On Philosophy

Forbes article on Selling your philosophy degree. Excerpt:

“You come equipped with a great set of mental muscles,” Byrne said.

“You come equipped with the ability to learn in new and unfamiliar areas. Typically, you come with the ability to express yourself well, to write well and to think deeply about problems and to sort of get outside the box of where everybody else is.”

On Meditation

The first few links are reports of the same study.

Kindness can be learnt through meditation. Excerpt:

Kindness can be learnt in the same way as playing a musical instrument, scientists claimed yesterday.

A new study involving Tibetan monks shows that studying meditation, even for a short time, can help people become more compassionate.

Researchers found that when people meditated, responses in the part of their brains which processed other’s emotions became stronger.

Study: Meditation can lead to greater compassion

Neuroscience may explain the Dalai Lama. Excerpt:

“Meditation may increase a person’s ability to feel empathy and benevolence for others, according to a study published March 26 in the journal PLoS ONE.

Scientists asked subjects — both expert meditators and novices — to practice compassion meditation while inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine (MRI). The participants heard sounds designed to provoke an empathetic response, such as a distressed woman calling out, as well as positive sounds (a baby laughing) and neutral sounds (background noise at a restaurant).

... When subjects heard the sounds, both groups experienced more brain activity in areas associated with empathy and emotions while meditating than while not meditating. The distressed sounds elicited stronger empathetic responses than the positive and neutral noises, and the brain activity in these regions was much stronger in the seasoned meditators. “

A praying dog. Dog apes master who is a Buddhist monk, who is now trying to teach the dog how to meditate.

Negative emotions as paths to purification. I like the author’s Rumi quote (I’ve quote Rumi here before too!):

THE GUEST HOUSE

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.