Have you noticed how there is always something wrong? No matter how ideal circumstances are, something will shortly go awry. 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…freedom
Will-to-Live, Free or Otherwise
A drive to survive is common to all living things from viruses on up. In somewhat higher forms of life, we see this as the survival instinct. This survival instinct must be regarded as a fundamental emotional drive in any animal we think of as having emotion. Naturally, there are those who, ignorant of the […]
Continue reading…Democracy as Myth
I’m not sure where to begin when writing about this observation. Like many things in life, there are multi-faceted and multi-layered aspects to the big picture. Oh well, I’ll just plunge in… Humans, like all social species, have some form of governance. Social species need their alpha-male, even if that’s a queen in a beehive. […]
Continue reading…My Battle With Tobacco
Researcher say nicotine is as addictive as cocaine. Perhaps, but then I only know the nicotine side of this. My story has many twists and turns which come to an ironic end. If you’re in a hurry for the Taoist aspect, skim some and skip to the ending, The Long Journey’s End. I began smoking […]
Continue reading…Where Is Freedom?
I bought a caged finch in Japan in the early 70’s. I took it home and left the cage door open so it could fly around if it wished, but it wouldn’t. It just stayed contentedly in its cage. Months passed before it ventured out. I left the window open too, and soon it would […]
Continue reading…