The Accidental Universe
* “Be not deceived,” Epictetus writes in The Discourses, “every animal is attached to nothing so much as to its own interest.” Few things are more in our nature than our …
Philosophy
Mindfulness versus Concentration
From the excellent Mindfulness in Plain English: Concentration and mindfulness are distinctly different functions. They each have their role to play in meditation, and the relationship between them is …
The Two Sides of Seneca and A Lesson on Human Fallibility
If you can withhold moral judgment, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero is a great historical account of making decisions in complex situations. Here is one way to describe the career …
Knowledge Makes Everything Simpler
Operating a screw is pretty simple as John Maeda points out in The Laws of Simplicity: Just mate the grooves atop the screw’s head to the appropriate tip-slotted or Phillips-of a screwdriver. …
Three Fundamental Activities of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is at one and the same time both bare attention itself and the function of reminding us to pay bare attention if we have ceased to do so. According to the excellent, Mindfulness in Plain …
Rendez-Vous with Art: The Pleasures and Pitfalls of Art
Philippe de Montebello was the longest-serving Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (1977-2008). Martin Gayford was an acclaimed art critic. Their book, Rendez-Vous with Art, is …
The Simplest Way to Achieve Simplicity is Through Thoughtful Reduction
A close friend of mine argues that while we love the first part of Einstein’s quote, “Everything should be made as simple as possible,” we ignore the second part “but not …
The 11 Essential Attitudes for Meditation
This comes courtesy of Mindfulness in Plain English, one of the best books on meditation and mindfulness that I’ve ever come across. *** The very process of observation changes what we observe. …
The Meaning of History
“The present is the past rolled up for action and the past is the present unrolled for understanding.” — Will Durant *** In the audio version of The Lessons of History, you can find excerpts of …
Henry David Thoreau on Success
In the classic Walden, Henry David Thoreau echoes Warren Buffett on having an inner scorecard and defining your own success: If one listens to the faintest but constant suggestions of his genius, …
11 Misconceptions about Meditation
Meditation isn’t easy. It takes time and energy. Some people wonder why they should bother with meditation at all. Here is an inversion of meditation. This is what Meditation isn’t. There …
Henry David Thoreau on Reading Deliberately
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) remains best-known for Civil Disobedience and for Walden, a beautiful ode to simplicity and self-sufficiency. Thoreau moved into a cabin he built by Walden Pond to …
Meditation: Why Bother?
Meditation can seem like a lot of time and work for no obvious pay-off. Yet the benefits are dramatic. Meditation can help us truly experience life, rather than just letting it pass us by. Here’s a …
A Meditation on Reading
One of the most timeless and beautiful meditations on reading comes from the 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860). For me, reading has always been about our tagline: …
The Wisdom of Seneca: A Lawyer’s Advice For Life In The Fast Lane
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (around 4 B.C.—A.D. 65) was an insightful lawyer, senator, philosopher, and playwright best known for his pithy wisdom that still helps understand how to deal with anger, …
Attentional Blink
Despite my experiments with meditation, I have difficulty focusing on my breath if I take a few days off meditating or yoga. The world is distracting, there are texts coming in, fire trucks going by, …