Dr. Surendra Soni

If we were to paint a portrait of our 'self' as Montaigne, the great French philosopher and essayist, sets out to do in his essay, "Of repentance"most of our description would match with that of the author: "I cannot keep my subject still. It goes along befuddled and staggering, with a natural drunkenness. I take it in this condition, just as it is at the moment I give my attention to it. I do not portray being: I portray passing...

"Suzuki Roshi, I've been listening to your lectures for years," a student said during the question and answer time following a lecture, "but I just don't understand. Could you just please put it in a nutshell? Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?" "Everything changes," he said. Then he asked for another question. The essential message is that life and all other things are impermanent. And therefore it's not about letting go, it's really about not grasping or getting attached in the first place.

Optimism has been considered on the one hand as a "delusional, starry-eyed" attitude and on the other as "rather the simple, clear, energetic belief in the potential success of an idea". It has also been considered in its version as tough minded optimism but not yet as well-grounded optimism when it can function as a creative source and strategy for innovation.