The Path Ministry

  Topic: Zen Scroll From a Zen Scroll: 'There is really nothing you must be. And there is nothing you must do. There is really nothing you must have. And there is nothing you must know. There is really nothing you must become. However. It helps to understand that fire burns, and when it rains, the earth gets wet. While you are encouraged to meditate upon this set of statements and reach your own conclusions, there are a couple of ways that I choose to interpret them. First, I read it as an admonition that there are always consequences to our actions. I also see it as a reminder that there are certain constants in the Universe that apply to everyone, whoever and wherever they are. We don’t have to be kind, or mindful, or benevolent, but whatever we do, there are consequences. If you surround yourself with negative energy and negative people, and you reflect or add to that energy, you will be miserable. Worse, you will make others miserable just from being aro...

  Topic: Tribalism and the Dunbar Number Today we’re going to be talking a little bit about neuroscience, human nature in general, and archaeology. More specifically, we’re going to be talking about Robin Dunbar, and the Dunbar Number, and what it means for humanity. Robin Dunbar (b. June 28, 1947) is a British anthropologist and an evolutionary psychologist. In 1992, he proposed a theory that the human brain has limits on the number of social relationships we can maintain at one time. Dunbar’s Number is actually a series of numbers that can be expressed as a set of concentric circles, each representing a level of social intimacy and indicating how many people we have room for at that level. For meaningful contacts, that number can range from one hundred to two hundred fifty people, with extroverts generally maintaining a larger, looser group of friends, and introverts having a smaller circle of close friends. In order for all the members of a community to know and trust one an...