 'Podcasted'

A How-To for Extinguishing Self

One of the main themes in Buddhism is the extinguishing of self through enlightenment… or is it the other way around? Both ways work if we’re referring to ‘original self’. So, are they the same thing? Initially asking such basic questions on word meaning often helps when pondering life. The more basic question here is, […]

I understand, but do I know?

What is the difference between understanding and knowing? Perhaps chapter 70 alludes to this… My words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice, yet no one in the world can understand them or put them into practice. Our cleverness at understanding far exceeds our ability to know intuitively what we […]

The trick lies in not believing, yet believing

I go on and on about the folly of trusting word meaning. Yet, I think, speak, and write. How do I pull off this apparent hypocrisy and still maintain intellectual integrity? That isn’t difficult really. Indeed, it is no different from watching a movie, and yet knowing that it is make-believe. Please Note: Some essays […]

Yin Yang, Nature’s Hoodwink

A dipole is a term in physics that refers to a pair of separated electric charges or magnetic poles, of equal magnitude but of opposite polarity, i.e., negative (–) vs. positive (+) or N. vs. S. Life has adopted this natural dynamic to perceive its surroundings in a way that promotes survival in a competitive […]

Wealth plays out in odd ways

Wealth is fundamentally an availability of abundant survival resources. Hillsides full of tall green grass are a deer’s wealth. More grassy hills can support more deer. More deer eat more grass until overgrazing causes deer to starve. The deer population drops, grass rebounds, deer population rebounds, grass dwindles… and so on. This is the perpetual […]

Always be a beginner

The photo here shows my son Kyle and I doing a forward bend. It appears that my bend represents an advanced stage of yoga, while Kyle’s represents an intermediate stage. In fact, we are at the same stage; we are both beginners. Please Note: Some essays may be dense to read, so I’ve used Google’s […]

Peeking in on Nature’s Hoodwink

We are born with a bio-illusion — a bio-hoodwink(1) — that goes like this: Through hunting, “I” gathers fillers to satiate (fill) the hole. Primal emotions of need (e.g., desire, wish) and fear (e.g., insecurity, anxiety) drive this illusion forward. This illusion originates in the survival instinct to find food to fill the empty belly. […]

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 […]