background preloader

Dalai Lama tells his Facebook friends that religion "is no longer adequate"

Dalai Lama tells his Facebook friends that religion "is no longer adequate"
Well, he'd hardly be the first Buddhist to say something like this. From what I've read, there are already lots of Buddhists, and historical Buddhist movements in various countries, who are atheistic and who prefer to return to Buddhism's roots as a kind of self-help, personal psychological and philosophical system—and yes, I realize I'm hugely oversimplifying that ideological stripe of Buddhism—and that's fine. And if this helps the world be a better place, cool. I'm all for it. But as an atheist I had already got to this point without making sand paintings, spinning prayer wheels or staring at stupas or rock gardens to shut off all mental processes and get to Satori. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

15 Books You Should Have Read in 2010 | Technology on GOOD Image by Jane Mount, Courtesy 20x200 Yes, we read Freedom this year and yes, it was good. As Esquire put it, it “was one great slab of a book, at a time when most books have given up on greatness.” But there were other books in 2010, books that had to compete for our ever more challenged attention spans and won. 1. Author: Stephen King Recommended by: Ben Jervey, Environment Editor Why read? 2. Author: George R.R. Recommended by: Morgan Clendaniel, Deputy Editor, GOOD Why read? 3. Author: Jan Gehl Recommended by: Alissa Walker, Contributing Editor, GOOD Why read? 4. Author: Tom Rachman Recommended by: Zach Frechette, Editor in Chief, GOOD Why read? 5. Author: Walter Van Tillburg Clark Recommended by: Cord Jefferson, Culture Editor, GOOD Why Read? 6. Author: Colum McCann Recommended by: Nicola Twilley, Food Editor, GOOD Why read? 7. Author: Diane Ravitch Recommended by: Liz Dwyer, Education Editor, GOOD Why read? 8. Author: Matthew B. Recommended by: Allan Chochinov, Editor in chief, Core77 Why read?

9 Mind-Bending Epiphanies That Turned My World Upside-Down Over the years I’ve learned dozens of little tricks and insights for making life more fulfilling. They’ve added up to a significant improvement in the ease and quality of my day-to-day life. But the major breakthroughs have come from a handful of insights that completely rocked my world and redefined reality forever. The world now seems to be a completely different one than the one I lived in about ten years ago, when I started looking into the mechanics of quality of life. It wasn’t the world (and its people) that changed really, it was how I thought of it. Maybe you’ve had some of the same insights. 1. The first time I heard somebody say that — in the opening chapter of The Power of Now — I didn’t like the sound of it one bit. I see quite clearly now that life is nothing but passing experiences, and my thoughts are just one more category of things I experience. If you can observe your thoughts just like you can observe other objects, who’s doing the observing? 2. Of course! 3. 4. 5.

Western Philosophy BEING CRAZY IS NOISY John Sterns is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder (a co-diagnosis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), chronic depression and chronic anxiety. He describes a lifetime of fighting demons ... Special to MORE INTELLIGENT LIFE I. But the most persistent and long-standing of my voices, which began when I was eight years old, pounds on my left shoulder like a jackhammer, repeating, “I hate myself. Before my treatment, hospitalisations and incarcerations, these voices were all separate and distinct, with individual sounds, tones, rhythms and pitches. II. I immediately hated Kevin. III. Art therapy required me to sit around a table with seven other inmates and a social worker, and stare at a blank piece of paper and a torn box of broken crayons. The next day brought another art therapy session and once again I turned in a blank sheet of white paper. “John,” she began ominously, “you are failing art therapy.” I misheard her, clearly. The conversation was obviously over. So I draw.

The Ten Most Revealing Psych Experiments Psychology is the study of the human mind and mental processes in relation to human behaviors - human nature. Due to its subject matter, psychology is not considered a 'hard' science, even though psychologists do experiment and publish their findings in respected journals. Some of the experiments psychologists have conducted over the years reveal things about the way we humans think and behave that we might not want to embrace, but which can at least help keep us humble. That's something. 1. The Robbers Cave Experiment is a classic social psychology experiment conducted with two groups of 11-year old boys at a state park in Oklahoma, and demonstrates just how easily an exclusive group identity is adopted and how quickly the group can degenerate into prejudice and antagonism toward outsiders. Researcher Muzafer Sherif actually conducted a series of 3 experiments. 2. The prisoners rebelled on the second day, and the reaction of the guards was swift and brutal. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

INTJ Profile Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judgingby Marina Margaret Heiss Profile: INTJ Revision: 3.1 Date of Revision: 17 Oct 2009 To outsiders, INTJs may appear to project an aura of "definiteness", of self-confidence. This self-confidence, sometimes mistaken for simple arrogance by the less decisive, is actually of a very specific rather than a general nature; its source lies in the specialized knowledge systems that most INTJs start building at an early age. When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several -- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. INTJs are known as the "Systems Builders" of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. In the broadest terms, what INTJs "do" tends to be what they "know". Introverted iNtuition U.S.

ChangeCycle.com The Change Cycle™ Model Change has always been a necessary aspect of life and work, and our world is changing more rapidly than ever. It is likely that you will have to cope with a variety of changes in the near future. Your success and fulfillment - your emotional, mental, spiritual and physical well-being - depend on how well you adapt to change. People react, respond and adjust to change in a sequence of six predictable stages. The Change Cycle model identifies the thoughts, feelings and behaviors associated with each stage of change. Stage 1 – Loss to Safety In Stage 1 you admit to yourself that regardless of whether or not you perceive the change to be good or 'bad" there will be a sense of loss of what "was." Stage 2 – Doubt to Reality In this stage, you doubt the facts, doubt your doubts and struggle to find information about the change that you believe is valid. Stage 3 – Discomfort to Motivation You will recognize Stage 3 by the discomfort it brings.

6 Questions That Will Make You Fee Peaceful and Complete “The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.” ~Swedish Proverb When I was in my mid-twenties an unhealthy relationship with an unhealthy guy sent me packing off to the corner of New Mexico to find myself. In a new age, self-discovery kind of world—a hubbub of a town filled with people in transition—I was graced to meet many powerful healers, gurus, shamans, and teachers. I became a workshop junkie. I got rolfed, (and got more intense body-work by thick-boned Maoris) and rebirthed with conscious breath work. I went on vision quests in the desert, called leading psychics, mapped my astrological chart, figured out my Enneagram number, dreamed lucidly for nights in an upright chair, and drew down the moon in Wiccan circles. I know. I was a perpetual seeker. Even though my unhealthy relationship was dysfunctional, that man gave me a gift that I wouldn’t discover for years. Whether he meant it or not, he would say: What’s not to love about you? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Five Great Puzzles and Paradoxes to Tickle the Mind | All Things Daniel Haggard Hi thanks for visiting. I don't update this blog very often anymore. I write lots of interesting stuff up on my other blog: Reviews in Depth. So please do check it out. I also post lots of interesting tid-bits on my Google+ account. Paradoxes cause confusion at the roots of all our thinking. We ponder over such problems because of a worry that they give us reason to doubt our most trusted source of knowledge – reason itself. Here are five great puzzles/paradoxes to tickle the mind: Newcomb’s Problem Imagine you are playing a game – it works like this: a rich scientist has presented you with two opaque boxes labelled A and B. Now in box A he has placed a thousand dollars. He then asks you to make your choice. To make sure the puzzle cuts deeply enough – let’s rule one possibility of thought out. When confronted with this puzzle most people tend to say: that’s easy I’d do such and such. There are two lines of equally compelling reasoning going on. The Liar Paradox The Unexpected Hanging

Philip Zimbardo: The Secret Powers of Time (Animated) Bio Philip Zimbardo Philip Zimbardo is internationally recognized as a leading "voice and face of contemporary psychology" through his widely seen PBS-TV series, "Discovering Psychology," his media appearances, best-selling trade books on shyness, and his classic research, The Stanford Prison Experiment. Zimbardo has been a Stanford University professor since 1968 (now an Emeritus Professor), having taught previously at Yale, NYU, and Columbia University. He continues teaching graduate students at the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, and at the Naval Post Graduate School (Monterey). He has been given numerous awards and honors as an educator, researcher, writer, and service to the profession. His current research interests continue in the domain of social psychology, with a broad emphasis on everything interesting to study from shyness to time perspective, madness, cults, vandalism, political psychology, torture, terrorism, and evil. Encyclopædia Britannica Article time

The problem of evil, as described circa 300 B.C. In about 300 B.C., Epicurus eloquently summed up the problem of the existence of evil. It has come to be known as the Riddle of Epicurus or the Epicurean paradox. It was translated by David Hume in the Dialogues concerning Natural Religion: If God is willing to prevent evil, but is not able to Then He is not omnipotent.If He is able, but not willing Then He is malevolent.If He is both able and willing Then whence cometh evil?If He is neither able nor willing Then why call Him God? Tags: Epicurus, problem of evil Category: Good and Evil, Quotes About the Author (Author Profile) Erich Vieth is an attorney focusing on consumer law litigation and appellate practice.

Seven Blunders of the World The Seven Social Sins, sometimes called the Seven Blunders of the World, is a list that Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi published in his weekly newspaper Young India on October 22, 1925.[1] Later, he gave this same list to his grandson Arun Gandhi, written on a piece of paper, on their final day together, shortly before his assassination.[2] The seven sins or blunders are: History and influence[edit] Mahatma Gandhi, who published the list in 1925 as a list of "Seven Social Sins" (1940s photo) The list was first published by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in his weekly newspaper Young India on October 22, 1925.[1] Gandhi wrote that a correspondent who he called a "fair friend" had sent the list: "The... fair friend wants readers of Young India to know, if they do not already, the following seven social sins,"[1] (the list was then provided). In the decades since its first publication, the list has been widely cited and/or discussed. Easwaran, Eknath (1989). Gomes, Peter J. (2007). See also[edit]

List of unsolved problems in philosophy This is a list of some of the major unsolved problems in philosophy. Clearly, unsolved philosophical problems exist in the lay sense (e.g. "What is the meaning of life?", "Where did we come from?", "What is reality?" Aesthetics[edit] Essentialism[edit] In art, essentialism is the idea that each medium has its own particular strengths and weaknesses, contingent on its mode of communication. Art objects[edit] This problem originally arose from the practice rather than theory of art. While it is easy to dismiss these assertions, further investigation[who?] Epistemology[edit] Epistemological problems are concerned with the nature, scope and limitations of knowledge. Gettier problem[edit] In 1963, however, Edmund Gettier published an article in the periodical Analysis entitled "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?" In response to Gettier's article, numerous philosophers have offered modified criteria for "knowledge." Infinite regression[edit] Molyneux problem[edit] Münchhausen trilemma[edit] [edit]

Watch Psychology Documentaries Online Free - Part 5 Marc Dutroux (born 6 November 1956 in Brussels) is one of the sickest human beings ever born. He is a Belgian criminal, convicted of having, in 1995 and 1996, kidnapped, tortured and sexually abused six girls, ranging in age from 8 to 19, four of whom died as a result. He was also convicted of having killed a suspected former accomplice, Bernard Weinstein. He was arrested in 1996 and has been in prison since then. His widely publicized trial took place in 2004. This 30-minute documentary is the first from an original series of eight made for television in 1966. With the help of a hammer-wielding scientist, Jennifer Aniston and a general anaesthetic, Professor Marcus du Sautoy goes in search of answers to one of science’s greatest mysteries: how do we know who we are? Go back to a time before the invention of artificial light and experience a world petrified in the pitch of darkness…when fear ruled the night. What is the psychology of war?

Related: