In Praise of Idleness

A timeless piece penned in 1932 by Bertrand Russell for all ye who work mindlessly. Go here to read it.

Visual Foreplay Before The Climax Of Recognition

That's art according to Vilayanur Ramachandran, the world renowned neuroscientist. Read this rocking interview to know more about the Marco Polo of the mind.

Courtesy: ABC Australia.

Samadhi

A poem by Paramahamsa Yogananda. Extracted from Wikipedia.

Vanished the veils of light and shade,
Lifted every vapor of sorrow,
Sailed away all dawns of fleeting joy,
Gone the dim sensory mirage.
Love, hate, health, disease, life, death,
Perished these false shadows on the screen of duality.
Waves of laughter, scyllas of sarcasm, melancholic whirlpools,
Melting in the vast sea of bliss.
The storm of maya stilled
By magic wand of intuition deep.
The universe, forgotten dream, subconsciously lurks,
Ready to invade my newly-wakened memory divine.
I live without the cosmic shadow,
But it is not, bereft of me;
As the sea exists without the waves,
But they breathe not without the sea.
Dreams, wakings, states of deep turia sleep,
Present, past, future, no more for me,
But ever-present, all-flowing I, I, everywhere.
Planets, stars, stardust, earth,
Volcanic bursts of doomsday cataclysms,
Creation’s molding furnace,
Glaciers of silent x-rays, burning electron floods,
Thoughts of all men, past, present, to come,
Every blade of grass, myself, mankind,
Each particle of universal dust,
Anger, greed, good, bad, salvation, lust,
I swallowed, transmuted all
Into a vast ocean of blood of my own one Being!
Smoldering joy, oft-puffed by meditation
Blinding my tearful eyes,
Burst into immortal flames of bliss,
Consumed my tears, my frame, my all.
Thou art I, I am Thou,
Knowing, Knower, Known, as One!
Tranquilled, unbroken thrill, eternally living, ever-new peace!
Enjoyable beyond imagination of expectancy, samadhi bliss!
Not an unconscious state
Or mental chloroform without wilful return,
Samadhi but extends my conscious realm
Beyond limits of the mortal frame
To farthest boundary of eternity
Where I, the Cosmic Sea,
Watch the little ego floating in Me.
The sparrow, each grain of sand, fall not without My sight.
All space floats like an iceberg in My mental sea.
Colossal Container, I, of all things made.
By deeper, longer, thirsty, guru-given meditation
Comes this celestial samadhi.
Mobile murmurs of atoms are heard,
The dark earth, mountains, vales, lo! molten liquid!
Flowing seas change into vapors of nebulae!
Aum blows upon vapors, opening wondrously their veils,
Oceans stand revealed, shining electrons,
Till, at last sound of the cosmic drum,
Vanish the grosser lights into eternal rays
Of all-pervading bliss.
From joy I came, for joy I live, in sacred joy I melt.
Ocean of mind, I drink all creation’s waves.
Four veils of solid, liquid, vapor, light,
Lift aright.
Myself, in everything, enters the Great Myself.
Gone forever, fitful, flickering shadows of mortal memory.
Spotless is my mental sky, below, ahead, and high above.
Eternity and I, one united ray.
A tiny bubble of laughter, I
Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself.

Where am I?

A fantastic piece by Daniel C. Dennet on what happens when your brain is disembodied and kept in a vat. Go here to read it.

Jesus was...

Recently, at a theological meeting in Rome, scholars had a heated debate on the subject of the ethnicity and nationality of Jesus. One by one they offered their evidence -

Jesus was Mexican -

His name was Jesus
He was bilingual
He was always being harassed by the authorities

But then there were equally good arguments that...

Jesus was black -

He called everyone "brother"
He liked Gospel
He couldn't get a fair trial

But then there were equally good arguments that...

Jesus was Jewish -

He went into his father's business
He lived at home until he was 33
He was sure his mother was a virgin, and his mother was sure he was God

But then there were equally good arguments that...

Jesus was Italian -

He talked with his hands
He had wine with every meal
He used olive oil

But then there were equally good arguments that...

Jesus was Californian -

He never cut his hair
He walked around barefoot
He started a new religion

But then there were equally good arguments that...

Jesus was Irish -

He never got married
He was always telling stories
He loved green pastures
But perhaps the most compelling evidence...

Jesus was a woman -

She fed a crowd at a moment's notice
Men didn't understand her
Even when dead, she arose to complete her work

Via: Experiencefestival.com