A human being is part of a whole, called by us “the universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Albert Einstein
being rather Buddhist, I’d say.
“Maybe Einstein was really a Buddhist at heart.”
I’ve read that genuine buddhists don’t call or consider themselves that, and I think he qualifies. Einstein is one of my heroes, even though his scientific papers are beyond me. (His action figure is watching over me from the top of my monitor. Hi Albert!)
Gianna,
That just made my day! Thank you.
That was deep Andrew. Wise. Bravo!
He also said: “I think the most important question facing humanity is, ‘Is the universe a friendly place’. This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves”
Einstein was a spiritual guy. He knew that there was something more out there AND could see how it was all connected.
It is too bad that more people like him, those that come through with a littlle something extra in the genius department, aren’t able to step back and see like he did.
Gianna,
He also wrote –
“I’m not an atheist and I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many different languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn’t know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God.”
He wrote as much about religion and God as almost anything else it seems….There is something he said (remember reading years ago) about those who live the life of a saint….
I like his quote about “imagination” being “more important than knowledge”….He seemed to see the world through the eyes of a child….I think that’s why he was so fascinated with “God”.
Duane
Maybe Einstein was really a Buddhist at heart.