It this weirdly ugly or awesomely beautiful?
My mind’s eye has now thoroughly switched over to a symptom’s point of view. I almost feel I should capitalize the words, or perhaps write it like this: symptom’s-point-of-view. What is so special about it? On the surface, nothing I suppose. Deeper down is another story.
The symptom’s-point-of-view is really about how I make judgments in the world I experience. As I see it, the normal way of judging the world simply mirrors the needs and fears of the person judging. Of course this all occurs sub cognitively. People aren’t generally self conscious when they pass judgment on the world out there. For example, if I’m afraid of snakes, I’m more likely to judge snaky things as weird, ugly, bad, or even (on a positive note) awesome and beautiful! Continue reading ‘A Symptom’s Point Of View’
(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’
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’
I had a good discussion with a ‘born again’ Christian recently. These talks always give me fascinating food for thought. Particularly interesting was his view on global warming, and the conspiracy he thinks lies behind it. Needless to say his knowledge of basic science was pretty thin. It may be that the less one knows, the more certain one tends to be(1). This fits the general Taoist view that out of nothing comes something, i.e., the myriad creatures in the world are born from something, and something from nothing. Continue reading ‘Are You A Beliefaholic?’
Mother and sons
One curious result of using a ‘taoist’ model of ‘virtue’ to raise my kids is seeing how naturally ethical – even to a ‘fault’ – they have turned out. Given the laissez-faire upbringing they had, it is a little odd to see how rigidly law abiding they can be at times. For example, we headed down the street to order a sandwich at the corner deli. I grabbed a beer to drink (rare for me) as we walked there. They protested, saying it was against the law to walk in public and drink beer. I thought that nonsense. Drink and drive no way, but drink and walk? All my life I have only obeyed laws I agreed with, so they didn’t pick up their highly law abiding ways from me (obviously). And, given the circumstances of how they were raised, I doubt they learned it from anyone in particular. This may be a testament to the deep underlying pull of the ethical paradigm that surrounds everyone. Most conform, some rebel, but everyone feels it. Continue reading ‘Innately Ethical’
I was soaking in the hot bath this morning and Dave’s recent reply to Butterflies have wings; we have minds popped into my mind. A hot bath never fails to loosen up thinking, I find. Anyway, he said, “Our models in our minds are staler than we know.” He also quoted George Box, one of the most influential statisticians of the 20th century, who said ‘all models are wrong, some are useful’.
I agree, but only if we’re talking about judging models ‘by their covers’. Taken at face value all models are wrong. However, when considering a model as mirroring the mind of the model maker, every model is 100% on target. This parallels something Jesus said: ‘Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit’. We are the tree, the models we make, or are attracted to, are the fruit. The tree and its fruit share the same root. Continue reading ‘Of What Is The Taoist Model Symptomatic?’
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