I recently became interested in the whole meaning of life thing. I will admit, I was a little depressed at the time, a little tired, a trifle ennui and full of it, in need of some diversion and entertainment, so I made the time and I started to read. You see, I had decided the answer to my stagnation lay out there somewhere. As an academic, the first place we are taught to look is in our books. Someone must have written about it, right? Someone must have thought my thoughts. Someone must have. Someone had the answer. It was printed somewhere, in black and white. And so I started to read and I never stopped. I became addicted. I loved every second of it. I read and read. The classics. The great writers. The acclaimed writers of today. The not-so-acclaimed writers. I read what they all had to say because I seem to know so little. I wanted their different perspectives on life to have some measure of my own. I read because I knew less with every book. I had more questions. I was more curious and more curious. The problem was that nothing seemed concrete. No one seemed to know anything really. It was not black and white. I wish there was a simple answer. When you begin to think its hard to stop. Stop.
I recently started reading The Upanishads. Motivated both by curiosity, and the shame of knowing so little of my own culture, I began. Though I began as a skeptic, I soon discovered that they were remarkably beautiful. Maybe they are a little impractical at times, but they are wonderfully comforting and thought provoking. Who would have thunk it? :-) I think they made me wiser. A little wiser. I guess it's not too hard to become wiser if you are starting off at the low end of the wisdom scale. :-) I thought I would show off my new found "wisdom" by giving you an appropriately self-revealing quote:
"...Ignorant of their ignorance, yet wise
Anyway, if you are now tired of my "wisdom" and have managed to read this far, here are some links and my very own and very old video!....
Some pics... Updated!
My Resume! (Updated August, 2005!)
Some papers I have written.
Ok, that's it for now.
If you wish to tell me what a wonderful person I am, and how much you love this page,
you may contact me at the following address...
In their own esteem, these deluded men
Proud of their vain learning go round and round
Like the blind led by the blind."
The Mundaka Upanishad
