"To use words but rarely is to be natural."
Awhile ago a friend said to me (1), “Words are sounds that gain meaning with use. Saying a rock is conscious is like saying a rock is alive. Might work in a poem but not for logical communication. Look in dictionaries for guides to usage (of course, they’re fallible) rather than rely on my memory”
So I looked up conscious and then the tracked down some of the words used to define that word. As usual, it turns out to feel like a vicious circle. Clearly, word definition is a messy affair when you scratch the surface (which few ever do in my experience). Nevertheless, I can articulate why a rock, or even an atom for that matter, qualifies as being conscious using this trail of definitions, Continue reading ‘Is Rock Conscious?’
While discussing life with a friend the other day the word evil came. He sees America as an “evil empire” that commits acts of torture that surpass anything al-Qaeda has done. I think he was referring to all the bombs dropped over the last 100 years. In any case, this provided grist for my mind’s mill. For starters, the idea of evil immediately brings to mind the Tao Te Ching chapter two: “The whole world recognizes the good as the good, yet this is only the bad”. ( Ha! No wonder Taoist thought has never caught on.)
When I look around me, I see no evil or ugliness in nature. Nature is just self right as the Chinese ziran (自然) puts it. Continue reading ‘See No Evil’
Keep ‘em guessing?
The Tao Te Ching is often terse and vague—especially in the original Chinese. I expect one reason is that it offers a word view often at odds with the story we want to hear. Revealing this point of view less obscurely would feel unsettling, even subversive, for many… Continue reading ‘Chapter of the Week: #74′
#11: Thou shalt not take the path of least resistance
As I doubt any ‘by the book’ Christians are here to take offense, I’ll propose an 11th commandment: Thou shalt not take the path of least resistance. It has a nice ring to it, yet I’ll admit it sounds a little unnatural. After all, are we not set up biologically to ‘take the path of least resistance’? Yes, but neither are we set up biologically to eat grains, drive cars, or the countless other things we do to make life more convenient, comfortable and secure. In the wild, taking the path of least resistance is naturally healthful. In civilized settings life often turns out otherwise.
Continue reading ‘Thou Shalt Not…’
Science News’ Kids own up to ownership, shows that science has come another step closer to proving a key part of Buddha’s Second Noble Truth, “… the illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a cleaving to things“.
The 1st and 2nd of Buddha Four Noble Truths are spot on in regards to the nature and the cause of our unique human problem. I easily began seeing this was so many decades ago. It was simply a no-brainer! On the other hand, his 3rd and 4th Noble Truths’ solution for our problem turn out to be far more subtle and evolve over time. Continue reading ‘You Are What You Own’
Inside
Knowing that ‘we are all in this together’ evokes a sense of community and well being. Just a few centuries ago species’ centric myths almost exclusively defined what we and all this meant. Boy is that changing! Science is showing just how deep and vast the ‘we’ really is, as the Science News’ Inside Job reports.
Continue reading ‘We!’
More than once I’ve voiced the view that we tend to put the cart before the horse when it comes to learning, understanding, and knowing. Over the last few years I’ve become relatively convinced that we only truly understand and learn what we already know intuitively. Actually though, my suspicions began during our home schooling period as I began seeing subtle indications of this.
When I first brought this up with my family they all rolled their eye… “yeh, right” they said. However, constant brain-washing finally brought them to see my point. Brain-washing? Well, not exactly. Just offering concrete examples over time helped sell my case (or are they just humoring me). Continue reading ‘You Know’
I marvel at how seriously the prophets of doom are sometimes taken. Still, I do understand the apprehension. Indeed, my own apocalyptic sense of life probably accounts for my serious side.
If I were a true believer in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic world view I might even be susceptible to the ‘end of times’ stories these prophets preach. Being a Taoist lets me off the hook for the most part; any part that remains ‘on the hook’ is nicely assuaged by Buddha’s Truths.
I suspect this sometimes apocalyptic sense of life is one of the deepest we humans feel. I see it manifested in various ways, and while not as literal the “May 21″ end of the time story, they are nevertheless common. The stock market crashes foretell the end of the economy as we know it; extinction of species and global warming foretells the end of the planet as we know it. Continue reading ‘An Improper Sense of Awe’
I spent a lot of the day in back picking weeds. Nothing beats having enough free time to sit in the warm sun picking weeds while it is still nothing. Now and then the ducks would come close by, root around a bit looking for a tasty crawler, chatter away and then move on. It got me to wondering…
A ducks quacking is its vocal expression of emotion. Having been around them for years, I can pick out their moods: happy, excited, content, nosy, curious, afraid, hungry, anxious, kinship (they are Indian Runners, an extremely social breed).
I know there is an arrogant self involved segment of humanity that could never countenance such ‘humanizing’ of mere birds. Of course, they wouldn’t be reading this site anyway, so I won’t need to justify my view… at least so far. But wait, there’s more… Continue reading ‘Thoughts and Ducks Quacking’
Which path leads where?
A few months ago a new member Dan asked me, “So, I’d like to ask, do you have any life advice for a man approaching 30″?
One problem with that question was too many things came to mind. So I turned the question over to my subconscious. Oddly, I find not thinking about tricky issues is the best way to resolve them. Of course “not thinking about” doesn’t mean disregarding. I suppose the ‘not thinking about’ phase helps the mind get through its blind spot.
Finally, up bubbled something worthy of the question. Overall, nothing feels more important to me than understanding. While stressing the importance of understanding seems obvious, it may not be as simple as it sounds. Continue reading ‘So, I’d like to ask…’
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