They call Warren Buffett the sage of Wall Street because he is a most successful investor. His chief advice for investing is this: “Be fearful when others are bold, be bold when others are fearful”. Obviously, this advice frequently applies to life in general. It parallels chapter 73’s He who is fearless in being bold […]
Continue reading…Observations
Of Course It’s Alive!
The Science News report, Enter the Virosphere, covers a researcher’s discovery that shakes up the current biological paradigm. Apparently, he had actually found a gigantic virus—one so large and possessing such a peculiar mixture of traits that it is challenging the very notion of what it means to be alive. One researcher commented, “I think […]
Continue reading…Just In: We’re All Nuts!
“Some mental disorders aren’t merely common—they’re the norm”, or so a recent Science News article, Rates of common mental disorders double up, reports. Note the tallest bar in the graph showing a recent prospective study of 1000 New Zealanders assessed for mental disorders eleven times between the ages of 3 and 32. No doubt, such […]
Continue reading…Peeking Through the Covers
The Tao Te Ching is a manual that helps us peek through biology’s covers to reveal the deeper whats and whys of reality as best it can with words. Chapter 70 acknowledges the difficulty of this… My words are very easy to understand… yet no one in the world can understand. As ancient as it […]
Continue reading…Can You Believe What You See?
The Science News report, What do you see? Emotion may help the visual system jump the gun to predict what the brain will see supports what I’ve suspected for years. Namely, our needs and fears (1) generally dictate what we see (2), even though our mind may believe otherwise. Our perception of reality is essentially […]
Continue reading…A Hypochondriac’s Miracle Cure
Hypochondriacs are anxious about their health. They make ‘illness mountains’ out of ‘wellness molehills’. However, we all make mountains out of molehills for issues in life that bother us personally . We are all somewhat obsessed about something, and so the hypochondriac’s cure really applies to us all. Obsessions, both trivial and ominous, overtake the […]
Continue reading…An Essential Taoist Secret
Our perception of difference begins at the cellular level: neurons flip flop between on (+) and off (—). The billions of neural connections in our complex nervous system make for countless ‘not quite on’, yet ‘not quite off’ indeterminacy. This feels somewhat like chapter 14’s, The image that is without substance. This is called indistinct […]
Continue reading…Just How Big Is The Gap?
In discussing human affairs, an old friend said, “We as a species are so very complex and vulnerable we’re easily led by whoever we listen to”. I countered with, “We are a profoundly social species which accounts for how easily we can be led. Human behavior reflects innate emotion…” He countered that with, “I have […]
Continue reading…Who is Right?
The current uproar over health care reform is fascinating to ponder. Who is right; who is wrong? First, doesn’t that depend on one’s definition of right? If we are referring to Right from a Buddha’s Eight Fold Path (p.604) viewpoint, then those who rant on either side are certainly not Right. The ranting we see […]
Continue reading…You Are Who You Are By Default
A recent report (google [Saey You Are Who You Are by Default]) gives some insight on the nature of who we are, particularly here, at the end of the report: Once people reach adulthood, activity in the network is fairly consistent from person to person, with some slight differences between the sexes and in older […]
Continue reading…Cave Man Shakuhachi?
Google [Stone Age flutes found in Germany] for a report on people living in Europe 35,000 years ago who made this flute out of a vulture bone. It’s shown here from three different angles with a magnified portion of the flute providing a closer look at two of the flute’s finger holes. As far as […]
Continue reading…Swimming Tai Chi Spermatozoa Style
Google [Microswimmers make a splash: Tiny travelers take on a viscous world] for research that describes movements of living things in the microscopic world as, “… very majestic, slow and regular…” That parallels the movement sought in Tai Chi. Google [Tai Chi – centertao] Consider this quote from the research. “Motion at low Reynolds number […]
Continue reading…Are you out of touch with nature?
The Garden of Eden story in Genesis parallels the Taoist view of how humanity fell out of touch with Nature: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”. Interestingly, chapter 1’s The way that […]
Continue reading…Cease Treading Water and Just Sink
Many people tend to think the benefits of yoga are increased flexibility and balance. To me, this is just icing on the cake. Yoga helps me know myself more deeply than anything else I do. As William Shakespeare observed, “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou […]
Continue reading…Enjoy What You Do – or – Do What You Enjoy?
A tricky part of life lies in how our biology constantly pushes us to do what we enjoy and pulls us away from what we don’t enjoy. This makes work feel like work. This stress is normally avoidable when work feels truly meaningful, if not enjoyable. Here, work can feel restful, or as chapter 56 […]
Continue reading…The Glare Hides ‘Out There’ From View
The glare of emotion, “the flames of desire”, as Buddha put it, obscures our view. All we can see are the objects of our passion. As those flames die down and the glare subsides, we are gradually able to see what is truly ‘out there’. Peering through the darkness what do we see ‘out there’? Strain […]
Continue reading…The illusion of ‘moment’
There is no true moment, per se. I create an illusion of moment by striving and holding on. And, my imaginations of past and future add to this illusion. When I give up striving, the illusion of moment shifts to the space-time continuum, so to speak. The past, present, and future all begin to blend […]
Continue reading…Consciousness Physics
My old friend Andy and I differ on what accounts for consciousness: Andy says consciousness is a characteristic of sophisticated nervous systems and thus diminishes down the phylogenetic scale. In his view, consciousness is a consequence of a nervous system’s myriad sensory input, making any creature “down the phylogenetic scale” less conscious than those up […]
Continue reading…A Taoist Solution to Gay Marriage
Ideally, all governmental actions should be impartial, right? As chapter 79 reminds us, It is the way of heaven to show no favoritism. Being human, politicians choose sides rather than seeking impartiality. I guess heaven is heaven and earth is earth, and never the twain shall meet. Yet, we can hope. Here’s an idea Instead […]
Continue reading…Emotion Clear-cuts Perception
Emotion clear-cuts the natural diversity of original, unfiltered perception. Certainly, this is an innate survival adaptation. Any conscious being would require a way to filter out extraneous sensory input to avoid sensory overload and ensuing chaos. Emotion helps perception focus on that which has an immediate bearing on survival. Now, consider the added filtering effect […]
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