax (sung). My teacher must have repeated these words many times each day. 'Relax! Relax! Relax completely! The whole body should completely relax!' Otherwise he said, 'Not relaxed, then you are like a punching bag.'  To comment on the single word sung is extremely difficult. If you can relax completely, then the rest is easy. Here I have written down what my teacher told me daily in order…
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Posted inBuddhism Science

Unbiased thought or pure perception is impossible: Neuroscience 101

Like I said before, now it's really tough for me to read books that reflect pre-scientific understanding of the human mind. Or to seriously consider any form of spirituality/meditation/philosophy that doesn't address what Robert Burton, M.D. says in the opening pages of his "A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind: What Neuroscience Can and Cannot Tell Us About Ourselves." Our brains possess involuntary mechanisms that make unbiased thought impossible yet create the illusion that we are rational creatures capable of fully understanding the mind created by those same mechanisms. Our brains have evolved piecemeal; contradictions, inconsistency, and paradox are hardwired into…
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Posted inBuddhism Science

Buddhism is too serious and unscientific for me

I must really be entering the churchless deep end. Which is great! I enjoy diving into the depths of reality, rather than swimming around in the shallows of religious and philosophical concepts. For a long time I've enjoyed reading Buddhist books, so long as they aren't overly traditional. But now even edgy writings like "Rebel Buddha" seem too dogmatic to me. How can this quote be justified? Is mind the brain or a by-product of the brain? Is it chemicals and neurotransmitters lighting up pathways in the brain that spark sensation, thought, and feeling, and lead up to the brilliance…
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Posted inBuddhism Reality

One sip of coffee is more real than a thousand thoughts of God

I've drunk a lot of coffee in my life. Also, thought a lot about God. What I've concluded after all these years (65, to be exact) is that a single sip of coffee brings me hugely closer to reality than a thousand God-thoughts. I could have said "a million," because the gap is so wide between (1) something that actually exists in the world beyond the human brain, and (2) something that exists only as an abstract human conception. In no way do I call myself a Buddhist. But there are many aspects of Buddhism that I find appealing, along…
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Posted inBuddhism

Now is the simplest place and time to be

Here's how I've come to look upon now: its the best place to live out my life, because it is the simplest and least complex residence my psyche can reside in. Also, my inescapable home. So I might as well embrace what is impossible to be separate from. During my waking hours, I always have to deal in one way or another with what is happening now. Even if I'm lying down doing nothing, that doing nothing is something. Question is, how much extra do I add to the inescapable now? Dealing with now is an irreducible minimum experience; adding…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories

Sorting out your wantings with a thought cloud

Obviously I don't know how your brain/mind works. Heck, I don't even know how my brain/mind works, even though so far as I, neuroscience, and Buddhism can tell, there is no difference between me and my brain/mind. (From here on out I'll just say "mind" instead of "brain/mind," since the mind is the brain in action.) Nevertheless, what I feel when I ponder some subject is that thought clouds, for lack of a better term, start to form and float around within conscious awareness.  Each is a concept of sorts. But maybe more like a feeling. Or an intuition. Regardless, they…
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Posted inReligions Spiritual practice/meditation

Imagine how you felt when you still believed

Almost everybody has believed in imaginary things.  God. Angels. Bigfoot. Flying saucers. Soul. That the barista at the coffee shop is really attracted to you when he/she smiles while handing over your drink. The list is endless. Because it feels good to believe in things that we want to be real, but almost certainly aren't.  How do we tell the difference between reality and illusion, fact and belief, actuality and hope? By using an everyday form of the scientific method: predict what would happen if your belief really is true. If that prediction comes to pass, or if the experiment…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Make your own meaning… no validation required

I love the idea that life is meaningless. It fills me with joy to think that the cosmos doesn't give a crap about me, nor does the God who doesn't exist, nor the oft-mentioned "universe" -- in the sense of the universe is trying to teach me a lesson. No it isn't. Whatever lesson you or I are going to learn from an experience will come from us. Ditto for meaning. I used to believe there was an objectively real Meaning of Life. The main goal of life was to figure out what that truth was. But meaning isn't a fact…
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Posted inReality

Reality is the only grace we need

Grace. An intriguing word.  It can mean smoothness of movement. But in spiritual and religious circles, there is a different meaning.  a :  unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctificationb :  a virtue coming from God c :  a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace This sort of grace implies mitigation of an undesirable state. God gives us the grace of salvation, enlightenment, or whatever because we need saving or enlightening. Or whatever. So God, usually considered to be the creator and sustainer of existence, makes the creation imperfect. Or at least produces the circumstances for sin, error, and…
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Posted inHumor

Comic Jessi Klein’s story about her dream job

Here's something questionably/ definitely/ absolutely not (take your choice) spiritually significant. Click on segment 1. Listen. Smile. Laugh. Learn. Loved the ending. And comic Klein's attitude. More and more, I think comics are the wisest people on Earth. In addition to the funniest. Age old moral here: be yourself. Not the person you believe either you or someone else wants you to be. Bonus extra visual addition: if you listen to Klein's podcast and are intrigued by her mention of Blake Lively, here's a photo. (Klein speaks the truth.) Double bonus extra visual addition: if you listen to Klein's podcast…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories

Almost-65 me is asked “what best prepares for old age?”

Longer ago than I want to admit (I dislike procrastination, even though I engage in it frequently), someone who was reading my book about Plotinus, "Return to the One," emailed me a good question about growing old. More recently, he reminded me of the question that I hadn't answered. Here's part of his email. Have you got around to putting any thought into my last inquiry...  “In light of Platonism and maintaining good mental health, what would you say might prepare a person best for old age, as in the interval between old age and death?” Even though I may…
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Posted inReligions

Religion Cheat Sheet — see what faith you believe in

When I got an email from someone representing Christian Universities Online who shared a link to their "Religion Cheat Sheet," I deleted the message after a quick lookover. But the next day this person said she was checking to see how I liked the infographic. If I did, was I going to pass it along to my blog readers? Well, Hailey, actually I do like the Religion Cheat Sheet. It's a clever and seemingly pretty darn accurate flow chart of what religion you end up with, given your answers to a few questions.  Give it a look-see below, or via…
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Posted inGod Science

God is as real as human consciousness

Below is a highly persuasive answer to the question, "Is God real?" I like the answer a lot, mostly because it is the answer I would have given to the question if I was as neuroscientifically wise as Michael Graziano, author of "Consciousness and the Social Brain," a book I've blogged about here and here. (Check out my Amazon review of the book.) Near the end of his book, Graziano asks Does God Exist? Here's extended quotes from that section. Graziano is such a good writer and thinker, I'm wary of paraphrasing this Professor of Neuroscience at Princeton University. Across all…
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Posted inScience

A puppet is as conscious as you are

I'm back!... to writing about Michael Graziano's super-interesting book, "Consciousness and the Social Brain." It was the subject of my Awareness is a fictionalized sketch of attention, which encapsulated the central theme of his neuroscientific theory. Every time I pick up the book I'm challenged to look at myself and the world in a fresh way. A believable way. Yet sometimes, a rather disturbing way. Like when I read this morning, after Graziano described how a ventriloquist makes a puppet look like it is alive, he said: It seems crazy to insist that the puppet's consciousness is real. And yet,…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Spiritual practice/meditation

Finding joy in a meaningless life

A few days ago I was riding my bike in central Oregon. I was having a good time cruising around the dirt roads and nicely graveled bike paths in oh-so-charming Camp Sherman, where the Metolius River flows. Pedaling along, idly pondering the Meaning of It All, my brain ejected a marvelous thought that instantly struck me as having a great intuitive appeal. There's no meaning to life, which is absolutely freaking glorious! I felt like a weight had been lifted from my pondering psyche. Meaning is heavy, man. It isn't something you toss around lightly.  Even if you're no longer…
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Posted inScience

Awareness is a fictionalized sketch of attention

The title of this post is a quote from p. 79 of Michael Graziano's highly persuasive and fascinating book, "Consciousness and the Social Brain." As noted in my previous post about neuroscientist Graziano's creative theory about what awareness is, I bought the book after reading an article by the author. I'm loving it. Probably the best book about the brain I've ever read, and I've read a lot. Graziano is an excellent writer (cover says he is "an award winning novelist). His take on awareness makes more sense than anything mystics, philosophers, meditators, or other scientists have come up with.…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories

Missing dog food can shows power of false belief

"Where is the dog food left over from what you fed them last night?" My wife, Laurel, asked a simple question. It led to a fascinating insight into how our brains work. OK, how my brain worked after I heard the question. But my brain is pretty damn normal most of the time. And I've read enough neuroscience books to know that how I responded is a good example of how false beliefs that can seem absolutely true take root in the human brain. Laurel added, "I can't find it in the refrigerator." I told her, "It must be there.…
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