Inhotim and Spinoza
I am flying back from Belo Horizonte today after being in Mexico, Miami, São Paulo, and Argentina in less than a week.
I came to Minas Gerais for the wedding of Felipe Lamounier a dear friend and founder that we have backed via Atman's most recent fund.
I haven't been to Minas Gerais for a few years and took yesterday off to visit Inhotim, the world's largest open-air museum.
Laura and I had a wonderful time there. World-class. Extremely well run and organized.
My favorite installation was Doug Aitken's Sonic Pavilion. They installed a live microphone that goes 200M deep into the land and transmits the sounds and vibrations of Gaia / The Earth to its visitors.
This work of art symbolizes real integration between humans and nature.
It reminded me of Spinoza's concept of Deus Sive Natura, the view that God and nature are interchangeable or that there is no distinction between the creator and the creation.
"The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak." - Benedict de Spinoza: Ethics
We need to adjust what is the true meaning of happiness. Bearing painful moments in life with temperance is crucial. Understand that peace is found within.
An important realization that happened this week: what happens when you go at life with 110% intensity all the time? You will most likely crash and burn.
For the past 2-days, I have been reading excerpts of Shunryu Suzuki's book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It's helping to bring peace and calmness to my heart.
