I just learned about Living Time, by Maurice Nicoll. Here are some questions he poses in the book

What do we think about time?
We exist in a world that we do not understand in the least. What is nature? What is time? What is space? What are we?
We take all for granted. We do not face any real issues in our thinking but catch hold of some ready-made opinion. Do we ever get used to the mystery of time, for instance? Is not the problem of time always in the background of our minds although we can never really think about it? Consider the strange experience that a person was but is no more. Consider our childhood and death. Where is all that which has become was, and all that will be? What is this strange now and then, which when perceived together cause the mind to tremble on the verge of new meaning?

Thanks to my new favorite blog: Astro Inquiry for the info. Check out his recommended books!

Today’s thought of the day comes from Integral Options Cafe. I find it particularly useful to remember this as I’ve gone from a slower pace life in San Francisco, to the busy student life of my intensive Russian course. Just because I’m “doing” more things in a day, doesn’t mean there’s any less time for reflection and awareness practice.

Stream of Thoughts

We tend to be particularly unaware that we are thinking virtually all the time. The incessant stream of thoughts flowing through our minds leaves us very little respite for inner quiet. And we leave precious little room for ourselves anyway just to be, without having to run around doing things all the time. Our actions are all too frequently driven rather than undertaken in awareness, driven by those perfectly ordinary thoughts and impulses that run through the mind like a coursing river, if not a waterfall. We get caught up in the torrent and it winds up submerging our lives as it carries us to places we may not wish to go and may not even realize we are headed for.

Meditation means learning how to get out of this current, sit by its bank and listen to it, learn from it, and then use its energies to guide us rather than to tyrannize us. This process doesn’t magically happen by itself. It takes energy. We call the effort to cultivate our ability to be in the present moment “practice” or “meditation practice.”

– Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are; From Everyday Mind, a Tricycle book edited by Jean Smith

For your reading pleasure:

(In case you didn’t know I’m taking an intensive Russian course, hence the recent emphasis on all things Russian)

The Emperor’s Three Questions By Leo Tolstoy

One day it occurred to a certain emperor that if he only knew the answers to three questions, he would never stray in any matter.

1. What is the best time to do each thing?
2. Who are the most important people to work with?
3. What is the most important thing to do at all times?

The emperor issued a decree throughout his kingdom announcing that whoever could answer the questions would receive a great reward. Many who read the decree made their way to the palace at once, each person with a different answer.

In reply to the first question, one person advised that the emperor make up a thorough time schedule, consecrating every hour, day, month and year for certain tasks and then follow the schedule to the letter. Only then could he hope to do every task at the right time.

Another person replied that it was impossible to plan in advance and that the emperor should put all vain amusements aside and remain attentive to everything in order to know what to do at what time.

Someone else insisted that, by himself, the emperor could never hope to have all the foresight and competence necessary to decide when to do each and every task, and what he really needed was to set up a Council of the Wise and then to act according to their advice.

Someone else said that certain matters require immediate decision and could not wait for consultation, but if he wanted to know in advance what was going to happen he should consult magicians and soothsayers.

The responses to the second question also lacked accord.

One person said that the emperor needed to place all his trust in administrators, another urged reliance on priests and monks, while others recommended physicians. Still others put their faith in warriors.

The third question drew a similar variety of answers.

Some said science was the most important pursuit. Others insisted on religion. Yet others claimed the most important thing was military skill.

The emperor was not pleased with any of the answers, and no reward was given.

After several nights of reflection, the emperor resolved to visit a hermit who lived on a mountain and was said to be an enlightened man. The emperor wished to find the hermit to ask him the three questions, though he knew the hermit never left the mountains and was known to receive only the poor, refusing to have anything to do with persons of wealth or power. So the emperor disguised himself as a simple peasant and ordered his attendants to wait for him at the foot of the mountain while he climbed the slope alone to seek the hermit.

Reaching the holy man’s dwelling place, the emperor found the hermit digging a garden in front of his hut. When the hermit saw the stranger, he nodded his head in greeting and continued to dig. The labor was obviously hard on him. He was an old man, and each time he thrust his spade into the ground to turn the earth, he heaved heavily.

The emperor approached him and said, “I have come here to ask your help with three questions: When is the best time to do each thing? Who are the most important people to work with? What is the most important thing to do at all times?”

The hermit listened attentively but only patted the emperor on the shoulder and continued digging. The emperor said, “You must be tired. Here, let me give you a hand with that.” The hermit thanked him, handed the emperor the spade, and then sat down on the ground to rest.

After he had dug two rows, the emperor stopped and turned to the hermit and repeated his three questions. The hermit still did not answer, but instead stood and pointed to the spade and said, “Why don’t you rest now? I can take over again.” But the emperor continued to dig. One hour passed, then two. Finally the sun began to set behind the mountain. The emperor put down the spade and said to the hermit, “I came here to ask if you could answer my three questions. But if you can’t give me any answer, please let me know so that I can get on my way home.”

The hermit lifted his head and asked the emperor, “Do you hear someone running over there?” The emperor turned his head. They both saw a man with a long white beard emerge from the woods. He ran wildly, pressing his hands against a bloody wound in his stomach. The man ran toward the emperor before falling unconscious to the ground, where he lay groaning. Opening the man’s clothing, the emperor and hermit saw that the man had received a deep gash. The emperor cleaned the wound thoroughly and then used his own shirt to bandage it, but the blood completely soaked it within minutes. He rinsed the shirt out and bandaged the wound a second time and continued to do so until the flow of blood had stopped.

At last the wounded man regained consciousness and asked for a drink of water. The emperor ran down to the stream and brought back a jug of fresh water. Meanwhile, the sun had disappeared and the night air had begun to turn cold. The hermit gave the emperor a hand in carrying the man into the hut where they laid him down on the hermit’s bed. The man closed his eyes and lay quietly. The emperor was worn out from a long day of climbing the mountain and digging the garden. Leaning against the doorway, he fell asleep. When he rose, the sun had already risen over the mountain. For a moment he forgot where he was and what he had come here for. He looked over to the bed and saw the wounded man also looking around him in confusion. When he saw the emperor, he stared at him intently and then said in a faint whisper, “Please forgive me.”

“But what have you done that I should forgive you?” the emperor asked.

“You do not know me, your majesty, but I know you. I was your sworn enemy, and I had vowed to take vengeance on you, for during the last war you killed my brother and seized my property. When I learned that you were coming alone to the mountain to meet the hermit, I resolved to surprise you on your way back and kill you. But after waiting a long time there was still no sign of you, and so I left my ambush in order to seek you out. But instead of finding you, I came across your attendants, who recognized me, giving me this wound. Luckily, I escaped and ran here. If I hadn’t met you I would surely be dead by now. I had intended to kill you, but instead you saved my life! I am ashamed and grateful beyond words. If I live, I vow to be your servant for the rest of my life, and I will bid my children and grandchildren to do the same. Please grant me you forgiveness.”

The emperor was overjoyed to see that he was so easily reconciled with a former enemy. He not only forgave the man but promised to return all the man’s property and to send his own physician and servants to wait on the man until he was completely healed. After ordering his attendants to take the man home, the emperor returned to see the hermit. Before returning to the palace the emperor wanted to repeat his three questions one last time. He found the hermit sowing seeds in the earth they had dug the day before.

The hermit stood up and looked at the emperor. “But your questions have already been answered.”

“How’s that?” the emperor asked, puzzled.

“Yesterday, if you had not taken pity on my age and given me a hand with digging these beds, you would have been attacked by that man on your way home. Then you would have deeply regretted not staying with me. Therefore the most important time was the time you were digging in the beds, the most important person was myself, and the most important pursuit was to help me.”

“Later, when the wounded man ran up here, the most important time was the time you spent dressing his wound, for if you had not cared for him he would have died and you would have lost the chance to be reconciled with him. Likewise, he was the most important person, and the most important pursuit was taking care of his wound.”

“Remember that there is only one important time and that is now. The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you, for who knows if you will have dealings with any other person in the future? The most important pursuit is making the person standing at your side happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life.”

As you probably know, Emily and I lived in Georgia. We like to keep up with the latest geo-political chess games played by all the former soviet block countries, but we’re especially interested in Georgia and Russia. My friend recommended this lecture given by Edward Lucas at Google’s Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss his book, “The New Cold War.” Lucas discusses changes in Russia’s policies under the Putin regime and the effect that has on countries like Georgia as well as western Europe and the U.S. The lecture was thought provoking.

From Lucas’ biography:

Edward Lucas has covered Eastern Europe for The Economist for over twenty years. He witnessed the end of the last Cold War, the parting of the Iron Curtain, and, as the Moscow bureau chief, covered Boris Yeltsin’s reign and Vladimir Putin’s rise to power. He lives in London, England.

As you probably know, I’ve just moved from San Francisco to Indiana. Things haven’t been exactly smooth. I find myself grasping everywhere for the familiar, routine, comfort and control…

As I wrote in an email just yesterday, “I honestly don’t know what is right. It’s like asking someone to make a clear headed decision when they are in the midst of a whirlwind of thoughts. I can’t even find my deodorant, I feel totally out of control, lost and scared, but at the same time I am optimistic and learning from all the changes, I see that this is causing me to expand and things seem just as spiritual as ever (even though hard). You say truth is what you want from me. It’s hard to find the truth in the middle of everything, I am contemplating impermanence all the time. That seems like as solid of a truth as I can find right now.” I’ll leave you with this quote by Thinly Norbu, from A Cascading Waterfall of Nectar:

This happiness and bliss of god and humans
Is like food that is mixed with poison,
So may I not have desire for even one single hair of this.
All relatives, food, wealth, and suitable companions
Are impermanent, like magic and dreams.
May I never  have attachment for even one single hair of this.

“In other words, all of my books are lies. They are simply maps of a territory, shadows of a reality, gray symbols dragging their bellies across the dead page, suffocated signs full of muffled sound and faded glory, signifying absolutely nothing. And it is the nothing, the Mystery, the Emptiness alone that needs to be realized: not known but felt, not thought but breathed, not an object but an atmosphere, not a lesson but a life.”

Ken Wilber

“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play”

Emily just posted a beautiful retrospective of our time in SF and wrote quite a touching post. I’m feeling all squirmy and don’t know what to do. I’m really touched.

I called a friend a couple of nights ago in hysterics. Through my sobs I confessed, “I don’t want to move. I miss Emily already. Who will go to Trader Joe’s with me? What about when it’s time to do laundry or go to the dry cleaners? Who will patiently explain to me about ‘cool things’ that I don’t understand, like gangster rap, California slang and steam punk? Who will try to convince me to go dancing? Who will I run errands with?” My list went on and on. Even now when I think about leaving I feel overwhelming emotion.

Emily is the most generous, warm hearted and kind person I’ve met. She has taught me how to look truthfully and kindly at myself and others. She has embodied generosity– being willing to give honestly and freely without a second thought. She has an infectious curiosity that takes her to all sorts of little known areas of her inner and outer life. Emily often embodies compassion. But she doesn’t embody some weak form of compassion that just tries to sooth all pain. She is deeply truthful and uses her compassion to point out the truth. Truth is often painful and it takes a strong and spiritual person that is willing to speak honestly with us, to pay attention and to not let us get away with not seeing. Emily always challenges me to be sincere, especially when I use some vacant spiritual-sounding quip to justify my less than ideal actions. A friend who is willing to be so compassionate, truthful, generous and loving is extremely rare.

I’ll miss you.

“I just ate something off the table. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I thought it was chocolate. I was correct, so it was successful.” - E

“You are not cool. You have other redeeming qualities, you are just not cool” - E to Me

“The Buddha?! You’re gonna listen to him? What does he know?!” -E

“You can be my Peace Corps colleague/roommate/business co-owner/best friend/blogging associate/lesbian lover. Whichever you like best. Ha!” - E

• Laura : you know what Emily just said?
• Laura : she said “i’ve got to hurry up and eat all the mochis I just bought, so J won’t know that I bought them and ate them all already”
• J: i knew it

“It is pretty whimsical. I am sitting on a tall chair, with a giant pink cake wearing overalls” - E

The Way is a limitless vessel;

Used by the self, it is not filled by the world;

It cannot be cut, knotted, dimmed or stilled;

Its depths are hidden, ubiquitous and eternal;

I don’t know where it comes from;

It comes before nature.

Emily Says: Jury Duty - Day 2

Still no jury selection…

I am very proud of myself for completing my first set of work for the new top secret business. Mwahahaha! Taking over the world!

“I’m sorry I am going to have to quit my job. I’m moving into a commune with my lesbian lover. Those capitalist dollars have blood on them.” -E

• Tim: What is the power exchange?
• JS: It’s where one person has the control and then the person who has the control gives the control to the other person who then has the control

“It’s like a dystopian war zone in my room” -E

Today I introduced L to the Flying Kick.

The Flying Kick is a special fighting technique that allows you to attack your opponent without touching him or her.

When you are wearing your Vans with the backs pushed down as slip-ons, you motion a kick at your enemy’s bottom and the shoe will fly off and kick them. It is very effective and hilarious. There is no defense for the Flying Kick.

However, your enemy may retaliate by stealing your shoe.

The Last 12 Hours

• Watched The Office. What up m’nerds?
• Tried to sing Arash to the cabbie
• Went to Bootie which was super fun. Bee Gees+Montell Jordan = Genius
• Slept for 3 hours

I love you buddy. Lush and Grumps forever indeed.

As we wrote before, our friend Jarrod Toombs passed away in Feburary. We have a tribute to him here. Our friend John also wrote an eloquent piece about Jarrod here.

We recently received a copy of an essay written by Jarrod. We are making it available to everyone. Happy reading (or more accurately happy decoding- the essay is abstruse).

Figuring Nietzsche and His Illegitimate Daughters, by Jarrod Toombs

As you know, Emily and I are big fans of A.H. Almaas and his Diamond Heart series.

He has a new book coming out next week, The Unfolding Now, and has provided a free preview chapter available online. I haven’t read it yet, but am posting the link anyway– it’s from A.H. so it should be good.

Preview Chapter of The Unfolding Now

Quantum Physics may seem complicated to understand. It is. The reason is not because of the math or science involved (even though that could be hard to grasp), it’s because of the unbelievable philosophical implications that arise out of understanding it. Niels Bohr, a renowned physicist and author of Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics once said, “Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.”

One of the basic premises of the quantum theory of light, is that it is dual in nature. Light sometimes behaves as a wave and sometimes as a particle (or photon).

What does this mean and why is it important?

Before quantum theory, the understanding of the universe was that it was made of both solid particles and waves. The particles were the building blocks of solid objects; the very smallest units of matter (like electrons) were particles. Waves, on the other hand, were not solid. Waves were what “sound” and “light” consisted of.
Scientists then discovered subatomic particles. Subatomic particles were known to be part of a wave packet. A wave packet looks like a wave, but it is more concentrated, like a little ball of energy. Then physicists tried to ask questions about the wave packet or wave-particle.

They wanted to know:

• Where is it?
• What is its momentum?

They realized they could not ask both questions at once.

A Wave

A Wave-Particle

So, when they measured the wave-particle’s location, it became a particle in a fixed place. When they measured the wave-particle’s momentum, it became a wave moving through space, with no fixed location. Light is an example of a phenomenon that behaves this way.

This confused the scientists and they did many experiments to learn more. They found that until someone decides to measure a wave particle, it is both a wave and a particle simultaneously.

A famous thought experiment, created by physicist Erwin Schroedinger, illustrates the point. Imagine you have a closed box. The box contains a cat, a bottle of cyanide held by a lever, and a wave-particle. If the wave-particle becomes a wave, nothing hits the lever and the cat is fine. If the wave-particle becomes a particle, then the particle will hit the lever and knock the cyanide bottle over, where the hungry cat will eat it and die. Quantum physics tells us that before we look in the box to see what happens, the cat is simultaneously dead and alive. It is the observation alone that causes one or the other possibility into reality.

Time and Space

Quantum physics tells us that two events in separate locations, may actually be the same event. Einstein was concerned by the implications of the wave-particle theory of quantum physics. He devised his own thought experiment (which has now been confirmed mathematically and experimentally). It should be noted that Einstein was so disturbed by the implications of his thought experiment, he concluded that quantum theory must be incomplete.

Einstein Podolsky Rosen Paradox

Imagine that two identical wave-particles are sent off in opposite directions. What will happen if we try to measure the location of the first wave-particle and the momentum of the second? Remember, the wave-particles are identical, so the measurement for one wave-particle will be the same for the other. If we measure the location for the first wave-particle, it immediately collapses the second into a particle as well.

Ok, why is this amazing?

If observing wave-particle 1 (measuring it’s location) affects wave-particle 2, then there is some communication or connection between the particles. This communication is occurring faster than the speed of light and without any energy transfer. This is goes against all common sense views of the world. Even Einstein couldn’t believe it.

The Spiritual Connection

Quantum physics shows that there is “something more” than what we can see and touch. It shows that the reality we can perceive with our five sense is incomplete. There is something more at work.