Yogacara

Mental Blind Spots

The Mind  |  The University   |   Franklyn Wu  |   July 19, 2012, 2:03 pm

Daniel Kahnemann is a Noble laureate in economics and a psychologist at Princeton University. Dr. Kahnemann, in collaboration with others, is a major force in turning the discipline of psychology into the realm of science. In this discipline, the underlying, fuzzy-at-the-edges postulate by the pioneers of western psychology remains fairly intact: human beings are primarily [...]

The Repository of Unlived Things

The Monastery  |  The University   |   James Roberts  |   September 1, 2011, 7:00 am

I’ve been wondering to myself, what does the name Earth Store mean? Earth Store (Chinese: 地藏 Dìzàng) session started on Sunday, and just like in other retreats, we will be spending a good deal of time reciting Earth Store Bodhisattva’s name. Partly because of this, and partly due to my own curiosity, I’ve been wondering [...]

The Whole Picture

The Mind   |   Franklyn Wu  |   July 3, 2011, 8:12 pm

“If people wish to fully understand All Buddhas of the three periods of time, They should contemplate the nature of the dharma realm: Everything is made from mind alone.” — Avatamsaka Sutra My understanding of the above verse has evolved since I first read it as a teenager. I no longer read it as mainly [...]

Alzheimer’s on the Mind

The Mind  |  The Tribe   |   Franklyn Wu  |   April 17, 2011, 5:58 pm

In his Discourse on Method (1637), René Descartes famously penned “Je pense donc je suis” (I think therefore I am), which became one of the bedrocks of modern Western philosophy. We are possessive of our thoughts (i.e. intellectual property). We strongly identify with, and generally assume, not only the supremacy, but also the primacy of [...]

Apple and the Unconscious

The Mind  |  The Scene  |  The Tribe   |   Franklyn Wu  |   March 15, 2011, 4:30 pm

On an early January visit to my sister in New York City, my family and I played tourists and walked around Manhattan, soaking up the city. We ambled up Fifth Avenue, passing by Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and scores of flagship stores of companies such as Fendi, Cartier, Gucci, and Giorgio Armani. On this [...]