The Eagle has landed

Well, sort of:

The Universe in a Single Atom by The Dalai Lama

A very readable and thought-provoking book on the Dalai Lama's personal encounters with science and the parallels observable between Buddhist teachings and the discoveries of modern science. The book attempts to bring science and spirituality closer together and to find a possible common ground between the two benefiting all.

In this fascinating book the concept of a 'beginningless universe' is contrasted with the big bang theory, evolution and karma are paralleled, the meaning of 'consciousness' from the respective perspectives of Buddhism and science are compared as well as there is discussion on aspects of ethics and genetics.

In his book, the Dalai Lama pays homage to the those scientists he has come into touch with over the years and acknowledges how fruitful the dialogue he has had with them has been. He also dispels parts of the stereotype of the narrowly rational scientist and talks about the qualities of compassion and empathy he discovered in those scientists he came into contact with.

I am not a Buddhist and did not become a convert as a result of reading this book. This was, of course, not the intention of the Dalai Lama, either. Still, some of the beliefs and philosophies are presented with such power that one is compelled to review thoroughly one's own beliefs and perhaps include some of the relevant truths offered by the author in one's own convictions. No, I am not talking about giving up beliefs. But the way we interpret the world around us should never be solid beyond any possible review. I am convinced that it is possible to include important insights from other traditions without giving up the integrity of our own beliefs.

I particularly sympathize with the Dalai Lama's criticism of 'scientific materialism' that supposes that all human experience can be defined empirically.

The Healing Power of Water by Masaru Emoto and Jürgen Fliege

After seeing the movie "What the bleep do we know" I had to read this book. I was most fascinated by the subway segment of the movie in which pictures are shown of water crystals of magnificent beauty if a word suggesting love, compassion or other virtue was shown to water, and some ugly cacophony, when the word was suggestive of destruction, violence, or of some other negative influence.


Image of water after "Thank You!"

Well, I thought I need to read the book to know more about this fascinating discovery.

Then I read the book, watched a presentation of Dr. Emoto, and got really thinking. The claim that words shown to water cause the water to change in some way, in my humble opinion, is at least misleading. In this book, and apparently in some other similar ones published by Dr. Emoto, he make the claim that it is the word or image shown to water or rather its vibration that makes the difference in the way water crystals are forming. I bag to differ in my interpretation.

I do not dispute that there may be a difference in the shape or size of the crystals before and after the act during which a "scientist" show the word or image to the glass of water. Where I rather differ, though, is how this phenomenon should be interpreted, especially, that independent blind studies have not once confirmed Dr. Emoto's findings. by the way, just because no independent study confirms one's findings does not make them automatically invalid in my world.

So, here's my theory: It is not the written word or the image that make the water change. It is the person, the observer who has the influence. It is their mindset and expectations, their emission of energy of various frequencies that can have impact on the water to produce such amazing beauty of scary disarray. I do strongly believe in the power of one's mind to transform ourselves and through this act, the world we perceive. Therefore, the way I understand the world, it is perfectly acceptable that the observer's mind, that has a very strong distinction between such words as health and illness, happiness and misery, or forgiveness and revenge, that also has the ability to resonate with the concepts these words stand for, and project this very same frequency into the subject of the experiment, the glass of water.

I think it is even more exciting to follow what comes if we allow it to be the observer's mind that makes the change in the water crystals. This means there is yet another evidence how incredibly capable our mind is and what everything it can achieve if it is applied to it.

Pavarotti

He was my favourite operatic tenor. His brilliantly colourful voice (I have always strongly resonated to his performances of Nessun dorma), his passion, willingness to embrace other musical genres, boundless cheerfulness, and dedication to helping anyone he could, are but a few characteristics that make him an artist I will miss dearly.

Farewell!