Surviving Without Money

From style.com:

"The answer lay, in part, in the Christianity of his childhood. In Suelo's nascent philosophy, following Jesus meant adopting the hard life prescribed in the Sermon on the Mount. 'Giving up possessions, living beyond credit and debt,' Suelo explains on his blog, 'freely giving and freely taking, forgiving all debts, owing nobody a thing, living and walking without guilt . . . grudge [or] judgment.' If grace was the goal, Suelo told himself, then it had to be grace in the classical sense, from the Latin gratia, meaning favor—and also, free.

"By 1999, he was living in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand—he had saved just enough money for the flight. From there, he made his way to India, where he found himself in good company among the sadhus, the revered ascetics who go penniless for their gods. Numbering as many as 5 million, the sadhus can be found wandering roads and forests across the subcontinent, seeking enlightenment in self-abnegation. 'I wanted to be a sadhu,' Suelo says. 'But what good would it do for me to be a sadhu in India? A true test of faith would be to return to one of the most materialistic, money-worshipping nations on earth and be a sadhu there. To be a vagabond in America, a bum, and make an art of it—the idea enchanted me.'"

Suelo also has a blog.

How do we know that we reason without reasoning about reason?

The text below is a comment I posted in response to Hope for the Future: Balancing Scientific Temper and Spiritual Wisdom:

Many of the scientists and mathematicians that established the foundations of our modern world also contemplated the nature of consciousness and the Absolute. This is a fact worth emphasizing to those with and without faith.

The scientific community's conscious decision to solely consider the observable, measurable and reasonable has led to significant advances, but for what purpose?

Human reasoning has limits, especially when the major premise of such reasoning is restricted to a self-conception based upon observable phenomena. But what is the nature of the observer (consciousness) apart from the observed phenomena? In other words, how do we know that we reason without reasoning about reason?

Science will have to address such questions through synthesis, as you have suggested. Thankfully, there is a developing trend entitled “contemplative science” which draws upon the introspective methods long established by monastic traditions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.

If the contemplative method of inquiry is pursued sincerely, science may finally consider an alternate premise: Absolute truth does not concede to our limited experience—it is at least as conscious as we are. Being so conscious the Divine must have will and must will to joy. If the Divine wills to joy, then all purpose must be centered upon participating. Therefore, knowledge of how to participate must necessarily descend from the Divine himself. And above all, permission to participate in the joyful play of the Divine must be granted, never assumed.

At the end of reasoning lies a humble petition to the very knowledge we seek to grasp: an appeal to be possessed by that knowledge itself.

Calvin and Hobbes: Math is a Religion

This reminds me of Gödel's incompleteness theorems:

Any effectively generated theory capable of expressing elementary arithmetic cannot be both consistent and complete. In particular, for any consistent, effectively generated formal theory that proves certain basic arithmetic truths, there is an arithmetical statement that is true, but not provable in the theory.

For any formal effectively generated theory T including basic arithmetical truths and also certain truths about formal provability, T includes a statement of its own consistency if and only if T is inconsistent.

Sri Venkateswara is coming to Cary, NC!

I've wanted to visit the temple of Sri Venkateswara for a very long time. The original temple is located in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, India, and there are several outside of India.

But now a temple is opening right down the road in Cary, NC! I'm so excited!

The South Asian magazine Saathee has an article and detailed schedule of the opening, which will last an entire week.

How you feel the world impacts how you see it

From MIT news:

"In the classic waterfall illusion, if you stare at the downward motion of a waterfall for some period of time, stationary objects -- such as rocks -- appear to drift upward. MIT neuroscientists have found that this phenomenon, called motion aftereffect, occurs not only in our visual perception but also in our tactile perception, and that these senses actually influence one another. Put another way, how you feel the world can actually change how you see it -- and vice versa."

Gnosticism vs Agnosticism vs Theism vs Atheism (image)

Now that I'm 30 years old...

I turned 30 on April 5, 2009. Here is a list of thoughts for the occasion:

• Life is a great mystery and has no significance until you give it meaning. Embrace your free will but seek wise advice.


• While you are young: travel, fall in love, make mistakes and be foolish. As you grow older you will have more to loose and be reluctant to take risks.


• Voluntarily live in poverty for a period of time. You'll never take anything for granted again.


• Recognize the the limitations of your own mind which has been habituated by culture. Strive to overcome these limitations by continually exposing yourself to new ideas and experiences.


• You will discover your strengths by continually pushing your limits. Along the way you'll also discover your weaknesses; accept them and those of others.


• Regularly contemplate death. The more you accept the temporal nature of all things, the more you'll appreciate the beauty of life in the present moment--that's really all we have.