I am often asked why it is easier to see failure than success, unhappiness than happiness. It is of our early training, which was usually negative. When good things happened, people exclaimed, ‘This is too good to be true.’ - Florence Scovel Shinn
Life is deep and simple, and what our society gives us is shallow and complicated. - Fred Rogers
Historically, Tibet is and has been a buffer between four powerful Asian countries: Persia to the west, India to the south, Mongolia to the north and China to the east. Glen Mullin, a Tibetan scholar who is a friend of the Dalai Lama, says that the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists once described Tibet this way to him:
"We adopted our spiritual traditions from India, the mother of the greatest religions in the East; we took our culinary arts from China, the Eastern land with the best cooking; and we adopted the Mongolian style of dress as the Mongolians had the most colorful sense in clothing." There is no normal life that is free of pain. It's the very wrestling with our problems that can be the impetus for our growth. - Fred Rogers
The Dalai Lama often reminds his audiences, “that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” During the Great Depression, a man who was completely uneducated, who could neither read nor write, learned of a job opening as a public school janitor in New York City. He applied but was turned down due to his illiteracy. Naturally he was disappointed and upset.
However, a friend helped him get a position selling cigars on the street. The man became a highly successful cigar salesman and deposited his commissions in the bank with the aid of a friend who filled out the application forms and wrote out deposit slips. After two or three years, he had a savings account of $30,000, at the height of the depression. He decided to withdraw some of his money. The bank teller instructed him to “write out a withdrawal slip for the amount you want.” The said: “I can’t read or write.” Amazed, the teller said: “Wow, you’ve earned and saved $30,000 without an education! Where would you have been if you had been able to read and write?” The man responded: “I would have been a janitor in Public School No. 17!” When the Dalai Lama says - “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.”- he means that we need to trust the Universe, remaining confident and calm even when events don’t appear to favor us. Nobody else can live the life you live. And even though no human being is perfect, we always have a chance to bring what’s unique about us to live in a redeeming way.
- Fred Rogers 'REIMAGING HUMAN FLOURISHING" - DALAI LAMA CALLS FOR GREATER HUMAN UNITY TO SOLVE UNIVERSAL PROBLEMS3/15/2018
This week, the Dalai Lama welcomed more than 200 noted academics, scientists, education specialists, and Buddhist scholars to his official residence in Dharamsala for the 33rd Mind & Life Conference. The conference theme is "Reimaging Human Flourishing". The Dalai Lama offered this wisdom on the first day:
"The time has come to think in terms of the whole of humanity not just our nation within its own boundariesThe environment, too, is telling us that we human beings have to work together as one community, which is the only way we’ll meet such serious issues as the increasing shortage of water. It will require a new approach to education that takes account of scientific findings and that cultivates human qualities on the basis of a secular scientific approach.” In our everyday life, people reflect one another. If you are angry, the person across from you becomes angry too. If you smile, the other person smiles too. It’s like a reflection in a mirror.
- Taisen Deshimaru Stephen Hawking, who sought to explain the origins of the universe, the mysteries of black holes and the nature of time itself, died on Wednesday, March 14th, aged 76. Here are ten things most people don't know about him:
10. He's funny. He says this about his college courses: “Physics was always the most boring subject school because it was so easy and obvious. Chemistry was much more fun because unexpected things, such as explosions, kept happening.” 9. He likes his work. “To my surprise, I found I liked it (scientific research). Someone once said that scientists and prostitutes get paid for doing what they enjoy.” 8. He doesn't think it's possible to travel back into time. “I don't think time travel will ever be possible. If it were, we would ave been overrun by tourists from the future by now.” 7. His father was a tropical medicine specialist. Frank Hawking studied medicine at Oxford University and spent considerable time studying topical diseases in East Africa. 6. He expresses gratitude easily, naturally. “When I was twenty-one and contracted ALS, I felt it was very unfair....I thought my life was over and I would never realize th potential I felt I had. But now , fifty years later, I can be quietly satisfied with my life. I have been married twice and have three beautiful and accomplished children. I have been successful in my scientific career.” 5. His fame comes with burdens and possibilities. “Being well known and easily recognizable has its pluses and minuses. The minuses are that it can be difficult t do ordinary things such as shopping without being besieged by people wanting photographs and that in the past the press has taken an unhealthy interest in my private life. But the minuses are more than outweighed by the pluses. People seem genuinely pleased to see me.” 4. He's positive. “My disability has not been a serious handicap in my scientific wok. In fact, in some ways I guess it has been an asset: I haven't had to lecture or teach undergraduates, and I haven't had to sit on tedious and time consuming committees. So I have been able to devote myself completely to research.” 3. He's stayed in touch with lifelong friends. When he entered his teen years, Hawking had “six or seven close friends, most of whom I'm still in touch with.” 2. His disease added meaning to his life. Prior to the diagnoses, he drifted through university with the feeling “that nothing was worth making an effort for.” After the diagnosis of ALS, Hawking says became motivated: “One result of my illness has been to change all that (drifting). When you are faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes your realize that life is worth living and that there are lots of things you want do do.” 1. He writes children's books. Hawking and his daughter, Lucy, have co-written a series of “George” books for children. Some titles include: George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt, George's Secret Key To The Universe, George and the Big Bank. (feel free to repost or share on your social media) |
Victor M. Parachin ...is aVedic educator, yoga instructor, Buddhist meditation teacher and author of a dozen books. Buy his books at amazon or your local bookstore. Archives
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