Every thing is everything and nothing. Everything is all there is, beyond description; eternal; it is what it is whatever it is. Every thing is part of everything. No thing can be described as every thing is interdependent with everything and forever changing, a temporary part of everything. As every thing does not exist before it changes into and after it changes from its present form, every thing is nothing....
Our mind is like a muscle, use it or lose it. Curiosity engages our mind with questions. Curiosity identifies anomalies our mind efforts to understand which keeps our mind functioning at peak levels....
"The banality of evil." Evil is not solely the domain of Hitler and the many other monsters in history. Evil is commonplace; the lack of compassion; viewing others as others, not as ourselves which is who they are....
"Nothing is worth more than this day. You cannot relive yesterday. Tomorrow is still beyond your reach." Best to make the most of what we have and not dwell on that which we don't have lest we waste what we have....
We have no recollection of the time before our birth. Maybe because it is like when we're asleep, a time of which we remember only what we imagine in dreams. Or maybe before birth we were one with everything and with no mind; thus, there is nothing to remember. ...
"Know thyself and thou shalt know all the mysteries of the gods and of the universe." -- Inscription on the Greek temple at Delphi. You, I, the gods and the universe are one....
They understand much and know little; long on intelligence, short on wisdom; have more answers than questions. High on an imaginary pecking order. Never in doubt, often wrong. The more they look the less they see for they cannot see what they cannot imagine. Following the advice of pundits is the penalty we pay for not thinking independently....
"Liberty produces wealth, and wealth destroys liberty." The consequences of too much of a good thing are not a good thing for the good thing. Liberty allows capitalism; capitalism creates wealth; wealth leads to power which soon concentrates among an elite and in turn disenfranchises all of their liberty. "Under socialism everyone (except the leaders) is equal. As in equally fucked" in terms of individual liberties. -- William Wisher....
"[T]he truth is what you can get enough people to believe."...
The mind is like a pond reflecting reality. We experience reality not as it is but as reflections. The reflections most accurately represent reality when the mind is calm, undisturbed by motion beneath the water and activity above. Motion beneath the pond is a function of us not having integrity and our reacting to stories of our past we've created. Activity above the pond is a function of multitasking and distractions like desiring that which we don't need. Mindlessness is the purpose of meditation. Meditation is a tool to calm the mind by focusing on, say, solely our breathing. This is mindfulness meditation. Beyond mindfulness, we can advance to mindlessness meditation wherein we focus on the space of nothingness between breaths; that is, the space between when we exhale and before we inhale again. In the space of nothingness we are free from distractions and are ready to experience reality (the present) before it becomes just a reflection from mind. In the space of nothingness we experience the present and the nature of mind is revealed. Once revealed, we realize the mind's reflections are not reality but a derivative based on reality that's distorted by a disturbed state of mind. This realization transforms our relationship with mind from the mind being our master to our servant. The is the foundation of enlightenment. So remember, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out. If we forget this, enlightenment will be the least of our problems....