Something of Myself

"Compassion is not religious business, it is human business. It is not a

luxury, it is essential for our peace and stability. It is essential for our

human survival"

 

- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

 

Suo Gan

Huna blentyn yn fy mynwes
Clyd a chynnes ydyw hon
Breichiau mam sy'n dyn am danat,
Cariad mam sy dan fy mron
Ni cha dim amharu'th gyntun
Ni wna undyn â thi gam
Huna'n dawel, anwyl blentyn
Huna'n fwyn ar fron dy fam.

Huna'n dawel, heno, huna,
Huna'n fwyn, y tlws ei lun
Pam yr wyt yn awr yn gwenu,
Gwenu'n dirion yn dy hun?
Ai angylion fry sy'n gwenu
Arnat ti yn gwenu'n llon
Tithau'n gwenu'n ol dan huno
Huno'n dawel ar fy mron?

Paid ag ofni, dim ond deilen
Gura, gura ar y ddor
Paid ag ofni, ton fach unig
Sua, sua ar lan y mor
Huna blentyn, nid oes yma
Ddim i roddi iti fraw
Gwena'n dawel yn fy mynwes
Ar yr engyl gwynion draw.

They do not lament over the past,
they yearn not for what is to come,
they maintain themselves in the present,
thus their complexion is serene

Samyutta Nikaya I, 5

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5307…


1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 
6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 
8 Now as Jan'nes and Jam'bres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 
9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

(The Second Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Timothy 3:1-9)

"Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them." Albert Enstein

 

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong " Mahatma Gandhi

 

"The greatest freedom of all - is not having the fear of losing" Unknown

 

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." Mark Twain

 

"The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the way it's animals are treated." Mahatma Gandhi

 

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." Aesop

 

"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." The Dalai Lama

Given:

Instrumental rationality (or “means-end rationality”) consists in choosing the correct means to attain one’s actual goals, given one’s actual beliefs. This is the kind of rationality that economists generally assume in explaining human behaviour.

Epistemic rationality consists, roughly, in forming beliefs in truth-conducive ways—accepting beliefs that are well-supported by evidence, avoiding logical fallacies, avoiding contradictions, revising one’s beliefs in the light of new evidence against them, and so on. This is the kind of rationality that books on logic and critical thinking aim to instil.

Are we all rationals under the first definition?

Given my lack of economic skills, I think not!

I think we have hit the hottest day of the year - 34 C in London, breaking the record set in 1911! But it is raining now - so I guess that was summer.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though I oft have passed them by,
A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

J.R.R Tolkien, attributed to Bilbo Baggins

Just spent the last week on my second archaeological dig. Much nicer than the first one :) - not only was the weather kind, the accommodation in the nearby hostelry was much more civilised. I also had the achievement of finding a bronze age axe head - well, maybe it was more a case of my stumbling upon it! I honestly did not really think it was anything, but a "knowledgeable person" just happened to be looking at the time and said, "Hmmm - that looks interesting...." So I kept hold of it and tried to look like I was not just about to throw it aside!