Do You Know Blaise Pascal???
Well, I thought I knew Blaise Pascal, you know the mathemetician, the child prodigy, one who furthered the mechanical calculator as a result of his contributions and we honor his works by naming a computer programming language after him.
But did you know he had a "mystical" experience, an epiphany if you will, and as a result in 1654 he abandoned his scientific work and devoted his life to philosophy and theology.
Now, the question is how did I run into this part of Pascal's life. Simple, I was reading a meditation book and in the first three pages the following quote was displayed.
I have discovered that all human evil comes from this, man's being unable to sit still in a room.
Blaise Pascal
As I researched this quote I realized Blaise Pascal was much more than a mathametician. He was overtaken by his quest for spirit. How deep must you go in your life to see this type of change. Is it true, as the atheist say, the closer We get to the end of our life the more you beleive in a God? Out of fear no less... Or is it rather a maturity, a spiritual maturity that we finally grow into as a result of our life's span? Though Plato ponders and concludes from the very core of humanity we should seek our balance in our personal Physical, Mind and Spirit....
I choose the latter thought and become amazed, further, at the above brilliance of Blaise Pascal. We must learn to still our minds in order to hear our higher self. With all the stimuli from phones, PDA's, computers, email, IM's etc throughout our day its very hard to shutdown the Beta waves (conscious) and allow the Alpha waves (idle) to drive our rest.
The automation of our lives is curious to me as it does provide us with some wonderful freedoms however, it keeps the noise of life in our focus so much its rather difficult to rest and seek clarity through peace. Be hear now...as it were...be still...
Nonetheless, Blaise seemed to have a good handle on these issues, review some of his quotes Blaise Pascal
He is an interesting fellow, beyond the math and science he is well known for in our world.