Mystical Experiences

What do you see when you turn out the light,
I can’t tell you, but I know it’s mine.
with a little help from my friends--lennon/mccartney


have you had a mystical experience? just what is that? here are some descriptions from a book by Paul Davies titled "the mind of god" and subtitled "the scientific basis for a rational world." these descriptions of the mystical experience are all necessarily from others as Davies ends his book by saying that he has never had a mystical experience.

"sometimes the mystical path seems to involve little more than an inner sense of peace---'a compassionate, joyful, stillness that lies beyond the activity of busy minds' was the way a physicist colleague once described it to me. Einstein spoke of a 'cosmic religious feeling' that inspired his reflections on the order and harmony of nature.'

"in other cases mystical experiences seem to be more direct and revelatory. Russell Stannard writes of the impression of facing an overpowering force of some kind, 'of a nature to command respect and awe....there is a sense of urgency about it; the power is volcanic, pent up, ready to be released.' science writer David Peat describes 'a remarkable feeling of intensity that seems to flood the whole world around us with meaning....we sense that we are touching something universal and perhaps eternal, so that the particular moment in time takes on a numinous character and seems to expand in time without limit. we sense that all boundaries between ourselves and the outer world vanish, for what we are experiencing lies far beyond all categories and all attempts to be captured in logical thought.'

"the language used to describe the experiences usually reflects the culture of the individual concerned. western mystics tend to emphasize the personal quality of the presence, often describing themselves as being with someone, usually god, who is different than themselves but with whom a deep bond is felt. there is, of course, a long tradition of such religious experiences in the christian church and among other western religions. eastern mystics emphasize the wholeness of existence and tend to identify themselves more closely with the presence."

without claiming wisdom, i can say that those descriptions work for me, and that despite my western upbringing my own experiences were of the eastern type. i felt myself to be a mere drop in the ocean of oneness, but definitely a part of it and not apart from it. the trace of those experiences that remains is a sense of connectedness with everything but most strongly with the natural world. thus it is rational for me to seek a universalist ethic and do my best to live up to it.

dread pirate roberts

Check Out Tangled Bank

In a fit of unrestrained enthusiasm I sent links to two of my posts to Tangled Banks, an online magazine devoted to science. They were both accepted for the latest issue! Tangled Bank is being hosted this week at Living the Scientific Life, so please go and check it out.

Our Life With Birds

Since we have retired our life has been filled with birds. On our way into town this morning, a bald eagle flew directly over our car, its head was brilliantly white in the sunlight. We watched it fly toward a tree, and could see its powerful legs extend from its body as it prepared to land. A beautiful sight. We also found this op ed piece by Froma Harrop in today's Seattle Times:

"Live from Gibbon, Neb., and I mean live. Some heavenly gong that only birds can hear has sounded, and thousands of sandhill cranes are taking off from the Platte River. Anyone on the Internet can see this amazing migration in real time, thanks to National Geographic's "crane cam" (nationalgeographic.com). You have till April 17."

If you like to watch cranes, absolutely take a look.

And a friend sent this link to a site in San Francisco where a camera has been set up to record peregrine falcons.

We're thinking we should invest in a really good pair of binoculars. Anyone have any suggestions? And, has anyone tried the binoculars that have digital cameras built in?

Deer Fencing

This spring is our first planting season in Washington. We put up fencing in anticipation of the deer problems we know will have. Some friends told us about adding irregularly spaced and sized extensions to the fence as a real deterrence. We started on one side of the yard, but haven't completed the project. This morning we had our first deer encounter of the spring. So far so good.

Friday Food Blogging

dinner


The bums are having friends over for dinner. the menu:

Salad from our friend Jane.

Aloo Matar (from Madhur Jaffrey's vegetarian cookbook)

Saffron Rice (from RD's mind)

Green Thai style Curried Tofu (the pirate's recipe, using the usual suspects)

i am just finishing a book by Paul Davies called "The Mind of God" wherein he says about mystical experiences that ".....western mystics tend to emphasize the personal quality of the experience, often describing themselves as being with someone, usually god......"
"Eastern mystics emphasize the wholeness of existence and tend to identify themselves more closely with the presence."

the recipes:

Aloo Matar

1 lb potatoes
3 tblsps peanut oil
3/4 tsp whole cumin seed
1/8 tsp whole fenugreek seeds
3/4 cup peeled and chopped ripe tomatoes
2 tsps ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 cup frozen peas
salt to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne

boil potatoes till done, drain, break by hand into 3/4" pieces

heat the oil, put in whole seeds, ten seconds later add tomatoes, coriander, cumin,turmeric, and garam masala. cook till water is gone. add the rest. simmer for 20 minutes. tastes much better if allowed to sit for a while and reheated. even better tomorrow.

Saffron Rice with Raisins and sliced Almonds

quite easy as we have an electric rice cooker.
pinch cumin seed
saffron threads
pinch cinnamon
pinch cayenne
pinch suger
put in the rice and water
turn on the cooker
at the end of cooking add raisins and almonds


Green Thai style Curry Sauce with Tofu

put one unopened can of coconut milk in hot water

1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
1 packed cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 large peeled garlic cloves
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
put this stuff in a food processor and pulverize it.


3 tbsps olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 sliced red or yellow bell pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/2 tsp hot sesame oil
saute this stuff till it begins to stick, deglaze with dry vermouth

add a bit of water

put some coconut milk in a small bowl, add 1/8 tsp THAI brand red or green curry paste (this stuff is hot)and mix together. add to pan. put a bit more coconut milk in the bowl and set aside for heat adjustment later.

put the rest of the coconut milk in the pan

after it cooks for a while taste it. more salt? if it is hot enough just add the set aside coconut milk. if it wants to be hotter add a bit more curry paste to the cocnut milk, blend and add to pan.

cut a small package of tofu into smallish cubes and saute in a frypan or wok in peanut oil till golden brown. add to curry sauce. serve over rice.

Bon Apetit

War and Peace

We live in one of the most peaceful looking places in the country. The expanses of water, the mountains in the distance invoke a feeling of serenity. This photo was taken about a mile from our house, looking at Indian Island Naval Magazine, where war ships come to load supplies (ordnance, ammunition). On our way into town the other day, where the road rises to a hilltop and Puget Sound comes into view, we saw a nuclear submarine making its way to Subase Bangor. It was the first time we had seen such a thing in these waters, but know that trident subs move about fairly often. The military is the largest single employer in the state of Washington. Oh, that's Mount Baker in the background. Sure is pretty, isn't it?

Accidental Time Capsules

I love Lucy. It's true. I am smitten. I have been ever since Lucy's bones were discovered in Afar Ethiopia in 1974, and she flashed onto the evolutionary scene a namesake of John Lennon's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Little Australopithecus Afarensis, such a tiny thing. Oh, but her presence, walking upright and therefore profound. I don't know how the whole "bones of contention" controversies will ultimately work out-- whether we walked out of Africa two million years ago, and populated the planet, or if we are truly descended from one "eve" of 200,000 years ago whose contemporaries supplanted all other proto-humans on the planet, based on evidence in our mitochondrial dna.

I still love Lucy. I love the fact of her. I love these footprints in the volcanic ash. What else could they leave behind 3.5 million years ago? Only their bones wedded to stone, their teeth still anchored securely in their ancient jaws. What more could they have done? They left us accidental time capsules, as surely as we leave rock 'n roll records and newspapers. We were here, they say, we were here.

I Love Lucy: A televsion show from the 50s, and a strange electromagnetic calling card we are sending out into the universe. As a planetary civilization, we have been emitting television signals for just over 50 years, radio signals for less than 100 years. So the electromagnetic "signs" of our civilization (the only kind that will travel so far and so fast) have gone outwards into the Milky Way only 100 light-years or so at most, just 1% of the total area of the Milky Way. And it's really only since after World War II that we've been sending out signals in a huge volume, using much of the electromagnetic spectrum, so that random searching of that spectrum would very likely "find" a message on it. Thus only approximately 1% of the Milky Way can "hear" us so far, assuming anyone is listening. We haven't even begun to have our electromagnetic signs reach any other part of the universe, such as the Andromeda galaxy. But we will. And what will we be transmitting besides sitcoms, talks show, and reruns of old movies? Well, there's always our pictures of Shock and Awe, Alberto Gonzales testifying before congress, and all the other mayhem our species can muster.

We are leaving our calling card as surely as our ancestors left their bones. Hello, hello. Lucy is calling.