Leaving Meiji park after yoga
After settling down in Tokyo, I began going the humungous Meiji park to do yoga in the morning before work. While standing on my head and watching people walking off in the distance, I noticed something very odd. The people had an obvious bob in their gate as they walked. Initially I wondered if they were walking that way on purpose for I’d never seen such a sight before. Then I realized I’d never actually watched people walking while doing the headstand.
All it took for me to see our human way of walking as it actually occurs was a 180 degree (upside down) change of perspective. These days it is difficult for me to notice this ‘bob’ in people, when I do yoga down at the beach. The novelty wore off; I guess familiarity breeds blindness.
Continue reading ‘Headstands and Apes’
It seems my mind is always tempted to look toward ‘tomorrow’, whether ‘tomorrow’ is five minutes from now or five week from now. I reckon it is the hunter gather instinct that is driving this, for I see it occurring in everyone I know. We are always jumping out ahead of the moment. Why? Because we can. The mind’s space is larger than most mundane moments can stimulate. It seeks greener pastures, i.e., the hunter gather drive to look for that tasty tidbit the certainly must lie ahead. Continue reading ‘The Future Takes Care Of Itself’
Of the two, students are obviously the most important consideration. After all, teachers can lead students to water, but thirst determines whether students drink. Thirst is the weak link. As chapter 41 puts it, When the best student hears about the way, he practices it assiduously; when the average student hears about the way, it seems to him one moment there and gone the next… and so on.
Never-the-less, cultures place great importance on the teacher, so what makes for a good teacher? Usually the answer centers on how capable the teacher is, and their command of the material. However, after home schooling my kids, I discovered the more important, yet under-recognized, side of teaching lay deeper. Continue reading ‘Teachers and Students’
How about, are you as happy as you could be or would be? Ah yes, would of… could of… should of… This post is somewhat of an extension of my last post, Keeping Birthday Happy. That’s fair enough seeing as how much of life we spend seeking happiness, one way or another
The answer to any of those questions hinges on expectations, i.e., what you think. No wonder chapter 71 says… Continue reading ‘Are You As Happy As You Should Be?’
A magazine's back cover c.1945
Today is my 67th year here on earth. The picture is a magazine’s back cover of me, at a lake in Arizona, in my birthday suit(1). From then until today, fate has been fortunate; I should have bitten the dust quite a few times by now. (I wrote about the first time in the blog Suicide Just Doesn’t Work.) As to my health, wealth and family, I couldn’t ask for more. Indeed, there are so many things to be happy for on this birthday, and every day. Don’t worry though, I’ll find a problem somewhere it that. Hmm, let me see… Continue reading ‘Keeping Birthday Happy’
Proof that idiot savants run things?
First, shouldn’t we ask do idiot savants run things? Certainly not, according to the first definition of idiot savant. However, the second definition is another matter: “a person who is highly knowledgeable about one subject but knows little about anything else”. Of course, “knowledgeable about one subject” and “knows little about anything else” are matters of degree. Even so, someone highly knowledgeable in an area is by definition an expert.
Next, aren’t experts (whatever the field) generally in charge of leading the way in society? Experts in war become generals, experts in politics become presidents, experts in business become CEO’s, experts in religion become preachers and Popes, and so on down the line. So without question, highly knowledgeable experts run things. The question remains, do such people also know little about anything else? Continue reading ‘Why Do Idiot Savants Run Things?’
Trust but verify or become dinner!
In some ways I suppose that being a true believing Christian can hinder fulfilling Christ’s message to the world. Believers (of anything really) rely on their tenets of belief to substantiate the very belief they hold. Approached this way, one has little incentive to challenge one’s own understanding. Rather, the understanding becomes the pillar of proof. There in lies the pitfall.
One’s faith become the proof of one’s faith. Buddha cautioned against this circular blindness by warning folks not to take anything he said on faith. His message was, trust but verify. Continue reading ‘Trust But Verify’
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