Skip to main content

Philosophy of Mindfulness 1. Death

We will all die.
That reality can cause us to think in two completely different ways about life.
The first way is despair, sadness, and similar negative feelings.
The other way is to jolt yourself into a realisation that we need to make the most out of the precious moments we - and those we love - have.
The first way is the automatic mind's reaction. No one would choose to despair or see life in that gloomy way, but it is a natural response from our genetic programming.
The second way is a deliberately created alternative to despair, formed by the imaginative, creative mind which seeks to make the most out of any situation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lessons from The Book of Chuang Tzu - Part 5

The wise person does not hold onto life, nor do they fear death. They arrive without expectation and leave without resistance. They came calmly, went calmly, and that was that. They are not interested in what becomes of them. Their kindness enriches generations yet they have no great love for people. They do what they want. They are not judgemental. Cheerfully smiling, they are content. When calm, they appear to be one with the world. Their inner nature seems unknowable. They get on well with society. They follow the natural course of events. Death and birth are fixed. They are beyond the control of humanity. This is just how things are. People praise and criticise leaders and thinkers but it would be so much better if they just follow the Tao. To have a human form is a joyful thing but in a universe full of possible forms there are others just as good. The sage rests contented with all things. They take pleasure in early death, old age, in the origin and in the end, and sees them all ...
Post a Comment
Read more

On The Bible Part 1

Introduction So the chances are high that this won't last; a commentary of The Bible as I read it page by page. My ideas usually fizzle out pretty damn quickly, but I'm hoping The bible is sufficiently important to sustain my attention and stimulate my intellect and emotiojnal intelligence and mindfulness to keep me commenting on it until I've done the whole lot... and educated myself enormously in the process. Why do such a thing? Well, it is probably the most important book in human history as it has been the most influential, at least until thesecond half of the twentieth century. Even now, if you consider the influence of evangelical Christians in the USA, and the State of Israel, you can still see how strong an influence The Bible has in today's world. Yet most people, myself included, have probably only heard children's versions of some of the Bible stories, or those carefully chosen extracts read in church or school in our childhood. The vast majority of The ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Conditioned - Part 1

When I was about ten the local Catholic priest started taking me to Celtic football games, and the occasional international featuring Scotland, at the national stadium, Hampden Park. During Scotland games against England the fans would chant "If you hate the fucking English, clap your hands." All the Scottish fans sang it, and all clapped. and "We hate Jimmy Hill, he's a poof, he's a poof." (Jimmy Hill was one of the foremost football pundits at the tine, and English.) At Celtic games the fans sang "Fuck the Queen and the UDA" Later in my life one of my best friend's brother was a Rangers season ticket holder, but sometimes because of his work he would be away when a home match was on. He'd give his other ticket to my friend. One time my friend asked if I wanted to go, so we went together. This was in the late 1980s or early 90s. I don't remember who Rangers were playing. What I do remember is at one point the fans started singing ...
Post a Comment
Read more