Looking for optimism in today’s world

I happened to notice the web site called Optimism Apps today – I thinks from a first look it is for a mood chart and meant for people searching for optimism, wanting to feel optimistic.

This is a facinating subject to me and I check in on the this topic now and then. I know I am one of the lucky ones to feel this innately, and benefit from kindnesses given me by parents and friends.

I noticed a blog called “The Spirit Age: Stumbling Mindfully Through the Modern Age” and the writer covers the Dalai Lama’s optimism despite so much suffering for Tibetans in the past 50 years. Read his blog to see an interesting post and the essence of what I was searching for.

Compassion is traveling into your neighborhood

The Dalai Lama’s continuous travel around the world to talk about compassion is amazing. The awareness he has generated permeates so much in our Western world today, and it is growing. This is not specifically about continuting a Tibetan view but more about infusing the generic concepts of Buddhism into everyday culture and practices.

You can follow the Dalai Lama on Facebook. He says this week: “When we wish and seek to help others, our attitude is more positive and relationships become easier. We are less afraid and have less anxiety. Otherwise we remain shy and hesitant, and feel the need to take a thousand precautions before we approach people. When our intentions are good, we have greater self-confidence and are stronger. This is how we learn to understand how precious and valuable kindness is.”

Also note, “It is clear that inner peace is the principal cause of happiness. We can observe this in our daily lives. On days when we are calm and happy, even if difficulties arise or we fall victim to a mishap, we take it well, it doesn’t bother us unduly. But on days when we feel sad or have lost our usual calmness, the least little annoyance will take on enormous proportions and be deeply upsetting to us.”

The Dalai Lama visits: a time for reflection

This coming week is a special one – the Dalai Lama will be in Atlanta at Emory for a few days, and many monks, lamas, and other Buddhist scholars will be here for

Tibetan Buddhist monks create a mandala

a conference. I am looking forward to participating and volunteering with Drepung Loseling Monastery, Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Practice and Culture, where I study Buddhism.

On Sunday, the Dalai Lama will lead “Teaching to the Buddhist Community: The Nature and Practice of Compassion.” His Holiness will explain the nature of compassion and the practices for cultivating it as understood in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition—something to which His Holiness has dedicated his entire life.

The conference descriptions says: Having established itself and laid down roots outside of traditionally Tibetan Buddhist areas through the efforts of many teachers, and particularly His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the time has come for teachers and students of Tibetan Buddhism to consider its future direction, with an eye to ensuring that the tradition continues to grow as a beneficial force for the peace, well-being and happiness of humanity.

Coinciding with the three-day visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Emory University, this conference will bring together the preeminent leaders, teachers, scholars, translators, supporters, and students of Tibetan Buddhism from both traditionally Tibetan Buddhist areas and western countries to engage in substantive discussion about the current state of Tibetan Buddhism in the modern world and how best to move forward collectively.

Following a path: taking the long view

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

I admire Thich Nhat Hanh for his perseverance from a young age in Viet Nam to his current devotion to the path of Buddhism. He says that there may be obstacles to traveling to understanding truth, and don’t think that you will get it down pat anyway.

He has been quoted saying:

“We must not be attached to a view or a doctrine, even a Buddhist one. The Buddha said that if in a certain moment or place you adopt something as the absolute truth, and you attach to that, then you will no longer have any chance to reach the truth. Even when the truth comes and knocks on your door, and asks you to open the door, you won’t recognize it. So you must not be too attached to dogma–to what you believe, and to what you perceive.” [in an interview with Diane Wolkstein featured in Parabola Vol 30 No 4]. More from Wolkstein.

Traveling a Buddhist path can seem like a riddle at times, but the more you settle into the study and listen to those who provide insights the more you start to understand. Learn more abut Thich Nhat Hanh.

When new technology and social media give support

Social media

This story that covers a Decatur, Ga., resident who has ALS, by Marketwatch reporter Anya Martin, is amazing in the simplicity of bringing together new technology and social media. ALS is a tragic disease that eventual disables a person from use of muscles, and the courage and resolve of ALS patients is inspiring. 

Martin writes about how David Jayne is able to communicate with friends via social media and has a “Bluetooth-enabled sensor in his jaw.

Jayne can communicate with friends, family and strangers through email, instant messaging, Facebook, Twitter and blogging, says the story posted on the WSJ web site. The storys says, “Others in the later stages of ALS can type or speak electronically by directing key strokes or cursors with their eyes in what’s called an eye-gaze system. Because even eye muscles eventually may fail, researchers also are experimenting with brain-computer interface devices that translate electrical activity within the skull into dialogue when users concentrate on characters on a monitor.”

The most famous person with an ALS-related disease is Stephen Hawking, the physicist who uses advance technology to help him communicate. Stories of courage and optimism will certainly include Hawking for years to come.

And, check out Hawking’s ideas on time machines on MSNBC – wormhole “tunnels, unfortunately, are far too small for people to pass through — just a billion-trillion-trillionths of a centimeter — but physicists believe it may be possible to catch a wormhole and make it big enough for people, or spaceships, to enter, Hawking writes.”

Learn more about ALS at the ALS Association web site.