Significance . . .

In Thor’s mailbox this sixth day in 2023 April . . .

Today is the 92nd anniversary of Ram Dass' birth. He was born Richard Alpert on this day in 1931 Boston. Ram Dass was a psychologist, writer, and spiritual teacher. His best-selling 1971 book Be Here Now, helped popularize Eastern spirituality and yoga in the West. I met him twice in Colorado “back in the day.” Suffice it: he changed me in profound ways beyond detailing here, for which I continue to be deeply grateful, not the least of which became the underlying motive for this website/blog.

Earlier this week, I referred to “getting out of your head.” Below are some notes regarding some science around that suggestion.

Twenty years of hard data research into Stress Management: Mindfulness Protects Attention Against Distractions by Dr. Amishi Jha, a neuroscientist and associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami.

Re: Dr. Jha's reference to Jack Kornfield Re: Mindfulness training (free),

[W]hat do members of a society owe to one another? How we answer this question determines what safety nets societies provide for their members, and so helps to shape the structure of the society at large. It is crucial, then, that we formulate a method in which to figure out What, at a minimum, do we owe to others. The way to do that is simple: we should consider whether we would be content to live the lives that the least fortunate in our society actually live. – Nicole Hassoun

What I Didn't Say

I didn’t say that once you were gone I would stop

suffering in the old way and start suffering in the new way.

And I didn’t say that living in the crater of your death would be my burden

and that sleeping in your bed would be my solace

and that you would die again every morning the moment I woke up.

. . .

But I did say that I would take care of your cats

And then I did

– by Beverly Hartz, What I Didn't Say, The Sun Magazine, May 2022.