Carl Abbott

Where There’s Passion (fire), There’s Blindness (smoke)

It is easy to notice other people’s obsession, which we ourselves don’t share. The moment we have a stake in any situation, passion blinds us. Take ‘puppy love’ for instance. Puppy love exemplifies the attraction emotion of need and love. This positive passion is the emotional energy that drives us reflexively to embrace that which […]

Seeing the world ‘out there’

I began studying astrology while living in Japan. I soon realized that up until then I’d been seeing everything ‘out there’ relative to myself — subjectivity to the hilt. Astrology opened a window onto the world for me — things were unique in there own right. Not only that, astrology offered what appeared to be […]

Schrödinger’s cat

Being surrounded by death is life when your dreams are different, being surrounded by life is death when your dreams are eternal. Any preference? Just be between life and death… This CenterTao member’s reply brought Schrödinger’s cat to mind! Google [Schrödinger’s Cat – minutephysics]. What do you think?

Tai Chi Video

Anyone having trouble with Tai Chi? I have just uploaded a video that shows the form in both mirrored and frontal image which may help. My wife has managed to learn the basic movements by just watching the video. When used along with Cheng’s book I reckon it should be even more effective. Go ahead, […]

Life Is Struggle, Happiness Is Contentment

Struggle and contentment are codependent — two sides of the same coin. We must struggle to live, yet we must relax to enjoy living life. As chapter 33 says, He who knows contentment is rich. How does one deal with those two tasks without feeling stressed? Indeed, trying to balance these opposites suggests how we […]

What’s With All The Hair?

Ok, I know. I’ve let myself go a little lately. In the past, I’ve taken to cut off my hair – usually all of it – when it finally felt uncomfortable. That usually happens on a hot day working hard outside, but now summer is over. I’ve worked outside on hot days this year, and […]

Tao Views of the Dow

The inflation-adjusted chart (above) covering the last 100 years of the Dow Jones shows the ebb and flow of the stock market. It is easy to see how the highs and the lows follow each other in a natural ebb and flow. As chapter 2 says, The high and the low incline towards each other […]

Biology’s Blinders: WYSIWYG

I am constantly in awe by how easily our biology hoodwinks us into believing that human perception depicts reality. We evolved to sense the world ‘out there’ in a way that served survival. There is no reason to assume this coincides with sensing how ‘the world out there’ truly is any more than a bat’s […]

Those Who Speak Do Not Know. So, Why Speak?

I now know enough to know that I don’t know. Chapter 71 speaks well to this state of mind, To know yet to think that one does not know is best; Not to know yet to think that one knows will lead to difficulty. Chapter 56 is even blunter, One who knows does not speak; […]

AI Deep Dive ‘Podcasts’

These audio clips are generated by Google’s NotebookLM Deep Dive ‘Podcast’ feature. Listen to one or two and see what you think. I would appreciate your criticisms, constructive or otherwise. If enough people feel such AI overviews are a useful addition, I’ll do the same for my other post. If not, I’ll delete the ones […]