Albert says….
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
– Albert Einstein
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Einstein was surprisingly very Buddhist in his thinking… or maybe it’s unsurprising because given his genius, he probably had a very good understanding of the mind. I remember another one of his quotes when he said you cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking that you started with. He is always about removing the limitations of our mind to do more for others… exactly like what Rinpoche says all the time about how we can always do more for others, if we just focus outwards.
“He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness” – isn’t the act of stopping this delusion, and seeing ourselves as NOT being separate from the other person, known in Buddhism as developing bodhicitta and compassion? 😉
Albert Einstein by nature is a true champion of compassion, as from what he has expressed in this blog. Compassion is said to be the most magnificient and precious attribute to have in this universe. Geniune compassion is defined to be based on a clear acceptance or recognition that others, like ourselves, want happiness and have the right to overcome sufferings. On this basis, one developes some kind of concern for the welfare of others, irrespective of one’s attitude to oneself. Geniune compassion is healthy,clean and unbiased. If we look at humanity as a whole, the world today has become a smaller place and that we heavily depend on one another. Even in our daily lives, many of the good facilities we used become possible, not because of ourselves, but due to many other people’s direct or indirect involvement to put everything together. In all reality, each continent in this world is heavily dependent on others, otherwise, many of the things that we desire today could not come into being, without the active or indirect participation and co-operation of all concerned. Therefore, the only option left is for the world to live and work harmoniously together as a WHOLE, for the sake of peace,happiness and survivorship.
How aptly described…..how profoundly felt.
How foolishly thought…to this wonderful Truth
What a fool we are! What a fool!
I love the heading to this posting..Albert says. Never thought that it would come from one of the smartest man on earth. I love the way he describes humans as part of the whole universe, that there are other sentient beings, of our attachments and delusions that bind us and the need to overcome it. Beautifully written.
WOW! Buddha’s teaching on bodhicitta and compassion towards all beings 2,500 years ago are scientifically proven and acknowledged by the smartest man on earth. How cool is that!!
We are human beings consisting many components parts in our body. It is up to us to guide them through our mind or consciousness to do the things we want to do. In humans the mind is the
most essential mechanism in our body. When a person is mentally affected the mind goes berserk. And whatever the person does he does not know what he is doing. He can murder and attack people but will not be jailed except to be sent to an asylum for treatment. If our mind opt to choose the virtues path we are lucky not to get into trouble which will bring pain and sufferings. We should tell our mind to choose the virtues path and that is to practice Dharma.