mysterious sameness

Refreshing Redundancy

Research reported in Science News, That familiar feeling comes from deep in the brain, sheds light on a cognitive problem for anyone who wants to remember their life priorities. This quote sums it up, “The research suggests that novelty and familiarity are two sides of the same brain cells. Turn them down, and even the […]

We All Know We Don’t Know

I enjoy doing yoga on the beach because I can easily pause to look seaward and skyward to soak in eternity, or glance closer in to bond’ with my friends, the sand flies and the seagulls around me. Today I got to thinking how small and insignificant we are — they and me. Then I […]

Fear & Need Born in Nothing

Fear and need are the underlying principles for most of my observations. I know this rationale often raises more questions than it answers, so more clarification is in order. Not that I haven’t tried before… see Even a little progress is freedom from fear, p.30; Fear is the Bottom Line, p.139; Reward, Fear & Need, […]

Taoist secrets

Over the years I’ve come across references to life secrets in general, and occasionally Taoist secrets in particular. A few decades ago a woman inquired about our Sunday Taoist meetings, held weekly back then. I told her we mainly shared our reflections on the Tao Te Ching. She said she already had the Tao Te […]

Naturally Racist

The online matchmaking site Okcupid ran a survey of its members. Google [Okcupid Race and Attraction]. When they first started looking at first-contact attempts and who was writing who back, they say it was immediately obvious that the sender’s race was a huge factor. That offers some proof to what has long been obvious to […]

Profound Connections Enlighten

Chapter 56 offers what feels like a deeper description of sleep… Knowing doesn’t speak; speaking doesn’t know. Subdue its sharpness, untie its tangles, Soften its brightness, be the same as dust, This is called profound sameness. Profound sameness is a continually enlightening process. Thus, any research that explores this, even tangentially, warrants review. First, listen […]

Religion… an Opiate?

Karl Marx famously said, “Religion is the opium of the people”. He went on to identify “religious distress” as the symptom of a social “condition which needs illusions”.(1) Blaming cultural conditions for the dysfunction he saw is putting the cart before the horse. Doing this is as common as it is mistaken. Among other things, […]

You are Immortal!

Preface: Undoubtedly, our brain’s mind inherently needs a story for its thoughts to play out. The following “immortality” story is worth considering as it may offer what chapter 16 hints as, The way therefore long enduring, nearly rising beyond oneself. Note, the ‘dao’ of immortality comes at a cost and thus offers no happy home […]

Just like Us, Just like Them

Have you noticed how much we compare ourselves to other animals and see to 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. Judging is intimately tied to thinking and we’re the […]

Ponder Between the Lines

First, Google this short video, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos interviewing NBA star Dennis Rodman about Rodman’s visit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. As you can see, George and Dennis exemplify two profoundly different ways of seeing the world. Each is representing an extreme, which helps highlight polar archetypes… yin vs. yang, as it were. […]

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mysterious sameness