I wish that I could ask you[I] (not for an answer, just for the telling of the story): I split the world in half and put it back together, I saw the stars appear for the first time in the sky, and possibilities flicker in and out between seconds, minutes and days; grey fog becoming incandescent flowers, bodies dancing around me like clockwork dolls singing the hour. I saw everything I wanted I...
Editorial notes: As noted in Shmoop, the title of this post is made in reference to a “line spoken by Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, in The Matrix, directed by Lilly and Lana Wachowski (1999). As part of his training as The One, Neo must learn all kinds of martial arts to fight the Agents, who work for the machines and keep the computer simulation known as the Matrix running. But instead of...
[Editor’s Notes: Nice of me to finally put some of these thoughts into writing, but shame I didn’t care for any further development. Recommendation: Be inspired, and then start the project which here is alluded (esoteric complexity irregardless [sic])] Molecular biology and Talmudic study have long been associated in my mind. But I have never thought of anything more specific than the most...
Editorial notes: In October 2016, Shai opens his eighth blog, entitled “A Bashful Hope“ and sub-title “Dreaming of meaning”. Between October 2016 and December 2016 he posts 13 articles in this blog. This blog is clearly a work-in-progress and its menu structure suggests that Shai planned to incorporate articles across the vast areas of Kabbalah, Torah commentary and Zionism. I can only speculate...
I am small and the world is great and beyond my comprehension right now. This at least I can say without doubt. But here is a dream. Once there was a fish in a fishbowl. There were pebbles on the ground, water all around, a toy castle, and a filtration system of some sort. Every so while food would fall from above the water, from where there was no water, a place of nothingness except pain of...
Editorial notes: This post was found in ‘Draft’ mode in the original blog and may be incomplete. It is published here in its original state. It was last updated on 13/09/2016 A rabbi who was kind to me and who gave me hope before I could understand it, told me that we travel in circles, forever repeating our lessons with opportunities to rise ever higher. I reflect on my biography but...
Editorial notes: This untitled post was found in ‘Draft’ mode in the original blog and may be incomplete. It is published here in its original state. It was last updated on 13/09/2016 Like a captain far from any familiar shore, gifted with a map without which he could only be utterly lost, yet dreading the fear that his past mistakes can only repeat so that he will lose even the ken...
The Buddha called sickness, ageing and death, the divine messengers. The Buddha called death the supreme teacher, containing all teachers just the elephant’s footprint can contain all others. I know that I will become sick, that I will age, and that I will die. I know these things but rarely am I aware of them. I begin with an intention to be aware of that death. I spark my mind with...
The Pali cannon (MN 36) tells the story of the Buddha’s enlightenment. Before his liberation, the to-be Buddha tortured himself by emaciating himself and restricting his breathing, in his search for ultimate liberation. Past masters had failed him in his ultimate quest, and so he strived to find his own way. But when these efforts bore him to fruits, he considered that not all that is...
Emotions are a central concept in Western psychology and its language for introspection. The definition of “emotion” is nebulous, incorporating and alluding to a range of phenomenon, and yet it is an extremely powerful category for defining and referring to the human experience. Buddhism has a deeply and long developed model for describing, identifying, and deconstructing mental...
