16 April 2005

Just as love for one individual which excludes the love for others is not love but infatuation, so the love of one's country which is separate from any love for humanity is not patriotism but chauvinism, and love of one god that scorns the religions of others is a treacherous idolatry.

paraphrased from Erich Fromm

15 April 2005

"New organs of perception come into being as a result of necessity.
Therefore, O Man, increase your necessity so that you may increase your perception."

- Jallaludin Rumi

14 April 2005

To Earthward
by Robert Frost

Love at the lips was touch
As sweet as I could bear;
And once that seemed too much;
I lived on air

That crossed me from sweet things, 
The flow of - was it musk
From hidden grapevine springs
Down hill at dusk?

I had the swirl and ache
From sprays of honeysuckle
That when they're gathered shake
Dew on the knuckle.

I craved strong sweets, but those 
Seemed strong when I was young;
The petal of the rose
It was that stung.

Now no joy but lacks salt
That is not dashed with pain
And weariness and fault;
I crave the stain

Of tears, the aftermark
Of almost too much love,
The sweet of bitter bark
And burning clove.

When stiff and sore and scarred
I take away my hand 
From leaning on it hard
In grass and sand,

The hurt is not enough:
I long for weight and strength
To feel the earth as rough
To all my length.

13 April 2005

If we were not so single-minded about keeping our lives moving, and for once could do nothing, perhaps a huge silence might interrupt this sadness of never understanding ourselves and of threatening ourselves with death.

- Pablo Neruda, from "Keeping Quiet"

12 April 2005

Einstein created the Special Theory of Relativity 100 years ago this Spring. Even as he did so, he knew that the theory of gravity must be forever changed, and this sowed in his mind the seeds of General Relativity, (though it would require an additional 10 years to fully develop the math for GR).

Here’s where his premonition about GR came from:  All mass creates gravity. But gravity is a form of energy, and energy is just another way of looking at mass. This is the famous formula E=mc².

So in addition to its own gravity, every mass creates a secondary gravity that comes from the mass of its gravitational energy. Of course, there’s that c² in the equation, and dividing by a big number makes the secondary gravity very tiny compared to the primary gravity. And gravitational energy is quite small to begin with. But what if a mass were so crammed together that its gravitational energy was just as big as its own mass? Then we’d have an object with super-gravity. The mass would create gravitational energy which is more mass that would create more energy which is even more mass, with each iteration strengthening more and more. 

It wasn’t until 60 years later that such objects were actually discovered in astronomy, and John Archibald Wheeler christened them Black Holes.

11 April 2005

From the Hopi Elders

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel that they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of the river, keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.

See who is there with you and celebrate.
At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves!
The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather ourselves! 

Banish the notion of ‘struggle’ from our attitudes.  All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner, and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

-Oraibi, AZ, Hopi Nation