Sunday 12 February 2012

#42 Practicality of heart-mind approach

     "meditation can augment economics courses, where professors often use experiential exercises to teach students about the role of competition in distributing limited resources. According to classical economics, individuals will try to maximize their own profits at the expense of their competitors. But ... if professors first have their students practice a loving-kindness meditation before beginning the exercise, students shift their conduct to consider the needs of others."
     Suttie J. The new science of mind. Shambhala Sun, March 2012. http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=114

     Self-centered, competitive, adversarial behaviour, though still openly encouraged and applauded in some sectors, in many ways resembles that of a cancer cell. Of course the cancer cell is unaware of, and unconcerned about the big picture. Homo sapiens sapiens should have significantly greater perspective, but for most of us, it's a challenge to maintain. Bernie Madoff is but one recent example of the impact of one individual's lack of wisdom - blindness to the big picture - on the rest of us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Madoff

     The way in which a single healthy cell relates to a healthy multicellular organism resonates with how Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, etc related to the world.

     How does my right hand treat my left hand?

Photo: evanrassbcglobalnet    www.dpreview.com

    

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