- StumbleUpon A Bite of Buddhism The four sublime mental states are qualities of mind that we cultivate in order to alleviate the suffering we experience in everyday life and to feel more connected to others—and the worries and fears we all share. In the language of the Buddha (Pali), they are called the brahma viharas , which means "the dwelling place of awakened beings." The good news for us unawakened beings is that it's easy to begin cultivating the brahma viharas . Indeed, they are an integral part of other religious, spiritual, and humanistic traditions. Metta . I like to think of metta as the simple act of well-wishing. Sylvia once said that she practices metta by just looking at a person and silently saying, "I love you." Karuna . The Vietnamese Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh, helped me learn to cultivate compassion for myself. Mudita . Just as metta is an antidote for our judgmental tendencies, mudita is the perfect antidote for envy. Upekkha .
PencilWise PENCILWISE - Equation Analysis Test Take this "test" as your personal challenge. This test does not measure your intelligence, your fluency with words, and certainly not your mathematical ability. It will, however, give you some gauge of your mental flexibility and creativity. Few people can solve more than half of the questions on the first try. Many people who took this test previously reported getting answers long after the test was over - particularly at unexpected moments when their minds were relaxed; and some reported solving all the questions over a period of several days. The origins of this test are somewhat unclear. Instructions: Each question below contains the initials of words that will make it correct. 26 = L. of the A. would be Letters of the alphabet. Type your answer in the answer column.
Is hell exothermic? I do not know who originally wrote this but it is a classic. A thermodynamics professor had written a take home exam for his graduate students. It had one question: "Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)? Support your answer with a proof." Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: "First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. 1. So which is it? This student got the only A. Back