Occasionally I feel a little forlorn since I’m making the same essential points repeatedly. Then I remember the necessity of constant vigilant review. This is akin to attempting to maintain balance under wobbly physical circumstances. Surely, psycho-emotional circumstances are no less demanding, balance-wise. Whew! Hope rebounds as I remember the secret of living balance… The […]
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The Pendulum Swings
The Syrian war illustrates our intrinsic tendency to swing from one extreme to the opposite. In wondering why, chapter 64 came to mind, Its peace easily manages… and so on. D.C. Lau translates this view more clearly, e.g., It is easy to maintain a situation while it is still secure. Interestingly, the adage, “a stitch […]
Continue reading…You are Immortal!
Preface: Our mind irresistibly seeks out stories to fill its cognitive space. Taken to heart, this story may help nurture what chapter 16 alludes to as The way therefore long enduring, nearly rising beyond oneself. The idea of immortality arises from our self’s keen sense of mortality, so I’ll begin by addressing this side of […]
Continue reading…A Rose By Any Other Name
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” is a familiar quote from William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet argues that the name of a thing does not matter, only what a thing is. The sticking point here is over, “It depends on what your definition of ‘is’ is”, as […]
Continue reading…Emotion Speaks… Literally
I learned to speak a number of languages during my traveling years. Learning a language in country is an easy, quick and enjoyable way to learn. During those years, my interest was to communicate—not eloquently mind you, but just enough to get by. Several hundred words and some fearless pantomime (especially at first) worked wonderfully. […]
Continue reading…I Look, But Do I See?
In Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened”. While true, I suspect this may often misinterpreted. For example, […]
Continue reading…Just like Us, Just like Them
Have you noticed how much we compare ourselves to other animals to see what extent they are like us? That’s all quite normal, of course. All animals judge other animals to some extent, although I should say size up, gauge, or perceive, rather than judge. Passing judgment is closely tied to thinking and we’re the […]
Continue reading…Science’s Baby Steps
Every now and then, I’m struck by the “Well… duh” discoveries science finally arrives at. My “Well… duh” relationship with science began early. As a child who enjoyed playing with fire, I discovered that putting ice or cold water on a burn worked great. Even so, the standard first aid treatment at that time was […]
Continue reading…Worthy of a Noble Life?
Last night I dreamed I was about to be hanged. I was adjusting the noose (made of wire of all things) around my neck so that it would kill me efficiently and swiftly rather than slowly suffocate me, I assume. You’d think that would have been a nightmare. Maybe having such a dream in my […]
Continue reading…Who says chickens are stupid?
Who says chickens are stupid? Ignorant people, I assume. While this research reported in Science News isn’t about chickens per se, it probably would apply to chickens. I mean how much smarter is a pigeon going to be than a chicken? (Google [Pigeons match monkeys in abstract counting skills].) How much true difference is there […]
Continue reading…Seeking Out Untruth
It is striking how we humans relentlessly search for truth, and when we think we have it, how tenacious we hang on to our version of it. Politics and religion have always been fertile fields for this obsession. Not surprisingly, these are two sides of one tribal coin. Indeed, not long ago, they were one […]
Continue reading…Earn It to Learn It
Knowing, in the Taoist sense of the word, is not knowledge, per se. As chapter 15 puts it, Of old, the adept student was minutely subtle, open and deep beyond knowledge. As chapter 56 notes, Knowing doesn’t speak; speaking doesn’t know. Times are different now. Our modern electrified pace of life is continuously updating every […]
Continue reading…Counterbalancing I.Q.
The onion could be a metaphor for one’s lifetime. Each of us peel away layer after layer as daily experiences gradually turn into a lifetime. This maturing process helps to counterbalance any extreme characteristics we were born with. With each decade that passes, we see deeper and become more humble compared to our formative years. […]
Continue reading…Mind Run Away; Run Away Mind
Chinese characters occasionally say a lot symbolically in the arrangement of their parts. These parts are simpler characters composed of a few strokes (lines). These simpler characters are put together to form the thousands of characters in the Chinese language. The meaning of the component parts of words can be revealing. For example, decades ago […]
Continue reading…“The rich suffer in comfort”
Half asleep, I heard an East Indian on my clock radio say, “Everyone suffers, the poor suffer without comfort, the rich suffer with comfort”. I thought that would be a good kick-off for a post so I tried to find that in NPR’s online archive, but found nothing. Did I dream this with the Indian […]
Continue reading…Self-Predation
Moral values arise from an arbitrary line we draw between what is socially acceptable and what is not. I imagine any die-hard moralist might well find this an immoral view. However, historical experience shows the moral line moves profoundly over time and geography. Morality draws its line somewhere along the food chain between the user […]
Continue reading…Finding Your Original Self
When do we give life our all? Often, we give this 100% only when other people are watching and possibly judging us. Indeed, this is one key function of teachers and coaches; they watch and evaluate us. This tendency to “live” for others (1) is our innate social nature, while our true character only reveals […]
Continue reading…The Worrier Gene
Have you noticed how there is always something wrong? No matter how ideal circumstances are, something will go awry shortly. All this may be obvious, I suppose. What is less obvious is how the perception and experience of good fortune and misfortune are complimentary. As chapter 58 puts it, Misfortune, yet of good fortune its […]
Continue reading…Hold the Knowable
In my previous, Good Enough Is (p.356), I suggested that we have an innate need to pursue an important goal… something to hold in mind, to hunger after, and fill our mind space. I also put forward the view that this was an emergent property (p.121) of the basic hunter-gather instinct that drives life to […]
Continue reading…Good Enough Is!
Good enough is good enough, and naturally so. As chapter 46 notes, Therefore, in being contented with one’s lot, enough is usually enough indeed. Besides, isn’t this how nature plays out… step by step? Surely, this is the sentiment expressed in chapter 64, A thousand mile journey begins below the feet. This is how reality […]
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