Albert Einstein

I thought all of Einstein’s passages were really enlightening. In his first passage he said, “[He] who can no longer wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.” Socrates said “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Both say something similar, if not the same thing. If you can no longer take the time to stop in wonder and appreciate the world around you, why are you living? What is the purpose? To live like a drone with no emotion? Slow down, give in to your curiosity and run with it for a while. Most people find they are pleasantly surprised when they do.

Einstein also said a few things that really reminded me of Buddhism. First he said, “The true nature of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.” And secondly, he talked about how “Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living beings and all of nature.” Amen! It sounded like something right out of our Buddhism lecture. It also made me think of how interesting it was the he referred to the illusion of consciousness as a prison and suggested we needed to be free of it. Why would we need to be free of our illusory consciousness? It is what we live through every day and often don’t know how to live any other way. His answer is to embrace everything and anything with compassion. How simple. Get over yourself, your drama, your problems, your desire, your life and simply love and be loved. It sounds pretty Utopian, I suppose, and reminds me of the question “Can’t we all just get along?” But it is so necessary. Really, just have an open mind and don’t judge others – accept them, help them, love them and appreciate it all.