I happened to see this article, Fighting willpower’s catch-22, on the Web edition of Science News. It reports on how resisting desires makes ensuing ones more tempting. I certainly have experienced this true, although it took me decades to understand and put into practice. Still, like maintaining balance, it is always a moment-to-moment understanding and practice.
Why did it take so long? After all, the Tao Te Ching presses home the view that contending with yourself (or others) is just shooting yourself in the foot. This is probably a good example of how one can only truly understand what one already knows. Alas, throughout life we can only wait for that ‘already knows‘ to come about. Continue reading ‘Resistance is Futile’
I just love how science is chipping away at human uniqueness. This time it is this Science New’s report, He’s no rat, he’s my brother. This bit of research speaks for itself, so I won’t bore you or myself with reiterating the obvious.
Of course, I can’t leave without saying how confounding it is that humanity is so driven to elevate itself as the “superior species” capable of love, empathy, awareness, spirituality (whatever that is), and ___( you name it)___. We are certainly different in many ways from other species, but only superficially….not fundamentally. Continue reading ‘A Brother is a Brother’
As a child, I recall marveling at how everything seemed to work so well. The logistics blew my mind—even though I didn’t know that was the word for it. I also worried how the powers-that-be dealt with all the sewage and garbage my hometown produced.
I am still awed that ‘it’ works, although I now know that Nature’s ‘logistics’ is in command. Even so, it also turns out to be a worrisome problem for civilizations’ powers-that-be… that would be all of us, really. Continue reading ‘Really, Have We No Clue?’
Some say “love” is the greatest word they know. Others say “God”. Various words have been favorites of mine over the years, but “why” is the greatest for me. So I must ask myself, why continue posting these observations? It’s certainly not for money. Is it for fame? I actually prefer anonymity. In fact, years ago when my yoga students showed hints of ‘guru worship’, I went out of my way to discourage that. Do I just need to vent? Well, there was some of that urge early on, but I’ve pretty much said all I really need to say. So why continue? Continue reading ‘Why?’
Me, age 3, actually fishing... sort of.
The fish are biting and I’m reeling ‘em in, I’m just not posting ‘em. Posting requires so much clean up to make ‘em fit for reading.
Finishing the last chapter of the Tao Te Ching was the catalyst I guess I needed to reevaluate things. I’ve wondered for a while now why I post in the first place.
I mean, the Taoist point of view has to be among the oddest and most ironic subjects to speak on. After all, he who knows does not speak, he who speaks does not know. Continue reading ‘Gone Fishin’, Back Soon’
Check One Off the Bucket List
This is chapter 81, the last chapter of the Tao Te Ching. My journey on this Taoist path began almost 50 years ago in Vietnam, as did my learning to read and write Chinese. Over the years, I have translated parts of chapters that puzzled me. This revealed a subtle problem I found in all translations: The process of translating the Chinese phrasing into another language looses some of the straightforward meaning. Continue reading ‘Chapter of the Week: #81′
Karl Marx had is wrong. It is prosperity, not religion, which is the opiate of the masses. The United States has experienced decades of surefire prosperity. Most have lived their whole lives accustomed to what is actually a historically rare era of unusual affluence.
Now, much of the population is going ‘cold turkey’, unwillingly sobering up without knowing the deeper causes for the withdrawal symptoms they now feel. I’ve found prosperity has a real dark side linked to desire and pleasure— not surprisingly. (1) Continue reading ‘Opiate of the Masses’
I sometimes wonder why rich people often keep upping the anti, buying increasingly more expensive things. It follows a progression I first noticed when I experienced my own wealth upgrade after arriving in Japan (see Peaches and Pleasure). It is a fact of life; we soon convert any upgrade in our standard-of-living into the new bottom-line in our standard-of-living. Never long content, we soon seek to upgrade again. Biologically speaking, the hunter gather in us reaches outward from the bottom line, driven by a kind of ‘grass is always greener’ instinct. Continue reading ‘The Wealthy Poor’
Dreaming the Way
Last night I dreamt I was explaining the ‘way’ to a group of people. I was talking to someone and other people overhearing us actively started listening and asking questions. My smooth and coherent delivery felt unusually satisfying. That’s no wonder, given the way that can be spoken of is not the constant way. Of course, it was my dream so I surely knew the questions they were going to ask ahead of time… Continue reading ‘Chapter of the Week: #80′
For years, up until my early forties, I was drunk on thought fortified with the certainty of belief. Fortunately for me, I found a way to help detoxify myself, but it is still a moment-by-moment affair.
Recovering alcoholics continue to say, “I’m an alcoholic”, even as they stay on the straight and narrow moment-to-moment, day to day, year to year. Likewise, I would have to say I’m a thinker, recovering from certainty in thought moment-to-moment, day to day, year to year. (Really! I’ve sobered up a lot. You should have seen me before.) Continue reading ‘Sobering up!’
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