Friday 26 February 2016

A Beginner Meditator's Reflections




Homo sapiens are but one recent life-form on a mediocre planet in a universe comprising hundreds of billions more impressive ones. Genetically, we overlap banana by about 50%. Nevertheless, probably through some short-term evolutionary mishaps, modern humans manage to disregard these humbling facts with baffling self-confidence. Our contemporaries have no qualms about dismissing “reality” if it transcends their five dull senses. That’s partly why meditation — a human discovery which has been tested for a few thousand years — are commonly viewed with suspicion, even derision, by present-day urbanites. Fortunately, many “amazing” claims of meditation have been verified by inquisitive remnants of our species. Google for researches on the subject by any reputable institution (try Harvard, for example), and you might be surprised by the amount of investigations done in the past few decades.

Naturally, most meditation guides and insights are from accomplished masters. However, the experience of a beginner may prove comforting, if not necessarily helpful, to someone who’s curious about the basics such as what to do during meditation and how to deal with mental noises. I don’t have the answers, of course, but do have conjectures based on a few months of daily practice. I hope they are worth sharing.

初學靜坐筆記


大部分有關靜坐的論述和指導文章,都出自高人手筆。對一個有興趣卻未開始的人來說,另一個初學者的經驗和 「心得」 可能有更貼身的啓發作用。初學靜坐的人,有兩個最通常的問題。其一是:「打坐時做什麼?」 其二是:「念頭不斷,如何處置?」 這些問題看似簡單,其實很深。我雖然沒有答案,但短短十個月的靜坐經驗,給了我某些大家可能覺得有趣的妄想,便儘管寫出來分享一下吧。
不少摩登 「智人」 都忘記了我們不過是宇宙數以千億星球其中一顆小行星的表皮寄生新物種,身上的遺傳因子有一半與香蕉相同,客觀說絕不出色。但任何咱們遲鈍六根覺得難以掌握的現象,他們都會毫不猶疑地斷定不應該!不可能!心理作用云云。幸而科研人員的努力,某程度上打擊了21世紀智人的巨大自信。這在量子物理的領域最為明顯。鮮為人知的是,經過幾千年考驗,卻被現代人懷疑的 「靜坐」,這幾十年來亦被科研 「平反」。頂級的中西學府如哈佛之類,都做了大量工作。有興趣不妨花幾分鐘搜狐或Google一下。

Thursday 4 February 2016

Hong Kong & Taiwan's "Brain Drain"


The following SCMP article doesn’t surprise me (http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1300687/more-residents-leave-hong-kong-experts-worry-about-brain).  I think a severe “brain drain” has been going on for some time, as evidenced by the high proportion of intellectual dross in the community. 

Historically, HK’s talent outflow was predominantly westward. Now it’s north and west. Both Taiwan and HK suffer a silent leakage of useful people. Silent because the more serious the depletion, the less we hear about it. The mainstream media don’t like the story, and the alternative voices are gone. Two million Taiwanese live in mainland China. Serious enough? Hush hush.

港臺 ”腦外洩“




友人傳來南華早報有關香港人才外流的文章(http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-education/article/1300687/more-residents-leave-hong-kong-experts-worry-about-brain)雖無新意,卻頗有警示作用。

其實香港的人才外流,英文的所謂 「腦外洩」,已經流了一段時間。稍為留意今天社會上腦渣滓的不尋常比例,便可一瞥端倪。香港過往的腦外洩都往西去,後期回流的也不少。二十一世紀的流向比較多樣,有北有西,有喜有悲。台灣跟香港都有嚴重的腦外洩問題,但聲音不多。傳媒不報道,大家便聽不到。而外洩越嚴重,警號聲便越微弱,因為會發警號的人都跑了。兩百萬台灣人搬了回大陸生活工作,夠嚴重吧!還是別提了。不提便沒有問題啦!台灣是塊民主福地,有美國認同,請大家鼓掌!