Second day of school...

 

© Mihai Caragiu

Sam Harris: Mindfulness is Powerful, But Keep Religion Out of It

Tinerete fara batrinete - Mixie

Acum circa o luna Mixie a avut un o sinuzita complicata.

A trebuit sa mergem la cabinetul veterinar de urgenta din Lima. Pentru $432 au facut analize si i s-a dat un antibiotic. In 5 zile a fost ca noua 😍

Mixie a depasit 16 ani, o virsta la care probleme ca aceasta apar, din nefericire. Cu toate acestea, este intr-un perpetuu "kittenhood". O copilarie continua. Noi, purtatorii de grija umani, am vrea, bineinteles, ca minunatii nostri prieteni felini si canini sa traiasca in continuu: o tinerete fara batranete.

Ieri Mixie a facut ceva uimitor si amuzant. Poate voia sa-si arate ei insasi ca e "still in the game".

La un moment dat se avinta brusc pe casa, urcind direct pe plasa exterioara a patio-ului, trecind de o surplomba riscanta, pentru a se opri apoi 10 minute, in liniste deplina, pe acoperis, contemplind cartierul.

Dupa care, cu aceeasi viteza, se repede in partea opusa a acoperisului, coboara rapid pe crengile dudului din colt, pentru ca in final sa intre in casa, asezindu-se satisfacuta pe scaunul sau preferat - locul unde, de obicei, doarme extensiv.

Zen felin.

 

Photo © Mihai Caragiu

Diamonds in the rough

A favorite pastime in the high school years: keep wandering along the remote railways and other similarly semi-deserted places in the city. On one hand it was probably the sensation of discovery and adventure because simply put, I was not familiar with the area, so it was sort of wow, that's something new, which way I go now - a state of mind that lasted for hours. On another hand, these long walks presented me the opportunity to became a witness to bits and pieces of the forgotten or abandoned life's puzzle, in the littering thrown around from the trains or by the residents of the communist era housing units. As an added bonus, there were wonderful poppy flowers everywhere. So in a sense there was a great deal diversity along the way. But the most essential thing was that, during each one of those long walks, a sense of undetermined awakening (albeit slow) developed in me - so that everything ended with a promise to come back.

space of thoughts

"In zazen, leave your front door and your back door open.

Let thoughts come and go. Just don't serve them tea"

~Shunryu Suzuki

What is the orthogonal complement of the space of thoughts?

A sudden glimpse of it may be an outcome of zazen.

 

Remembering Dusty, my dear friend

Dusty, beloved feline and family member (April 14, 2004 - May 19, 2020)

So, yesterday we came from school and found Dusty dead by his favorite chair, after 16+ years of being a loved family member. It was in a sense so peaceful, even his death without any forewarning (probably a heart attack) was a considerate act of ultimate love. RIP my love! HE LIVED A GOOD AND LONG LIFE!

 

Photo © Mihai Caragiu

3M - mind, math, meditation (not necessarily in that order)

`Out of nowhere, the mind comes forth' 
The Diamond Sutra

I rediscovered this a few minutes ago... and I suddenly realized that it describes not only the essence/nature of meditation, but the essence/root of mathematical discovery as well. 

Mind, matter, universe appear to be grounded in this 'nowhere'/emptiness (often seen as `beginning', but that may not be the case) in that every meditation, every mathematical discovery recreates the otherwise elusive `coming forth', leaving one absolutely surprised by this Planck-scale illumination.

Ancient Love and the imminent self-rediscovery

For me personally Anoushka Shankar's music conveys a feeling of imminent `self-rediscovery', building bridges to a long-lost self. Does the self change? Better yet, can we speak about the self? Is it real? Not clear. Maybe yes and no in the sense of a sort of `quantum superposition' of such states. The paradox is in that even the non-existence of the self is formative. Dechen Palmo's video production is very helpful in said rediscovery.

`Rise, by contrast, incorporated jazz, pop, and pan-ethnic world music textures in an unpredictable melange. At the center of it all are Shankar's sitar expertise and traditional Indian roots.' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rise_(Anoushka_Shankar_album)

A mindfulness exercise: Sri Aurobindo - "The Self's Infinity" (1939)

Sri Aurobindo marked a special moment of my mindfulness quest in the early-to-mid 1980's. Remembering his poetry style offers me a practical insight, over the years, into my own self.  Hopefully I will remember more.

Here's his sonnet "The Self's Infinity" (1939).

The Self’s Infinity

I have become what before Time I was.
A secret touch has quieted thought and sense:
All things by the agent Mind created pass
Into a void and mute magnificence.

My life is a silence grasped by timeless hands;
The world is drowned in an immortal gaze.
Naked my spirit from its vestures stands;
I am alone with my own self for space.

My heart is a centre of infinity,
My body a dot in the soul’s vast expanse.
All being’s huge abyss wakes under me,
Once screened in a gigantic Ignorance.

A momentless immensity pure and bare,
I stretch to an eternal everywhere.

 

A yellow sale bargain

Today, Springer notified me of some bargains in a yellow sale. I am proud to have been ordered a book on a topic and author that marked (alongside model theory) my mathematical upbringing:

Peter Roquette
The Riemann Hypothesis in Characteristic p in Historical Perspective

Primes - renewing the adventure

I would very much like to continue this adventure.