Tag: God

How Einstein Reconciled Religion to Science

linda changLeave a comment

This outstanding article by Brian Gallagher, published in Nautilus, provides deeper insight into Albert Einstein’s views on religion and science.

Not long ago, I heard an echo of Albert Einstein’s religious views in the words of Elon Musk. Asked, at the close of a conversation with Axios, whether he believed in God, the CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla paused, looked away from his interlocutors for a brief second, and then said, in that mild South African accent, “I believe there’s some explanation for this universe, which you might call God.”

Einstein did call it God. The German-Jewish physicist is famous for many things—his special and general theories of relativity, his burst of gray-white hair—including his esoteric remark, often intoned in discussions of the strange, probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics, that “God does not play dice.” A final or ultimate equation, describing the laws of nature and the origin of the cosmos, Einstein believed, could not involve chance intrinsically. Insofar as it did—it being the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics—it would be incomplete. (The consensus now among physicists is that he was wrong; God is indeterminate. ‘All the evidence points to him being an inveterate gambler,’ Stephen Hawking once said, ‘who throws the dice on every possible occasion.’)

But what was with Einstein’s God-language in the first place? The question may be considered anew, in light of an auction at Christie’s, in New York, of a 1954 letter Einstein wrote that a couple years ago unexpectedly sold for $2.9 million. For the occasion the Princeton Club hosted a panel discussion on the conflict, or lack thereof, between science and religion, which featured theoretical physicist Brian Greene, philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, cognitive psychologist Tania Lombrozo, and Rabbi Geoff Mitelman, founding director of Sinai and Synapses, an organization dedicated to fostering respectful dialogue about religion and science. The event was open to the public, and I was excited to attend. (Full disclosure: At the time I was a Sinai and Synapses fellow.) I believe Einstein can still offer some insight on how to think about religion and science.

“I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals himself in the lawful harmony of the world, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.”

What Einstein said, in a note to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, whose book Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt Einstein was reviewing, was nearly as scathing as any contemporary critique of religion you might hear from Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, or Christopher Hitchens. ‘The word God is for me,’ Einstein wrote, ‘nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can change this for me.’

It is no wonder why, for decades, Einstein’s views on religion became muddled in the popular imagination: The inconsistency is clear. Here, God means one thing; over there, another. Just going off his letter to Gutkind, Einstein appears to be an atheist. But read Einstein in other places and you find him directly declaring that he is not one. “I am not an Atheist,” he said in an interview published in 1930. ‘I do not know if I can define myself as a Pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds.’ Einstein was asked whether he was a pantheist. The rest of his response is worth quoting in full:

“May I not reply with a parable? The human mind, no matter how highly trained, cannot grasp the universe. We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God. We see a universe marvellously arranged, obeying certain laws, but we understand the laws only dimly. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations. I am fascinated by Spinoza’s Pantheism. I admire even more his contributions to modern thought. Spinoza is the greatest of modern philosophers, because he is the first philosopher who deals with the soul and the body as one, not as two separate things.

Benedict Spinoza, the 17th century Jewish-Dutch philosopher, was also in his day confused for an atheist for writing things like this, from his treatise Ethics: ‘All things, I say, are in God, and everything which takes place takes place by the laws alone of the infinite nature of God, and follows (as I shall presently show) from the necessity of His essence.’

In 1929, Einstein received a telegram inquiring about his belief in God from a New York rabbi named Herbert Goldstein, who had heard a Boston cardinal say that the physicist’s theory of relativity implies “the ghastly apparition of atheism.’Einstein settled Goldstein down. “I believe in Spinoza’s God, who reveals himself in the lawful harmony of the world,’ he told him, ‘not in a God who concerns himself with the fate and the doings of mankind.’

What that amounted to for Einstein, according to a 2006 paper, was a ‘cosmic religious feeling’ that required no ‘anthropomorphic conception of God.’ He explained this view in the New York Times Magazine: ‘The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man’s image; so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with this highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as atheists, sometimes also as saints. Looked at in this light, men like Democritus, Francis of Assisi, and Spinoza are closely akin to one another.’

So, as Einstein would have it, there is no necessary conflict between science and religion—or between science and ‘religious feelings.’

Brian Gallagher is an associate editor at Nautilus. Follow him on Twitter @bsgallagher.

Link:https://peacelilysite.com/2025/04/01/how-einstein-reconciled-religion-to-science/

100. A Mother’s Wise Advice [Non-violence]

linda changLeave a comment


100. A Mother’s Wise Advice [Non-violence]

Once upon a time, the son of Brahmadatta was ruling righteously in Benares, in northern India. It came to pass that the King of Kosala made war, killed the King of Benares, and made the queen become his own wife.

Meanwhile, the queen’s son escaped by sneaking away through the sewers. In the countryside he eventually raised a large army and surrounded the city. He sent a message to the king, the murderer of his father and the husband of his mother. He told him to surrender the kingdom or fight a battle.

The prince’s mother, the Queen of Benares, heard of this threat from her son. She was a gentle and kind woman who wanted to prevent violence and suffering and killing. So she sent a message to her son — “There is no need for the risks of battle. It would be wiser to close every entrance to the city. Eventually the lack of food, water and firewood will wear down the citizens. Then they will give the city to you without any fighting.”

The prince decided to follow his mother’s wise advice. His army blockaded the city for seven days and nights. Then the citizens captured their unlawful king, cut off his head, and delivered it to the prince. He entered the city triumphantly and became the new King of Benares.

The moral is: Kind advice is wise advice.

100. A Mother’s Wise Advice [Non-violence]

Link: https://hhdorjechangbuddhaiiiinfo.com/2024/10/22/100-a-mothers-wise-advice-non-violence/

#Buddhisttalesforyoungandold #Buddhiststories #storiesforkids #moralstories #Buddha #Jatakastories #PansiyaPanasJataka

95. CLEAR-SIGHTED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WORLD [IMPERMANENCE]

linda changLeave a comment

95. CLEAR-SIGHTED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WORLD [IMPERMANENCE]

It is said that there are two ways to practice religion. One is to live apart from the ordinary everyday world as a monk, a nun or a holy one. Those who are sincere in this way have as their highest goal the direct experience of complete Truth — full Enlightenment.

The other way to practice religion is within the ordinary world. Those who are sincere in this way have as their highest goal the harmony of an undivided world, living peacefully under a perfectly wholesome ruler — a ‘King of the World’.

Once upon a time the Enlightenment Being was born and given the name ‘Clear-sighted’. As he grew up he developed ten rules of good government: absence of hidden ill will, absence of open hostility, harmlessness, self-control, patience, gentleness, charity, generosity, straightforwardness and goodness.

The people of the world began to notice the wholesomeness and fairness of Clear-sighted, who lived strictly according to these rules. Gradually those in his vicinity volunteered to live under his authority as king, rather than under the dishonest politicians of the time.

As his reputation spread, every king in the world came to Clear-sighted and said, “Come, oh lord, you are welcome, my kingdom is your kingdom, advise me how to rule in your name.”

Then Clear-sighted said, “Do not destroy life. Do not take what is not given. Do not behave wrongly in sexual desires. Do not speak falsely. Do not take alcohol that clouds the mind. My commands to the world are only these five. As long as these five are obeyed, my sixth rule is freedom for all to follow local customs and religions.”

After all the people on earth had come to live under his peaceful rule, he became known as Clear-sighted the Great, King of the World. His royal city, the capital of the whole world, was called Kusavati. It was a beautiful and prosperous city with four magnificent gates — one golden, one silver, one jade and one crystal.

Outside the gates, Kusavati was surrounded by seven rows of palm trees — a row with golden trunks and silver leaves and fruits; a row with silver trunks and golden leaves and fruits; a row with cat’s-eye trunks and crystal leaves and fruits; a row with crystal trunks and cat’s-eye leaves and fruits; a row with agate trunks and coral leaves and fruits; a row with coral trunks and agate leaves and fruits; and finally a row with trunks and leaves and fruits of every kind of jewel found in the world!

When breezes blew through these marvelous palms the sweet sounds of gentle music were heard throughout the city. This music was so enticing and pleasant that some of the citizens were enchanted into stopping their work and dancing for joy!

Clear-sighted the Great, King of the World, had a couch encrusted with jewels from the wonderful palms. After a long, righteous and peaceful reign, he lay on the rich couch for the last time. He knew that his end was near.

Of all his 84,000 queens, the one who loved him most was called, ‘Most-pleasant’. Sensing the state of his mind she said, “You rule over all the cities of the world, including this beautiful Kusavati with its four magnificent gates and seven rows of marvelous palms. Think about this and be happy!”

The King of the World said, “No, my dear queen don’t say that. Instead you should advise me to give up attachment to the cities of the world and all they contain.” Surprised she asked, “Why do you say this, my lord?” “Because today I will die,” he said.

Then Queen Most-pleasant started to cry, wiping away the tears as they flowed. And all the other 84,000 queens also broke into tears. And the king’s ministers and his whole court, both men and women, could not keep from weeping and sobbing. All eyes overflowed with tears.

But King Clear-sighted the Great said, “Your tears are useless. Be at peace.” Hearing this the wailing subsided and his subjects became silent. Then he said to Queen Most-pleasant, “Oh my queen, do not cry, do not lament. Anything that comes into being, whether it be a kingdom including the whole world, or just a tiny sesame seed — it cannot last forever. Anyone who comes into being, whether it be the King of the World, or the poorest petty thief — all must decay and die. Whatever is built up, falls apart. Whatever becomes, decays. The only true happiness is in the moment when becoming and decaying are not.”

In this way the Enlightenment Being got them to think about what most people don’t want to think about — that all things come to an end. He advised them to be generous and wholesome. Then the King of the World, like everyone else, died. He was reborn as a god in a heaven world, where in time, like everyone else, he died.

The moral is: “All good things come to an end.”

95. Clear-sighted the Great, King of the World [Impermanence]

Link: https://hhdorjechangbuddhaiiiinfo.com/2024/09/10/95-clear-sighted-the-great-king-of-the-world-impermanence/

#Buddhisttalesforyoungandold #Buddhiststories #storiesforkids #moralstories #Buddha #Jatakastories #PansiyaPanasJataka

The Legacy of Dou Yanshan: A Story of Kindness, Virtue, and the Law of Cause and Effect

linda changLeave a comment

When I was a child, I read The Three Character Classic (三字经) and came across a verse: “Dou Yanshan, of righteous conduct, taught five sons, all became famous.” At the time, I didn’t realize how much meaning was packed into these simple lines. Later, I learned that they tell a profound story. Dou Yanshan’s life and deeds provide undeniable proof of the law of cause and effect, offering a timeless moral lesson for the world. I would like to share Dou Yanshan’s story with you.

Dou Yujun, also known as Yanshan due to his home in Youzhou (part of the Yan region), lived during the Later Jin period of the Five Dynasties. He lost his father at a young age, and was raised solely by his mother, to whom he showed deep filial respect, never daring to disobey her. At that time, most men married in their twenties, and by the age of thirty, if they had no children, they would worry about their lineage. Dou Yujun, still childless in his thirties, was deeply concerned about his future.

One night, Dou had a dream where his deceased grandfather appeared and said, “Yujun, your past life’s negative karma is heavy, which is why in this life, you are not only childless but also destined for a short life. My dear grandson, turn your heart toward goodness. Perform acts of kindness and help others. Perhaps by doing so, you may change your fate.” Upon waking, Dou remembered every word of his grandfather’s message. From that moment, he vowed to avoid all evil and pursue only good deeds.

One example of his kindness involved a servant who had stolen twenty thousand taels of silver. Fearing punishment, the servant wrote a bond stating that he was selling his young daughter to repay the debt and then fled. When Dou discovered this, instead of punishing the girl, he burned the bond and raised her as his own. When she grew up, he even arranged a marriage for her, providing a dowry.

On New Year’s Day, Dou went to Yanqing Temple to pray and found 200 taels of silver and 30 taels of gold near a meditation cushion. Believing it to be someone’s lost property, he waited in the temple for the owner to return. After some time, a man arrived, crying in distress. Dou asked him what was wrong, and the man explained, “My father has been captured by bandits, and after much effort, I gathered 200 taels of silver and 30 taels of gold to ransom him. But now I’ve lost everything!” Dou, realizing this man was the rightful owner, returned all the silver and gold and even gave him additional travel money. The man left, filled with gratitude.

Dou Yujun was known for his many acts of kindness. When friends or relatives couldn’t afford coffins for their deceased, he provided them. When children of poor families had no means to marry, he paid for their weddings. He lent money to those in need so they could start businesses, helping countless people survive. Despite his generosity, Dou lived a frugal life. Each year, after setting aside the necessary expenses for his family, he used the rest of his income to help others. He even established forty schools, collected thousands of books, and hired teachers of high moral character to educate the youth. He paid the tuition of poor students, helping cultivate many outstanding individuals.

One night, Dou had another dream in which his grandfather appeared again, saying, “You have done many good deeds. Because of your great virtue, Heaven has extended your life by thirty-six years and will bless you with five noble sons, all of whom will achieve great success. When your time comes, you will ascend to Heaven.” His grandfather added, “The law of cause and effect is absolute. The consequences of good and evil deeds may appear in this life, in the next, or in the lives of your descendants. Heaven’s justice is unerring.”

After this, Dou Yujun continued to cultivate virtue with even greater diligence. Eventually, he had five sons, and due to his strict and righteous upbringing, they were all disciplined, harmonious, and filial. All five sons passed the imperial examinations and achieved high positions: his eldest, Dou Yi, became a Minister of State; his second, Dou Yan, became a Hanlin Academician; his third, Dou Cheng, served as Deputy Prime Minister; his fourth, Dou Kan, was an Imperial Chronicler; and his youngest, Dou Xi, became Assistant to the Minister of the Left. Even his eight grandsons achieved prominence. To honor Dou’s achievements, the imperial official Feng Dao wrote a poem:
“Yanshan’s Dou family, with righteous teachings, raised five sons, all blossoming like red laurels.”

Dou himself lived to the age of eighty-two. He predicted the time of his passing, bid farewell to his friends, bathed, dressed in clean clothes, and passed away peacefully.

The law of cause and effect is undeniable. Whether the consequences of good deeds are seen in this life, in the lives of one’s descendants, or in future reincarnations, they are inevitable. Dou Yujun not only enjoyed a long life and wealth, but his descendants also prospered, and his peaceful death is a testament to the blessings awaiting him in his next life. His vast and profound kindness brought him blessings in this life, in the lives of his descendants, and in the afterlife.

The renowned Song Dynasty scholar, Fan Zhongyan, used Dou Yujun’s story to teach his own children about the importance of good deeds, leading to the prosperity of the Fan family. While many people knew about Dou Yujun’s deeds, few truly acted on them. It is like entering a treasure mountain and leaving empty-handed. What a missed opportunity that would be!

Link:

The Wisdom of Humility: A Tale of Zuo Zongtang

linda changLeave a comment

Zuo Zongtang, a prominent official of the late Qing dynasty, was renowned not only for his military prowess but also for his skill in the game of Go. His expertise was so exceptional that none of his subordinates could match him.

One day, while traveling incognito, Zuo Zongtang stumbled upon a thatched cottage with a plaque reading “The Best Go Player in the World.” Skeptical, he decided to challenge the owner to a series of games. To his surprise, he won all three matches. With a smile, Zuo Zongtang remarked, “You can take down that plaque now!” Satisfied, he continued on his journey.

However, after a successful military campaign, Zuo Zongtang returned to the same area. Curious to see if the plaque had been removed, he visited the cottage once more. To his astonishment, the plaque was still there. Determined to test his luck again, he challenged the owner to another three games—and this time, he lost all three. Perplexed, he asked the owner how this was possible.

The owner explained, “The last time you visited, you were on a mission to lead troops into battle. I didn’t want to affect your spirit negatively. But now that you’ve returned victorious, I felt free to play at my best.”

This story highlights a profound lesson: True mastery often involves knowing when to yield. A master may win, but true greatness lies in the ability to be gracious. Similarly, wisdom involves understanding the feelings of others and knowing when to let go of one’s own ambitions.

Life often mirrors this dynamic. While the clever may fixate on gains and losses, the truly wise are those who bravely release their attachments. Wisdom is not merely about cleverness but about humility and compassion.

In Buddhism, true wisdom arises from great compassion. When one transcends self-interest and embraces deep compassion, the door to true wisdom opens. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III emphasizes in his teachings that genuine cultivation involves prioritizing the well-being of others. In his Dharma discourses, His Holiness has repeatedly highlighted the importance of:

“Establishing great compassion as your foundation. Avoid all evil deeds. Commit to all that is good. Set aside personal interests to benefit others. Patiently endure humiliation and adversity. Practice humility. Purify your mind. When encountering beings, regardless of their condition—be they handicapped, deficient, sick, or healthy—treat them all as family. Understand that all phenomena are governed by causality.”

The Buddha’s life exemplified this principle perfectly. He never sought to be revered from a lofty pedestal but instead viewed himself as a humble servant to all beings. Every action he took was dedicated to promoting peace, liberation, and happiness for all.

As a true Buddha living in the world at this time, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III has never been concerned about damaging His own honor, status, or image, for He has effaced Himself in order to benefit living beings by saying that He is an ordinary person like everyone else. In reality, the facts prove that in the few-thousand-year history of Buddhism, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III is truly one who has actually manifested the pinnacle of attainment in both Exoteric and Esoteric Buddhism and perfection in the Five Vidyas! His Holiness the Buddha is also the only one in the history of Buddhism who has made it His practice to benefit and serve living beings without accepting any offerings.

Link: https://peacelilysite.com/2024/08/09/the-wisdom-of-humility-a-tale-of-zuo-zongtang/

Source: https://www.sohu.com/a/113788534_456094

The Power of Silence

linda changLeave a comment

Profound Insights into the Importance of Silence

By L. M. Sacasas

The modern world has a curious way of stripping something away and then selling it back to us at a premium. Or, to put it another way, of transforming formerly public goods into a private luxuries. I’m sure you can think of any number of cases. Take darkness, for example. Over the course of one hundred years or so we conquered the night and banished the starry hosts. Only recently have we discovered that if we now want to experience natural darkness and behold the Milky Way we might have to pay for it. Dark Sky tourism is one of the most popular trends in tourism. Adequate or healthy levels of physical activity serves as another example. A monthly gym or CrossFit membership supplies what might have been achieved as a matter of course while completing one’s ordinary daily work.

Silence is yet another example. The World Health Organization recently updated its noise pollution guidelines. The report, focused on European nations, claims that one in five Europeans is exposed to noise levels with adverse health effects, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and the risk of cognitive impairment for children. The report went so far as to classify noise pollution one of the “top environmental risks to health.” Naturally, those who are sufficiently resourced can now turn to one of the growing number of luxury resorts whose main selling point is silence. In 2017, Alex Glasscock, CEO and founder of The Ranch in Malibu told Condé Nast Traveler, “A calm and silent mind is the new luxury and people are actively seeking this opportunity.” And intrepid entrepreneurs are willing to supply the opportunity at a hefty price. A four-day stay at the Ranch, its cheapest offering, will run you $4200. Alternatively, you could buy $350 noise-cancelling headphones.

How exactly does this happen? How do public goods turn into private luxuries? The story, as we might imagine, is rather complicated. From one perspective, it is merely the ordinary operations of capital. But it may be worth asking why it proves so difficult to resist these operations. It is possible to suppose that the goods were not recognized as such until they were lost, that they were not framed as goods until they were threatened. Indeed, this is almost certainly part of the answer. It is easy to see how darkness, bodily activity, and silence would be taken for granted. Moreover, it is easy to see how they might even be construed as problems to be overcome. Darkness limits our work, bodily activity can be wearisome and slavish, and silence can be a symptom of loneliness and isolation. Consequently, we embrace the technologies that allow us to work and play into the night, relieve us of our wearisome labor, and fill or silences.

William Cronon argued along similar lines several years ago with respect to the idea of “the wilderness” in American history. Regarding the idea of the wilderness, Cronon writes, “Far from being the one place on earth that stands apart from humanity, it is quite profoundly a human creation—indeed, the creation of very particular human cultures at very particular moments in human history.” During the turn of the nineteenth century, the wilderness was theorized as the sublime and the frontier. As industrial technologies expanded and altered the shape and pace of urban life, “the wilderness” appeared in a new light. It was no longer a foreboding and threatening space; it was now a hallowed and treasured place. And, strikingly, Cronon also reminds us that at this point “Wilderness suddenly emerged as the landscape of choice for elite tourists.”

I would suggest, however, that the story is slightly more complicated than this. Alasdair MacIntyre has argued that ethics lost its way when it lost its telos. Traditionally, ethics was conceived of as the bridge between “man-as-he-happens-to-be and man-as-he-could-be-if-he-realized-his-essential-nature.” Ethical prescriptions only made sense within this tripartite structure. In MacIntyre’s view, modern ethical theories amounted to one failed effort after another to do ethics without some normative understanding of “man-as-he-could-be-if-he-realized-his-essential-nature.” Under these circumstances, ethical rules and principles were no longer coherent or compelling. They had, in short, lost their story.

This is not a bad way of understanding what happened to a whole class of goods that includes silence but also things like solitude, attention, and privacy. Once they were disembedded from a socio-moral context from which they derived their taken-for-granted value—once they lost their story—they became easy prey for the emerging technological and economic milieu. Within this context, any attempt to conserve these goods tends to appear reactionary or nostalgic. Worse yet, as the examples with which we began suggest, such efforts do little more than return these goods to us as commodities.

It is with these considerations in mind that I took up Robert Cardinal Sarah’s 2016 book, The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise. The work, first published in French, appeared in English in 2017. The book is structured as a long interview or conversation with the French journalist, Nicolas Diat, who previously collaborated with Cardinal Sarah on an earlier book God or Nothing.

Cardinal Sarah was appointed bishop by John Paul II in 1979 and, in 2010, Benedict XVI made him a cardinal. He is Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Most notably for our purposes, he was born in 1945 in rural French Guinea. This is notable because it places Cardinal Sarah at a decided advantage when it comes to the question of silence: his sensibilities and insights have been cultivated in a non-Western context. He is able to speak about silence in a manner that is not captive to the patterns outlined above. Silence is not a commodity or lifestyle hack he’s selling. It is a good that remains integrated into a coherent and compelling understanding of human flourishing. “In Africa,” as the cardinal puts it, “the sacred is something quite obvious for the Christian people, but also for believers of all religions.”

The Power of Silence is a rich repository of writings, ancient and modern, from the fathers to Blaise Pascal to Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen. What emerges from the cardinal’s weaving of these theological resources and his own insights is an expansive understanding of what constitutes silence, one which, not surprisingly, often touches on the mystical. “It is not enough to be quiet,” Cardinal Sarah tells us, “It is necessary to become silence.”

Silence, we are reminded, describes both external and internal realities. Silence is as much a condition of the soul as it is the absence of auditory stimuli. It describes a state of “interior rest and harmony.” Silence, as Cardinal Sarah understands it, is not unlike that state of the soul characterized by leisure described by another Catholic theologian, Josef Pieper: “a form of that stillness that is the necessary preparation for accepting reality; only the person who is still can hear, and whoever is not still cannot hear.”

Yet, “it is absurd to speak about interior silence without exterior silence.” Silence, then, involves the absence of noise, but noise is not merely what we perceive with our ears: noise, like silence, is also a condition of the soul. It is a state of perpetually harried restlessness. Moreover, silence is a deeply personal reality, but also the foundation of our right relation to others: “Without the capacity for silence, man is incapable of hearing, loving, and understanding the people around him. Charity is born of silence.”

Most importantly, silence is the condition for our hearing the voice of God and it is the voice of God. Silence is not merely a matter of finding personal peace and well-being. It is a requisite condition of our knowing God, for which knowledge we have been made. To participate in the silence of God, then, a silence that dwells within us, is an indispensable element of our becoming the sorts of creatures we have been created to be. “Silence is not an absence,” Sarah explains. “On the contrary, it is the manifestation of a presence, the most intense of all presences.” “The desire to see God is what urges us to love solitude and silence,” Sarah observes, “For silence is where God dwells. He drapes himself in silence.”

Opposed to the life characterized by silence, however, we find what Cardinal Sarah called “the dictatorship of noise.” This dictatorship is characterized by the tools at its disposal. He describes the regime of noise as a “highly technological society” and warns us of “the glowing screens” that “need a gargantuan diet in order to distract mankind and destroy consciences.” This world is marked, as the German scholar Harmut Rosa, has argued by social acceleration. “The experience of modernization,” Rosa argues, “is an experience of acceleration.” By this he means an acceleration of the pace of social change and an acceleration of the experience of time by modern individuals. Just as Cardinal Sarah understands that noise is not merely auditory stimuli, Rosa understands that acceleration is not only about the speed at which we experience life. It is also a matter of frenzied and frenetic activity, which makes it difficult to get one’s bearings or to make sense of one’s own personal history.

The cardinal also understands, however, that there are also deeper issues at play. “Without noise,” he writes, “postmodern man falls into a dull, insistent uneasiness.” This line recalls the thinking of Blaise Pascal, who Cardinal Sarah frequently cites throughout The Power of Silence. Pascal knew that the turn to diversions to help us cope with our inability to abide silence was the symptom of the malaise at the heart of the human condition. But Pascal could still speak about silence, or what he frequently called rest, as a good with a view to an ultimate end—understanding our predicament as a step toward recognizing our dependence on God’s grace.

Cardinal Sarah has written a moving book. He circles around the same basic principles and themes repeatedly, which does generate a mild redundancy. And at times, his efforts to put words to what must finally be a wordless experience fall rather flat, or perhaps that is a matter of translation. But he succeeds in giving silence a story within which it can achieve its value independently of the dynamics which have rendered it a private luxury. But even if we recognize the value of silence, we still face the dictatorship of noise. We will stand a better chance of securing a measure of silence to sustain our spiritual lives if our efforts unfold alongside others who seek silence with us. The dictatorship of noise is best combatted not by individuals but by communities of practice which prioritize silence and a well-ordered life.

The Power of Silence: profound insights into the importance of silence

Link:https://peacelilysite.com/2023/08/02/the-power-of-silence/

#Silence #Power #God #CardinalSarah #BlaisePascal

Source: https://mereorthodoxy.com/book-review-power-silence-robert-cardinal-sarah

The Power of Miracles (Full Episode in National Geographic)

linda changLeave a comment

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman

In the National Geographic channel’s “The Power of Miracles” episode of “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman,” Freeman delves into the concept of miracles and the role they play in different cultures and religions around the world. Throughout the episode, Freeman explores the various stories and accounts of miracles that have been passed down through traditional cultures and religions. These stories often involve healing, protection, and other seemingly miraculous events.

One of the main focuses of the episode is the stories of miracle in Christianity. Freeman visits the site of a Catholic pilgrimage in Lourdes, France, where thousands of people travel each year to pray for healing. Freeman also visits the site of a Marian apparition in Medjugorje, Bosnia, where six children reported seeing the Virgin Mary in 1981. Freeman also meets with people who believe they were healed as a result of the apparition, which is still ongoing. Freeman also explores other religion’s records of miracles like the Jewish Kabbalah, and the Islamic Hadith.

While some people may be skeptical of these stories, Freeman makes it clear that they hold great significance for the people who believe in them. For many, these stories of miracles provide hope, inspiration, and a sense of connection to something greater than themselves. Freeman ultimately concludes that miracles are about the power of belief, and that the belief in something larger than ourselves can have a profound impact on our lives.

Watching this episode is a miracle for me. I explored so many beautiful places, cultures and religions. It’s a must watch for people with an interest in the intersection of faith and science, and in the power of belief to shape our lives.

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman

Link: https://peacelilysite.com/2023/01/11/the-power-of-miracles-full-episode-in-national-geographic/

#Miracle#MorganFreeman#NationalGeographicchannel#PowerofMiracles#Religions#Cultures#Christianity#Church#JewishKabbalah#Islamic Hadith #Healing#Belief

This famous prayer has hidden wisdom in every line

linda chang1 Comment

This famous prayer has hidden wisdom in every line

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can; 
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time; 
enjoying one moment at a time; 
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; 
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it; 
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will; 
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next. 
Amen.

The Serenity Prayer is well known by both believers and non-believers. The famous prayer asks for God’s help achieving something that most people desire but few can achieve: peace and happiness in life. Unlike many prayers that ask for peace or happiness, the Serenity Prayer does not simply ask that God hand a person peace wholesale. Instead, the prayer lays out specific steps that will help a person achieve serenity in their life and asks God to help them gather the strength to live by those smaller goals. The Serenity Prayer does not so much ask for a gift as much as it asks God to help a person create or earn their own peace.

The first half of the Serenity Prayer is the most commonly quoted section of the prayer. The prayer has inspired millions of people, Christians and non-Christians alike. This beautiful prayer, however, is so often quoted that its wisdom can be lost. Here is a breakdown of the wisdom of the Serenity Prayer.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…
Everyone has things in their life they wish that they could change, whether it is something as small as the traffic and congestion that fills a person’s daily commute or something as serious as a loved one’s diagnosis with terminal cancer. When faced with something we wish we could change, we often fight it. We rage against the congested traffic and fall prey to road rage. We deny the terrible news of a deadly diagnosis and stick our heads in the sand. We hide from the truth. We hate it. We curse it. We do the spiritual equivalent of punching a brick wall and expecting the wall to come down instead of our knuckles to bruise and split and break. In our hearts we know that there is nothing we can do to change some facts of life. People will die. Tragedies will happen. The inevitability of those facts does not make them less horrible, but it does mean that there is nothing we can do about it.

The first two lines of the Serenity Prayer ask for perhaps one of the hardest things of all: the strength to both accept that some things are out of our control and come to peace with that fact rather than drowning in useless, toxic rage.



Courage to change the things I can…
People love to complain. Think about it. How often do our coworkers start the week not with a smile and story about something pleasant they did over the weekend but a moan, groan or curse about the first day of the work week? When starting a conversation, do we share our joy? Unfortunately, we are much more likely to start a conversation by complaining about something, even something as small as the weather. Complaints seem to be our go-to form of communication, but how often do people really try to change what they claim so grievously offends, inconveniences or angers them?

In the age of social media and the internet, it is easier than ever to jump on the bandwagon and complain about an event, person, policy or organization. Ironically, many of the loudest virtual voices have never done a thing to help the causes they claim matter so much. It is easy to complain, especially from behind the protection of a screen name and keyboard. It is not easy to actually enact change. It is not easy to go up to someone we respect and say “I disagree.” It is not easy to face down someone who is screaming with hate and say, civilly and respectfully, “You are wrong and here is why.” Truly creating change does not happen from behind a screen or around a water cooler. It takes time, effort, energy and, yes, risk.

The penultimate line of the first stanza of the Serenity Prayer asks God to help us find the inner strength and deep well of bravery we all possess and turn that willpower and courage toward bringing about the changes that matter to us.

And the wisdom to know the difference.
Discernment is one of the most difficult skills to master especially when it comes to dealing with our ability to influence the world around us. We often have an overinflated sense of our own power to enact change. On some subconscious level, we truly believe that we can make other people see our point of view if we just have one more conversation with them, explain our position one more time or, sometimes, yell loudly enough. This, of course, is ridiculous. People do not change their minds when others shout at them or call them names. Even those who try to change events or others’ opinions with civil, respectful behavior often find themselves frustrated as things refuse to change. This is because the things they want to influence are not within their ability to alter. Discerning what we can change and what we simply wish we could change is not easy. The Serenity Prayer recognizes that very human refusal to admit defeat and accept that something is out of our hands. As such, the prayer asks for God’s help discerning what we can truly control and what we merely wish we could influence.

Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time
We all know someone who is never really present in the moment. They may be worrying constantly about tomorrow or forever daydreaming about the next great thing that they believe will happen in their life. They never take the time to enjoy the moment they are standing in or to revel in the life they live. Their focus is always on something else. Unfortunately, when we are focused on something in the far off future or distant past, whether good or bad, we let life pass us by. Whether we want to admit it or not, most of life is composed of the little moments that so many of us ignore. When we are worrying about the big presentation we have at work later in the week, we are not paying attention to our spouse who is longing for some emotional connection. When we are consumed with excitement for our cruise next month, we miss the friend who was looking to simply catch up over lunch. The Serenity Prayer reminds us that those little moments—the butterfly perched on the flowers by the office door, the smile of our child when she sees that daddy’s home, the smell of fresh baked cookies–get lost so easily even though those little moments are the ones that make up most of our lives and make our lives worth living.

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace
No one likes to focus on the difficulties that come with life. For all that people love to complain, no one really wants to have a troubled life. We want to be able to win the competition of “who had the worst day,” but we do not actually want to be miserable. We want to have our cake and eat it, too. Unfortunately, this is not possible. Hardships will come up in life, but they are so much more important than a way to win the misery Olympics that so often take place at family dinners or around the water cooler.

“Nothing worth doing was every easy.” This cliché phrase has been both revered for its truth and reviled for its unpleasant reality, but there is no denying its accuracy. Finding love is difficult, and marriages are hard work. Few relationships, however, come close to being as fulfilling as a loving marriage. Parenting is a lifetime of staring at the ceiling at night wondering if we are screwing up our kids irreversibly. That does not mean that it is not the most important job on earth. Almost anything that will bring us true lasting happiness and peace instead of transient pleasure comes with difficulty and trial. In moments when we want to walk away, the Serenity Prayer reminds us that those struggles will be worth it in the end.

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it
The world is not perfect. Anyone who would say otherwise is naïve, blind or has their head buried so deep in the sand that their hair is poking through the grass on the other side of the globe. The advent of 24 hour news and the internet has driven home the imperfection of the world in all its gruesome, filthy, nightmarish detail. The worst of humanity is regularly on display as both natural and human made disasters dominate the news and religious extremism and terrorism are documented with sickly loving detail. Given that the horrors of the world are regularly shoved down our throats, is it any wonder that many people would prefer to hide under the covers and pretend that everything is just hunky dory?

Hiding from reality, however, does nothing to change what is actually happening in the world. Distorting facts and figures to feed a popular narrative robs those actually hurt of any chance of enacting real change. The key to dealing with this world is to accept it as it is, both the good and the bad. It is wrong to pretend away the suffering of others, but it is not right to rub the worst of human depravity in the face of someone who is counting their own blessings. The Serenity Prayer makes it clear that we need to deal with reality, not wishful fantasy. To do that, we need to celebrate the highs and spread the good as far and as wide as we can. We need to mourn the lows and fight fiercely to correct what wrongs we can. We cannot change reality when we do not even know what is real.



Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will
Trust is one of the key components of the Christian faith. Christians must trust that God has a plan for their lives. They must trust that everything, even terrible things, happen for a reason. Painful though it may be, they must trust that their loved ones who die are going to a better place. Trust, however, does not always come easily. Christians who are mourning a lost parent, spouse, friend or, worst of all, a child, may find themselves raging against God and questioning everything they ever believed.

While hardship and trial sometimes brings a person’s faith to its knees, the hottest fires sometimes forge the strongest faith. Those people who come out of trials with both a faith core of steel and a deepened trust in God are often those who manage to accept, somehow, that God is in control even when everything around them is going to hell in a handbasket. Even when life is easy-breezy and good, however, it is not always easy for us to trust in God and surrender. We want to take control. We want to be in charge. The Serenity Prayer reminds us, though, that what we can influence is so much smaller than what God can determine. Whether we like it or not, we are being dragged in the direction God wants us to go, so we may as well stop fighting, go with the flow and trust that He has our best interests at heart.



So that I may be happy in this life
Everyone wants to be happy. We know that this life is too short, and we want to enjoy every minute of it. We want to spend our days smiling and laughing. We want to feel both joy and excitement and treasure every moment. The desire to be happy is one of the most natural desires of humanity. Our very biological drive to survive is based on our need to be happy. Our bodies are hardwired to use a biological reward-based system to keep us alive. When we do something that helps us survive, we are rewarded with a surge of dopamine, a feel-good chemical. These hormonal surges come when we eat, sleep, talk with other human beings and have sex. These processes are necessary for the continuation of the human species. Staying happy in this life, however, is not just about fulfilling biological urges. We are hardwired to do more than survive. Dopamine floods our brains when we truly live. Singing, dancing, creating and exploring new things all trigger dopamine. The Serenity Prayer helps remind us that, despite what some fire-and-brimstone sermons say, aiming to be happy in this life is nothing to be ashamed of as long as we do not trade morality for transient pleasure. This, however, rarely happens when we do what is hardwired to be one of our greatest natural sources of happiness: connecting with and helping others.



And eternally happy with Him forever and ever in the next.
Christians know that there is more than just this world. There is another world that is free of the horrors and tragedies that plague this world. Our current world is painfully imperfect, but that does not make it devoid of beauty. God’s hand is everywhere in the world, and hope can be found in even the darkest and most dangerous of times. The beauty and good of this world, however, pale in comparison to what is waiting in the next world with Jesus Christ Himself. When we pursue happiness and peace in this life, we must be sure not to get so caught up in earthly pleasures that we take our eyes off the ultimate prize: eternal life with Christ in the next life. The Serenity Prayer helps us focus on what we need to do to achieve happiness and peace in this life, but the final two lines of the prayer make sure to remind us that there is more, much more, than just this life. It reminds us to keep the next life in mind even as we strive to enjoy this one and to change this world for the better.

The Serenity Prayer is well known by both believers and non-believers. It offers simple, but effective methods to truly begin to feel peace in this life, but it also reminds us of what is waiting for us in the next life. It asks God not to fix our lives for us but to lend us the strength to correct them for ourselves. It offers inspiration and advice in equal measure and reminds the faithful that with God anything is possible.



By Stephanie Hertzenberg
Source: Beliefnet

This famous prayer has hidden wisdom in every line

Link: https://peacelilysite.com/2022/11/02/this-famous-prayer-has-hidden-wisdom-in-every-line/

#God#Prayer#Wisdom#Christians#Christianity