Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Contact page revised and blog comments reactivated

    The contact page now encourages readers to write emails to Michael rather than complete a form. Michael apologizes to readers who may have attempted to contact him via the website contact page. Blog post comments are now active again. During the last few months of 2020, this website’s blog posts attracted over 5000 spam comments.…

  • Puma Fredy Quispe Singona – Be in love

    Medicine man, Puma Fredy Quispe Singona broadcast live on Facebook for the first time on 24 March 2020. His main message is to avoid fear which is a low vibration. Love is a high vibration. So cultivate love! BE IN LOVE. If you are not in love with someone, love yourself. If you don’t love…

  • New Website – kalyaano.com

    Old blog In 2008, I launched the blog “Dhamma Experience” on Google’s blogspot.com which later became blogger.com. I intended to blog changes in my life after leaving Canberra, Australia where I had worked as a public policy analyst for the Australian government. I posted actively until 2011 and then about 2 posts per year until…

  • Right Livelihood

    Buddhist literature doesn’t say much about right livelihood compared with other factors of the path to liberation. Right livelihood is the third factor of the Eightfold Noble Path (8FNP) having an ethical character. The other two ethical factors come before it in sequence so any livelihood that is not in conformity with the first two…

  • What did Buddha think about gods?

    I post here an edited version of a my response to a question on Quora. That was my first and possibly my last time on Quora. I was browsing the site and found this question “What did the Buddha think about gods?” and read may incorrect and misleading answers by other readers. My response is…

  • Update from Ireland

    Dear readers, I apologize for not posting articles for so long. I am in Ireland right now. When I settle early in 2017, I hope to post more regularly. This year I traveled in New Zealand, Peru, USA, UK and Ireland. I like Ireland very much. I mostly stayed in County Cork. Here are a…

  • Gotama Buddha was not vegetarian

    Many people believe that Buddhists are vegetarian by default. This belief may stem from the notion that Buddhists do not support killing living beings including humans, animals, fish, birds or insects. While the five precepts for lay Buddhists encourage lay followers to refrain from taking life, there is no prohibition for eating flesh or fish. The…

  • Family and friends, philosophical materialism, equanimity and other divine abidings

    I have observed that on meeting family and friends after many months or years overseas can be a “culture shock” for both myself and them. After a few months of being together, we familiarise ourselves with each other and to some extent accept that we have different values and life styles. There is no need for…

  • Four Kinds of Persons Adorn the Saṅgha

    Here is a discourse from the Anguttara Nikaya (translated by Bhante Bhikkhu Bodhi) that explains how the word “Saṅgha” refers to more than just the community of monks.AN 4.7 They Adorn “Bhikkhus, these four kinds of persons who are competent, disciplined, self-confident, learned, experts on the Dhamma, practicing  in accordance with the Dhamma, adorn the…

  • Book Review of The Kosambi Intrigue

    the kosambi intrigue by Susan Carol StoneMy rating: 3 of 5 stars The Kosambi Intrigue is a rare historical fiction set during the lifetime of the Blessed One Gotama Buddha about 2500 years ago in India. The novel is set during the early period of the Blessed One’s 55 year teaching career and uses the…

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