Yoda Sutras: Concourse No.1

Series 1

I - 1: In Accord with Tao

Mind is a tangled web.

Use it to catch the world.

Try to comprehend the infinite complexity of it all…

…elegantly embedded in the fabric of space and time.

Open your eyes in amazement.

Be Aware.

See.

Astronomy:

Star System Gliese 229

Gliese 229 Solar System is a solar system made up of a star, Gliese 229, and a brown dwarf, an object that is larger than a planet, but not quite large enough to become a star. The solar system is located 18 light-years from the earth in the constellation Lepus. The star Gliese 229 is about two-thirds as massive as our sun and much cooler. The brown dwarf in this solar system, called Gliese 229 B, was the first brown dwarf to be identified and it is the nearest known brown dwarf to the earth.

Think.

Health: Avian Flu

Learn.

Avian influenza appears to spread from birds to humans through direct, close contact with sick birds or with fecal-contaminated surfaces. As yet there is no confirmed evidence that current avian influenza viruses spread from person to person. Influenza viruses, however, mutate (change) easily. Scientists and public health experts fear that an avian flu strain might strike a person who is already infected with a human variant of influenza. The two variants could swap, or combine, their viral components in the infected person before spreading to other people. The result could be a novel virus strain completely unknown to the human immune system. Such a virus could touch off a global epidemic, or pandemic, of influenza that could kill millions of people.

Imagine.

Understand.

Artificial Intelligence:

Asimov’s Laws

Issac Asimov, widely regarded as the spiritual father of science fiction, outlined three rules that all robots in his future worlds must obey. The most important two were: a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm; and a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. However, robotics in the real world has trouble striking a workable balance between these two requirements. Robots can perform tasks efficiently in controlled environments away from humans, or they can interact with humans if properly equipped with sensors to avoid any harm. But that degree of ‘sensing’ also creates complexity and a lack of robustness to hardware and software failures which, in turn, affects safety. Of course, robots could be safe if they move slowly enough, or work far away enough from humans – but then, their dexterity and effectiveness are dramatically reduced.

Explore.

Investigate.

Experiment.

Human Evolution: Bipedalism

After an extensive study of evolutionary, anatomical and fossil evidence, a team of paleoanthropologists has narrowed down the number of tenable hypotheses to explain the origin of bipedalism and our prehuman ancestors' method of navigating their world before they began walking upright. The hypothesis they found the most support for regarding the origin of bipedalism is the one that argues our ancestors began walking upright largely in response to environmental changes — in particular, to the growing incidence of open spaces and the way that changed the distribution of food. Other hypotheses that remain viable are: "freeing" the hands for carrying or for some kind of tool use, and an increased emphasis on foraging from branches of small fruit trees, which is the context in which modern chimpanzees spend the most time on two legs.

Analyze.

Know.

Study.

Nanotechnology:

DNA Tubes

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a simple process for mass producing molecular tubes of identical — and precisely programmable — circumferences. The technological feat may allow the use of the molecular tubes in a number of nanotechnology applications. The molecular tubes are composed of wound-up strands of DNA. DNA has been considered an ideal construction material for self-assembling molecular structures and devices because two complementary DNA strands can automatically recognize and bind with each other. DNA has been used to form rigid building blocks, known as tiles, and these tiles can further assemble into extended lattice structures, including tubes.

Innovate.

Ponder.

Perceive.

Create.

Geology: Continental Margins

Penetrate.

The continental crust is the layer of granitic, sedimentary and metamorphic rock that forms the continents. This crust is very thick compared to oceanic crust which forms part of the outermost shell of the planet. The transition between the continental and oceanic crusts, however, is very difficult for scientists to identify because it lies far out into sea under thick sediments. The area that separates the continental and oceanic crust is called a rifted continental margin; this forms when continents start to break apart and new oceans are formed in between. Scientists have been investigating where and how these margins are formed to better understand the map of the world and in particular where new oil and gas reserves may be found.

Wonder…

But Beware!

Don't get caught in the mighty maze of your own mind.

_________Transcend._________

Atha Yodanushasanam

Now begins the teaching of Yoda.

Clouded your eyes are, your mirror of consciousness is dusty. Clean it, create more clarity.

Dreams change, but you go on falling into this dream or that dream, and you go on losing yourself in darkness. The question is of awakening, not of changing your dreams.

Mind means you are carrying a priori conclusions; that which is, you are not seeing, that which you want to see you are seeing. Not seeing, you are merely projecting.

It is because of your desires, dreams and your drunkenness with your dreams that you go on missing that which is always available, that which is always confronting you…

That which exists is not known by you, and something else is what is known by you. Something certainly exists, but unknown to the mind it remains. A barrier the mind is.

Watch the traffic of the mind and surprised you will be: not for a single moment a gap there is. And whenever a gap there is, a taste of Tao there is.

If you are not experiencing Tao, in some way or other that simply means you are insane. But because everybody else is also like you, you will not feel it.

The knower known cannot be; reduce it into a known you cannot. Reduced into an object it cannot be. Always the knower it is, the witness.

When one transcends the dual, no doubt left there is. Doubt is the shadow of duality. So when one recognizes one's nature, it is indubitable, unmistakably it is so.

10.

A state of silence is all that is required, of meditative awareness. Then anything can trigger the process, anything trivial can trigger the process. Enlightenment is bound to be sudden.

11.

Understanding means a state of no-mind. That's what meditation is all about. Meditation is the art of putting the mind aside, not allowing it to interfere, not allowing it to stand between you and the real.

12.

Understanding means to be in tune with that which is, to be totally in tune, in accord with Tao, with God, with dhamma, with truth, with the force.

Close your eyes, meditate.

May the force be with you.

My sannyasins don't belong to any religion; they cannot belong. They belong to reality. They belong to the reality that is without and the reality that is within, and they live in a harmony between the without and the within.

- Osho