Fall 2013 Shamatha And The Bodhisattva Way Of Life

Silent meditation session and then a continuation of yesterday's theme related to the 'power of prayer'. "We don't believe in anything without sufficient evidence". That's the creed of scientists and so called skeptics alike, but in practice they don't follow it. Newton believed he could find the philosopher's stone, Miller believed he could create life from inorganic compounds and neuroscientists believe that the mind is the brain. What is merely belief is presented as evidence with great authority. But what is evidence? Look closely at the groups that claim to hold evidence as their guiding principal and what is seen is a definition which completely rejects the experience of those outside the narrow trench of power, prestige and wealth they continue to occupy and deepen. It is to say, you as a non-scientist don't count and we will tell you what counts. A complete disregard for subjective experience. We see this in philosophers, religious scholars, psychologists, astronomers, neuroscientists, these people ar