At One With Nature

Walk along the tranquil river

Feel the energy from the sun

Seeking out the forest coolness

Watch the water from the shore

Scintillating sparkles catch the eye

Peaceful love comes flooding in

At one with nature

Sensationalize the Good

Early July 20, James Egan Holmes allegedly barged into a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” and proceeded to kill 12 moviegoers while injuring 70 others in one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history.  When an event of this magnitude happens, it is no wonder that it receives substantial coverage in the media, with countless hours of time spent covering the tragedy.  In the coverage, we heard about the victims and the extensive equipment the assailant used in the attack.  We learned of the elaborate planning that Holmes allegedly undertook in the attack, and how he booby-trapped his apartment in an attempt to create a second catastrophe.

One of the most disturbing aspects of the news coverage was the time the media spent trying to analyze why Holmes would perform such a despicable act.  The fact that the media spends so much time on a terrible tragedy like this and more so on bringing attention to Holmes in my opinion only encourages like-minded individuals to follow his lead.  Ultimately, it is up to us to help steer our media in the right direction by letting them know that sensationalizing these terrible acts only perpetuates this form of tragedy.  In its place, let’s sensationalize the good and heroic.

Turtle Crossings and Assumptions

One day while my daughter and I were running in the park, we came across a turtle in the middle of the trail.  It was a hot day and the trail was in full sunlight, with water on the left side of the trail and a meadow on the right side.  The turtle was just resting in the middle of the path, facing toward the meadow.  I was afraid that the turtle was going to be run over by a bicycle, so I picked it up and moved it to the river side, hoping it would find a spot to rest by the cool water.  We continued our run, then turned around and headed back.  Much to my surprise, we reencountered the turtle – back in the middle of the trail slowly walking toward the meadow.

I assumed I knew what the turtle wanted; however it knew exactly where it wanted to go.  The turtle had to expend extra energy to recover from my imposition.  Nature in its subtle way provided a learning moment.  When facing the need for action, it is always a good exercise to question the assumptions to avoid making the wrong choice.

Photo courtesy of Morguefile.com

Make the World Worthy of its Children

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.” ~Pablo Casals

Personal photo

Enlightenment

“According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don’t bother you anymore. You become light hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous.” ~Deepak Chopra

Photo credit: Cousin Dawn

The God Particle, Physics, and the Fabric of the Universe

On July 4, physicists at the Hadron Collider in Switzerland announced that there is better than a 99% chance that they found the Higgs Boson, which has also been nicknamed the “God Particle.”  The Higgs Boson is the particle that explains why matter has mass and is the final missing piece in the Standard Model, which describes the tiny particles that are the building blocks of all matter in the universe.  [1]  The implications of the discovery are far-reaching.  The Higgs Boson is seen to unify two key forces in physics, the electromagnetic force that governs the interaction between two charged particles, and the weak force, which is responsible for radioactive decay.  Also, with all the particles predicted by the Standard Model now accounted for, physicists now can speculate on the next, potentially larger theory that may follow from the Standard Model as well as focus on other mysteries of the universe, for instance, dark matter, dark energy, and the fate of the universe.  [2]

Although the media has freely called the Higgs Boson “The God Particle,” Physicists do not embrace the nickname, emphasizing that the long search for the particle was a scientific endeavor, not a religious one.  Ironically, the nickname came from the title of a book written in 1994 by Nobel winning physicist Leon Lederman and has a far from religious origin – he wanted to name his book “The Goddamn Particle” given how difficult it had been to find the elusive boson.  Much to the chagrin of physicists, the nickname was adopted by the media.  [3]

Physicists, much like any other group of people, are at all different parts of the spectrum when it comes to religious and spiritual matters.  There are atheists, agnostics, devout practitioners of a religion, and those that are deeply spiritual.  Max Planck, the father of Quantum Theory was a practicing Christian and often wrote about spiritual matters: “All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force…We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind.  This Mind is the matrix of all matter.” [4]  Albert Einstein, a self-professed agnostic, was in fact quite spiritual: "A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms—it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man." [5]  Physicist Stephen Hawking, considered atheistic, believes that science is the only truth, but wrote in A Brief History of Time: "However, if we discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable by everyone, not just by a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God." [6]

Physics is the branch of science that attempts to understand the workings of nature and the very fabric of the universe.   Physicist Vivek Sharma: “Physicists are generally driven to understand how nature works — as 'natural philosophers' we appreciate the beauty of its order and its chaos, perhaps more than most.”  [4]  Physicists are charged with answering these types of questions “Why does our universe behave as it does?...Where did our universe come from?...What is the fate of our universe?...Are there other parallel universes?”  These questions dance around the philosopher’s existential question “Why are we here?”  And all of these questions interest the spiritual person, who would answer “Why are we here?” with “We have a purpose – we are connected to a Greater Reality, something much grander than we can understand or imagine.”

Now that the Higgs Boson has finally been found, physicists will continue to explore the fabric of our existence and increase our understanding of reality.  In their search will we eventually come to understand, as Hawking puts it, “the mind of God?”

References:

[1]          http://www.livescience.com/21380-higgs-boson-particle-lhc-findings.html

[2]          http://www.livescience.com/17433-implications-higgs-boson-discovery-lhc.html

[3]          http://www.livescience.com/17489-god-particle-higgs-boson.html

[4]          http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/107032.Max_Planck

[5]          Einstein, The World as I See It, (New York, Philosophical Library, 1949), ISBN 0-8065-2790-0.

[6]          Hawking, A Brief History of Time (New York: Bantam, 1988)

Photo credit: CERN

The Best Life Has to Offer

Sometimes when we least expect it, something happens that may improve our lives or potentially may be life-changing.  Oftentimes it is a small or subtle thing that is easy to miss in the daily chaos.  Even in the busiest times, it is important to stay observant for the amazing and beautiful things that surround all of us, smile at those that cross our paths, and be alert for those meaningful coincidences.  An open mind, heart, and soul will ensure that the best life has to offer will not pass us by.

Photo courtesy of NASA

Righting a Wrong

Everyone has done something that they wish they had not done.  As a result, something goes wrong, someone gets offended, or someone’s feelings get hurt.  It is easy to obsess on what happened and feel badly about it.  Yet, we are all human and make regrettable mistakes.  It is much better to try to do what you can to repair the wrong or help heal the wound caused by the mistake.  A simple apology goes a lot further than self-justification or self-punishment.  It will not only take a step to making the situation better but also will lighten your own burden and open up the mind to accept what happened as a learning experience.