when I consider

When I consider …

 

John Milton, (1608 - 1674) Sonnet 19 (Sonnet XIX)

 

When I consider how my light is spent,

Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,

And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest He returning chide,

"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"

I fondly ask; But patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies "God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best

Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state

Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed

And post o'er land and ocean without rest;

They also serve who only stand and wait."

Note:
Many people refer to this poem as 'When I consider how my life is spent' however when Milton wrote this poem he was referring to his rapidly failing eyesight

http://www.poetry-online.org/milton_when_i_consider_how_my_light_is_spent.htm

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/sonnets/sonnet_19/index.shtml

 

William Shakespeare, (1564 – 1616) Sonnet XV.

 

When I consider every thing that grows

Holds in perfection but a little moment,

That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows

Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;

When I perceive that men as plants increase,

Cheered and cheque'd even by the self-same sky,

Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,

And wear their brave state out of memory;

Then the conceit of this inconstant stay

Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,

Where wasteful Time debateth with Decay,

To change your day of youth to sullied night;

  And all in war with Time for love of you,

  As he takes from you, I engraft you new.

http://www.cs.usyd.edu.au/~matty/Shakespeare/texts/poetry/sonnets

http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/15detail.html (with paraphrase)

19 minutes of Goenka on vipassana

Pure distilled Goenka

http://web2.dhamma.org/video/Intro/reutersSngintroeng150k.ram

 

 

 

Mental capital and well being

Mental capital:

This encompasses a person's cognitive and emotional resources. It includes their cognitive ability, how flexible and efficient they are at learning, and their "emotional intelligence", such as their social skills and resilience in the face of stress. It therefore conditions how well an individual is able to contribute effectively to society, and also to experience a high personal quality of life.

The idea of "capital" naturally sparks association with ideas of financial capital and it is both challenging and natural to think of the mind in this way.

Mental wellbeing:

This is a dynamic state, in which the individual is able to develop their potential, work productively and creatively, build strong and positive relationships with others, and contribute to their community.

It is enhanced when an individual is able to fulfil their personal and social goals and achieve a sense of purpose in society.

http://www.foresight.gov.uk/OurWork/ActiveProjects/Mental%20Capital/Welcome.asp

 

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The five activities for promoting mental health are

1. physical activity,
2. developing friendships,
3. fostering curiosity,
4. continuing education and
5. voluntary work.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/oct/22/mental-health-illness-foresight

5 moral foundations b

Moral Foundations Theory was created to understand why morality varies so much across cultures yet still shows so many similarities and recurrent themes.

In brief, the theory proposes that five innate and universally available psychological systems are the foundations of "intuitive ethics." Each culture then constructs virtues, narratives, and institutions on top of these foundations, thereby creating the unique moralities we see around the world, and conflicting within nations too. The foundations are:

1) Harm/care, related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. This foundation underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance.

2) Fairness/reciprocity, related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. This foundation generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy.

3) Ingroup/loyalty, related to our long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. This foundation underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime people feel that it's "one for all, and all for one."

4) Authority/respect, shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. This foundaiton underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and respect for traditions.

5) Purity/sanctity, shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. This foundation underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions).

Much of our present research involves applying the theory to political "cultures" such as those of liberals and conservatives. The current American culture war, we have found, can be seen as arising from the fact that liberals try to create a morality relying almost exclusively on the Harm/Care and Fairness/Reciprocity foundations; conservatives, especially religious conservatives, use all five foundations, including Ingroup/Loyalty, Authority/Respect, and Purity/Sanctity. You can find out your own moral foundations profile at www.YourMorals.org   

http://faculty.virginia.edu/haidtlab/mft/index.php

5 moral foundations

Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory looks at the way morality varies between cultures and identifies five fundamental moral values shared to a greater or lesser degree by different societies and individuals. These are;

1. Care for others, protecting them from harm

2. Fairness, Justice, treating others equally.

3. Loyalty to your group, family, nation

4. Respect for tradition and legitimate authority.

5. Purity, avoiding disgusting things, foods, actions.

Haidt found that Americans who identified as Conservatives valued all of these equally but those who identified as Liberals valued care and fairness much more highly than loyalty, respect and purity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Haidt

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html

http://thesciencenetwork.org/BeyondBelief2/watch/haidt.php

Touching the Earth

Transcription of a talk by Thich Nhat Hahn

http://www.haustao.ch/n1/dhammic.htm

As more and more people suffer the pain of being uprooted from their culture, we need more than ever to come into contact with our own heritage and with the positive seeds of our tradition. The moment we feel happy, society already begins to be transformed, and others feel some happiness too. When someone in society discovers his true identity, we all find our identity. This is the principle of interbeing. Even though our society has caused us pain, suffering, internal formations and illness, we have to open our arms and embrace society in complete acceptance. We have to go back to our society with the intention to rebuild society and enrich its life by offering the appropriate therapies for its illnesses. I would like to offer an exercise that can help to do this. It is called Touching the Earth.

In each of us, there are many kinds of ideas, notions, attachments, and discrimination. This practice involves bowing down and touching the Earth, emptying ourselves, and surrendering to Earth. You touch the Earth with your forehead, your two hands, your two feet, and you surrender to your true nature, accepting any form of life your true nature offers you. Surrender your pride, hopes, ideas, fears, and notions. Empty yourself of all resentment you feel toward anyone. Surrender everything, and empty yourself completely. To do this is the best way to replenish yourself. If you do not exhale and empty your lungs, how can fresh air enter?

In this practice, the body and the mind work together in harmony to form a perfect whole. We prostrate ourselves six times to help us realize our deep connection to our own roots:

The first bow is directed towards all generations of ancestors in our blood family. Our parents are our most recent, closest ancestors, and through them we connect the generations that have preceded us. If we are on good terms with our parents, the connection is easy. But if we are not, we have to empty our resentment and reconnect with them. Our parents had seeds of love and trust they wanted to transmit to us, but perhaps they were not able to do so. Instead of transmitting loving kindness and trust, they transmitted suffering and anger. The practice is to look deeply and see that we are a continuation of our parents and our ancestors. When we understand the "emptiness of transmission", reconciliation is possible. Bowing down, touching the Earth, we should be able to surrender the idea of our separate self and become one with our ancestors. Only then is true communion possible and the energy of our ancestors able to flow into us.

The second bow is directed towards Buddhist ancestors who came before us, those who have transmitted these teachings and practices to us for more than 25 centuries. 

The third bow is directed towards our land and toward the ancestors who made it available to us.

The fourth is for channeling and transmitting the energy of loving kindness to those we love. We touch the Earth, look deeply into our relationship, and see how we can improve it.

The fifth bow is directed towards those who have made us suffer. Looking deeply, we see that these people suffer also and do not possess the insight to prevent their suffering from spilling over onto others. Motivated by compassion, we want to share our energy with these persons, hoping it will help them to suffer less and be able to enjoy some peace and happiness.

The sixth bow is directed towards our own spiritual ancestors. If we are lucky, it may be easy for us to connect with representatives of our spiritual tradition  - our rabbi, pastor, or priest. But if we have had problems with such persons, our effort is to understand how they themselves were not able to receive the jewels of the tradition. Instead of feeling resentment toward them, we vow to go back and rediscover the jewels of our tradition ourselves. Getting connected with our church, synagogue, rabbi, or priest will enable us to touch all our spiritual ancestors.

Open Library: Details: mindfulofthebody00thanmiss

Open Library: Details: mindfulofthebody00thanmiss

Zencast

Zencast

Zen Proverbs, Sayings and Quotes

Zen Proverbs, Sayings and Quotes

Osho, what is meditation?

Osho, what is meditation?