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…’
Jungle church in Malaya
Well, why not! But seriously, this is a question I have not heard asked much… if at all(1) Debates mostly focus on whose God is best, the nature of God, or does God even existence. Asking “why do we believe in God” is more of a zoological approach to this issue. That is the place to begin; after all, we are animals first.
I’ve long see the God idea as an emergent property of our social need for leadership, i.e., ‘alpha male’, the decider. All social primate groups have some individual serving this unifying role. Being a thinking ape, it is natural that we would image the existence of a super-leader in a super-home (heaven). Being social apes, it is also nature that we’d enjoy gathering to share the experience. A recent article in Science News, Connected at church, happy with life, offered some support for the why of it all. Continue reading ‘Why God?’
This Science News piece, Many unhappy returns for wandering minds, packs a big punch for its small size. (It’s so short I’ll paste it below.) Science News and the Tao Te Ching are my two best resources for reducing the risk of ‘the blind spot’. Together, they offer point of view from opposite ends of the awareness spectrum. Each balances the other. Alone, either can mislead. Better yet, having an eye on both keeps my mind from wandering too far.
I have wondered at times why I’m such a stickler for what I call watchfulness (paying attention, mindfulness, seeing what I’ve not seen, being moment to moment, and so on). Frankly, all the common ‘spiritual’ reasons were too pie-in-the-sky for me. Continue reading ‘Wandering Mind Is Unhappy Mind’
(this is the working title and draft cover)
I wrote this Yoga manual[1] in 1979. While it still holds up well, I decided it’s worth updating. As part of this, I am attempting to sum up the Principles (the “spirit of yoga”) as I see it today.
Yoga is a process, not a destination. So many folks think of yoga as something you need flexibility for. Just the opposite. If anything, the more flexible you are, the harder yoga becomes. Again, unlike most secular things in life, yoga isn’t about the destination. It is about the journey…the way. Continue reading ‘The Spirit of Yoga’
I had a little bakery on the Thai Cambodian border in the early 60’s. It was little more than a shack, but enough for me and my Thai ‘wife’(1) (along with her mother, brother, sister). Most of the customers were Thai peasants who would stop by for some sponge cake on their return from the town market. Being partial to sponge cake, business never grew; I ate up most of the profits. After rising early to bake the days offerings, I’d sit at the front of the shop and swat at flies while awaiting customers. Continue reading ‘Poor Thais And Rich Swedes’
Grandma, 82, reading the paper
The use of chairs in the West is ubiquitous. One of the most important life style changes I ever made was giving up my use of the chair fifty years ago. Chairs (and sit down toilets) are good examples of my motto, ‘short term pleasure attracts long term pain; short term pain attracts long term pleasure‘. The physical ease a chair provides gradually robs the body of an important part of its natural capability. Over time that bring long term pain. This is easy to see, for example, by comparing older Western people with older Japan people. Continue reading ‘Chairs: One of Our Big Mistakes’
Eligible bachelors
There is a curious thing I notice in the life of my two sons. They are not chasing girls like I was at their age. They aren’t gay either, so what gives? I look back on my youthful lust and see a disconnected lad looking for companionship that my ‘independent’ upbringing (plus innate nature, I suppose) never provided. All I ever really wanted was intimacy and acceptance. And the only path to that deeper sense of connection was through a boy-girl relationship. That was true of my wife and most everyone I know (especially in Western cultures). Ironically, our culture’s love of ‘independence and self reliance’ actually leave its people with just the opposite, deep down anyway. Continue reading ‘Significant Others’
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’
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