Keys to Health

The key to health is reminding young. Most diseases are a function of old age. Smoking, drinking and cardiovascular problems are not much of a disease when we are young.

The basic keys to staying young are food, sleep, laughter, aerobic exercise and energy.

Food.

Only eat things that look as you’re eating them as they did when they were alive. Fruits, vegetables, small fish and birds look the same. Large fish, land animals don’t. Neither does bread or pasta as they don’t grow on trees. In other words, avoid eating refined foods and foods high up on the food chain which tend to accumulate toxic waste. Your body is built to eat naturally occurring foods, not man-made refined foods.

Moreover, be careful to not get into eating accidents. These accidents are caused by overeating and often make us overweight. These accidents happen when we’re not paying attention as we’re eating. For example, there is a 90% reduction in fatal collisions in roundabout traffic circles where stop signs or light signals were previously used for traffic control. That’s because when one approaches a stop sign or light signal one may be on their phone, talking or listening to the radio; but, when approaching a roundabout, one dispenses with multitasking distractions and concentrates on the road ahead. Focusing our attention lessens the chances of an accident. Likewise, when eating, best to focus on what we’re eating. Best not to watch TV, listen to music, talk with someone or read.  If you’re hungry, eat as much as you wish but you’ll notice your stomach is rarely hungry after a few bites. If the food is delicious, each as much as you wish but you’ll find the law of diminishing returns results in each bite less pleasing then the bite before. Moreover, when you’ve got food in your mouth, close your eyes and enjoy the intense and subtle pleasure of the food,  undistracted by your other senses. This is meditative eating.

Sleep.

Sleep a couple of times a day, a long sleep of several hours at night and one or two short naps during the day. Sleep is akin to dying of old age and awakening after is rebirth. Sleep allows us to recover from simply being worn out.

Laughter.

Laughing is the great elixir for pain and stress. As there is something funny about almost everything, one can find the funniness of a situation to relieve pain or stress. For example, I recently accidentally closed a car door on my finger; then immediately started laughing at how foolish I was not paying attention to closing the car door as I was talking at the moment to a friend. This otherwise painful experience was not painful.

Aerobic exercise.

That which is so to speak dead is inanimate, not moving. To be alive, move around vigorously as something that’s alive to the point of getting your heart rate up. No need to go anywhere or use any equipment as you can dance or (if constrained by time or space) engage in sex.

Energy

Energy keeps us alive and protects us from malevolent forces like illness. Some people or situations are energizing and some are energy draining. Best to think about what brings us energy and what takes it away and embrace the energizing and avoid the draining.

Mel Brooks

“…if you’re alive, you’ve got to flap your arms and legs, you got to jump around a lot, you got to make a lot of noise, because life is the very opposite of death… [I]f you’re quiet, you’re not living. You’ve got to be noisy, or at least your thoughts should be noisy, colorful and lively.”

Carl Sagan

“There is no such thing as a dumb question.”

Answers may be stupid but questions are not unless they should have been asked before we embarked on an endeavor.

Life Roles

Each of us plays several roles in “Terrific,” the play of life; some difficult, some easy. Difficult roles include having mental and physical health issues, poverty, dangerous situations, etc.; roles that require taking ourselves and our situations seriously. Easy roles are happy, simple lives.

Difficult roles can win an Academy Award; easy roles not. However, given the chances of winning an Academy Award, best to forgo that chance and go with the easy roles.

We are born into certain circumstances and with certain potentials. Then our lives evolve through chances and choices. We choose our roles; if not, we are given by society the roles that are vacant that no one would sensibly want.

Best to be proactive and make choices that comport best with our strengths, weaknesses and allow us to realize our potential. Otherwise we are likely find ourselves in difficult roles, a difficult life.

Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company…a church…a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play in the one string we have, and this is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…We are in charge of our Attitudes.”

James Joyce

“History…is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”

The stories we’ve created of our past frame our experiences in the present. While some of our stories are nightmares, others are happy fairy-tales. Our stories are like the children’s game of Chinese whispers; the stories change as we retell them to ourselves and others over time. Often the stories have little relationship with the past facts upon which presumably they are based.

Experiencing the present in the context of our stories doesn’t allow us to experience the present as it is;  truly unique, unlike anything we’ve experienced heretofore. Only by awakening from our sleep-inducing stories can we be present.

T. S. Eliot: The Waste Land

“I have heard the key
Turn in the door once and turn once only
We think of the key, each in his prison
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison”

When we focus on our earliest memories, we imprison ourselves and can only wait for the prison door to open to allow us return to who we were before we were born. This keeps us from making the most of our present circumstances.

Eckhart Tolle 1

“Don’t Seek Happiness. If you seek it, you won’t find it, because seeking is the antithesis of happiness.”

William Shakespeare

“The play’s the thing.”

Hamlet says “the play’s the thing wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king.” The king’s guilty conscience will be revealed by the king’s obvious embarrassment as he is watching the play.

It’s odd that an expression that’s ambiguous to the point of meaningless is well-recognized. It must speak to certain truths.

In the play of life, our intentions, actions and their consequences are revealed. So while the play is a fiction, it reveals the reality of who we are.

The play’s the thing; that is, something that cannot be described beyond  “thing.” It is what it is whatever it is. It can be anything we want it to be.

God Plays Hide and Seek

Alan Watts in The Book On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are:

“God also likes to play hide-and-seek, but because there is nothing outside God, he has no one but himself to play with. But he gets over this difficulty by pretending that he is not himself. This is his way of hiding from himself. He pretends that he is you and I and all the people in the world, all the animals, all the plants, all the rocks, and all the stars. In this way he has strange and wonderful adventures, some of which are terrible and frightening. But these are just like bad dreams, for when he wakes up they will disappear.

Now when God plays hide and pretends that he is you and I, he does it so well that it takes him a long time to remember where and how he hid himself. But that’s the whole fun of it—just what he wanted to do.

He doesn’t want to find himself too quickly, for that would spoil the game. That is why it is so difficult for you and me to find out that we are God in disguise, pretending not to be himself. But when the game has gone on long enough, all of us will wake up, stop pretending, and remember that we are all one single Self—the God who is all that there is and who lives for ever and ever.

Of course, you must remember that God isn’t shaped like a person. People have skins and there is always something outside our skins. If there weren’t, we wouldn’t know the difference between what is inside and outside our bodies. But God has no skin and no shape because there isn’t any outside to him.

The inside and the outside of God are the same. And though I have been talking about God as ‘he’ and not ‘she,’ God isn’t a man or a woman. I didn’t say ‘it’ because we usually say ‘it’ for things that aren’t alive. “God is the Self of the world, but you can’t see God for the same reason that, without a mirror, you can’t see your own eyes, and you certainly can’t bite your own teeth or look inside your head. Your self is that cleverly hidden because it is God hiding.

You may ask why God sometimes hides in the form of horrible people, or pretends to be people who suffer great disease and pain. Remember, first, that he isn’t really doing this to anyone but himself. Remember, too, that in almost all the stories you enjoy there have to be bad people as well as good people, for the thrill of the tale is to find out how the good people will get the better of the bad. It’s the same as when we play cards. At the beginning of the game we shuffle them all into a mess, which is like the bad things in the world, but the point of the game is to put the mess into good order, and the one who does it best is the winner. Then we shuffle the cards once more and play again, and so it goes with the world.”

Everything is a manifestation of God. When we perceive God as something different than ourselves, we can never be one with God.

William Wisher

“No one lies on their death bed and thinks: I wish I had more money.”

At some point in life we reach a crossover point when we realize we have more money than time. Certainly we reach the crossover point in our last moments of life. But as each of has thousands of lives encapsulated as a life each day, we are at the crossover point soon after we awaken from our sleep.

Terry Lenzner

“[T]he truth is what you can get enough people to believe.”

Henry Demarest Lloyd

“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.

The Pundits

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.

Delphi

“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.

The Time before our Birth

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.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“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.

Hannah Arendt

“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.

Curiosity

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.

Every thing is Nothing

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.

Hearing or Listening

Others hear mostly the sounds we make when we express our unsolicited opinions. To get them to listen, we need them to ask us questions which get their attention to focus on our views. If we arouse their curiosity by asking them questions, they in turn might ask us questions. In that process, we might both learn something. Otherwise, expressing our unsolicited views is an intellectual or emotional bowel movement; feels good but puts off those near.

Patrick Mahomes

“I grew up in a locker room where people from every race, every background, and every community came together and became brothers to accomplish a single goal…Let’s be the world where …we love each other unconditionally.”

Love is when we identify with each other and serve each other as we wish to be served because we are one with each other; when we work together for the benefit of the whole instead of for our personal benefit.

“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has first destroyed itself from within.” — Will Durant

A structure easily collapses when it lacks integrity as when we prioritize our identity with fractional groups rather than with the whole. This is like the disease called cancer.

One Mind

There is only one mind to which each of us are connected. Those who think otherwise are disconnected from reality.

The mind is a reflecting pond. Each of us is stationed at different points along the perimeter of mind. Our individual perspectives are reflections of mind from those respective points and our attitude. We each tend to take our finite perspective seriously and believe it’s reality. However, reality is truly revealed when we have an amalgam of perspectives from infinite points along the perimeter of mind. This is the essence of wisdom.

Happiness and Memories

Happiness is not necessarily doing that which we enjoy but that which leaves us with happy memories.

Every day made purposeful

The purpose of life is to have a wonderful time of it every day, to realize our potential and to help others likewise. However, some days we are distracted by difficulties and life doesn’t seem all that wonderful. Then, if we step away from what’s engaging us and focus on helping others, we’ll have a purposeful day and at least have a wonderful time vicariously.

Heraclitus 2

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

One constant in the universe is change; the river, the man and everything is ever-changing. Anything to the contrary is an illusion.

While no man can step in the same river twice, he can drink from it many times. A man today can remember the experiences of the man he once was and use the knowledge gained from those experiences for his own welfare.

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Awakened with laughter

After all the time and effort spent on the meditations, the retreats, the rituals, the costumes, the holidays, etc. and especially embracing the abstract concepts explaining our destiny after death, hopefully we awaken with the sound of our hysterically laughing at the absurdity of it all. If not, our time and efforts have been for little but maintaining the obstacles others face on the path to enlightenment.

It’s all downhill from here

The phrase “it’s all downhill from here” can be interpreted variously: going forward things will get easier or things will worsen. It’s meaning reflects our attitude.

For example, through much of our lives we have more time than money and we trade our time for money. However, at some point we crossover, we have more money than time.  It’s all downhill from here as our lives are now relatively easy as we are financially free to do as we wish or it’s all downhill from here if we think our life will progressively worsen as we run out of time.

Wayne Dyer

“Be open to everything and attached to nothing.”

This concept didn’t sit well with my wife, until I explained it.

Being open to everything means we realize the universe is endless realities and possibilities. When we are attached to nothing, we don’t take any reality or possibility too seriously or confuse any as the sole expression of reality. This is the essence of wisdom.

Nothing is what everything is before it is what it is whatever it is. Nothing is the essence of reality. When we are attached to nothing we are one with everything. This leads to compassion as we thus treat everything as we treat ourselves.

It is wisdom (realizing infinite perspectives and possibilities) and compassion (oneness with the infinite expressions of reality) that open the door to enlightenment.

Our Dreams

Best we keep our eyes open if we want to follow our dreams.

If we’re passionate about a career but lack the talent to make dollars, it doesn’t make sense. But a singer with a lot of passion and no talent can be successful as a comedian.

Albert Einstein

“The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.”

When the mind is calm it doesn’t engage us in a wrestling match. We can then deploy it to observe the infinite manifestations of the universe and create an order of things that make temporary sense of it all. In the preceding sentence, the second “it” is ambiguous; unclear if “it” refers to mind or universe or both or neither. Maybe all that can be said is that it is what it is whatever it is.

Discerning or Sophisticated

When we purchase an artwork, we are in fact purchasing two things, the thing and its price. The discerning buyer knows that. The sophisticated buyer does not.

The discerning buyer, by definition, has good judgement; can see the quality of something and it’s relative price. The sophisticated buyer knows much about fashion and culture. However, they are often a sucker for sophism, a specious argument used for deception. They look at an artwork with their ears, not their eyes.

Charles Bukowski

“You have to die a few times before you can really live.”

Every evening we die, every morning we are born again; some resemblance to the person we were yesterday. Other than the similar to yesterday’s circumstances in which we find ourselves when we are reborn in the morning, everything is completely new today, unique. This newness stirs us and we can awaken to really live the only life we ever have which is today.

When we identify with the person we were in past lives (passed days of our lives as it’s conventionally known) and believe that person never died (that we are that same person today), we experience today in the context of our past; a life based on stories our mind has created. Unless we recognize we died heretofore, we cannot really live.

The Wonder of Creation

Between the drum beats of the pulse

between the motion of breathing

there is an empty space where all is still.

When young, I anxiously waited in the empty space

for the next beat or breath to engage my attention.

Now, I rest in the empty space where nothingness reigns.

From here, I can appreciate the wonder of creation.

Big city, small minds

Those who live in a city and view others who live in the suburbs as provincial are themselves provincial, viewing the world through simple categories.

Pablo Picasso

“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”

A corollary: don’t do anything today you can put off and do tomorrow; tomorrow may never come, so why have regrets of having wasted your time in life doing something that didn’t need to be done; this is wisdom, not laziness.

Taken together, Picasso’s proposition and the corollary guide us to live without regrets.

The Present Guides Us to the Future

It’s hard to see forward when looking back at the past. Those who understand the present in the context of the past are poor at seeing the future. Those who know the present are best at seeing the future.

For example, let’s say a stock is trading now at a price of $45/share. If we know everything about the history of the stock and how it traded relative to other stocks, relative to its earnings and all other metrics; we will not be as good at predicting the price at which it will trade next week as will the person who knows only that it is trading now at $45.

The Purpose of Rain

We are drops of water raining from the sky.

Why wonder why

as it’s clear when we die

in the ground, river or sea

our purpose is just to be.

Jim Morrison

“No one gets out of here alive.”

While our ineffable soul is eternal, we are forever transitioning through life and inevitably transition from our temporary bodies. Best to make the most of the physical experience of being alive and enjoy its sensuous pleasures.  Otherwise, we may be fraught with regrets at the end of days, regrets for not having lived.

Jim Morrison died at 27; a relatively short life; over the top full, not half empty.

Simple Road to Happiness

Some lives are complicated, some simple. Complicated lives seem more interesting with lots of wild scenes, dramas and complications. However, complicated lives are at times overwhelming.

Simple lives are happy lives, filled with gratitude for the good fortune of living simple lives. Simple lives avoid multitasking, compartmentalize experiences, accept and do the best with what comes their way, don’t worry about matters they cannot control and are optimistic that all will ultimately work out well.

When at times our lives become complicated and overwhelming, best to simplify them and realize the happiness of a simple life.

Ronald Graham

“The main obstacle to progress is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge. You think you know. But no, you don’t. Once you understand that you don’t know, then your mind is a little more open to say, ‘Oh, OK, there are other possibilities, maybe it’s not true after all.’ Even though you wanted it to be true.”

Humility in the form of having an awareness of our ignorance arouses our curiosity which leads us to fascinating insights beyond our preconceived notions.

Shawn Nolan

“There was no reason for the government to kill him…In any case, they failed. The Dustin Honken they wanted to kill is long gone.”

Shawn Nolan is a lawyer who represented Dustin Honken, 52, who was executed by the federal government for murders he committed when he was 27. Several religious leaders described Honken as someone who today is completely unlike the 27 year old murder; as a compassionate individual who has evolved spiritually.

Every day we are born again, unlike the person we were yesterday who is now no longer. However, we unconsciously choose to assume the identity of the person whom we once were, living like a dead man walking. When we awaken to the reality that today and everyday is our birthday, the people whom we once were are just an imaginary memory and we are free from the stories that connect us to them. Honken had this awakening and the government did not.

Richard P. Feynman

“What Do You Care What Other People Think?”

If you’re concerned about how other people think of you, you are likely hanging out with people who think likewise. How could you care about how those people think of you? It’s hilarious if you do; caring about the thinking of people who have little else to do but spend time idly thinking about others and accomplishing nothing.

People aren’t thinking much about anyone or anything.  Caring about how others think of us is a fool’s errand. Doing so limits our freedom to be who we are and by not being ourselves we cannot realize our potential; a wasted life.

Moreover, caring about how others think about us is a stressful errand which drains our energy and leaves little for us to lead healthy and productive lives.

Randy Armstrong

“Worrying does not take away tomorrow’s troubles. It takes away today’s peace.”

“Ain’t no need to worry what the night is gonna bring, it will be all over in the morning.” Anita Baker.

No Regrets

I’ve done many a foolish thing and made many poor choices. Yet I have no regrets. If I was to change one thing in the past, there is a good chance the present would not be as it is now. That’s too risky a proposition. Best to take life as a package deal.

Mary had a little lamb

“Mary Had a Little Lamb” is a 19th century nursery rhyme familiar to most American children. A simple rhyme, yet befuddling without an understanding of relationship and context.

Does Mary had a little lamb mean that Mary had a pet lamb; that Mary had a small vagina; that Mary had sex with a lamb; or that Mary ate a little lamb?

It’s a matter of context and relationship. In the context of Mary’s father reading the rhyme, it’s clear that Mary had a pet lamb. However, Mary’s boyfriend talking with his buddies likely means that Mary had a small vagina. Mary’s kinky friends might mean that Mary had sex with a lamb. Mary’s dinner partner would mean Mary ate a little lamb.

Context and relationship defines meaning.

Learning by failing

Our failed efforts can be very valuable. They are valuable if they teach something about ourselves as that increases our chances of realizing success in the future. If we blame others for our failures, our failures are worthless.

To Happiness via Suffering

The best things in life we take for granted. Suffering can awaken us to this truth which can lead us to happiness.

Suffering is when we desire that which is not available. When we suffer, we can have flash recollections of  how relatively fortunate we were before our suffering. Moreover, we can realize that even in our suffering we have much for which to be thankful as our current circumstances could always be worse. This is gratitude.

As well, we can take solace in knowing that our suffering will at some point come to an end as all things  are constantly subject to change, hopefully for the better. This is optimism.

Gratitude and optimism are two of the three pillars of happiness.

Better to Laugh than Smile

If we can’t laugh, we can’t afford to smile.

Laughing is a great rejuvenator. It dispenses pain and stress and energizes us. Otherwise, pain or stress consume much of our energy. If we can’t laugh at pain and stress, we can’t afford to spend energy on smiling to cover our distress. Better to identify something funny about our painful or stressful circumstances.

The Mind is a Prism

The mind is a prism

refracting light into a spectrum of colors.

Each color a mood.

We choose the color

through which we see the world.

Puns and Pundits

Puns are a play with words or phrases that reveal certain truths; that things are not necessarily as they conventionally appear.

Pundits are serious, well-educated and opinionated, never in doubt but often wrong. We embrace their views as they provide us a sense of certainty, however false, in an uncertain world.

Puns are more insightful than pundits.

Albert Einstein

“The exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.”

Albert Einstein was identified as having “impostor syndrome,” having doubts about his significant accomplishments and talents and fear that others would ultimately realize he was a fraud, not the extraordinary genius they held him to be. Impostor syndrome is not a mental illness, rather a psychological behavior pattern. Other luminaries with impostor syndrome include Tom Hanks, Sheryl Sandberg, David Bowie and Serena Williams.

While impostor syndrome may reflect underlying insecurities, in Einstein’s case it reflected his enlightenment. Like Einstein, enlightened individuals have a terrific sense of humor and interesting insights about the nature of the universe. They happily welcome each day as it is the first and last day of their lives; grateful, optimistic and free from karmic prisons.

The foundation of karmic prisons is the belief that we are the same person today as the people we were in passed days of our lives. (Passed days of our lives is what several spiritual practices refer to as our past lives.) The stories we and others tell about those past people define our roles in the play of life.  Our roles imprison us by limiting our perspectives as we experience the world not as it is but in the context of what we “learned” in previous lives (our stories, characterizations, categorizations and general descriptions about the world).

The foundation of karmic prisons crumbles when we come to know the nature of reality, that the universe is forever changing, eternal and beyond description as everything is unique. It is what it is whatever it is. We are not the same people we were in passed lives. Our experience of the universe need not be limited by what we’ve learned and our memories but by our imagination.(1)

Einstein didn’t suffer from impostor syndrome. In describing himself as a willing swindler, he realized that he was simply another physics researcher among thousands in the world; that he was not the genius who long before made the great discoveries associated with him; that he was a fraud by willingly acting in the role assigned him as the greatest mind of the 20th century. That is true genius.

(1) “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.” Albert Einstein.

The Risk of Delayed Gratification

On a hot day

a cold glass of water

is refreshing now,

necessary later.

Should I drink it now

or will it evaporate before I need it?

Externalities vs Potentialities

When I was 12 years old in school in America, one day in class the geography teacher explained that many countries today are categorized as “underdeveloped” but years earlier were referred to as “backward” which is more pejorative. Then, one of the girls in the classroom blurted out: “Those countries are strange, I’d rather be called backward than underdeveloped.”

To some in the developed world, externalities are more important than potentialities.

Ice-T

“No lives matter.”

“Black lives matter” is a moral complaint against inequity in the existing social order.

“All lives matter” is a self-righteous response that implies all people are equal and negates the existence of an inequitable social order. It’s dismissive of the complaint.

“No lives matter” reflects the reality; the incarceration rate, domestic murder rate and casualties and fatalities in overseas military adventures.

Those for whom we march and cry “black lives matter” are memorialized with dignity, respect and fancy funeral ceremonies. In other words, respect for the dead but not for the living.

Peace brings abundance

When the world is at peace, there’s a ever-bigger piece of pie for each of us. At war, each warring state fights for peace on its own terms and ever-smaller pieces of pie.

Idi Amin

“There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.”

Freedom of speech is the foundation of a well-functioning state, unlike Uganda when Idi Amin ruled it.  Considering many independent perspectives allows us the wisest choices (the wisdom of the crowd).  Today, however, often there is no freedom after speech as unpopular opinions are denied social media access or those who voice their opinions are marginalized and attacked by those uncomfortable with perspectives that don’t comport with their own. This is how a state begins to slide into monolithic thinking and loses its ability to adapt to changing circumstances which ultimately leads to its demise.

Mitigating Problems

Anticipating a problem lessens its consequences.

When we envision problematic events, we can adjust accordingly and mitigate their consequences. As problems initially unfold slowly and then suddenly, when we identify problems unfolding slowly we can to some extent get out of their harm’s way before they unfold suddenly.

However, many of us fear envisioning potential problems as doing so makes us anxious; thus we suffer the consequences of our blinding fears.

Heraclitus 1

“The one is made up of all things, and all things issue from the one.”

God is that which is within and unfolds into the infinite manifestations of the universe, the without. We are never lacking (never without) as what’s without is always within.

Geographic variations in the perception of god

God plays different roles in Eastern and Western religions. In the East, God is everything. The universe is a manifestation of God. God is a path through which we connect and are one with everything. In the West, God is an administrative law judge.

God and Religion

God is the knowledge that we are all connected. Religion is about rules which connect its adherents and exclude others; the antithesis of God.

Experience teaches fear, not hate

Some years back I viewed a documentary movie about the brutalities of the “Dirty War” in Argentina (1976 – 83) when thousands of people disappeared through state sponsored terrorism. One woman interviewed was a rare survivor. She was asked how she felt about the perpetrators, “you must hate them” suggested the interviewer. “No” she said, “I don’t hate them, I fear them.” She learned from her experience whom to avoid but as she was essentially happy she was free to move forward without emotional distractions from the past.

Winners and losers

Winners are not those successful at their pursuits; the losers not those unsuccessful. The winners are laughing at the outcomes, the losers not.

Why Norman Mailer is Norman Mailer

In 1977 on a flight from NYC to Dallas, I sat next to a gentleman busy scribbling on his paperwork. Asked him what he was doing, he replied, “working out which bets I want to make” on some football games or horse races. We continued talking and he said he was a magazine writer but didn’t mention his name as he felt I undoubtedly never heard of him. A couple of hours later, I asked him if anyone ever said he looked like Norman Mailer. He said, “Congratulations, it took you a while.” I replied: “Someone has to be Norman Mailer and you’re it; how is it being Norman Mailer, do you enjoy the role?” He replied: ” Terrific role, really enjoying it.”

Mailer was a novelist, journalist, politician, essayist, playwright, film-maker, actor and painter; married six times; had nine children; numerous affairs; stabbed his wife; wrote 11 best-sellers; and cavorted with the glitterati. Yet, the man sitting next to me didn’t seem to take his role too seriously. Maybe that’s why he was Norman Mailer.

Adam Harris

“In of the most striking patterns in yesterday’s [2018] election was years in the making: a major partisan divide between white voters with a college degree and those without one. According to exit polls, 61 percent of non-college-educated white voters cast their ballots for Republicans while just 45 percent of college-educated white voters did so. Meanwhile 53 percent of college-educated white voters cast their votes for Democrats compared with 37 percent of those without a degree. The diploma divide, as it’s often called, is… a complete departure from the diploma divide of the past. Non-college-educated…voters used to solidly belong to Democrats, and college-educated…voters to Republicans.”

Seems odd the college-educated vote against their economic interests, assuming as is generally assumed that the Republican Party favors the wealthy which is what the college-educated are relatively. However, today the college-educated are at a considerably lower caliber of educational achievement than those who graduated from college 50 years ago. Maybe they are more college-brainwashed than college-educated.

Mahir

“That’s life.”

This past Sunday a photo was taken on the Upper West Side of Manhattan of a woman squatting, urinating and giving head to shirtless man. I spoke with several people about this incident; some, especially those  who lived nearby, thought it disgusting and others laughed. At a grocery store I frequent, I mentioned the incident to an older Palestinian man who works there tending to the fruits and vegetables.  His apathetic response: “That’s life.” I’m not sure if he meant that the incident is a reflection of the state of affairs in NYC or that he had an enlightened view of it as not a significant event, simply people performing bodily functions which made the scene nothing noteworthy.

It’s curious as to why some would find this incident disgusting. Clearly they have an abstract view of it; that it is the breaking of a taboo based on community or religious standards. As such, they should find it disgusting and do so.

As to those who laugh about it, they view the scene as two people harmlessly enjoying themselves and juxtapose that view with the view of others who find it disgusting. It’s funny that some people can see meanings in something meaningless.

Interestingly, it seems that people living in the nearby vicinity of the incident are much more upset they those living elsewhere. From a far-enough distance, say the heavens, everything seems funny. Likewise, when and old fat woman slips on a banana peal, it looks funny until we realize she’s our mother.

One Mind

There is only one mind to which we are all connected. Some of us connect via the same wavelength and understand each other. Others seem to us to be on the dark side of the moon (which is how we appear to them) and the connection is weak. But, regardless of how different we are, there is only one mind. Recognizing this opens us up to connecting with everyone.

William Roth

“It’s easier to choose between black and white than between shades of gray.”

Unlike black and white, the difference between shades of gray is difficult to remember. Hence, as our memories guide us in the choices we make, we gravitate to extreme, simplistic views.

William Wisher

“Life is so much simpler when you lose the desire to think.”

Our mind is a great servant when we use it to learn from our experiences, simplifying the road forward.  However, the mind is a terrible master. When we desire its stimulation, we are its servant. Then, the road forward is not straightforward as the mind creates distractions, twisted thoughts and additional desires to control us.

Kanako Iiyama

“What’s the difference between the heart and the mind?”

Each heart is essentially the same. Each mind is unique.

The heart connects us to others while the mind often separates us from others.

The heart is fundamental to being alive; if it’s not working neither are we. The mind distracts us from living as most of our experiences in life are in the context of our memories or karma.

The heart is symbolic of compassion, connecting with others and trying to help them realize their potential. Our mind can lead us to wisdom, viewing the world through the perspective of others, but is often what separates us from others as we view others as different from ourselves. The mind is the foundation of the ego.

Albert Einstein?/Ray Cummings

“Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.”(1)

The past is created by mind in the form of stories. Each story unfolds sequentially, within a timeline. The timeline rationalizes cause and effect as without the timeline the stories don’t make sense. For example, when we tell the story of a cat’s life, the cat cannot be simultaneously dead and alive. However, everything in the past happens all at once, the moment the mind creates it. Hence, the cat is alive and dead simultaneously.  The timeline is an illusion our mind creates as are our stories.

In other words, our mind creates the past. The past doesn’t exist independent of mind. As to the present, the true-present, it is simply nothingness with waves of light about. Our mind transforms the light into our reality, the past and its related stories.

(1) From Quote Investigator: “There is no substantive evidence that Einstein wrote or spoke the statement above. It is listed within a section called “Probably Not By Einstein” in the comprehensive reference “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein” from Princeton University Press.”

Choosing Our Selves

For Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five, life happens all at once; sequential time is a creation of mind and doesn’t exist independent of mind.

While our lives may happen all at once, we are a different person at each point in our lifetime story. We can choose to be any of these people at any circumstance in which we find ourselves. Our experience is a function of the choice we make.

Karl Marx

“If you can cut the people off from their history, then they can be easily persuaded.”

Jim Morrison

“No one gets out of here alive.”

But we all do.

If our identity is our finite physical presence, our lives are finite and no one gets out of here alive. When we realize we are not solely our finite selves but one with the infinite manifestations of the universe, there is no life or death; just endless transitions; comings and goings into and out of life; like the sound and the silence between heartbeats; like the breathing and silent pause between breaths. In the silence we are in the present, before our mind distracts us by ever-changing sounds and motions. The silence is eternal. When we realize we are one with the silence, we are here forever.

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

Once upon a time, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, experts in their respective fields of detective work and science, went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine they lay down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars.” “What does that tell you?” Watson pondered for a minute. “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically , I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?” Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. “Watson, you dickhead. Some bastard has stolen our tent.”

There are always many ways to view a situation, from the practical to the profound. If not individually funny, when juxtaposed they are funny.

William Wisher

“Unfortunately, most people don’t get it. They will, but they’ll have to die first before they understand that they don’t.”

We don’t die, just transition from one form to another. That which is alive and that which is not are no different; only differentiated by our mind; all manifestations of God; all unique and all the same. Is the breathing of the ocean and its shattering sound at the shore not as alive as we are?

Everything is like bubbles in a glass of sparkling water, appearing out of nowhere and seemingly disappearing when reaching the top of the glass. The bubbles don’t disappear. They become one with everything as they have been from the very beginning.

We recognize that the only constant in the universe is change; that no one or anything dies, just transitions. Those who realize (know) this truth don’t take themselves too seriously.

P.D. Ouspensky

“When one realizes one is asleep, at that moment one is already half-awake.”

Self-consciousness precedes universal consciousness.

Finnegan Bell in Great Expectations (1998)

“I’m not going to tell the story the way it happened. I’m going to tell it the way I [want to] remember it.”

Our memories shape our attitude, how we experience the world as it unfolds. Those of us with happy memories have a happy time of it, swaddled in sunlight. For those of us with trauma-filled memories, life at times is a struggle, stressful. The traumas, karma, overshadow our lives. In the shadows it’s cold and we use a lot of energy to keep warm. To replace the energy lost, we often engage others, to tap into their energy, with our dramas and other attention-getting techniques. At some point, it’s exhausting for those we tap into and, if they have any sense to preserve their well-being, they walk away from us.

Those with happy memories overflow with energy. Their lives are terrific, always good and getting better. They generously share their energy with others, hoping to bring them happiness.

Those who are happy view the past as an entertaining illusion, like a movie. It is what it is whatever it is and whatever we want our memories to make of it. They know the most important free-will choice we have in life which in turn defines our attitude: how we choose to remember the past.

For those who hold onto a traumatic past, best for them to remember the traumas are now passed; that there is nothing to forget. That is, the past is nothing but an illusion.

Tailor’s question

“How do you dress, sir?”

I was first asked this question when getting fitted for a handmade suit in the 1970s. At the time I didn’t understand what the tailor was asking. Seeing me a bit befuddled, the tailor explained that he wanted to know whether my penis naturally lays to the right or the left so he could give me a bit more room in the trousers on the right or left. I hadn’t theretofore focused on my penis’s natural bend, so I told him to proceed as he thought best as my penis is like me politically; sometimes a bit left, something right.

A bit more fabric on one side or another creates a bit of a bulge in the trousers which implies the presence of a somewhat larger than average penis. I guess those who need to present themselves wearing a handmade suit also need to make certain other statements about themselves.

Grant Allen

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”

In school we are taught by others and learn to repeat what’s taught us when taking exams. This is the road to success in school. But our education in life comes from observing the universe about us and asking ourselves difficult questions about ourselves and our observations; to which there are many answers, each somewhat relevant or revealing of the truth and engendering further questions.

“School is very limited. Learning is unending!” William Wisher

“I always like to learn but I sometimes don’t like to be taught.” Winston Churchill

Funny and Sad

Most lives are funny and sad. Funny when we take ourselves seriously. Sad when that’s our life.

Ronald Reagan

“Rather than Communists and Marxists on the extreme ‘Left’ and Nazis and Fascists on the extreme ‘Right,’ I think the political spectrum should be ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ –Up towards individual freedom and Down towards control of the individual by the State. The extreme Up would be Anarchy, no government at all, while the extreme Down, at the bottom of the spectrum, would be all forms of totalitarianism; both Fascism and Communism, Nazism and Marxism, which together in common advocate the abolishment of individual freedom. On this spectrum, I place myself on the Up side, far from the extremism of anarchism, but as an advocate of individual liberty in accordance with a constitutional democracy and rule of law.” (1)

“Up” is close to heaven and “down” is hell.

In a constitutional democracy, a republic, a nation is governed by clear laws, generally well-understood, that brave time as they are difficult to change.  A representative democracy often leads to a self-serving government, controlled by wealthy and voting bloc special interest groups; not unlike totalitarian regimes where people in a conference room decide what’s best for all which is generally what’s best for themselves.

(1) Transcribed by Jack Wheeler, October, 1965 at a speech given by Ronald Reagan at UCLA

Once awakened, he went back to sleep

In college I took a philosophy course that was taught by an Indian (dot, not feather) professor. While not part of the curriculum, the professor was always encouraging us to take up Transcendental Meditation. He felt TM changed his life; a bit enlightened, he went from lethargic to energetic, from careless to responsible.

One wintery Tuesday at 11 in the morning, the professor didn’t show up for class. Funny, odd, as there was no notice on the door indicating the class was cancelled. In any event, after a while we realized he wasn’t coming so each of us left to get on with the rest of our day. A couple of days later, the professor did make it to class and explained his earlier absence: “I woke up early enough to make the class Tuesday morning. However, before class I did an hour of TM. It was fabulous, a total awakening like never before; felt terrific; so good that I decided to go back to sleep and missed the class.”

I guess that sometimes, when we glimpse enlightenment, we choose to return to the sleep state in which we were previously, simply because it feels warm and comfortable. Maybe the professor should have just slept through the morning without the TM interruption.

Mary Engelbreit

“Don’t look back, you’re not going that way.”

When driving, more than a occasional glace at the rear view mirror is an accident in the making.

The past is an illusion our mind makes seemingly real. Focusing on the past distracts our attention from the right here, right now and what’s next; limiting our ability to make the best of the present, the present-passed, as it unfolds before us.

Patience

Early on, humans trapped and hunted animals for food. Trapping requires more ingenuity and patience but is otherwise less taxing and dangerous.

Grabbing water from a stream will not quench our thirst as quickly as collecting the water by cupping our hands.

We can catch more fish in a net than by rod and reel. But it takes longer to construct a net than a rod and reel.

Courting potential mates with wining and dining is not as effective a mating strategy as showing up as the best version of who we are which might get mates to court us.

In business, a good product or service sells itself by word of mouth, less expensive than hiring salespeople.

Best not to effort running after what we desire but to figure out how to have it come to us.

The Nose Knows

One day two sushi chefs in New York went to the Fulton Fish Market looking for sushi grade tuna. They both happened upon a fishmonger who had what they wanted. The fishmonger offered them tuna from the east and west coasts. He said that the east coast tuna just came in, he had lots of it and was offering it at a lower price than the west coast tuna of which he had less and had come in a couple of days back. As the two tunas looked alike and the east coast tuna was presumably fresher and clearly cheaper, one of the sushi chefs purchased the east coast tuna. The other sushi chef smelled, touched and tasted the two tunas and purchased the west coast tuna as the east coast tuna didn’t feel quite right. Some months later the sushi chef who purchased the east coast tuna closed his restaurant for lack of business. The other sushi chef saw his business thriving.

Our eyes and ears often deceive us, but generally the nose knows. Best to engage all our senses to make sense of things.

Tadataka Unno

Tadataka Unno is a Japanese jazz pianist who came to New York city when he was 27 to further develop his craft. Against long odds, he met with success and was a pianist for several jazz groups. Now 40 and a recent father, on September 27, 2020, returning via subway to his home in Harlem, he was attacked by several young people shouting racial slurs (“Chinese motherfucker”) and causing him severe injury which makes it doubtful he can return to his role as a pianist. With stress, medical bills, unemployment and childcare to deal with, Unno went to GoFundMe with the goal of raising $25K. To date, he’s received more than $200K.

Unno’s experience is a horrible, tragic and frightening story.

However, just about anything, including this story, can be viewed as funny. Funny in that after working for years as a pianist and receiving relatively little recognition, today Unno is an internationally recognized victim who most likely made more money in 30 days than in the past 5+ years as a pianist. Society seems to value Unno’ story as a victim more than as an accomplished pianist. This informs us about the level of sophistication of society (which is also reflected by the mere existence of the attackers), which is contrary to how society sees itself.

Syoji Iiyama

In November, Syoji Iilyama, a retired eccentric Japanese businessman will receive the Order of the Sacred Treasure, a medal bestowed by the Emperor for Syoji’s work when he was 23 as a volunteer probation officer who rehabilitated 2.5 times as many convicted felons as did other probation officers.

Most probation officers do their job and represent the system from which felons have revolted. They are not role models, an example to felons of an attractive socially responsible lifestyle. Their job is to monitor released felons and remind them of the stick that awaits them if they behave out of line.

While I have no direct knowledge as to what made Syoji so successful as a probation officer, I suspect it was simply showing up as he is: an eccentric who lives outside of social boundaries (like the felons), yet has a wonderful life without harming others (though I’m sure he’s annoyed many people in an effort to entertain them and himself and/or wake them up); someone who has realized the purpose of life; an exemplary life that is available to all, including felons who can be awakened to realize their past choices are not who they are and that they could live like him if they choose to do so.

Nothing Beyond the Horizon

Memory and imagination allows us to see the past and future. However, once we open our eyes, we realize there is nothing to see beyond the horizon.

Miles Kington

“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting it into fruit salad.”

Classifications help organize and provide artificial meaningfulness in an otherwise overwhelming universe but often fail to provide insight into the true nature of the objects classified as everything is unique.

Everything is Beautiful or Funny

Everything is a unique manifestation of God. Therein lies the beauty of everything. If we don’t see this beauty, we don’t know what we’re looking at. If we think we know, we make fools; nothing funnier than that.

Sophie Pierson

“When I was in college I told my grandfather I had just met a boy and was in love with him. Immediately came the questions: ‘He’s from a good family; he’s white; he’s black; he’s Jewish; he’s Christian; he’s smart…? Uniformly I responded: ‘no.’ Well what is he then?’ my father asked. ‘He’s welcome’ I said.”

To love someone is to accept them as they are, not in the context of artificial identifying categories and descriptions.

Our Mind is the Sea

An infinite number of drops of rain lose their identity when they form the sea.

Proto-Germanic “saiwaz” (sea) is the etymology of the word “soul.”

speculative.

Daniel Menaker

“We believe we make our choices, but no — they make us.”

Our choices reflect how we see ourselves. How we respond to the consequences of our choices defines us. When how we see ourselves is not aligned with how we respond to the consequences of our choices, we make poor choices.

The Smart and the Wise

Those who are smart are best at remembering, quickly analyzing and arguing about matters passed. The wise are best at predicting things to come. The smart shed light on the past. The wise light the road forward. The smart have highly developed senses of seeing and hearing; often with underdeveloped senses of smell, taste and touch. In the extreme, they are idiot savants, able to do one thing extraordinarily well and not much else. The wise ones are generalists. They have more equally developed senses which allow them to know things from different perspectives. Having many perspectives is the essence of wisdom. Especially developed is their nose, the forwardmost of our senses. The nose knows when things smell right or not.

It’s easier to determine who is smart than who is wise as intelligence is judged ex-post and wisdom ex-ante.  Society is geared to recognize intelligence more than wisdom and elevates those deemed smart to high positions in society. As such, in the short-run the smartest are more successful than the wisest. In the long-run, however, those who are conventionally smart are less likely to survive as circumstances change; for it’s not survival of the smartest but survival of the wisest. The wisest are best at seeing changes before they are obvious and can either adapt to a changing environment or change their circumstances where they can better adapt.

Where are the enlightened disciples?

With enlightened masters from Jesus to Buddha to Rajneesh to Rebbe  Schneerson to the Dalai Lama and countless others with flocks of disciples, it is curious that when these enlightened ones transitioned from this world no equally enlightened disciple emerged to replace them. Perhaps a disciple, like a drone, cannot turn into a queen bee by following her lead. Perhaps it’s hard to see the light under the shadow of an enlightened master. Perhaps the road to enlightenment is a narrow road that doesn’t allow a disciple to walk side by side with their master and partake of the panoramic view of life. Or maybe a chick needs to give birth to itself by cracking open the eggshell in which it developed; otherwise, cracked open by the enlightened master, the chick might not survive its birth. That is, enlightenment is not a relay race with the passing of the baton but an individual journey one needs to travel alone. Though a road map, the writings and teachings of an enlightened master, can be helpful; following enlightened masters will never get us to the divine destination where they reside.

As Menachem Mendel Schneerson said at his inauguration as the Rebbe in 1951: “Now listen, Jews. Generally, in Chabad it has been demanded that each individual work on themselves, and not rely on the Rebbes. One must, on their own, transform the folly of materialism and the passion of the ‘animal soul’ to holiness… if one does not work on themselves, what good will submitting notes, singing songs, and saying lechayim do?… one must go to a place where nothing is known of godliness, nothing is known of Judaism, nothing is even known of the Hebrew alphabet, and while there to put oneself aside and ensure that the other calls out to God.”

Suffering

Desiring that which is not now available leads to suffering as it keeps us from being grateful for what we have. Moreover, suffering distracts us from keeping our eyes open for when what’s not now available or alternative show up.

Trump, Profound and Profane

Every US President is memorialized in the collective consciousness in simple terms. Franklin Roosevelt = the depression, WWII; Truman = nuclear bombing of Hiroshima; Eisenhower =  General; Kennedy = assassination; Johnson = Vietnam War; Nixon = Watergate; Ford = placeholder; Carter = peanut farmer; Reagan = optimist; Bush = Desert Storm; Clinton = Monica Lewinsky; Bush = 9/11, Gulf War; Obama = Obamacare; Trump = fake news, political incorrectness.

Of these associations, fake news will have the most profound and likely longest lasting affect on society. Today, most Americans realize media is a means to political and commercial ends; as such, it’s skewed; essentially, propaganda. This realization is an awakening that forces many to think independently about political issues.

Thinking independently is highly unusual. But that’s what the populace in in 2020. It decided it had had enough of the profane Trump. It bought into the Democratic Party’s labeling of Trump as  a Fascist, white-supremist, misogynist, anti-Semite, Nazi, etc. However, the populace also considered the anti-capitalist Democratic platform and said “no” to that by voting in more Republicans to Congress.

Illegal immigration was not an important issue. Had it been, the populace would have overwhelmingly voted for Biden as the Democratic Party’s anti-capitalistic platform would have made the US an unattractive destination for immigrants.

On balance, Trump, profound and profane, will have had the most significant affect of any recent president.

Grandson’s wisdom

On my grandson’s 7th birthday, we spoke about love. I asked him whom he loved most. He said he loved 99% of all the people he knows. I then said that maybe he didn’t understand love; and his 5 year old brother chimed in: “Maybe you don’t understand love.”

Creation

The universe,

an infinite number of worlds,

is empty

but for waves of energy

our minds transform

into unique worlds,

all of which seem real.

But real they are not

as there is only one mind

and one empty universe

with waves of energy.

Love 7

Knowing there is only one soul of infinite faces to which we are all connected is the essence of love.

Love is wisdom, viewing the universe through the many faces of the soul.

Love is compassion, treating others as we treat ourselves as we are but one thing, the soul.

The Purpose of Enlightenment

The purpose of enlightenment is both micro and macro, the realization of personal potential and collective evolution.

On a personal basis, enlightenment lights the road to a happy life and the realization that who we are is one with everything and eternal.

Collectively, when the whole of humanity realizes its potential, enlightenment, we will take an evolutionary quantum leap and transition from animal to divine consciousness: we will live in harmony with one another and our environment. Sapient beings have evolved technologically and now have the ability to destroy themselves and much that inhabits the Earth. Without this quantum leap in evolution, there will be many extinctions.

Samuel Ben Hofni

“When in doubt, do without.”

Our eyes and ears can persuade us of almost any falsehood. Thus, when our intuition raises doubts about our perceptions, we should proceed cautiously.

John Lennon

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

Pablo Picasso

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”

Life is an experiment. Whether a success or a failure is of little matter. What counts is whether it merits a writeup. If not, we haven’t lived.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy always increases with time. As such, it is easier to predict the near-future but less predictable is the distant-future. However, over time, as the distant-future becomes the near-future, it is more predictable. As well, the past becomes increasingly less certain over time; yet we often convince ourselves otherwise.

Charles Bukowski

“People are strange: they are constantly angered by trivial things, but on a major matter like totally wasting their lives, they hardly seem to notice.”

Frank Zappa

“A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it isn’t open.”

John Thorn (MLB’s official historian)

“History has to be fluid; if it were not fluid, why do we get periodic new biographies of Lincoln or Jesus? Stats are a funny thing. The deeper you go, the more impressed you are with the fact that these are symbols. They are not solid things.”

Penn Tanenbaum

“You get love, that’s enough.”

Today my five year old grandson, Penn, was defiant, unwilling to take his feet off our living room couch when I told him to do so. I said: “You have no respect for your grandfather.” He said: “You get love, that’s enough.” I laughed; The Beatles were right, all you need is love.

Meditation of death

Sometimes we take our circumstances and ourselves very seriously. This can be stressful. If we compartmentalize our predicament, we can put it in perspective and not let it affect other aspects of our life which otherwise are pleasing and from which we can take solace. However, compartmentalization is not easy.

Alternatively, we can find relief through the meditation of death, looking at our current situation from the perspective of the end of days. From that perspective we can look back at our lives and realize that much we once took seriously now seems ridiculous.

Complaint Department

Marriage is like a corporate partnership wherein one mate or the other assumes different department roles: Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Director of Human Resources, etc. However, at times conflicts arise when there is confusion over who heads which department. For example, a wife might complain to her husband because she is unhappy about something he said or did. Her husband in turn might be taken aback by her complaints as he views himself head of the Rewards Department, not the Complaint Department. He then needs assign his wife to take charge of the Complaint Department as she has the most experience in complaining.

Alternatively, when a wife is complaining, best to keep silent but for agreeing (“yes, you’re right”) with her gripes, letting her vent until she calms down.

A mistake would be addressing her issues rationally or trying to help her perceive what irks her in a different light. Doing so tends to agitate her further and invariably results in her saying: “You don’t understand me.” Well, now you know she is right. If you understood her, you would have little to do with her.

Heaven and Hell

Once upon a time there were twin sisters. They came from a good family, married well, had good children and lived happily ever after. Their lives were nearly identical but for one thing. One sister, Mary, was promiscuous and the other sister, Judith, was religious, adhering to a strict moral code. Everyone in their town knew Mary as “Mattress Mary” as it seemed she slept with everyone. Often, on hot evenings when people kept their windows open to let in the cool air, you knew in whose flat Mary was as she wailed “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.” While Mary was howling, Judith was quietly praying to God to forgive her sister.

When they were done living happily ever after, it was their time to go to the hereafter where God determined which sister would go to heaven and which to hell. I don’t know the mind of God and whom he sent where, but I know that Mary came from heaven and Judith came from hell.

The moral of this story is that “where is God to be found? In the place where He is given entry.” — Kotzker Rebbe.

Easy Work

Work is something we do that benefits others and for which others pay us to do. Some aspects of work tax our time and energy and other aspects are engaging and enjoyable which makes the work energizing. Best to do the enjoyable work and get others to do the work that’s taxing to us but hopefully not to them.

My career was running a hedge fund. I worked 80+ hours a week, though it didn’t feel like work. It was fun in good times and bad; maybe because I had a salesman, traders, analysts and an accountant on staff doing the work I had little interest in doing; or maybe because the fund was successful which allowed me and the workers to enjoy ourselves when not working.

The Icelander

“The best place is wherever you are; from wherever you are you can experience everything.”

Iceland is well-known as the place to be on New Year’s Eve, having the greatest display of individual and collective fireworks. I once asked an Icelander where is the best place in Iceland to be on New Year’s Eve. His reply was the quote above.

Yogi Berra

“The future ain’t what it used to be.”

Our attitudes form the future.

Penn Tanenbaum

I told my six year old grandson, Penn, that a friend of mine is expecting to die of terminal illness in the spring. Penn said: “Your friend is lucky.” I asked: “Why lucky?”  Penn said: “They are not dying now.”

No one is getting out of here alive. We are all dying; some slowly, some suddenly. No point in worrying about it, but best not to forget about it.

Courtesy of Alan Glickman

A woman, without her man, is nothing.

A woman, without her, man is nothing.

Together, they are one and can turn into many.

Apart, they both with be nothing.

Edward Abbey

“Of course I litter the public highway. After all, it’s not the beer cans that are ugly; it’s the highway that is ugly.”

Ross Levin

“Everyone is interesting if you listen to them.”

Circa Survive

“The difference between medicine and poison is in the dose.”

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

John Carter

In The Light

Take a memory

What is it really

A movie that plays in the mind

What’s it like

What’s it made of

Can you touch it

Hold it

Is it always there

Is it the same every time

Does it shape itself around how you’re feeling

Is it reliable

Look at it

Watch it

As it changes from one day to the next, one year to the next

Fading

Until what was vivid, becomes thin, vapid, and dissolves

Like an old movie reel

Fading

And forgotten

What of the future

What is it made of

Without memories

Without the scaffolding of the past

How can it stand

Is it not made of a better version of the past

Without something to revise

What would it be

And there’s now

What is this

The light

Only the light

Everything

All light

Scour the past

Hope for the future

For the holy light

The blessed light

The heavenly light

The light of God

Yet it can only be found here

Stripped of adjectives

Reduced of rank

Beyond comparison

To see the light

Is merely to look

It is inescapable

We are

As is everything

Only the light

The past and future

Swallowed and digested in the light of now

Then this

Spreads in all directions

Forward

Back

Locked in

In eternity

In the light

All is lost

Nothing revealed

Looking or Seeing

The words “look” and “see” are often used interchangeably. However, they are different. To look means to direct our eyes in a particular direction. To see means we become aware of something by using our eyes.

An essential difference between looking and seeing is in the context of time. We can look at the past and at the future. However, we cannot look at the present as the present is right here, right now; not somewhere else in which direction we can look.

We can see things only in the present. We cannot use our eyes to become aware of something in the past or future because these time frameworks are not real; they’re artificial; constructed by our mind; an illusion.

Hence, for example, we cannot look for real beauty; it only exists where we can see it which is wherever we are now.

When enlightened, we can see. When we are looking, we are looking in the dark.

Dalai Lama XIV

“People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.”

The Fools and the Wise

Fools look at the world through their individual and/or collective minds. The wise see the universe with their eyes and the minds of others.

George Orwell

“The choice for mankind lies between freedom and happiness and for the great bulk of mankind, happiness is better.”

Short-term happiness is easier to realize than freedom, but freedom allows for long-term happiness.

Clint Eastwood

“Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself seriously.”

The Christian Recorder, March 1862

“Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words shall never hurt me.”

This adage has apparently been lost in contemporary American society which suppresses freedom of speech through punishments like job losses, shunning and physical and economic violence.

Megumi Ilyama

“To love myself is to love you.”

I am you and you are me and we are one together.

The eternal and unchanging self has infinite faces of ever-changing expressions. Each face we see is us.

Passion: From Suffering to Love

Passion originally meant suffering.

Passion today means love.

Likewise we transition

from suffering to love.

Before birth we are one

and after an infinite many.

Suffering begins at birth

and ends when love connects us as one.

Some God, Many Animals

We are born as animals but are direct descendants of God with the potential to realize divine consciousness. Our potential is realized when we recognize that each of us is one with God, avatars of wisdom and compassion. As such, treat each other as we treat God, with respect and love. Those who don’t respect and love us don’t recognize us as God because they don’t recognize that they are God. They are animals and need to be treated accordingly.

Illeism

Illeism is when someone refers to themselves in the third person instead of the first person. For example, my saying “Victor went to the store” instead of saying “I went to the store.”

In Wikipedia: “[T]hird person self-referral can be associated with self-irony and not taking oneself too seriously (since the excessive use of pronoun “I” is often seen as a sign of narcissism and egocentrism), as well as with eccentricity in general. Psychological studies show that thinking and speaking of oneself in the third person increases wisdom and has a positive effect on one’s mental state because an individual who does so is more intellectually humble, more capable of empathy and understanding the perspectives of others, and is able to distance emotionally from one’s own problems. Accordingly, in certain Eastern religions, like Hinduism, illeism is sometimes seen as a sign of enlightenment, since through it, an individual detaches their eternal self (atman) from their bodily form.”

Notable illeists include Mikhail Gorbachev, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Monroe and Jesus Christ.

Practicing illeism can be a refreshing and mindful approach to conversation as well as a recognizing that the person we were in our past lives is not the person we are now. Moreover, referring to ourselves in the third person implies we are a character in a play; that life is a play.

True Inspiration

While great inspiration often seems to lead to success, success is a measure of luck while inspiration is measured by perspiration.

Seeing Through Our Own Mind

Our mind reflects the minds of others when we see through our ears and not our eyes. But when alone, we can think independently and see through our own mind.

Everything is Funny

Almost everything is funny in one way or another. What’s essentially funny is how people think and act and when they take themselves seriously. However, when we laugh at people, they often get upset. They don’t realize that they too could be laughing if they could see themselves as we see them. Or maybe they do so realize but are afraid to see themselves that way because doing so might irreparably damage their self-image. With their identity lost, they fear feeling vulnerable and lost because they don’t know who they are. However, they have nothing to fear since we don’t know who we are either.

Kaylee Brown

What Choosing Vanilla Really Says About Your Personality

“There are two types of people in the world: those who love vanilla and those who make fun of those who love vanilla. Vanilla lovers could easily gather and share laughs over the dread they feel whenever they order their favorite flavor amongst a group of friends.

So often, loyal vanilla zealots are labeled as “boring” or “unexciting” by their peers, and it can really start to wear a person down. It’s possible that your desire to choose vanilla has less to do with your taste buds’ preferences, and more to do with you as a person.  As someone who chooses vanilla, you:

1. Are content. When you fall in love with something, you are happy to be tied to it for a long time without the fear that you are missing out on something better. You’re happy with being happy. You do not always feel the need to change things up just in case there’s something better out there.

2. Are confident. You don’t need the approval of others to feel good about your choices. You know what you want and it doesn’t matter than other people have their opinions about it. You don’t care.

3. Like accessories. If you’re a man, you probably sport a hat or watch on most days. If you’re a lady, then scarves are a staple, and necklaces are never forgotten. How so? As a vanilla lover, you have chosen to start with a simple base and leave room for accessories like sprinkles, chocolate chips, fruit or a variety of candy crumbles. You most likely choose to start your outfits with a basic design and then add bits of flair here and there.

4. Have a sense of humor. As mentioned earlier, you endure a lot of mocking whenever you order vanilla. You will be called “boring,” “dull,” “lame” and in extreme cases, a “waste.” If you couldn’t laugh off the criticism of others, then you would have already become a closet vanilla eater. The fact that you continue to order your favorite simple flavor, despite knowing that the mockery will surely ensue, means that you can take a joke. No one can bring you down.

5. Are loyal. Even after being mocked, joked at and tempted by many to “change it up,” you’re still deeply in love with vanilla and feel no need to stray from it. You know that you’ve found a good thing and don’t feel the need to risk a date with your favorite vanilla treat in lieu of something more decadent. You don’t step out on vanilla just like you would never desert a friend or significant other.

6. Enjoy the simple things in life. It’s not going to take a lot to make you happy, and you really know how to value the small things. Vanilla is as simple as it gets, but there’s something about that simplicity that makes it enjoyable every time.  You don’t need grand gestures or constant entertainment to be happy.  Material possessions and flashy gifts are not your main concern.”

Ironically, vanilla personality characteristics have some overlap to those of eccentrics, people who are anything but vanilla. Maybe people who go for vanilla are not vanilla.

Kanako Iiyama

“There is no karma in our family line.”

We can see this world as it is what it is whatever it is, free from the definitions, meanings and stories created by karma. We are all born free of karma but accumulate karma through our experiences of days now past. When we let go of the past, we are free of karma, can experience the present as it is and see what’s coming our way.

Happy Attitude

Everything is seemingly experienced twice, in reality and in memory.

As to reality, it is what it is whatever it is. However, our memories are a function of our attitude.

Our memories and the stories we weave of them we can construct and reconstruct as we wish. There is almost always a way to view our memories as funny/happy stories. Happy stories make for a happy attitude which makes for happy experiences.

2020, The Aftermath

Some of us are nearsighted, some farsighted. Hopefully in 2020 our vision becomes 20/20 and everything near and far becomes clear.

The above post was published on December 31, 2019. The pandemic was the apocalypse, revealing who we are individually and collectively by our reactions to the pandemic and quarantine. Now everything near and far is clear. If not, our eyes are closed and we’ll fall asleep before we know it.

Everything Is Beautiful

That which is beautiful engenders our love. But when love overflows from our heart, we see beauty everywhere.

Those whose love is solely engendered by beauty fail to see beauty everywhere. They view those whose love makes everything beautiful as not truly knowing love. Of course, they are talking about themselves.

Joy

Joy is cosmic,

the highest level of happiness.

J is a finger calling us to come.

O is totality, perfection, God.

Y is two lines becoming one.

J is male

O is female.

Joy-us when the two become one.

Reconstructing Our Stories

We create stories from our selective memories. Some of our stories are sad, painful, traumatic or otherwise disturbing. However, we have much latitude in the stories we create. Even the most tragic stories we can reconstruct to be funny. If not funny from our perspective, then from the perspective of others. We can deploy the perspective of others once we detach ourselves from the person we identify as ourselves in the past. While doing so may be difficult, illesim can help the process.

Illesim is referring to ourselves in the third person. By doing so, we recognize that who we are now is not the same person we once were.

For example, I recall that “when I was a child my father would often scream and at times hit me for irritating him. In fact, one time he said he wished I was never born.” That’s a brutal recollection. Alternatively, I can recall the same story as “when Victor was a child his father would often scream and at times hit him because Victor irritated him. In fact, one time his father said he wished Victor was never born.” Recounting this story in the third person detaches me from it; makes me feel like I’m in the audience watching it as a play. From that perspective, it’s funny. Funny because Victor seemed to enjoy irritating his father even at the cost of his father going berserk and being abusive. Clearly the scene was not a problem for Victor. That Victor’s father wished Victor had never been born was his father’s problem.

In the audience sit the Gods.

The Way

Once we know we don’t know anything

we can get on our way.

Our destination is the way of the Way

where we come to know there is nothing to know

as everything is nothing but one thing

that is ever-changing and interdependent;

it is what it is whatever it is.

Shoji Ilyama

On watermelon: “I can tell it’s delicious without looking inside. That’s like my life.”

Our initial impressions can reveal the essence of things.

The stories we tell about ourselves are unnecessary to having a wonderful life.

Shoji Ilyama is true to his name. Shoji means quickly and smoothly.

When The Wise Are Unwise

The wisest cannot be wise when they identify themselves as wise.

Wisdom is the ability to see from many different perspectives, multi-centric perspectives. Amalgamating the many perspectives allows us to best know the nature of something now and how it may change in the future.

Identifying ourselves as wise is egocentric which limits our ability to have multi-centric perspectives and view things wisely.

Moreover, when we think we are wise we think we have little to learn. Hence, we learn little more and know less and less about that of which we once knew something as everything is forever changing. That leaves us thinking we know more than we do which is very unwise.

Physical Love

Essentially, life is a physical experience to be enjoyed. There is little difference between the time before our birth, the time of our lives and the time after but for our ability to enjoy physical pleasures in our lifetime. The joy of our physical experience is enhanced when we help others enjoy it as well. That’s called making love. It is joy-us.

While physical pleasures are temporary, their temporariness is to remind us that everything is temporary, including ourselves; thus, it’s best to physically enjoy ourselves in life. Otherwise, we are not truly alive.

Always Compassionate, Sometimes Hurtful

Recognizing divine consciousness in others, enlightened people treat others with compassion. Yet, sometimes the enlightened may seem insensitive or even intentionally hurtful when they laugh at others, bruising their foolish egos. Compassion doesn’t necessarily mean one suffers fools gladly.

A Sage is Sage

Sage is a spice that enhances the taste of certain foods. A sage is a wise man who adds spice to certain aspects of life.

Though many are sagacious, a true sage knows not to add sage to salads or uncooked foods generally as most people would find that unpalatable.

Hilton Root

“Art is the order of all things. Confusion adds life to art.”

The preceding quote was from stream of consciousness writings by Hilton Root, a friend since the age of 13, when he was 16 years old. The quote has stayed in memory over the decades as I found it, ironically, confusing.

Now, I read the quote as chaos is the fundamental  art (that which is art-ificial, manmade) is an assemblage of natural elements. When an artwork is ambiguous, meaning different things to different people, it reflects the nature of life itself.

Happy to Measure but not happy

Almost everything is measured today. There’s more focus on measurements and relative ranking than on the experience of that which is measured. Measurements are abstract, having nothing to do with the experience something provides. Ultimately, our focus on measuring leaves us experiencing things as a function of our mind rather than our senses. That makes experiences absurd, not real. It precludes us experiencing the absolute beauty in something that is relatively not beautiful. As such, we become oblivious that there is much about which to be grateful. As gratitude is a key to happiness, focusing on measurements diverts us from the path of happiness.

Close and Open Together

Together as two

we see each other much of the time.

Familiar, comfortable and at ease

in the rhythm of habits.

From a distance we look as one,

very close but not open.

Together as one

maybe far but far closer.

Always open,

connected joyfully all ways,

beyond stretches of time.

Together as one and

together as two,

altogether,

joy-us every which way.

Drunk

According the Guinness Book of World Records,  “drunk” holds the world’s record for the word with the most synonyms, as many as 2,241. This attests to how varied each of us experiences things in a free state of mind. However, when really drunk, we’re unlikely to articulate but a couple of synonyms and not remember them after we recover.

When we’re not drunk, our experience of things is likely as varied as when we are drunk which makes it remarkable that we can understand and stand each other. Maybe that’s why we get drunk.

Arthur Rubinstein

“Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can only be felt if you don’t set any condition.”

“I’m a free person; I feel terribly free. They could put me in chains and I still would be free because my thoughts would be mine – and that’s all I want to have.”

“To be alive, to able to see, to walk…it’s all a miracle. I have adapted the technique of living life from miracle to miracle.”

“Love life and life will love you back. Love people and they will love you back.”

“We only begin to live life when we learn to accept it on its own terms.”

“Of course there is no formula for success, except perhaps an unconditional acceptance of life, and what it brings.”

“Even when I’m sick and depressed, I love life.”

“When I was young, I used to have successes with women because I was young. Now I have successes with women because I am old. Middle age was the hardest part.”

Arthur Rubinstein is considered the greatest pianist of the 20th century. Perhaps more important are his insights into a happy life.

Rubinstein’s insights and attitude are easier said than realized. Perhaps Rubinstein was hyperthymic, a congenital disposition as is a talent for music. In Wikipedia, hyperthymia is characterized by:

• increased energy and productivity
• short sleep patterns
• vividness, activity extroversion
• self-assurance, self-confidence
• strong will
• extreme talkativeness
• tendency to repeat oneself
• risk-taking/sensation seeking
• breaking social norms
• very strong libido
• love of attention
• low threshold for boredom
• generosity and tendency to overspend
• emotion sensitivity
• cheerfulness and joviality
• unusual warmth
• expansiveness
• tirelessness
• irrepressibility, irresistible, and infectious quality

Hyperthymia is a rare state of mind, happiness forever; gratitude, optimism and looking forward, not back; enjoying ourselves; realizing our potential; and helping others do likewise by example and sharing insights.

Enjoy it and Let it Go

Food is among the wonderful physical pleasures of life, engaging our senses of smell and taste. Once swallowed, the pleasures are over, our bodies absorb some of the food for nutrition and let the rest go. Not letting it go is constipation. Constipation can be debilitating, distracting us from fully enjoying ourselves at whatever we’re doing.

Likewise, as to all experiences; best to enjoy them at the time, learn what we can from them and then let them go.

The Transition

No one is getting out of here alive. We all transition from this finite life to realize we are one with the universe forever. We transition as a piece of the universe to at peace with the universe.

In time before the transition, we ready ourselves for sleep unlike the countless thousands of temporary daily sleep-deaths. Best a dome shaped room, like the dome shaped egg from which we came, with a video of the night sky; our hand held by a loving one; and waves of sound of transcendental music filling the room to quiet our mind until we and the waves light and sound become one.

If the loving one speaks, what is there to say but “I love you, always have, always will, always and all ways. Thank you for being you. Thank you for having me.”

God, hidden in the light

Within colorless white light

hide the spectrum of colors.

When the sun dances with rain droplets

the rainbow appears

revealing the spectrum.

Blue is the symbol of wisdom.

Red is the symbol of love.

Between blue and red is yellow,

the symbol of God.

Flanked by wisdom and love is where God is hiding.

When we know wisdom and love,

we know where God is.

Freedom from Religion

All religions hold sacred a simple truth, the golden rule: compassion, treating others as we wish others to treat us, treating others as ourselves because we are all one. This is the way to liberation from the selfish self. This is the way to be one with God; to realizing our purpose in life, divine consciousness. If we are not compassion incarnate, religions subject us to rules, regulations, rituals and absurd protocols in the name of serving God. Only when religious followers awaken and embody the simple truth, the golden rule, can they have freedom from religion.

Dedicated to Paul Rand

Man has two ways through life. The way of the dog and the way of god.

Dog/God is a semordniap, a word whose letters read backwards also spell a word but with a different meaning.

The way of the “dog” and the way of “god” are suggested by the typeface of each word. “dog” begins with the letter “d” whose topmost part is above the horizontal axis of the word and ends in “g” whose lowermost part is below the horizontal axis. This suggests that the way of the dog begins in the heavens and ends below the ground. It begins with a sense of superiority, arrogance, and ends in equality with all. Likewise, “god” begins with “g” whose lowermost part is below the horizontal axis and ends in “d” whose topmost part is above the horizontal axis. It begins with equality, modesty, and ends in the heavens, in oneness with God. Simply, starting with arrogance leads us to death and starting with modesty leads us to the heavens.

The way of the dog is animal consciousness and the way of god is divine consciousness.

“o” is a symbol of perfection. The space within and the space without the “o” are mutually exclusive, mutually dependent and all there is. It is the now, the akin Earth experience of both dog and god; differing only in that the dog way enters the now with a sense of arrogance and the god way enters the now with modesty. Beyond the Earth experience, there are two ways: the way to the ground (the dog way) and the way to the heavens (the god way), death or transition. The choice between the ways is easy; dog is not man’s best friend, God is.

Paul Rand was a personal friend, a graphic designer who assiduously focused on typefaces. I was with Paul at his deathbed. Paul didn’t die, he transitioned.

The Key To Success: Luck

Luck is the key to success. Once we realize that we’re more than halfway to success.

Luck is identifying opportunities and making lucky choices to realize them. Anyone who thinks their success is solely a function of their own abilities and efforts is a fool. Fools are prone to bad luck.

To get lucky we need to vigilantly be on the lookout for luck. Luck happens everywhere but in some contexts more than others. Work is where lots of luck can be found. Working long hours and keeping our eyes open to for potentially lucky situations, we increase our chances of getting lucky. Then, when luck arrives, we recognize it immediately as we anticipated its arrival, embrace it and enjoy a ride to success, if we are lucky. If we’re not successful with the chance we took, it was still luck; only bad luck. But bad luck is better than no luck.

The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter 2

She was a wonderful and beautiful girl,

promiscuous and with low self-esteem.

She had the pick of the litter

but picking the litter was her dream.

A beautiful girl can have the most desirable mate, unless she has low self-esteem and feels she doesn’t deserve the best. With low self-esteem she feels mates are only interested in her for their sexual pleasure which she liberally provides to attract them. Beautiful and promiscuous makes her wonderful for her mates. Picking many mates, she get the average mate; like garbage relative to the most desirable.

You Are The Universe

There is nothing like you

and the universe is nothing without you.

In science it might sound perverse,

but you are the universe.

John Maynard Keynes

“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.”

We can experience the newness of everything and see endless possibilities once we escape the karmic prisons of our mind’s construction.

Wonderful

Every day is wonderful in a different way. That’s what makes it wonderful

While we remember very few of all those wonderful days now passed, that doesn’t take away from their wonderfulness. It allows us to more fully experience the wonderfulness of today.

T. S. Eliot

“We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

After the end of days, we arrive at the place before our birth. It’s like a simple frame surrounding an engaging painting, we don’t recognize this place as we’ve busied ourselves in life. It is here however where we come to know who we are and have always been; nothing and one with everything.

The universe is a glass of sparkling water.
Each of us a bubble that seems to come out of nowhere,
uniquely travelling its way to the top of the glass
and then seemingly disappears.
We don’t disappear.
We become one with everything
as we are from before we appear as a bubble.

Winston Churchill

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist see the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Our attitudes shape our perceptions.

Learning Our Way

When things don’t go the way we had expected because others disappointed us, we can blame them and/or ourselves. Solely blaming others is selfish, being upset and unhappy because we not grateful for our overall circumstances, and of little redeeming value beyond learning not to depend on particular others in the future. However, when we take full responsibility for the way things work out, we can learn something about the way we are which may preclude us from losing our way forward.

Turning White Light Black And Back

We start as one, invisible white light.

Then separate into paints, a colorful sight.

Mixed together, the colors turn black.

Once we go black we can never go back.

Before we are born, we are invisible white light; everything else transparently clear. Upon birth, we become tangible and differentiated into an infinite number of translucent hues. Soon thereafter, we are mixed together through socialization, our unique colors turn black and everything is opaque. This is almost irreversible as the darkness induces a self-pleasing sleep state.

But when we realize we are essentially white light, everything is clear again.

A Life In Sync

What’s difficult at the beginning is easy at the end; easy at the beginning is difficult at the end. A life in sync with physical and mental strength, agility and health (which peaks in the first third of its duration) is difficult at the beginning and easy at the end.

When easy at the end, the only difficult thing at the end is recalling the earlier difficulties as now they too seem easy upon reflection. Thus, difficult at the beginning is easy at the end and makes the beginning difficulties also easy. Likewise, while easy at the beginning is difficult at the end, when the end is difficult the beginning provides us no easy respite.

Life In A Wax Museum

When we identify with who we once were or with our past experiences, not with who we are and what we are doing now, we are like figures in a wax museum. Everything is cool until it’s not cool. Inevitably, when the temperature rises, when we are in circumstances that test our mettle, our imposing surface melts and reveals we are just generic skeletal forms.

When we identify with who we are and what we are doing now, we can best deal with whatever comes our way.

Insulting God

God has given us the greatest gift of all, the gift of life. Complaining about our lives or not being grateful for the life we have is insulting God.

Those who believe in God believe that God decides what happens to us after we depart Earth. Thus, insulting God is an ill-fated approach to living if we hope to go to a good place after we leave Earth.

As to those who believe there is no God, life revolves around them. Death is consciousness lost. They little fear death as they have died countless times; at least once daily at sleep time.

Regardless of whether one believes in God, each day is a lifetime. We transition daily from birth to sleep-death. Each awakening is a life anew. However, our daily new life is experienced in the context of our prior lives. Happy prior lives (lives lived with gratitude, optimism and happy memories) assure us of happiness in our current life. Thus, to be in a good place after we die, best to enjoy our lives and be grateful that we can.

However, as to those who spend time and effort arguing with others that God doesn’t exist or more generally fight to have their secular beliefs rule everyone’s life, are they enjoying themselves? If they are, there must be something wrong with them. If not, maybe they should believe in God.

Wisdom, The Easy Way

Wisdom is having many disparate and often contradictory perspectives. Wisdom allows us to know the nature of things which makes for a relatively easy and entertaining life. Most people find wisdom elusive, hard to access as they have great difficulty letting go of their selfish perspective. Yet, living a life without wisdom is the most difficult thing of all.

The Smart And The Wise

Those who are conventionally smart have telescopic or microscopic minds. They can see farther or closer than most of us can see. Those who are wise can see from many different perspectives, not just their own. While a telescopic or microscopic mind is clearly more powerful and would hence seem more valuable than a wise mind, the wise mind has many perspectives which is almost always better than one.

One Together And One With Everything

We are asleep together in the winter

in the clouds between heaven and Earth

and awaken as snowflakes

falling on mountains high up.

In the spring we melt into water

flowing into distant rivers.

When the rivers meet in the ocean

we are together again,

one with the ocean which seems all there is.

Which is it but for those who know we are one with everything

before evaporating into the clouds.

Death Perspective

Wisdom is having multifold perspectives which allow us to understand a situation and the ramifications of choices we make. Beyond our personal perspective, additional perspectives can be had when we truly connect with others and view the world as they see it. However, doing so is not easy.

Easier may be taking the perspective from the end of our days, the death perspective. The death perspective allows us to consider how we would feel in light of the possible consequences from the choices we make today; thus, allowing us to make choices we will least regret at the end of our days, the choices that realize wonderful lives.

The death perspective reveals how we will remember our lives and by extension how others will remember us when we are no longer in bodily form. It is wise to leave everyone with happy memories.

Moreover, the death perspective awakens us. With little time remaining before bodily death and not distracted by mortal pain, everything is intensely beautiful. This informs our experience of the present. It awakens us to gratitude, a key element of happiness. As well, as we frequent the death perspective, the prospect of bodily death is not as fear-fraught as it would be otherwise.

Once we avail ourselves of the death perspective, we can more easily access the perspective of others, wisdom.

Give And Take, Take It Or Leave It

Personal, commercial and social relationships can be characterized as “give and take” or “take it or leave it.”

In a give and take relationship, each party views the other as a package with positive and negative characteristics, needs and behaviors. To have a viable relationship with minimal conflicts, each party represses certain aspects of themselves or does things they would otherwise not do to please the other. Mostly give and take is done implicitly but sometimes there is an explicit accounting: “I did this for you, what have you done for me lately.” Give and take relationships are more of a job than a joy. Most commercial relationships are a give and take; otherwise, people wouldn’t need to be paid to work.

For example, in a personal relationship one party may desire to have sexual relations with others outside the relationship. However, their relationship mate might find that unacceptable. Thus, for the sake of limiting conflict in the relationship, the one who desires sex with others refrains from doing so.

In a take it or leave it personal relationship, each party loves the other and their relationship and accepts the other as they are. Each party does not necessarily view the other as perfect. Moreover, they don’t perceive the other in terms of their individual positive and negative features. They accept each other as a package deal, as the totality of who they are outweighs any aspects that might otherwise be problematic. This allows each party the freedom to be themselves. This is love; all is perfect, including each other’s shit.

While give and take might seem like a good operating system for two agreeable people, take it or leave relationships are founded on love which better braves time.

Selfishness

The average CEO at a United States company makes 250 times more than the average worker. Some workers and ideologs complain about this apparent income inequality and call the CEO selfish.  Perhaps, but not necessarily. More likely, if the CEO has any sense, he is happy; grateful for his good luck. However, complaining workers and ideologs are selfish; anger, envy and greed are the faces of selfishness. They take their ideological thoughts seriously instead of being  thankful that in reality they have a higher standard of living than most people in this world.

Likewise, when a CEO gets angry at a worker who could care less about how he is treated as he is grateful he’s making a living, the CEO is selfish and the grateful worker happy and thankful for the bonus of a good laugh at the fatuous CEO who can’t appreciate his good luck.

Complaining is selfishness which precludes happiness. Happiness come from being grateful for one’s good fortune.

Fake News, Real Costs

Politicians are forever seeking, at the lowest cost to them, the public’s attention. They do so by fabricating for journalists outrageous stories from minor events. Hoping to catch the public’s attention, viewers and in turn advertisers, journalists publish these stories in the free press. Then the politicians act, presumably for the benefit of the public, in reaction to the stories they read. Their reactions make real news, at the cost of making many lives difficult.

Kanako Iiyama

“No man is as pitiful as one who doesn’t wish others happiness.”

However jovial one might appear, one is profoundly unhappy if one doesn’t wish happiness for others. Or as John Lennon wrote:

“You can shine your shoes and wear a suit

You can comb your hair and look quite cute

You can hide your face behind a smile

One thing you can’t hide

Is when you’re crippled inside

You can wear a mask and paint your face

You can call yourself the human race

You can wear a collar and a tie

One thing you can’t hide

Is when you’re crippled inside…

Your can go to church and sing a hymn

You can judge me by the color of my skin

You can live a lie until you die

One thing you can’t hide

Is when you’re crippled inside…”

Kanako Iiyama

“They were looking for love everywhere but couldn’t find it because they had none of it to give.”

What does this mean?

(1) If we don’t have it, we don’t know it and therefore we can’t identity it when it comes our way. Hence, we should not seek what we don’t know.

(2) We can’t find something outside of us that which is not us. Us and everything else is one thing, infinite manifestations of the universe. Upon realizing our oneness with everything, we realize our seeking is like a dog chasing its tail to the point of frustration and exhaustion.

(3) We need to give in order to get. Love is about sharing with others, treating others as we would wish to be treated. There is no love unless we can give and receive it.

(4) Whatever you think it means.

Sex, The Oddest Thing

Sex is the oddest thing. A pleasurable thing, like eating, laughing and sleeping; fun. However, unlike other pleasures, sex is often adulterated and conditional, requiring fidelity vows (disguised as proclamations of love) as a precondition to engaging in sex. This leads to less sex and less fun, though it’s funny as it reflects that we don’t know love and can’t enjoy unadulterated sex.

From Sound To Tears

We emit vibrations,

waves of sound.

When our waves are in harmony,

that’s love;

when not,

that’s noise.

Harmony brings us to joyous tears,

noise tears us apart.

Ode To Josh Henderson

Consciousness makes music and verse

from a crazy and noisy universe.

Let only those with feet on the ground

travel to where the universe is being bound.

It is there that they will see

all that will be.

But others best not dare

go to this place unaware.

For it’s doubtful they will return

as they were without a burn.

Josh Henderson is an artist who took his life

as his mind was overwhelmed with strife.

Love 3

Divine love is compassion, treating all others as we would treat ourselves as we see others as not other than ourselves, imperfect and perfect simultaneously.

Animal love is being “in love.” When we are in love, love is a veneer that masks the otherwise clear imperfections of those we love. We treat our loved ones with love but not others who we see as imperfect. Moreover, when we are no longer in love with our loved ones, we see their imperfections.

As nothing but the universe as a whole is perfect, if we accept our individual imperfections instead of deluding ourselves by being in love we can begin to experience divine love.

Terry Marten

“The important thing is not what you have done in the past, it’s what you are doing today.”

Anonymous

“Sometimes I sit quietly and wonder why I’m not in a mental institution. Then I take a good look around at everyone and realize…maybe I already am.”

The Burning Bush

The mind is the flames;

ever-changing,

illuminating

and destructive burning heat.

The soul is the bush;

unchangeable,

eternal,

supporting the flames

but not transformed by the flames.

The mind is wisdom,

sometimes.

The soul is love,

forever.

Trump’s Concession Speech

I recently viewed a video lampooning Donald Trump. The video was captioned “Donald Trump’s Concession Speech.” The video shows a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street movie wherein Leonardo DiCaprio, the CEO of a brokerage firm, defiantly declares to his white salespeople and traders  “I’m not leaving” after he was charged with securities fraud. The firm soon collapsed as did Trump’s administration.

Perhaps cute to those who view Trump as a defiant crook heading a misogynist racist male cabal. But the video clip is also telling of the age-old conflict between educated priests and rough and tumble merchants.

Brokerage firms have two arms, sales/trading and research. Sales/trading is what the business is about; the rough and tumble of buying and selling stocks to make money. Research supports sales/trading with investment ideas. Research analysts analyze companies’ past performance and prospects, write reports and recommend stocks to buy and sell. Research analysts, like highly-educated priests, are articulate, well-reasoned and cogent in their analyses. However, while never in doubt about their recommendations, they are often wrong. Due to having different perspectives, there is a natural friction between traders/salespeople and analysts. Simply, analysts think traders/salespeople are lowbrows and traders/salespeople feel analysts “don’t get it;” that is, analysts don’t know how to make money in the markets.

However, traders/salespeople and analysts realize that each plays a necessary role in a firm’s success. The open question is who is to lead the firm. Analysts think that as they are the more educated, articulate and intelligent, they should lead a firm and have traders/salespeople work for them; a hierarchy based on perceived intelligence. Traders/salespeople view themselves as working for the customers which are the essence of the business. They believe who runs the firm should be based on the Golden Rule: those who make the gold rule.

The presidential election was likewise divided. Many who were anti-Trump (Democratic Party progressives) are like brokerage firm analysts, highly educated and articulate. They described Trump supporters as stupid, immature, greedy, deplorable, misogynists, fascists, Nazis, etc.; simply, “bad people.” Trump supporters said of those who were anti-Trump: “They don’t get it,” they don’t know how a successful economy and liberal society functions.

Ultimately, the progressives would throw Trump and other bad boys in prison or otherwise limit their laissez-faire approach to life. But then how will the progressives afford to buy milk and who will make the milk?

Returning to the video, it’s actually very funny; though not as intended. It answers a question long befuddling the geniuses leading the Democratic Party: “Why do the people, the working class, who stand to most benefit economically from Democratic Party programs don’t vote for us?”  Simply, the working class (presumably the majority of the government’s customers) might not know much but they know when Party leaders are laughing at them, thinking they are stupid, and they don’t like it.

Voltaire 3

“The best is the enemy of the good.”

That which we perceive as the best distracts us from appreciating that which we perceive as good. However, the good is also the enemy of the best as perceiving things relatively, as best or good, precludes us from experiencing things as they uniquely are.

Best and good are relative categories, empty of the things they arbitrarily contain. Experiencing things we’ve categorized, we experience our the associations we have with the categories; not things as they actually are. As everything is unique, experiencing things as they are is the experience of being present. Categorizing things as relatively best or good precludes us from the gratitude that invariably comes from the experience of being present. Gratitude is one of the keys of happiness. It’s difficult to be grateful when we are distracted by the enemies we create.

Joe Bruno

“Why is everybody now so interested in artificial intelligence, it’s been around for over a hundred years.”

Joe likely is referring to superficial intelligence which has been around since 1905 when the first IQ tests were offered. While IQ and related tests have been good predictors (as have high school grades) of future success in school, success in school reflects conformity of thought (thinking like test writers and teachers who determine grades) and the ability to delay gratification (doing schoolwork instead of goofing off).

Real intelligence can only be identified by life choices and outcomes over time; those that prove to be most fun and of least regrets. But that’s more a function of wisdom and luck than intelligence.

At Birth

At birth, my mother’s obstetrician told her I was the smartest baby he had ever delivered. A bit of a difficult birth, the obstetrician used forceps to pull me out as I kept trying to go back in. The obstetrician reasoned I knew where I came from, one with everything, is obviously a better place than where most of us go after birth; lives apart and separate from the infinite.

Materialistic View

Materialistic people think that enlightened masters and their serious disciples are silly. Rightfully so, though ironically the enlightened are laughing much of the time and the materialistic people only occasionally.

Kanako Iiyama

“It is better to share than to give.”

Giving implies a vertical relationship while sharing is horizontal.

By sharing, we give and receive and soon we are one.

Muhammad Ali

“The man who has no imagination has no wings.”

We cannot see what we cannot imagine. Without imagination we cannot see certain of our abilities or move quickly from and far beyond our immediate circumstances.

Closed Eyes Cry

Eyes open, we see the indescribable beauty of creation.

Eyes closed, we see a sad world our mind creates to manipulate us.

Remarkable 1

Years back, on a cold wet winter day, I met a native Indian man (dot, not feather) at Kennedy Airport. He was a security guard, walking around looking for anything suspicious. He said he also worked as a gas station attendant, maybe 70+ hours a week in total. He didn’t work all those hours for the money as he made more than he needed in half the time. He worked because to him the only difference between working and not was getting paid while working and not otherwise; hanging out at home or walking in his neighborhood was no different than walking around Kennedy Airport. Moreover, getting paid meant he was helping others with no effort on his part.

Our experiences are mostly a function of our attitude.

Albert Einstein

“The only source of knowledge is experience.”

Readings and conversations can bring us to certain understandings but knowledge comes by opening our eyes and seeing everything as never before.

Those (Buddha, Moses, Lao Tzu and Jesus) who came to know did not have a teacher. Their experience of soul was later recounted and formed into doctrine and scripture, just words.

G.K. Chesterton

“There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less.”

Desiring less is the shortest, easiest and most assured route to satisfaction. Satisfaction leads to gratitude which in turn leads to happiness, the purpose of life.

G.K. Chesterton

“Without education, we are in a horrible and deadly danger of taking educated people seriously.”

Those who are articulate and cogent are articulate and cogent but often mistaken for wise. This becomes obvious when we go to school with them.

Jose Martinez

“Psychedelics helped me realize that my problems are small compared to the world’s bigger problems like starvation and cancer. And now I understand what I’m actually here for in the world, which is to make people smile and to remind them that life can be beautiful even when it’s not so easy.”

Jose Martinez is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan where he lost both legs and and an arm. After 19 surgeries, opioid abuse, depression and anger, Jose took a facilitator-assisted psilocybin mushroom “journey” that allowed “him to step outside himself and focus on the good, and what is possible in life, which lately includes sidelines as a Paralympic surfer, an archer and a weight-training enthusiast. He also runs a nonprofit that seeks to connect veterans to nature through wilderness outings.” Andre Jacobs, The New York Times, November 16, 2021.

Jose represents the triumph of soul over self, heart over mind and the light over darkness. He is no longer a prisoner of war, a captive of his mind, as now his mind is his servant. While seemingly physically limited relative to most people, he has travelled to where few have the strength and fearless will to go: the realm of happiness.

Surreal 1

I’ve often asked guys what they would do if they met a beautiful girl who invited them to bed and upon disrobing she reveals four breasts. 90+% of the boys say they would grab their knapsack and run home. The rest would find it arousing and as such stay the evening, come what may. One guy’s reaction was conditional: he would stay as long as the girl didn’t have two breasts in the front and two in the back.

A surreal answer to a surreal question.

G.K. Chesterton

“Do not be so open-minded that your brains fall out.”

A mind open to many possibilities can be fooled into taking an irrational path. A closed mind cannot see the optimal path.

Better to “keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground.” Mike Robbins

Dendrochronology

Dendrochronology is a scientific analysis of dating trees. It reveals geological and atmospheric (climate) events and changes over time.

Likewise, blood analysis has evolved such that it can identify significant events of our lives. Apparently, blood carries memories of our past experiences. A blood analysis can identify experiences like the number of lovers we’ve had and other emotionally charged experiences.

In a landmark study sponsored by Theranos, children as young as 12 were mentally transported, through hypnosis, to age 75. Once transported, their blood was analysed and they were given the results. They were then asked to describe their past. While the blood analysis identified facts, their descriptions identified their attitudes. For example, some whose past indicated they had had more than one hundred sexual relationships had regrets of having too many relationships; others felt they had had too few. Ultimately, all the participants in the study, when told of the facts revealed from an analysis using generic blood, described their past vividly but with little relationship to the facts. This observation has led researchers to conclude that each person’s past has only a minor effect on their perception of who they are.

William Shakespeare

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

Unless they are clearly threatening to us, it’s difficult to take seriously someone who takes themselves seriously.

When someone can’t laugh at themselves, it’s difficult to take their perspective seriously.

When we are one with the light, we take everything lightly. We realize everything is light and when we or others think otherwise it’s funny.

Identity Politics

Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish, etc. were once adjectives. They identified someone’s superficial self-evident physical appearance, skin color and/or dress. These adjectives didn’t imply anything about an individual’s nature or attitude. What defined a person was a function of our interactions with them.

Today, these adjectives have become nouns. As nouns, they imply various socioeconomic and personality stereotypes that form our perception of the people they identify. The nouns are generalizations and, as all generalizations, are empty of anyone real. However, we perceive others in terms of these generalizations, group identities, not as they are.

Individuals also often identify with group identities and behave accordingly, not as independent individuals with their own minds. Moreover, they view themselves as different from other groups. This leads individuals to view the world as “us and them” which often leads to conflicts.

Our eyes see differences between individuals as adjectives. Our mind transforms these adjectives into nouns.

Big Bang

For most men, life begins and ends the same way; with the Big Bang, an orgasm. The first Big Bang results in embryonic fertilization and the second ends in immediately falling asleep.

The Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2021

NOTABLE & QUOTABLE: RUSSIA

“An unidentified ‘senior administration official’ in a Dec. 17 U.S. State Department telephone briefing for reporters:

You asked what the Russians are up to. I will let the Russians speak for themselves with regard to what they’re up to. We believe, the President believes, our allies believe that if there are concerns–and we have concerns on our side, they clearly have concerns on their side–they are best discussed diplomatically…And that is what we are proposing, and that is a far better path not only for Ukraine and all of us but for the Russian Federation itself.

I mean, let’s remember that Russia has one of the highest Covid levels in the world. The Russian people don’t need a war with Ukraine. They don’t need their sons coming home in body bags. They don’t need another foreign adventure. What they need is better health care, build back better, roads, schools, economic opportunity. And that’s what the polling is showing in Russia. So we hope that President Putin will take this opportunity for diplomacy and will also listen to the needs of his own people.”

Often, when we talk about others, we are subtlety (or in this instance wholly) talking about ourselves. Here,  to great folly, a senior administration official is showing Russia his cards; essentially saying that the US doesn’t have the will or the resources to help the Ukraine fight to remain an independent country; that the US supports a diplomatic settlement that would presumably slice off some of Ukraine’s eastern border for Russian consumption.

The quote is hysterical as it reveals the senior administration official doesn’t have a clue about Russia’s priorities. Cluelessness is characteristic of those who are overwhelmingly ideological and perfunctorily empirical.

Pasta Nostra

Last night I had another fabulous dinner at Joe Bruno’s Pasta Nostra restaurant in Norwalk, CT.  Upon entering the restaurant, Joe greeted me: “Hey Victor, how do you feel?’ To which I replied: “Alive and healthy, can’t complain.” To which Joe remarked: “You must be a masochist.” And then we both roared a laugh.

What Joe is saying is that there is a lot of difficult, frustrating or painful shit in life one needs to deal with beyond issues of just being alive and healthy. If after all the shit one is still happy to be alive and healthy, then one must be a masochist and enjoy difficult, frustrating or painful shit. Maybe so or maybe whatever comes one’s way is wonderful in some way.

Kanako IIyama

“God saw I was worried and God laughed. Then I laughed too.”

Laughing is the best remedy for stress or pain.

When we identify with God we can laugh at almost any state of mind.

Joe Bruno

“Anyone afraid of dying is a fool. It’s obvious everyone in life eventually dies. Only a fool would chose to come to life if they were afraid of dying.

Confucius 2

“Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”

The sun and the moon are temporarily hidden by the shadow Earth casts. Likewise, we may turn our back to the truth when we are otherwise distracted. But, in time, as we go around the truth comes around.

2022

All will be best when we forget the rest.

All the best is coming our way in 2022. Undoubtedly it will be wonderful, incomparable to times past which are not real; just memories.

Times past are neither good or bad. Only we determine which are good or bad. However times past were for us individually, it is at least wonderful we had a role the play of life. And now our role, however it unfolds, continues. That is something to celebrate.

Virgil

“Audentes fortuna iuvat.” (Fortune favors the bold)

Life is a black glass filled with water. However, because it’s black, looking in and about the glass we can’t tell what’s in it. Even when mortally thirsty, many dare not drink from the glass, fearing it may not agree with them; might even harm them. Others might take a small sip and wait for something better to come their way. Only the brave drink it all to experience life to the fullest. They don’t fear death because they know that whether you drink it or not, everyone is going to die.

The Traveling Wilburys

End Of The Line

Well, it’s alright, ridin’ around in the breeze
Well, it’s alright, if you live the life you please
Well, it’s alright, doin’ the best you can
Well, it’s alright, as long as you lend a hand

You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring (at the end of the line)
Waiting for someone to tell you everything (at the end of the line)
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring (at the end of the line)
Maybe a diamond ring

Well, it’s alright, even if they say you’re wrong
Well, it’s alright, sometimes you gotta be strong
Well, it’s alright, as long as you got somewhere to lay
Well, it’s alright, everyday is judgment day

Maybe somewhere down the road a ways (at the end of the line)
You’ll think of me and wonder where I am these days (at the end of the line)
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays (at the end of the line)
Purple Haze

Well, it’s alright, even when push comes to shove
Well, it’s alright, if you got someone to love
Well, it’s alright, everything’ll work out fine
Well, it’s alright, we’re going to the end of the line

Don’t have to be ashamed of the car I drive (at the end of the line)
I’m just glad to be here, happy to be alive (at the end of the line)
And it don’t matter if you’re by my side (at the end of the line)
I’m satisfied

Well, it’s alright, even if you’re old and grey
Well, it’s alright, you still got something to say
Well, it’s alright, remember to live and let live
Well, it’s alright, the best you can do is forgive

Well, it’s alright (alright), riding around on the breeze
Well, it’s alright (alright), if you live the life you please
Well, it’s alright, even if the sun don’t shine
Well, it’s alright (alright), we’re going to the end of the line

The Traveling Wilburys was a British-American supergroup which included Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. They came together in 1988. “End Of The Line” was published in October, 1988. Roy Orbison came to the end of the line two months later when he died of a heart attack at age 52.

When we come to the time before our bodily death, the end of the line, we realize the purpose of life: to have a wonderful time, realize our potential and help others likewise; to make the most of our circumstances instead of hoping our circumstances change; to discover the universe on our own; and not waste our time daydreaming. Moreover, we should dance to the beat of our drum; be grateful for what we have; live each day as if it is our last; and reflect on our past from a mind-revealing, psychedelic perspective (psykhē “mind” + dēloun “make visible, reveal” (from dēlos “visible, clear)), perspective. As well, we need not concern ourselves with current conflicts as long as we connect to others with love. As to material possessions, they are meaningless as what matters is celebrating our good fortune of simply being alive. Moreover, throughout our lives our personal perspectives matter and we should accept the perspectives of others and not judge them. Finally, whether our lives are or aren’t glorious, bathed in sunshine, we are all going to die. That’s alright when we appreciate our lives until then.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

When there is nothing left to take away, all there is is nothing. From nothing came the Big Bang which created everything. Perfection is when we are one with nothing which in turn makes us one with everything.

Charlie Leeds

“Gamblers pay speculators to play with them.”

From a certain perspective, our everyday lives are like a game wherein our lives are defined by the choices we make. Some choices provide us with immediate gratification and others with distant gratification. Our choices can be viewed in the context of risk/reward wherein the greater the risk the greater of the reward, though extreme risks often lead to negative rewards.

For those who find pleasure taking risks, there is ultimately no financial rewards as their aim is the immediate thrill of risk-taking. They are essentially gamblers.

Rewards go to those who know how to manage risk. They are speculators. They take risks that are commonly perceived to be greater than they are, limit loses from risks and take many risks to mitigate unfavorable randomness. They take risks to realize rewards and are unfazed by any one particular risk.

Essentially, gamblers pay speculators to play with them.

For those who fear taking commonly perceived risks, there is little chance for realizing significant rewards as they don’t have a chance when they don’t take a chance. They are spectators, not players, in the game of life.

Charlie Leeds was a kind and generous man; a good friend; a well-rounded Wall Street analyst, investor, speculator, gambler and spectator. At 260 pounds, perhaps too well-rounded. Charlie died in 2001 of a heart attack at age 50.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“All human beings have three lives: public, private, and secret.”

True friends are those with whom we can share our secret lives.

Lee Moncho

“A life without smoking, drinking, chasing women and taking big risks will likely be long in length but short in breadth.”

The fullest life balances length and breadth.

The Gene Of Happiness

I am blessed to be born with the gene of happiness.

Naturally happy, I’m always grateful in all circumstances (as they could always be worse), optimistic that better times will come soon and free to experience the moment as it unfolds (free from the prison the mind creates with personal and collective stories and meanings).

Moreover, I think everyone is happy. It’s difficult for me to imagine anyone who has their basic animal needs satisfied (food, shelter, security, health and companionship) is not happy. When people are sad or angry, I think these feelings are very temporary. When they last long, I think they have a personality defect. For example, when I was a growing up, my father was often angry with me, screamed at me, placed curbs on my freedom and on rare occasions hit me. In fact, once my father screamed: “I wish you were never born.” How did I feel? I felt that he loved me but had some personality issues that precluded him from expressing his love.

With the gene of happiness, I love everyone and feel everyone loves me; if not now, then later. While I’ve been waiting for a long time for many to eventually love me, optimism keeps me feeling that eventually they will.

Mizuta Masahide

Since my house burned down
I now own a better view
of the rising moon

Gratitude in all circumstances is an essential element of happiness.

Confucius 4

“He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior.”

Perhaps Confucius means that he who conquers his self is the mightiest warrior. The self is our identity that is manifested by our body, finite in time and space. When we conquer our self, we are nothing but one of infinite manifestations of the universe which is forever and endless. To conquer our self takes the greatest courage to overcome the fear that we will be nothing. But it takes little courage when we realize the obvious, sooner or later our self will be nothing.

Confucius 5

“To be wronged is nothing, unless you continue to remember it.”

We are often prisoners of our mind which, as its etymology, is our memory.

Etymology 1

According to Wikipedia “The word [analyI sis] comes from the Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (analysis, “a breaking-up” or “an untying;” from ana- “up, throughout” and lysis “a loosening”).”

Separately, Wikipedia states  the word “bullshit” means nonsense and derives from the “word ‘bull’ [which] may have derived from the Old French bole meaning ‘fraud, deceit'”

However, perhaps “analysis’ is rooted in the word “anal.” At the dawn of humanity, humans were hunter-gatherers. In hunting for prey, hunters would follow the tracks of an animal and identify it and its proximity by analyzing its feces for freshness, form, texture, taste and smell. Thus, the first analysis was the examination of anal excrement.

As civilization developed with the advent of farming, hunters tracking bison at times initially misidentified the feces of a rancher’s bull as that of bison; bullshit, not the real thing they were seeking.

Laser

According to Wikipedia, “A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word “laser” is an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation“.  The first laser was built in 1960, Lasers are used in optical disc drives, laser printers, barcode scanners, DNA sequencing instruments, fiber-optic, semiconducting chip manufacturing (photolithography), and free-space optical communication, laser surgery and skin treatments, cutting and welding materials, military and law enforcement devices for marking targets and measuring range and speed, and in laser lighting displays for entertainment.”

Clearly, a laser can do many extraordinary things relative to a flashlight. Yet, for making our way through a dark thicket, a flashlight is better. Likewise, those with a laser-sharp mind are best not deployed to solve simple tasks. For example, undoubtedly Albert Einstein was extraordinarily brilliant, yet forgot the basic concept of gravity (what goes up must go down) as he lost most of the money he received with his Noble Prize in the stock market in the 1920s.

Confucius 6

“The one who would be in constant happiness must frequently change.”

Those who are happy are grateful for and make the best of whatever their circumstances. As the only constant in the universe is change, to always be happy we need frequently change as our circumstances change.

Thomas Woodrow Wilson

“Any man who carries a hyphen about with him carries a dagger that he is ready to plunge into the vitals of this Republic whenever he gets ready.”

Theodore Roosevelt: “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all … The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic … There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.”

Identity politics in America has created a Tower of Babel as different identity groups don’t understand each other’s thinking and values. Trust between groups has declined which has led to hostilities. Lacking integrity, the Tower will collapse.

In broad terms, there are “progressives” who wish to destroy the historical American identity of capitalism and personal freedoms of speech and choice at the local level and supplant them with central government controls, while “conservatives” wish to preserve this American identity.  Identity groups are represented by politicians whose operative word is “fight,”  declaring: “I will fight for you [your group] for….” Rarely today do people frame an issue in terms of what’s the right thing to do, what’s best for America. Ultimately, there are temporary winners and losers on various issues but the country as a whole is every time the loser on a path to its demise.

David Foster Wallace

“There are two young fish swimming along who happen to meet an older fish. The older fish nods at them and says: ‘Morning boys, how’s the water?’ The two young fish swim on for a bit and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and asks: ‘What the hell is water?'”

Of the most basic things we are often oblivious. Yet, as we enter Act 3 of our lives, the transition, our appreciation of the most subtle things is enhanced. For example, an “ugly” formica kitchen surface, that we desperately want to replace with granite, is overwhelmingly beautiful when we envision ourselves dying in five minutes.

Time

Time is a light

from beyond the horizon

making its way to here.

Time is an echo

making its way to somewhere.

Time is a subtle breeze

lulling us to sleep.

Wisdom And Compassion

Wisdom and compassion are the essence of divine consciousness.

Wisdom is embracing many perspectives, not solely our personal perspective. Compassion is treating others as we wish to be treated.

Wisdom is light. Compassion is love.

While seemingly mutually exclusive, wisdom and compassion are mutually dependent as one doesn’t exist without the other.

Wisdom is the realization that “every thing” is a different aspect of one thing. While “every thing” appears as a distinct thing that seems it can be variously described, “every thing” is temporary and ever-changing. Thus, “every thing” cannot be described as it is not the same thing at the end of its description as it was at the start. Ultimately, “every thing” is a manifestation of one thing that cannot be described beyond that it is what it is whatever it is. Thus, “every thing,” when viewed as independent of the one thing, is illusionary. Though illusionary, “every thing” appears real, different from every other thing and as a function of our individual perspectives and attitudes. Thus, to truly know some thing, and ultimately realize it is part of the one thing, we need to embrace all perspectives and accept that our personal perspective is not better than that of others. This is wisdom. With wisdom, we embrace others and their perspectives as dear to us as ourselves and our own. This is compassion.

With compassion we treat others as we wish to be treated as we realize we and others are just seemingly different, temporary manifestations of one thing. Thus, with compassion, we identify with others and embrace their perspectives.

Hence, compassion and wisdom are one.

Ultimately, as in Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” wisdom is the light that leads us to compassion, the love of everything, as “every thing” is everything.

Religious Structures

Religious practices vary considerably such that there is no scholarly consensus about what precisely constitutes a religion. However, religions are generally founded on matters supernatural, transcendental and spiritual. Standing on this foundation, all early adherents are on equal footing.

As more adherents join a religion, structures are built upon its foundation to house them. The structures have many stories, stories upon stories; each sustaining the story above it. The most desirable living spaces in these building structures are those with the best views, those on the highest stories, the stories raised to reach the heavens. These living spaces are given to religious leaders and their wealthy supporters. Then, all adherents are no longer on equal footing. In fact, as soon as the structures are a couple of stories tall, their foundations are buried underground and not visible. All that remains are the stories.

The Face Of God

Each of us has a soul.

But there is only one soul.

The face of the soul is the face of God.

Invisible.

Our mind masks the face of our soul.

Our mind has an infinite number of faces.

Fearing the nothingness beneath our mask,

few dare remove it.

But only then can we see the face of God.

Om And Oh

“Om” and “oh” are the sounds before words were born.

“Om” is the incantation at the beginning and end of chapters in the Hindu scriptures, the Vedas and Upanishads. It is the sound made in ceremonies relating to the rites of passage such as weddings and during meditative and spiritual activities like yoga. It is the sound of the universe that’s meant to encompass all sounds; the sound attesting to our consciousness; the sound recognizing the divine.

Likewise, “oh” is a sound used to express our awakening, our immediate emotional reaction to something to which we have just been made aware.

The expression “Oh my God” is the most common expression heard at the moment of orgasm. In this context, “oh my God” means one is awakened to one’s oneness with God; one’s oneness with the universe before the beginning of time and as nothing becomes everything: the Big Bang.

As “Om” is an incantation that’s chanted as “Ommmmmmmmmm,” “oh my God” seems more consistent with the pace of approaching sexual climax than “Ommmmmmmmmm my God.”

The Soul

There is only one soul.

That’s why it’s called the sole.

The soul is rarely visible,

like the sole of our feet,

but it’s the axis connecting us to the Earth

and the foundation upon which everything stands.

Heaven

In heaven we are all even

as only souls can enter heaven

and each soul is the same.

We can bring our souls to heaven

but we can’t bring our soles to heaven.

Those who know not of heaven

cannot part with their soles until nightfall.

Then they become lost souls.

For the sun reveals the entrance to heaven

and at night heaven’s gates are closed.

Being In The Present

However dark, foreboding or uncertain the future appears, it doesn’t affect us when we are in the true-present, the timeless space before now and all that follows.

In late 1985 I was married with one child, unemployed, had little money saved and started a hedge fund managing the funds of a small group of investors. Soon after, in the Spring of 1986, I became embroiled in an “insider trading” scandal. The related investigation made the newspapers and shadowed me everywhere. I was at risk of losing overwhelming sums for legal fees, fines and penalties as well as the prospect of going to prison and being permanently barred from running a hedge fund which was my only viable means of earning a living. The investigation lasted for three and a half years by which time I had two more children. Then I was indicted. The trial concluded in late spring of 1990. I was found guilty. After two years spent on appealing the verdict, I was sentenced to 18 months in prison, fined $1.8M and had the prospect, pending appeals, of losing my license to continue managing money. I had also up until then paid roughly $2M for legal representation. I went to prison in January 1994. In January, 2000 I lost the appeals and was permanently barred from managing other people’s money.

With the attention I needed to give the investigation and trial and the dire consequences hanging over my head for eight years, investors and friends were astonished that I was able to continue running my hedge fund successfully without a care. My view was that beyond managing the hedge fund I had nothing to worry about one day to the next. The circumstances were what they were and I would deal with them as they unfolded. I wasn’t dying of cancer; things could have always been worse.  In fact, I was grateful for my circumstances. I was happy. Simply, I was in the present and focused on whatever next was going to be in the now.

Blind To Our Shadows When Gazing At The Sun

When facing the sun, shrouded in its warmth and the gazing at the beauty of everything, we’re often oblivious to the shadows we cast.

In the post, Being In The Present, I talked about my “insider trading” criminal case. Ultimately, as a result of losing at trial, I spent 1994 in a Federal prison in Fairton, NJ.

I looked forward to going to prison. Thought I’d have a good time meeting guys outside my social/business/special interests circles. Maybe get to do things I hadn’t previously been exposed to: garden maintenance, car repair, preparing institutional foods; maybe read some books. After having snapped some lawnmower blades on rock outcroppings and making a car’s problems worse, I was fired from those jobs. I didn’t get a chance to work in the kitchen because I casually mentioned to an inmate that I must have gotten genital herpes years back at a group sex party; as word got around, some were concerned herpes was transmittable through food, so I was nixed from that job. Didn’t get a chance to read much beyond periodicals. Most of the time spent was pondering the nature of things and interviewing the prisoners about their circumstances and how they viewed the world. I joked around a lot, seemed to entertain the mates and the guards. Paid someone $1 to make my bed daily, someone else to make me hand-cut potato fries and broiled New Zealand calves’ liver and another mate to clean the shower before I went in to jerk off. I thought I was well liked, until my last night there. Last night there, the prisoners typically threw a party for the one who was departing. As my time neared, I was getting the feeling they weren’t having a party for me. So I ordered 80 ice cream sandwiches from the commissary (from which you could privately buy foods and other stuffs) to ensure a party was to be. Everyone loved it; best party of the season. However, at some point during the party I said to a crowd of mates “you guys will probably miss me.” To which one replied: “We won’t miss you. We hate you.” Incredulous, I said, “really, why’s that?” To which he replied: “because you had too good a time here.” Now, 27 years later, I sometimes think maybe some people in my current life feel the same way about me. But, like in prison, I can’t imagine that to be so. Gazing at the sun I’m oblivious of the shadows I cast.

Sense, Nonsense

When we open our eyes we see what we sense, which a fool’s mind makes into nonsense.

We appreciate a beautiful artwork when we see it. That makes sense. A collector paying millions for such an artwork when an indistinguishable facsimile can be had for a pittance, that’s foolish nonsense.

Beyond beautiful artworks, there is beauty everywhere for those who have the sense to open their eyes; but not for fools who prefer nonsense.

Of course, “collectible” paintings are not purchased for the visual experience they provide but for their speculative value (that there will be a greater fool to pay more for them in the future), or as objects of prestige (identifying those who foolishly need to impress others or themselves) or as a pass to enter certain high-society social circles inhabited by other fools.

Sun God

There is one God.

The God before the Big Bang.

The God beyond our comprehension.

The God that birthed billions of sons.

God’s sons too are gods.

They are the stars.

God’s son closest to us is our sun.

The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption is a story of men serving life sentences in a brutal penitentiary. The penitentiary is a metaphor for living in society. Most of us live our entire lives in a penitentiary. But in The Shawshank Redemption, as in society generally, a few have a chance at redemption, freedom: Brooks Hatlen, an old man who managed the prison library; Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongly imprisoned for the murder of his wife and her lover; and Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, a prison contraband smuggler.

After 50 years of “good behavior” (a model prisoner serving others as a librarian; a kind man who cares for an injured bird) Brooks is free to leave. However, a sentence well-served, like a life well-served, doesn’t guarantee redemption. For Brooks there is no redemption. Redemption requires letting go of our past where we are imprisoned by our mind. While excited at the prospect of freedom, Brooks can’t part with his identity as a prison librarian and embrace the freedom that awaits him. He becomes depressed and hangs himself soon upon his release.

Andy is like everyman, not deserving punishment but punished nonetheless, forced to serve a role in life that’s not to his liking. He makes the most of his life in prison but for years devotes his time and energy on digging a tunnel from his cell to freedom outside the prison walls. On the day of his escape, he emerges from a hole in the earth, essentially reborn. Once free, like all free men he leaves the roles society has slotted him to live carefree in a beachfront village, presumably without risk of extradition. Andy finds redemption.  His efforts are like years of meditation that culminate in escaping the prison of the role-plying self and past identities to be one with the world at large.

Ellis is long-imprisoned for a crime he committed in his youth. Periodically he comes up for parole which he’s denied. Again and again he tells the parole board that he is sorry about his criminal past, completely rehabilitated and would never do it again. Again and again, the board rejects his petition for parole. Then, finally, he tells the board that he often imagines a boy who he doesn’t know. He sees the boy about to commit a horrible crime and he only wishes he could grab that boy before the crime is committed. The board then grants him parole. Essentially, Ellis is saying that he no longer is the person who committed the crime for which he went to prison; the person he is now could never have committed such a crime and he would try to stop its commission if he saw it happening. Keeping Ellis incarcerated longer would be punishing someone for a crime they didn’t commit. His redemption comes from completely disavowing his past which allows him to smuggle himself out of prison. Likewise, we are only free when we leave the karmic prison of our mind.

Redemption, freedom, is ultimately the purpose of life. It comes not simply by living a good life, treating others well and satisfying our responsibilities. It comes from long and hard work to realize our personal and societal identities are temporary roles in the play of life. Then, we know the name of the play, “Terrific.”

God’s Mind

Our mind defines us and the world around us.

We adamantly hold our mind’s view as reality

and fear to think differently

for if we let go our mind we’d lose it and be lost.

That’s how our mind controls us.

If lost, what would replace it,

who would we then be?

The undifferentiated mind,

the mind of God.

Personal Observation 1

Since the beginning of time I can remember, everything seemed new and unique, especially the causal or coincidental relationship between things, why things are as they are. As well, I’ve been always amazed how people view the same thing so differently and hold no doubts about their respective perspectives. Curiosity has driven me down many roads to understand things. But after travelling countless miles, I realize the road was a treadmill as I still don’t know much about anything. But, I keep at it, probably because it’s not frustrating but fun, as the means and the ends are the same. Some would say that after a lifetime of fruitless effort, I’m a fool trying to understand things; but better that than undoubtedly being a fool thinking I do.

The Present And The Now

Consciousness is binary,

the present and the now.

The present and the now seem synonymous

but are mutually exclusive,

complementary

and interdependent

as one cannot exist without the other.

The present is the pre-sent,

the time before the universe is sent out as expressions of itself.

The now is when our senses initially experience the universe expressing itself.

Time doesn’t exist in the pre-sent.

In the pre-sent eternity lies.

The now is the beginning of time.

All other time,

past and future,

are illusions created by our mind.

The present is the beginningless and endless time

before a gong is struck,

shattering silence and awaking us to the now.

In the now we hear its sound,

initially powerful

and then slowly drifting away

until only silence remains,

the present.

The present is the space

between exhale and inhale.

Inhaling and exhaling is the now.

Progressives

Progressives are clowns, the funniest people when they are not scary. Funny when they take their crazy thoughts seriously. Scary when enough others take them seriously and make them their leaders.

Progressives are idealists who aim to change the social/political order so they may better people’s lives. They are intellectuals who think they are smarter than the less educated and therefore they should decide what’s best for all. Alternatively, businesspeople take an empirical and practical approach to providing goods and services to people to choose for themselves how to better their lives. They provide what the market demands, without judgement of the desires of their customers.

Progressives view the social order vertically, an autocracy. Businesspeople view the world horizontally, a democracy where people vote with their cash.

Progressives are risk-averse and want to control everything. Businesspeople are risk-takers and succeed by managing risks.

Progressives promote their agenda with propaganda while businesspeople advertise.

Progressives need individuals to think as a group. Businesses thrive on independent thinkers choosing what’s best for themselves based on product quality and price.

Progressives are inflexible and face extinction as the world changes and they can’t. Businesspeople who survive are those most able to adapt to change.

Progressives hate the lower classes which they view as a necessary evil they need to accommodate. Businesspeople view their customers as the gods they serve.

Progressives envision building a house from the roof to the ground which inevitably crushes those building it. Businesspeople built a house from the ground up for all who can afford it to live.

Everything Is One Thing

Everything is unique now

and unlike itself after now.

Everything is nothing before it is something.

I am nothing before I am what I am whatever I am.

Nothing is one thing, nothing.

Everything, including me, is one thing.

Freedom From Mind

The present is the pre-sent, the space before the universe expresses itself as infinite unique manifestations. The present is empty. It is silent. Time does not exist in the present. It is dark until we light it up by opening our eyes. The now is when the universe expresses itself. It is when time begins. In the now we experience the universe via our senses and our mind.

The present is the space between exhale and inhale, between bodily death and birth, between going to sleep and awakening. In the present we are not distracted by the universe expressing itself in the now. We can observe the universe and come to know it.

The experience via our senses is what it is whatever it is; some of it to our liking and some not. It’s a visceral connection with the universe. The experience via our mind is of memories, meanings and stories that make us feel good, bad, indifferent and countless other states of mind.

We equate our mind’s perception of the universe with reality. We take it seriously and hold onto it regardless of how miserable it may make us feel. Perceiving the universe otherwise requires us to abandon our mind. We’re afraid to do that as we fear we would be lost without our mind. That’s how our mind imprisons us.

However, we can escape our mind’s prison and not find ourselves lost when we leave the now and go to the present. The present is a peaceful place where there is nothing to fear. In the present we can open our eyes and realize that there are infinite mind frames for experiencing the universe; that the mind frame we heretofore could not let go was not particularly more valid than others; that we are free to experience the universe through a mind frame of our choosing. This is wisdom. As a default, we choose the happy mind; a mind that is grateful, optimistic and free from karmic prisons.

With a happy mind, much of life is absurdly funny as we see most people taking their respective mind’s perceptions seriously.

When we open our eyes and light up the darkness in the present, we realize the universe is just light; infinite, eternal, ever-changing and unique manifestations of light; that we are light, not just individual little selves trying to make a go of it in the short time between birth and death.

Realizing all is light, we fill with compassion. We’re joyous making others happy and helping them escape their mind’s prison as that’s our purpose in life.

Seeing With Our Eyes

In October, 1992 I started collecting tribal art. While initially I didn’t imagine tribal art would be expensive, I was soon amazed at how expensive some objects were; some fetching hundreds of thousands of dollars. What made these objects so expensive is that there is a limited supply of “authentic” objects. (Authentic objects are those made by a tribal people for their own use and used accordingly. That’s unlike “tourist” objects made for others and “fakes” made to appear like authentic objects.) Authenticity is essentially the sine quo nom of the collectibles markets generally. Without a limited supply of art objects qualifying as authentic, the art market would collapse. If objects were judged simply by their aesthetic appeal alone, facsimiles that were indistinguishable from authentic objects would flood the market, making authentic objects not worth more than the cost of making a facsimile. Without high-priced collectibles, there would be no collectors spending huge sums to support art museums, auction houses and well-heeled dealers.

Art, as well as everything else, is viewed by our eyes and our mind. Our eyes see things as they see things. As our eyes have no memory, our eyes cannot compare one thing with another. However, while some things engage and appeal to us and some less so, just about everything has a unique beauty to it from some perspective. Our mind cannot see, it can only hear. When we look at an art object in terms of its authenticity, provenance, description and in comparison to other art objects, we are “seeing” through our mind, not our eyes. The art market depends on collectors seeing through their mind, not their eyes.

As a collector I’ve met many dealers. One thing that several said in passing particularly struck me: there have been many well-considered collectors that as they got on in years often sold many of their “top” objects and purchased others that were clearly fakes or of lower quality. Dealers speculated that these old collectors simply lost their “eye;” that is, they could no longer distinguish a fake from an authentic object or they lost their sense of taste and as such were satisfied with lower quality objects. Perhaps or maybe these old collectors finally saw art objects with their eyes, not their mind.

Now, I too am an old collector and appreciate the mindset of the old collectors who were pooh-poohed by dealers and museum people. Someone truly engaged with the art itself (not with art as an investment or status symbol) solely focuses on the aesthetic and engaging aspects of an art object. Whether it’s fake or real is immaterial. Each object is what it is whatever it is; to be appreciated as it is, absolutely, not relative to something else or because it’s dressed in superlatively flattering adjectives. Collectors who’ve come to this realization tend to be older, having spent many lifetimes and considerable sums building their collections. They truly have a great “eye” as they see objects with their eyes, not with their mind.

More generally, beyond art, these older individuals tend to be in Act 3 in the play of life; the transition from their finite material selves to who they were before their birth, one with everything. In the transition, we see beauty everywhere. As to the art market, they shake their heads and laugh at the foolish collectors they once were.

Erich Segal

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

We may have regrets about being thoughtless and treating our body poorly; say, getting fat, a hangover or not sleeping enough. Yet, we never apologize to our body. Our body is who we are and we don’t apologize to ourselves. Likewise, in love, we and whom we love are one. Apologizing or thanking whom we presumably love implies we and they are not one; that we don’t truly have a love connection.

The Value Of Associations

Underwear costing $20 new is worthless in our eyes if it’s used, spoiled and smelly. But in our mind it can be worth 1,000 times more than new if it came from Jacqueline Kennedy’s hamper.

God and the Fool

The fool thinks he is God. The wise man knows he and everything is God.

The fool thinks himself apart and superior to others. The wise know we are all unique and yet the same, infinite manifestations of God.

Sadhguru

“When people are alone, they become spiritual. When in company, they become religious.”

When we are alone and our mind is calm, we can connect with everything, That’s a spiritual experience. When with others, we see ourselves as apart and separate and need rules and rituals to calm ourselves.

Alice (from Alice in Wonderland)

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”

Every day is a life in a day, not a day in a life. We’ve lived thousands of lifetimes, dying in the evening and born anew in the morning into circumstances similar to those in which we died yesterday. Upon rebirth, we resemble the person we were yesterday but are not the same person; though we assume we are and live in the context of our past identities. As to who we are now, it is difficult to say beyond “I am who I am” as we, like everything, are ever-changing.

Nuriya Khakimulla

“Silence is the greatest secret in the world.”

“He who speaks does not know, he who knows does not speak.” –Lao Tzu.

“Silence is the only voice of our God.” — Herman Melville.

In true silence we not distracted by sounds or other stimulation or by our mind’s thoughts. In true silence, we are in the present, the pre-sent, the space before the universe expresses itself and time begins. In true silence the universe is revealed as an ineffable ethereal experience. Attempting to share these revelations through words with others breaks the silence, shrouds its revelations in oblivion and keeps silence a secret.

George Washington

“We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.”

The past can teach us valuable lessons. However, defining ourselves by stories we create about our past has no value and distracts us from making the most of things to come.

Easter Monday

Easter is the most important holiday in Christianity. Easter commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ which Christians believe is proof Jesus Christ was the messiah, the one who would bring peace on Earth.

The historical events of Easter are the basis for the ubiquitous symbol of Christianity, the cross or Jesus on the cross (the crucifiction). It’s a funny symbol for a religion espousing peace. As Christ preached brotherly love among people regardless of their religious identities and was ultimately crucified for his heretic views, the symbol suggests that those who preach peace will be crucified. True to this view, murder and horror is what many who have walked under the banner of Christianity have brought to peaceful non-Christians since the time of Christ.

Ultimately, Christians believe that Christ, the messiah, will return and bring peace on Earth. Perhaps so, but in light of the violent history of the those professing to be Christians, clearly Christ is not a Christian.

Inflating The Deflated

Yesterday, I pulled out of my driveway for my weekly trip to the Darien Cheese Shop and a hundred feet later the car started seriously shaking. A flat tire awoke me from my routine. I stopped the car and started working with an air pump to inflate the tire. As it was taking some time, I wondered whether the tire would hold enough air for me to make it to a repair shop or I’d need to get it towed. Either way, it sounded like a bit more fun than the routine trip to the cheese shop. Soon a passing car pulled over and an elderly woman with grey hair came out and asked: “Do you need any help?” To which I replied: “Actually I’m terrific; blessed with a high-class problem, a flat tire.” We both laughed, connected by compassion and wisdom as the truth was revealed: temporary common problems are not problems but experiences to be enjoyed by all.

Stars

The size of a star is a function of how distant it is. Stars in the Milky Way seem tiny from Earth but are unimaginably huge up close. Popular stars who are far from our real lives seem huge but aren’t bigger than us up close. The popular stars who think their big are ridiculously funny in the context of real stars.

Robin S. Sharma

“The mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.”

The mind is a wonderful servant when we use it to learn from our past experiences, successes and failures to make good choices going forward. However, the mind is a terrible master when it creates stories and meanings that frame our experience of the present. Our stories are like a prison, not allowing us to experience the present as it is. Prison guards, however friendly, rule over us.

The Burning Bush Is The Tree Of Life

In the Bible, God appears to Moses in the form of an eternally burning bush. The bush however is not burning. As its flames are not devouring the branches, the flames must be light, not fire. The light however appears as fire, our mind perceiving it based on our past experiences where light in a bush can only be fire. The mind’s preconceptions blind us from seeing things as they are.

The burning bush, as the entire universe, is a manifestation of God. Moreover, the bush metaphorically reveals the nature of the universe: ever-changing (flames) and eternal (not burning). The light that appears as flames represents wisdom (Proverbs 3.18). The light unveils the bush, the eternal soul, from darkness.

The bush is seneh, a bramble, a rough prickly shrub which bears raspberries, blackberries or dewberries. As a prickly shrub with light abounding, the bush’s thorns are “the fiery ever-turning sword” that guards the path to the Tree of Life (Genesis 3.24). The path leads to the soul’s soul, the Tree’s fruit. Those who can see the fiery ever-turning sword as light and thorns can, without fear of burning or hurting, partake of the fruit to sustain themselves (Book of Enoch) as they become one with the soul’s soul.

When we understand the burning bush, we understand the universe; ever-changing and eternal. Then, we can find the soul’s soul and be one with everything forever. In the image of God, the burning bush, is the Tree of Life.

When we dispense with the mind, its preconceived notions and the fears they engender, we can see the universe as it is and ultimately connect as one with God.

Governments

Governments often sing and dance to different music. They sing of doing wonderful things for mankind as they dance on people’s bodies.

Confucius 1

“If a man gives no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.”

Until it is obvious, it is difficult to see things we haven’t first imagined. Imagining dangerous scenarios allows us to see and avoid them before they become reality. While these imaginings are stressful, they are less stressful than experiencing them.

Blind Love

Years back, a friend, Joe, called to announce he was engaged and wanted me as the best man at his wedding. Joe was 6’4″ and his fiancé, Diane, wasn’t noticeably shorter. Physically, they saw eye to eye; otherwise, a completely incompatible couple.

Before Diane, Joe was not a pretty drunk for many years. He went sober coincidentally with starting a relationship with Diane. While no longer drunk, as he and Diane were clearly incompatible, he still couldn’t see straight. I advised him against the marriage; told him he was better off as a drunk. He said I didn’t understand, he was madly in love with Diane. I said that was the problem, love kept him from seeing clearly.

It turned into a very acrimonious marriage; screaming and fighting. Yet from a distance it was funny juxtaposing the image of Joe mad about Diane to Joe mad with Diane. They didn’t see the humor; exhausted, they finally called it quits five years later.

With divorce rates high, there must be many couples like Joe and Diane suffering the consequences of blind love. If not for marriages based on blind love, the number of divorces would likely drop 70%. But divorce rates would rise because there would be even fewer marriages.

Can’t See The Forest For The Trees

Entangled in the now

we’re oblivious to its beauty

which is clear

from before and after the now.

Love 2

I don’t know me.

I don’t know you.

Only know us.

Love 1

I am strong with my pain but not with yours.

Vinati Singh

“To be loved is like standing in front of a buffet. It means nothing if you are not hungry. To love is to enjoy that buffet…You have to feel what it is like to love someone before you can understand what an honor it is to be loved.”

Messiah

The Bible prophesied that one day God will send the messiah, the soul of God, to Earth to bring peace and resurrect all who are dead.

Presently, only the dead who are crazy or have no memory of Earth-life would choose to return to Earth before it is at peace. As the enlightened don’t return and more and more crazy beings do return, Earth becomes inhabited by lots of crazy people who bring pain and suffering to themselves and others. Unfortunately, at some point God will determine humans are not worthy of God’s soul to realize divine consciousness and will let them destroy themselves as animals. Those of us alive now need work to make Earth more peaceful to encourage the coming of the messiah. This is actually not difficult as messiah is within all of us, though few recognize messiah’s presence.

Adam And Eve, Revisited

The Biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is a revealing tale of male/female dynamics.

As the story goes, God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden as caretakers. For sustenance, they were allowed to eat anything they desired but the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. In the Garden, all was good for Adam and Eve as they lived naked and carefree.

One day, Eve encountered a serpent in the Garden. The serpent is described as the most cunning of beasts, apparently it had legs and could talk. Soon after striking up a conversation with Eve, the serpent convinces her to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil so that she like God would know good and evil. After eating the fruit, Eve convinces Adam to eat it as well.

With this new-found knowledge, Adam and Eve came to know the good and evil of sexual intimacy; it felt good but was evil as it represented disobeying God’s rules, like the rules a parent imposes on its child.

Presumably, Eve was a virgin and as such their genitals became blood-stained after sexual intercourse. Realizing their bloody genitals would reveal to God that they had disobeyed God’s prohibition, they covered their nakedness with fig leaves. However, seeing their genitals covered, God realized they were trying to hide the bloody evidence of their misdeeds.

For their misdeeds, God punished the snake, Eve and Adam. God took away the snake’s legs so it must forever grovel on the ground. God punishes Eve by declaring that the seed of the snake and the seed of Eve will forever hate each other. Moreover, God (apparently believing Adam that Eve instigated breaking God’s rules in order to presumably satisfy her sexual desires) decreed that Eve will suffer the pains of childbirth, a consequence of sexual intimacy. God punishes Adam by banishing him from the Garden, where fruits for his sustenance were freely available. Instead, Adam is made to toil the Earth to sustain himself and to support Eve in exchange for sexual pleasures. Essentially, Adam and Eve were thrown out of their parent’s house to fend for themselves.

As the snake had legs and was able to talk, the snake must have been Adam’s penis, hanging between his legs and talking through Adam who cunningly acted as a ventriloquist. (That the snake, as above, bore a seed through sperm corroborates that the snake is indeed Adam’s penis.) Moreover, God (apparently thinking that maybe Adam was the instigator) punishes Adam’s penis, forever vanquished to grovel on the ground like men groveling for women’s sexual favors.

Thus, it was Adam who tricked Eve into eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, to convince her that sex was a natural act in which they should engage. Moreover, as the seed of the snake and the seed of the woman were decreed to forever hate each other, women and men’s sexual relationships would forever be contentious, based on give-and-take.

The story of Adam and Eve, written by men, blames a woman as the root of man’s woes, portraying her as a temptress that ultimately lured man to commit misdeeds. Adam’s male progeny have been doing like Adam ever since. While it’s unlikely we’ll be readmitted to the Garden, perhaps we can get a little closer to it if men take responsibility for their actions.

The Nature Of Heaven

Scripture doesn’t much describe heaven, but it’s likely a cool place relative to hell. As heaven is relatively painless and hell excruciatingly painful, heaven is death by freezing and hell is death by fire.

Kanako IIyama

“Life is a dream, so have fun with it.”

When we forget it’s a dream, it can turn into a nightmare.

Clearly My Son

My son, Alex, yesterday tore his Achilles’ tendon while playing squash. An operation to repair the tendon and 6+ months of rehabilitation will follow. While the injury is an immediate and serious lifestyle and physical problem, Alex was calm. I suppose he was grateful, as his circumstance could have been worse. and optimistic they will get better. As such, we’ll save some money. While Alex and I are very different personalities, his attitude makes clear we’ll never need a DNA paternity test.

Voltaire 2

“Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.”

Riding the Muskmobile

Yesterday it was reported that SpaceX, a company controlled by Elon Musk, paid $250K to settle a sexual harassment employment dispute whereas a flight attendant at SpaceX claimed that Musk offered her a horse (she apparently loves riding horses) in exchange for a “sexual” massage. Presumably, Musk’s offer was: I’ll give you a horse if you take care of my horse.

Musk contends that the sexual harassment claim at issue has been mischaracterized; the disclosure of which is an effort by the political left to discredit him because he has taken to task many of the left’s absurd ideologies and programs.

Clearly the left despises Musk because he is an “unfairly advantaged” successful businessman who criticises them. Essentially, the left is saying, rightfully so, that Musk’s success is unfair because Mush has quite a bit more testosterone than those smart enough to lead the left but not able enough to get it up to making money and having fun.

The Need For Diversity Training

By definition, a mutt is a dog of uncertain pedigree. A mutt is also a person who is stupid or incompetent. Those who don’t allow a mutt to compete at a dog show are also mutts.

Imagine an extraordinarily beautiful, athletic and intelligent rescue mutt; so smart, the mutt masters every trick in the book and even learns to play checkers competitively with a 10-year old. Surely, the mutt would win first prize at any accredited dog show, become instantly popular with the general public and be in great demand for breeding which would improve the genetic pool of dogs generally, be financially rewarding for its owner and allow the dog to have fun.

Unfortunately, without a pedigree, the mutts who run dog shows wouldn’t allow the mutt to compete, fearing the mutt would outshine them as it would do more to promote general interest in dogs than could they or any pedigree dog.

Leo Tolstoy

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Happiness is gratitude, optimism and freedom from karmic prisons. Karmic prisons are artificial constructs; stories, descriptions, categorizations and generalizations our mind creates. These constructs control how we perceive and interact in the world. They at times allow us temporary joys but preclude us from long-term happiness. As each mind’s constructs are unique, those who are not happy are unhappy in their own way.

Thomas S. Murphy

“One of the most uncommon things in life is common sense.”

We perceive the world through ideological and personal associations which cloud our thinking. On the rare occasions we are dispassionate, the sun comes out and we can see clearly.

Irving Berlin

“A man chases a girl until she catches him.”

He can only escape if he loves the chase more than the girl.

Swami Vivekananda

“When a man is perfect, he sees perfection in others. When he sees imperfection, it is his own mind projecting itself.”

The Nature Of Cats

CAT is an acronym for a sheriff’s Criminal Apprehension Team which tracks and arrests offenders wanted for serious felony crimes.  Cats don’t scratch when they purr. Cats don’t like any sort of water.

Some years back, I lived in Westport, CT. One day, as I was driving to play squash, I was on a business phone call and startled by red lights in the rearview mirror. Soon enough, I was parked on the side of the road with a police car behind me. An overweight officer came out of his vehicle. He was livid, screaming: “You were on our cell phone.” I said: “Officer, I know I was on the phone, I shouldn’t have been, poor judgement on my part. But I’m a bit late for a squash game. How about I give you my license and registration and meet you back at the station house after the game and we’ll sort it all out?” He then got even angier and screamed: “You can’t do that.” As our temperatures were rising, I said: “Officer, I see you are upset. I think you are upset with me. I feel terrible. We are here to take care of each other and I’m not doing a good job of it. Please, tell me, what can I do to make you feel better?” At that point, our minds calmed and he said: “Let’s forget about it.” A cat doesn’t scratch when it’s purring.

I told this story to a lawyer friend from Spain. He said that he often gets stopped for traffic infractions but never gets ticketed. Simply, when stopped, as the police officer comes asking for his driver’s license, my friend puts his right hand finger, which is out of the officer’s view, to his nose. From his left side, it appears his finger is sloshing around in his nose. He then takes out his driver’s license with his right hand and offers it to the officer who invariably refuses it and tells him to be considerate (perhaps prophylactically) of others. Cats don’t like all sorts of water.

The Etymology Of Bull And Bear Markets

When stock market prices rise dramatically and unjustifiably based on the earnings prospects of companies, it’s called a bull market; when they precipitously fall it’s called a bear market. According to Investopedia: “The terms ‘bear’ and ‘bull’ are thought to derive from the way in which each animal attacks its opponents. That is, a bull will thrust its horns up into the air, while a bear will swipe down. These actions were then related metaphorically to the movement of a market. If the trend was up, it was considered a bull market. If the trend was down, it was a bear market.”

Alternatively, perhaps a bull market is like a bull charging at a matador’s red cape. The bull is charging ahead at something it sees as real and alive (the moving red cape, rising prices), but which ultimately is a mirage, a delusion. as there is nothing behind the cape or to justify rising prices. Likewise, a bear market is like a hibernating bear which cannot be enticed to eat food it’s offered (like buying stocks that are easy to be had, cheap) because it is sleeping.

Practical And Idealistic Diversity

In recent years there’s been a loud call for diversity at large companies. The practical ideology supporting diversity is that without discrimination an organization can access wisdom (see the wisdom of the crowd) which is essential to realizing its potential.

However, diversity, as articulated by government, is superficial and not as effective as true diversification. As the government sees it, individuals are not unique but belong to one or several groups; religious, racial, sexual, ethnic, etc. The goal of diversity is to have employees in every large organization as members in different groups such that all groups are represented in an organization in some proportion that reflects society at-large.  This mechanical approach often misses its intended goal as the viewpoints of members from different groups are not necessarily meaningfully diverse.

Organizations naturally discriminate in their hiring practices. For example, it “makes sense” for a company to require all hires to be hardworking people. However, a company that aims for a diverse workforce would hire a few lazy workers as well. While the lazy workers might put a drag on existing operations, they would likely find easier processes to get the job done which would lead to greater efficiencies. That’s the benefit of having a diverse workforce.

The government also has an idealistic ideology that promotes diversity. It is the absurd notion that relative equality among members in society makes for a happy society. As the human species benefits by having diverse talents and personalities, there will always be lazy and industrious people. However, few industrious people work industriously for similar financial outcomes as those who are lazy. Hence, the idealistic ideology promoting diversity leads to a lower standard of living on average for all. That’s unlikely to make many societal members happy.

Deathday Party

Today, June 12th, is my birthday. It’s not a significant day unless I’m stopped for a traffic violation and given a pass by a sympathetic police officer.

Birthday parties celebrate the calendar date upon which we arrived on Earth for our short time here. Deathday ceremonies celebrate those who have transitioned to be one with everything forever.

Birthday celebrations are ubiquitous while the deathday is rarely acknowledged in the Western world outside of Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Korean and Vietnamese communities.

Birthday parties are an incapsulated mix of food, chitchat, perhaps a couple of speeches and gifting. Deathday ceremonies can be more fun and impactful. On the deathday we can gather and each attendee can view their life and the lives of others from the perspective of the one who is one with everything. Then, those who have gathered can be born again as they perceive themselves in a new light and the presence of the one who transitioned is felt by all for a time long passed their deathday.

William Wisher

“If you think about where you are, you’re probably somewhere else.”

There is only the here and now. Thinking about where we are, or comparing ourselves to others separates us from this here and now. Lost, yet not knowing it, our thoughts take us somewhere else, a somewhere that soon turns to nowhere.

Daniel J. Boorstin

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.”

When we think we know, our curiosity evaporates and we cease exploring to become truly knowledgeable.

Knife-Fork-Spoon

At whatever we look, we see ourselves; especially that with which we most closely identify. In that light, are you a knife, fork, or spoon?

People who identify as knives tend to view the world as bigger than themselves; a world which needs to be cut to a smaller size to make it digestible.  They see only one way of doing things as knives can be safely held from only one side.

Forks are people who look to identify simple opportunities to enrich themselves. Most businesspeople identify as forks.

Spoons look like the human form. They are gentle, cupping their food. Moreover, they are relatively friendly as they can safely be held from either side.

Alternatively, there are chopsticks. Chopsticks can be invariably held by one side or the other; that is, we treat others as we do ourselves. People who identify as chopsticks view life as not viable when lived independently (one chopstick), but easy when we work in tandem with others.

Time And Transition

Time and Transition

Time is invisible, like the wind.

Only seen in its affects on everything

On the back of the wind clouds take a ride

Until over the horizon they hide.

Soon they return from I don’t know where

But I enjoy them now and do not care.

The Imaginary River Of Time

Time is an imaginary measure of the space between events.

It only exists because we are its parents.

Time is a river from fountainhead to sea.

It wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for me.

The river is the river, it is as it is.

where I am in the river makes time whiz.

I am who I am, unchanged from the fountainhead

until the time I think I’m dead.

The river is the river, even when its part of the sea

But that is something I cannot see.

Eddie Penn*

Shitting with Victor

Shit my pants yesterday.

43 seconds away from my bathroom.

After a furious run home. A quixotic run interrupted by several emergency sphincter squeezes. Made it all the way from E79 and 1st to 64th and 1st. And up five flights of stairs. Made it through a door key twist. But…The 1st wave forged through just as the front door swung open.

Was about to fight the gods one last time and try a superhuman sphincter squeeze…When in a flash, I thought of Victor. Thought of it is what it is. Thought of laughter.

And out it came.  All of it. A big bang of shit. Down my leg.  Effectively ruining my favorite pair of pants. Favorite pair of socks. Decent pair of shoes. And when I eventually made it to the toilet, I sat there laughing.

Thinking of Victor. Sure. My mom was there too. Chiding me in a yenta’s voice – “Why? Why Eddie why? Why couldn’t you hold it for 43 more seconds? What is wrong with you Eddie?” And my forensic voice was there as well – “Was it the homemade shrimp and lobster sauce? Was it too much sauna? Are you growing old and incontinent?”

And the ole Heart und Fear duet – “Was it your earlier session with the kid? That moment you suspected he is doomed? Doomed forever to be that 7-yr-old  the cops would find hiding under the blankets when they called for domestic violence.”

The whole chorus was sitting on that toilet.

But the lead vocals belonged to Victor. The lead vocal was laughter.

And as I walked downstairs onto 1st Avenue seeking a respectful place to leave my shopping bag of shit…As I laughed and laughed at the mission…As I laughed at the UES [upper East Side, Manhattan] women checking me out thinking I’m some domesticated male doing a late grocery run…”Can’t they smell who I am?”

A pleasant thought ran across my mind. Maybe my client isn’t doomed. Then again, maybe he is.

It is what it is.

*Pseudonym.

Robert Kiyosaki

“Everyone wants to go to Heaven, but no one wants to die.”

Our ego is our identity. It keeps us apart and separate from everything it perceives is not us. Our ego identity is very powerful. We are afraid of our vulnerability without it. However, when we bury our ego, encapsulate it, we realize we are truly one with everything as there is only one thing, everything. That is heaven on Earth.

When we realize we can be in heaven with only the death of our ego, fear of dying is not an obstacle on the way to heaven.

Philosophers And Economists

Philosophers are like economists, they can explain everything but don’t know anything. Philosophers can’t tell us where we are and economists can’t tell us where we are going.

Sol Lieberman

“I loved money and I loved children but couldn’t afford to have both. I chose to have children because they could love me back.”

Hopefully, children pay us more interest than does money. Likewise, hopefully, the time and resources we invest in children realizes a higher return than otherwise.

A Life In A Day

Every day is not a day in a life but a life in a day.

This is a simple but subtle truth. While our mind has us believe that we transition seamlessly from one day to the next, we are not the same person today as the person we presumably were lifetimes ago, days now passed. Perhaps this is easiest to see when we consider the physical appearance and the interests and perspectives of the person we are today with those of the person we presumably were ten years ago.

This truth implies two apparently conflicting but complementary corollaries: each day is our first and last day of life. Thus, the qualifiers of first and last are meaningless as are most things to which our mind attributes meanings.

However, as our first day of life, everything is new; intensely beautiful forms and colors engaging our attention and arousing our curiosity. We are present, grateful we are alive.

As our last day of life, we are at peace; knowing we came from being one with everything in sleep death to which we will soon return.

The realization that each day is our first and last makes for a wonderful life.

Love 5

Our mind is the greatest impediment to true love.

True love is unconditional connectedness, whereby a subject and object are one. For example, we love our hands as we love ourselves as we and our hands are one. We may not like our hands when they are dirty, but we still love them.

Our mind often makes love conditional. For example, it is rare that the “deep love” we have with our mate is not conditioned on their sexual fidelity.

True love, unconditional love, braves space (physical separation), time (continues to energize us over long periods of time) and distractions; but not the workings of our mind.

Corporate Hierarchy

There are three levels in the corporate hierarchy: standing up, sitting down and laying on one’s back. Companies work well when management is standing, pushing their firms forward; workers are sitting, getting the work done; and salespeople are laying on their backs pulling customers in. Companies are dysfunctional when people take positions that ill suit their roles. For example, when management is on its back, doing nothing, or when salespeople are standing up, pushing workers around. However, workers will always be workers because they have been neutered, having no desire for push or pull.

Love 8

Love is like water in a stream

connecting all, far and near.

Thoughts are like a bend in the bay

not allowing water to go its way.

When the stream or bay overflows

it’s beyond imagination how far it goes.

Oscar Wilde

“Give a man a mask, and he will show you his true face.”

What an individual does when they’re an anonymous member of a mob reveals their true nature.

We can learn more from someone’s internet searches than through the answers to their searches.

The Ultimate Act Of Selfishness

Suicide is the ultimate selfish act; selfish on a macro and micro level.

On a macro level, suicide is selfish as it implies we are focused on our suffering and not the far greater suffering of others who would love to be in our shoes. We are not suicidal when we recognize the suffering of others and come to their aid as that in turn distracts us from our suffering. Moreover, when we recognize our relative good fortune, we are grateful. Gratitude is one of the keys to happiness. Happiness precludes suicidal thoughts.

On a micro level, when we die, it is most difficult for the ones that we leave behind. Thus, suicide is selfish as we think our death is an exit from our suffering and don’t consider the suffering it will cause others.

Of course, if we are painfully and terminally ill and a burden to others, suicide is not selfish. Unfortunately, most suicides are premature, mistaking one’s current mentally-induced suffering for physical terminally ill pain and the misperception that we are a burden to others.

Anonymous, Overheard At Pasta Nostra Restaurant, Norwalk CT

“I would be fine with living until 120 as long as I could fuck everyday.”

As we go deep into old age much of our body and mind fails us. The ultimate testament of our love of something is wanting to be alive as long as possible with all the attendant ailments as long as we can do our favorite thing.

Enthusiasm is contagious. When someone, like the person quoted above, is so enthusiastic about a certain activity, we’re excited to join them.

Ramana Maharshi

“Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.”

Those who favor country or worldwide government programs as the solution to every perceivable woe lack a practical understanding of human nature. Allowing individuals and small communities to choose their way is more economically practical as well as equitable, as people can vote with their feet.

Ramana Maharshi

“Silence is truth. Silence is bliss. Silence is peace. Hence, Silence is the Self.”

Silence, nothingness, is what everything is before it is and what everything is after it is. The essential nature of everything is nothing. Hence, every thing is one thing, a unique temporary manifestation of nothing.

When we identify as one thing, nothing, we can self-describe ourselves only as “I am who I am” and everything is what it is whatever it is. It is then that we are free from the identity our mind has constructed and are one with everything.

Our mind cannot see but it can hear and speak. Through hearing and speaking our mind constructs the world and our identity. Silence calms the mind and keeps it at bay from performing its mischief.

Voltaire 1

“The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”

Time heals all wounds, sooner or later. When our time runs out we have no wounds.

Two Ways To Heaven

Before birth, we are in the present, the pre-sent; the peace before the universe expresses itself.

At birth, we are in the Now. The Now is the universe expressing itself. In the Now, we have an intense sense of awareness as everything is unique, ever-changing and interdependent. It’s so intense, it’s exhausting; that’s why babies sleep much of the day. In the Now, nothing can be described or has meaning as nothing is comparable to anything before or after the Now as the Now is all there is.

As the Now is overwhelming, our mind artificially transforms the Now so it’s palatable. Our mind does this by creating stories, descriptions, categorisations and generalisations about our past experiences in the Now. These memories are our mind, not the Now. The memories seem real, but are illusions. They mask the Now, precluding us from experiencing the Now directly. In effect, the illusions imprison us.

However, we can escape from our mind’s prison when the past is passed; that is, when we let go our belief that the past is real. Freed from the past, we can enter the Now and now know Now for all its beauty and wonder. While it’s beyond words and descriptions, in the Now we know we are one with everything, connected by love.

As it’s at times overwhelming, we can only be in the Now temporarily and need periods to rest. Soon, questions arises: Who am I, where am I?

To answer these questions, we need to separate ourselves from the Now by minimizing sensory stimulation via meditation or other sensory deprivation technique. Then, with our mind calm, we can enter the present; the pre-sent; the peace before the universe expresses itself. This is heaven.

In the pre-sent there is nothingness but the soul; the fountainhead of everything, creation. In the pre-sent, we and God are one. We are the audience watching the universe and the play of life unfold in the Now. While what we see is beyond descriptions and words (the operating system of our mind), our reaction to it is twofold, funny and sad. Funny to see people take their illusions seriously and sad to see them imprisoned by their mind. However, our sadness is temporary as we know they will all be in the pre-sent, in heaven, when they leave their bodily lives.

Thus, there are two ways to heaven; experiencing heaven on Earth or after the inevitable.

Ramana Maharshi

“Does a man who is acting on the stage in a female part forget that he is a man? Similarly, we too must play our parts on the stage of life, but we must not identify ourselves with those parts.”

Life is a play named “Terrific.” For most of the actors it’s not terrific as they identify with their roles, take themselves seriously and in turn make fools of themselves. Often, for them the play is a tragedy. As to the enlightened actors, they know the play is a play and their roles are not who they are. For them, seeing the others take themselves seriously, the play is a comedy.

Jay Jennifer Matthews

“Nothing would exist without our awareness of it. Our thoughts, our awareness, allows its existence. Without our thoughts there is nothingness. This is wisdom. That’s why when we see someone take their thoughts seriously we can only laugh.”

Hank Forrester

“The more you look the less you see.”

When we are frantically searching for something, we might not see the obvious. When sitting still, we can sense the presence of everything. A spotlight reveals great detail but a floodlight illuminates the room.

Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness

America is a funny partner on the dance floor; singing one song and dancing to another.

An often-sung phrase from the Declaration of Independence is that the purpose of government is to protect each citizen’s right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Ironically, in terms of life, directly (through overseas military adventures in Korea, Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Kosova, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq) and indirectly (as the biggest arms exporter in the world), the US has caused more deaths outside its immediate borders in the past 60 years than any other country  Moreover, as regards liberty, the US has the highest incarceration and solitary confinement rates in the world. As to happiness, the US steers its citizens away from happiness, the hallmark of which is gratitude. Instead, as a consumption-driven economy, its citizens are encouraged to become addicted to never-ending desires.

While singing euphoniously about personal rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, clearly the country dances to another tune. This lack of integrity is funny to watch but not if we want to dance and sing until we are one with everything.

Time Is A Silent Rapid River

Time is a rapid river dancing thing

when we are in the river rafting.

Over the rapids, too quick for us to think

about what’s past, what’s future or anything;

just engaged with what’s about to be now.

and how to deal with it somehow.

On the shore

we can hear the river roar.

But when still and silent within,

time moves without a din.

Awakening

Being asleep is like death,

we are one with everything.

Upon awakening from sleep

we slowly separate from everything

and our self is formed.

Our self makes life a dream.

When we awaken from the dream

our self disappears

and we are not oblivious of from where we come and go.

Then we are one with everything again.

Some have good dreams,

some have bad dreams.

But waking up is wonderful for all.

Truly Wealthy

We are truly wealthy when we have what we need for sustenance and realize we don’t need what we want.

The truly wealthy are easily identified by their manners not their manors.

Those who are well-mannered treat others as they themselves wish to be treated because they identify with others. Those living in manors choose to separate themselves from others. The truly wealthy have everything as they are one with the whole, not apart from the whole.

The Labyrinth And The Maze

Life is a journey through a labyrinth.

Before we are born, we are in the center or mandala of a labyrinth where everything is one thing until it is born as a unique something. Soon after birth, we develop a sense of self that has us as the center of the universe and outside the labyrinth. It is then we begin our journey through the labyrinth and back to the center from where we came.

The path through the labyrinth is clear when we open our eyes and follow the light emanating from the mandala. While our mind often helps us along the path, at times it’s a great impediment as it turns the labyrinth into a maze. This happens when we see things not as they are but as a function of our memories, ideologies and imaginations.

The difference between a maze and a labyrinth is that labyrinths have a single continuous path which leads to the center, while mazes have paths which branch off, some leading to dead ends, which keep us from reaching the center.

The critical choices in life are which labyrinth to enter and to not allow our mind to turn the labyrinth into a maze. The optimal labyrinth we choose comports with our strengths and weaknesses. When we follow the path of light, our mind cannot make the labyrinth a maze.

More Money Than God

There are people who are said to “have more money than God.”

These presumably few people can have whatever they want in the material realm. However, everyone has more money than God; as God, the supreme being that is manifested as everything there is, has no need for money; for God has no wants. The truly few people who have no wants are akin to God; surely a better role in the play of life than having all the money in the world.

Democrats Vs Republicans 1

Democrats Vs Republicans 2

Some years back I was friendly with a man, Everett, the parking attendant in my New York City office building garage. Everett hailed from South Carolina which he left in the late 1950s to serve in the Korean War. After his military service, he lived in Boston for 15 years and then moved to New York City where he was living for 10 years when we met.

As he lived in the South before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, I was curious what life was like in the South from the perspective of a black man. (Oh, did I forget to mention Everett was black!) Everett said life down South was good in terms of black/white relations. Whites and blacks lived segregated; everyone knew their place and relations were friendly. He never felt uncomfortable with whites. He never felt anyone hated him because he was black until he moved to Boston. In Boston, black people were marginalized and often came in harm’s way if they went to white neighborhoods but as service workers. Things got progressively worse when schools were forced to integrate. New York City he found was more friendly to black people but not by much.

On occasional trips to visit family in South Carolina, Everett found the good old days no longer as mandated integration disturbed the old social order and tensions were high between whites and blacks. He often wondered whether the idealists pushing for integration were more interested in creating racial conflicts and upsetting the social and political order than peaceful coexistence or whether they had good intentions but no common sense and insights into unintended consequences.

Moreover, while integration provided more economic opportunities or high-paying token jobs, Everett felt the cultural collapse of the black community and the economic divisions and related stress that integration created came at too high a cost. That is, as the creation of an integration focused social order required the destruction of an older order, perhaps integration via evolution would have been better than via revolution.

I asked Everett what others in his community thought of his views. He said no one took him seriously because he was a Republican.

Niccolò Machiavelli

“[S]ince love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.”

When others fear us, they don’t attack us; thereby fear provides us a certain level of safety. However, fear can turn into aggression as a cornered rat can leap to bite us in the jugular or starving peasants revolt against their king.

Love is unconditional. Moreover, those we love we treat as we wish to be treated. Thus, when we are loved, though we may not necessarily be liked, we never need worry of coming into harm’s way as a consequent of the actions of someone who loves us.

Hence, it is safer to be loved than feared.

Clouds

I see all sorts of animals up in the clouds,

their shapes changing as the wind blows.

Some are angry

some are happy

and with some it’s hard to read their minds.

Only when I climb a distant mountain

I get above the clouds

and realize the clouds are just clouds.

Peace Pilgrim

Life is like a mirror. Smile at it and it smiles back at you.”

Our attitude forms our experiences.

Peace Pilgrim

Political Parties

Political parties are like flavors at an ice cream shop. We often busy ourselves deciding which flavor we want without considering whether we’re allergic to its ingredients or looking at whether the shop is clean.

Thich Nhat Hanh

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is sending.”

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”

“Many people think excitement is happiness…. But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”

“You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free [to be themselves]”

“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.”

“Life is available only in the present moment.”

“When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love.”

“The secret of Buddhism is to remove all ideas, all concepts, in order for the truth to have a chance to penetrate, to reveal itself.”

“Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say that it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing.”

“You cannot resist loving another person when you really understand him or her.”

“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”

“If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.”

“Attachment to views is the greatest impediment to the spiritual path.”

Love 9

Love is like light.

It can be bent and redirected but can never be broken.

The more light that’s emitted, the more shines back at us.

Without light, we are in a cold dark place.

With light, we can connect with everything around us.

Light is what we see everywhere but rarely notice.

Jason Zweig

“We need to realize…that when we look back at the past, we don’t recapture it; we reconstitute it. We turn it into something it never was: clear from the start.”

Marcel Proust

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but having new eyes.”

Viewing something from different perspectives is more enlightening than viewing different things.

Benjamin Disraeli

“Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.”

We recall an infinitesimal fraction of our past experiences. What we do believe we recall we weave into a story that bears little connection to our actual experiences. In effect, we are playing the game of Chinese whispers, unaware we are playing with ourselves.

Victor And The Elephant In The Room

When Victor was a little boy (though maybe he’s still a little boy), he was always mystified how almost everyone was certain about things. People were certain about matters of God, about who is smart or stupid, about concepts of right or wrong, etc. Victor, however, was uncertain of seemingly everything, especially as each person had a different perception of the same thing and each certain theirs was correct.

Only after reading the story of the Ten Men and the Elephant Victor realized why so many people were without doubts. They each looked at things through their mind, (conceptually, comparatively and through group thinking), not through their eyes; hence, they didn’t know what they were looking at.

If they saw through their eyes, they would know that each person’s perspective is as valid as one’s own since every individual perspective is limited; hence, they could be certain about nothing.

Living with uncertainty can be stressful. Thus, most people relieve the stress by believing their perspective is undoubtedly right. However, “uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.” — Voltaire

Money

Money is to humans is like fertilizer is to flowers. It helps flowers realize their potential but too much of it can make beautiful roses smell like shit.

Specifically, “over fertilization can actually decrease growth and leave plants weak and vulnerable to pests and diseases. It can also lead to the ultimate demise of the plant. Signs of over fertilization include stunted growth, burned or dried leaf margins, wilting, and collapse or death of plants.” — Gardineningknowhow.com

Dan Brown

“The only difference between you and God is that you have forgotten you are divine.”

Humans are a transitional species, born with animal consciousness and the potential of divine consciousness.

Reflections

All things are reflections.

Initially reflections of light,

then reflections of mind.

In the first instance our eyes see the truth,

in the second our mind starts lying to us.

The truth is revealed in the present

but disappears when we reflect on what has passed.

Gary Saul Morson

“I used to get a laugh from students by quoting a Soviet citizen I talked to once. He said to me, ‘Of course we have freedom of speech. We just don’t allow people to lie.’ That used to get a laugh! They don’t laugh anymore.”

Today we have freedom of speech, as long as no one is listening.

Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

“Those who understand only what can be explained understand very little.”

Little of the universe has been explained. If we don’t understand that, we don’t understand much and are unlikely to understand more.

To know the universe we need to discover it ourselves, not simply rely on explanations given to us by others.

Position And Disposition

We see things not as they are but as a function of our position and disposition.

Having recently spoken with some people on the Left, they all view Joe Biden as maybe a bit old but certainly of sound mind and effective in performing his job. Moreover, they view Kamala Harris as possessing more than average intelligence, but not as articulate as most politicians.

Those on the Right view Biden as obviously in early senility. As to Harris, they view her as a moron (IQ between 50 – 75 (average IQ is 100)), though none identify her as an imbecile (IQ 25 – 50).

As to disposition, those who are happy with their economic position and prospects, favorably view Biden and Harris. Those who feel their way of life, in terms of safety and individual liberties, is threatened and that the country is “going in the wrong direction” (presumably right is right and left is wrong) are very unhappy with Biden and Harris.

Clearly, those who are wise know it’s difficult to know who Biden and Harris really are. Moreover, as politicians, it’s unlikely they know.

Eckhart Tolle 2

“You are the universe, expressing itself as a human for a little while.”

As we are the universe, we are eternal. But if we solely identify with our fleeting human form, we will surely die.

Narges Obaid

“You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.”

We are billions of unique individuals but are socialized into common roles in the play of life. Our roles become our identities which retard our realizing our inherent unique potentials.

Sigmund Freud

“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.”

Life is essentially simple and beautiful, unless we complicate it with our mind.

Anonymous

“May you live in interesting times.”

This quasi-blessing is actually a curse. Times that are not interesting are peaceful, while times that are interesting are times of great conflicts. Clearly, it’s better not to live in interesting times.

Interesting times are generally interesting. To wit, most history books are about wars and conflicts, very few are about when the world was at peace.

People are likewise. They have more interest in their traumas than when they were carefree. Perhaps they would be better served showing little interest in their personal history. That way, they can move forward carefree.

The Flood

Earth is an eyeball peering from all sides into peaceful space.

Here and there, a restless mist scrubs its face.

The dew left in its wake

makes a watery mess of the landscape.

The flood and the hideous

gather the attention of those now oblivious

to everything beyond the sky

where those who rest in peace lie.

Elohim

Elohim is a Hebrew word that literally means “gods” but is used in prayer to refer to God in the singular, one God.

Literal meanings relate to the mundane. In the secular world, there are a virtually infinite number of human manifestations of God, the faces of God. These are elohim, gods. In prayer, we enter the spiritual realm in which there is only one God from which everything emanates.

As humans, we are elohim; we are gods. As such, we can view ourselves as different from other elohim (in which case we don’t recognize them as gods) or realize that we are one of the infinite faces of God; that is, that we are God.

Hashem, “the name,” is a Hebrew word referring to God. This name for God is purposely ambiguous, unspecified. If God’s name was specifically identified, it would imply God is one thing and not another; the antithesis of God as God is everything. However, referring to God as “the name” suggests that knowing God’s name reveals the nature of God. When we come to know the meaning of Elohim, the secret of our oneness with God is revealed.

Casey Stengel

“All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for… reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration.”

However upsetting our circumstances, we can always be grateful they aren’t worse. Gratitude is the foundation of happiness.

Let what’s past be passed. Holding on to the past limits our ability to grab whatever opportunity next comes our way.

The foundation of anger is selfishness. When we’re angry we take ourselves so seriously we are oblivious to the dire circumstances of others who would be thrilled to be in our shoes. However, when we’re compassionate, we’re grateful as we see our circumstances through the perspective of those less fortunate. Selfishness precludes us from happiness.

Evening Prayer

Even-ing is when we are all made even; the smart, the stupid, the rich, the poor; all even, equal, in sleep-death. In sleep-death, our soul returns to its source where all souls are sole, one, even.

Evening Prayer

Oh eternal universe.

Oh endless universe.

Oh ever-changing universe.

Oh timeless universe.

Thank you all for giving me a role in the play of life, “Terrific.”

Thank you for divine consciousness.

Now, in sleep-death

my soul returns to its source

to which it has always been connected

to be one with everything

before everything becomes something

that is what it is whatever it is and before time begins.

Hopefully soon, my soul returns and awakens the vessel holding the light of life.

Life begins not upon our awakening, but in sleep-death. A wonderful Earth life awaits us upon awakening when we enter sleep-death in a happy state of mind. In the Evening Prayer we express our gratitude. Gratitude is the essence of happiness.

Sigmund Freud

“It is impossible to escape the impression that people commonly use false standards of measurement — that they seek power, success and wealth for themselves and admire them in others, and that they underestimate what is of true value in life.”

Material things come and go, if not in our lifetimes then when we exit the play of life. The true value in life is life itself; appreciating the wonderfulness of it all, awakening to our divine consciousness, and helping others likewise.

Wayne Dyer

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

We see what’s passed in reflections our mind has constructed. The reflections are illusions, not real. When we change our reflections, what we see invariably changes as it never had an inherent reality to it.

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Spilled Champagne

A funny (as in odd and humorous) thing recently happened to Victor. Victor was taking a night flight from NYC to Lisbon, sitting in First Class. As Victor never eats on commercial airplane flights, Victor wasn’t paying attention to the food service. Apparently, he was not alone. The Stewardess also wasn’t paying much attention until she saw Victor drenched in 3/4 of a bottle of Champagne which she inadvertently dislodged from its casing. Victor’s immediate reaction was to laugh. Likewise, in other similar passed situations, Victor was quick to laugh . However, until now, I didn’t realized why Victor thought such situations funny.

Now, upon reflection, Victor’s nature is such that Victor instinctively views a situation as how others in the situation might react and how others would perceive the situation. These perspectives are generally funny. Victor has been embracing alternative perspectives since he was a child, when he realized that everyone views a situation differently and as such there is no definitive perspective, including Victor’s. Thus, to understand a situation, Victor automatically takes many perspectives.

What’s funny about a passenger’s Champagne accident is that many people in that situation would have been upset or even angry. That’s a selfish reaction as being upset is succumbing to their ego and not realizing how happy they should be in their circumstances relative to most people in the world. An egotistical fool is always funny. Moreover, many people who are forever stressed out about money matters would love to be in the passenger’s situation, with the presumed freedoms accorded to someone wealthy enough to fly First Class. Yet, these people are fools as well because an angry passenger has no freedom; he is a prisoner of his ego, as are those who admire his situation.

Of course, the Champagne accident could have been actively made funny had Victor had asked the stewardess to give him her shirt as she had wet his and he needed a replacement.

Now. I understand why when Victor has been to the movies, he is often laughing while others are not.

P.S. While I am who I am, people socially refer to me as Victor. I refer to myself as “I” when talking in the present and as “Victor” when referring to myself in the past, a person who is now passed. Referring to oneself in the third person is call illeism.

Waves Come And Go

Waves of light come and go

but when is hard to know

as what we see

is only our memory.

Waves of sound come and go

neither fast nor slow.

All we know is when they show.

What The Psilocybin Said

It was 1971, Victor was 20, sitting on a futon and waiting for the journey to begin, to see what the psilocybin mushrooms had to say. As his eyes looked up, a painting on the wall was melting, colors spilling beyond its frame, on the wall, covering the floor; brilliant colors bubbling and burping. Then, Victor noticed he was elevated six to ten inches above the futon; weightlessness; the peace beyond description. After, he directed the paint colors to dance and form paintings.

A profound journey.

While the journey was wonderful in and of itself, it beckoned explanation beyond a write-off as simply an hallucination where the abstract and surreal supplant the realistic.

However, only recently, did the message from the psilocybin vision dawn on me: everything is one thing, forever-changing; being one with everything is the ultimate peace to which our mind is the greatest impediment; and, ultimately, when we are one with everything, we create the universe.

The paint overflowing its canvas implies that what we see in the realistic world as discrete, self-contained things is actually one continuous, interconnected, interdependent, ever-changing thing; the everything.

However, our mind convinces us that the universe is made of discrete things. The mind does this so that we view the mind itself as discrete; different from other minds and, as such, it needs to be protected from the others. The mind feels protected and thrives when we pay it attention and take it seriously. Maybe our mind has convinced us of other falsehoods; e.g., who we are.

The weightlessness implies that discrete things cannot be differentiated by weight, as all things are equally weightless. In that sense, all things are one. The peace that accompanies weightlessness is the peace of being one with everything.

In a world where everything is continuous, interconnected, interdependent and equal, everything is one.

Victor directing the paint colors to dance and form paintings implies that when we are one with everything the world is our creation as are our interpretations of psilocybin visions.

Homophone 1

Balabusta is a Yiddish word derived from the term for a woman who is “master of the house.” Balabusta is pronounced as she would often be described: ballbuster.

Every-Thing Is Not A Thing, It’s Interdependent

My arms and legs work well together but I wonder whether they know each other exists. With little self-awareness, each likely feels it has an independent existence. If they knew who they were they would quickly realize that they are not independent things; they are interdependent as they couldn’t exit without everything else to which they’re part of and connected. Maybe when I think of who I am I’m thinking the way my arms and legs are thinking, with little self-awareness. Upon awakening, it’s clear I only exist as one with everything.

Orson Welles

“We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create for the moment the illusion that we’re not alone.”

Orson Welles was an actor, director, producer and screenwriter; an innovator in film, radio and theatre; considered among the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time. He was also a master illusionist or magician.

When our identity is our finite self in time and space (which we perceive as apart and separate from everything that is not our self), ipso facto we are alone regardless of how we might delude ourselves otherwise.

When we come to realize that every-thing is not a separate thing but a temporary facet of one thing, the everything; we are not alone as we do not have an independent existence. It is then that the eternal light dispels all illusions as we are one with the light which has no beginning and no end. We are God which is that which is beyond our mind’s descriptions as descriptions imply that something is one thing and not another. We are no longer a piece but at peace, beyond our mind’s comprehension for the mind has deluded us to identifying ourselves as apart and separate from the everything.

John Dryden

“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.”

Frieda Teicher

“Life is a dream; some have a good one, some have a bad one.”

Dreams are dynamic, changing from good to bad and good again. Hoping our dream gets better keeps us dreaming. However, when we awaken, everything is neither good nor bad. There is no good nor bad. All that is is just beautiful.

Frieda Teicher is my grandmother. When Victor was 6, she sparked his curiosity to wonder what happens when we wake up from our dream.

Helen Keller

“Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people.”

As we make our way in this world, we are seemingly more vulnerable and less likely to survive without the ability to see than without the ability to hear. Hence, it would seem better to be deaf than blind. Yet, when we connect with others by hearing and talking, we can see through their perspectives which is the essence of wisdom. Moreover, connecting with others is fundamental to love. Wisdom and love (compassion) transform this world into heaven. There is little point trying to make our way in this world by seeing if we can’t arrive at its ultimate destination, heaven. Hence, it is better to be blind than deaf as deaf is death.

Seeing allows us to connect (experience) things. However, seeing confirms that we are apart and separate from things. Hearing allows us to connect with and as such be one with others. Better to be able to hear which has us one with everyone, than to see which confirms our separateness. When we are one with everyone, we are in heaven.

Most people would rather be deaf than blind; implying that most people feel vulnerable, apart and separate from others. For them, there is no heaven.

Recognizing Father

Some years back, when one of my children passed puberty, one day they called me “Victor.” It sounded odd, but that’s a way some children assert themselves. I laughed at what some might take as disrespectful and said: “You can call me whatever you wish but if you cease calling me “father” I might forget I’m your father and you might not like the consequences of having our relationship like that I have with others whom I equally love but who aren’t in my will.” They never again called me “Victor,” but that might be because I would not have recognized them if they had.

W. C. Fields

“A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.”

A funny line because we have mental associations and make generalizations about the rich which bear little truth regarding an individual who happens to be rich. The undoubtable truth is that the rich man is simply a man who has money. When the truth is revealed and we realize our mental constructs are illusionary is the essence of something funny.

Being rich is a matter of money, but otherwise it’s meaningless. Any inferences made based on someone having money is poor judgement. Good judgement is more valuable than money.

Money comes and goes. Good judgement doesn’t necessarily assure money coming, but it’s helpful in keeping it from going.

Poor judgement and good luck can bring great wealth, as in heavily playing the lottery and winning. Good judgement, unlike poor judgement, more likely assures our basic needs of food, shelter, security and health. Once our basic needs are met, we are absolutely rich. Realizing this truth is good judgement.

When we are absolutely rich but perceive ourselves as poor relative to others, we will always be poor because we have poor judgement.

Matt Haig

“Tragedy is just comedy that hasn’t come to fruition. One day we will laugh at this. We will laugh at everything.”

“Everyone is a comedy. If people are laughing at you they just don’t understand the joke that is themselves.”

Life is a play, “Terrific.” The play is our journey in life. It starts as a tragedy and ends as a farce. When we get scripted out of the play, we join the gods in the audience for whom the play of human follies provides entertainment. Those who realize this truth have a wonderful journey; forever, whether on stage or in the audience. For those who don’t, life is a mix of good and bad roles in the play and eventually they die.

Steven Wright

“Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until they speak.”

Jim Rohn

“Formal [college] education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”

A college education reduces the risk of winding up with a low paying job. Those who are self-educated are precluded from most well paying jobs; hence, they can take a low paying job or try their luck with self-employment where there’s a chance they make it big or lose whatever they had. Clearly, the self-education route is risky. Risk taking is a key to making a fortune.

A formal education is a reactive process as students strive to come up with what their teachers have determined are the conventionally “right” answers. Essentially, successful students excel at conformity of thought, not at creative thinking, which limits their ability to create exceptional value in the confines of a large organization. Self-education is proactive, motivated by having more questions than answers and characterized by independent thinking which ultimately can lead to discovering new, better or cheaper ways of doing things.

Buddha and Christ had no gurus.

Third Anniversary

Dear Subscriber,

As we come to the the third anniversary of our blog, I, your humble narrator, thank you for your presence, accepting the blog’s presents which I’m happy to deliver. However, I wonder, as I rarely receive comments on the posts but from a few people, whether many in our small audience of subscribers are finding the blog entertaining or otherwise worthwhile. My aim is that at least one person gets something out of it; otherwise, why continue with it. But, I may be hedged as I thoroughly enjoy it.

Always and all ways,

Victor Teicher

Alex Bernand

“Like Bernie Madoff made off with the money, Sam Bankman-Fried will be a bankman fried.”

In German, a digraph (two letters together that spell one sound) made of two vowels is pronounced as the second vowel. Thus, “Fried” is pronounced as “freed.” In English, only the first vowel is pronounced. Thus,  “Fried” is pronounced as “fried.”

In Germany, which is not as punitive as the U.S., Sam Bankman-Fried, if found guilty, would likely be “freed” after a handful of years in prison. In the U.S., he would be “fried,” imprisoned for a couple of decades.

Sara Teasdale

“I make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes.”

All that’s now is now no longer.

What is gone doesn’t exist.

All there is is what comes next

with which we can just do our best.

Expensive, Defined

The definition of “expensive” is costly. It’s etymology is Late Latin expensa, “disbursement, outlay.”

However, perhaps the root of expensive is simply things people buy without (ex) thinking (pensive) about price.

Only without thinking about price, one easily buys an off-the-rack Kiton sports jacket ($9,995) at Neiman Marcus instead of an equally functional jacket at Men’s Warehouse for $100. That’s what the Emperor does if the emperor has no clothes.

Those who buy expensive jewelry are schmucks. Schmuck is the German word for jewelry.

My Guides

When I was a child in Act 1 of the play of life, “Terrific,” my parents, friends and teachers showed me the ways of this world. However, their views were not as interesting to me as the views of the elders, my grandfathers. As my grandfathers’ perspectives were from the end of days, Act 3, I felt the light they projected from their position to mine would best show me the way forward.

My paternal grandfather came from Leipzig, Germany. He, my grandmother and father escaped to Israel in 1938, just before all roads out of Germany closed to Jews. My grandfather was a successful businessman in the printing business in Germany and the envelope manufacturing business in Israel. Yet, after 18 years in Israel, my father, who worked for my grandfather and had married my mother in 1950, yearned for the economic opportunities he envisioned in America. So in 1956, when I was 6 and my sister was 2, we moved with my grandparents to Brooklyn, N.Y.

My grandfather opposed moving to America. Before leaving Israel, he told my mother to take a long deep look at the comforts she had in Israel because it would be a long time before she would have those comforts in America. He was right. My family arrived in America during a recession and struggled for several years.

My grandfather went through many ups and downs in life. However, with his ability to see situations from many different perspectives, he always found creative solutions to whatever problems arose. Moreover, he always found a perspective that made a situation funny and was always grateful as every situation could have always be worse. This was the foundation of his happiness. His was the attitude that I naturally adopted.

My maternal grandfather was a dry goods store owner in Haifa, Israel. His approach to life was to enjoy the physical pleasures of life; eating, talking and sex. However, as his lifestyle took its toll, in his last years, he was overweight, diabetic and unsteady on his feet. That taught me that getting fat is just deserts for eating just desserts. While he would likely have been in better shape had he restrained his desires, in his last days he felt the pleasures he realized were greater than their costs. He too was happy. Enjoy the physical pleasures of life is what I learned from his life.

My grandfathers made clear my way; to physically enjoy life and realize my potential by making the best of every situation. That describes my life in Act 2. While my grandfathers would likely not have approved many of the choices I made on the way to where I am now, a grandfather in Act 3, their light guided my way on a happy life which is all my grandfathers would have hoped.

Moreover, now that I’m in Act 3, the transition, I’m no longer interested in the views of elders. I’m drawn to the energy of those younger; especially my grandchildren. They are closer to where I’m going than I am. Maybe they can reflect the light from which they come to guide me to where I’m going.

Kate Moss

“Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.”

This motto is the mindset of those with the eating disorder anorexia.

Anorexia aside, the motto may serve well those trying to diet and exercise for good health outcomes and conventional good looks.

A change in diet and an exercise routine take time before their effects on health and looks are noticeable. For many, these desired outcomes are not as enticing as the immediate gratification from eating with abandon while sedentary, watching TV. However, a diet and exercise program also provides immediate gratification when we focus on how we feel when we dress in the morning and our clothing feels a bit but noticeably less tight than yesterday; a wonderful feeling that lasts all day. Nothing tastes, or lasts as as long,  as good as that feels.

Moreover, while a healthy diet and exercise are positively correlated with life expectancy, time and effort spent to increase one’s life expectancy is a fool’s errand as no one is getting out of here alive. However, diet and exercise forestall chronic diseases which are often overwhelming distractions from simply enjoying being alive. Health life expectancy is the time before the onset of chronic diseases. On average, health life expectancy is ten years less than life expectancy. Ten years maybe is a reasonable sentence for the foolish crime of abusing one’s body instead of rejoicing with consciously eating and sex, an exercise which provides immediate gratification and longer-term health and appearance benefits. Maybe that’s why Kate Moss liked the feeling of being thin, that made her attractive so that she could engage sexually with anyone she wished and have fun exercising.

C. S. Lewis

“You can’t go back and change the beginning but you can start where you are and change the ending.”

While this quote is misattributed to C. S. Lewis, a British writer and Anglican lay theologian, it is consistent with his general thinking.

We can’t simultaneously hold onto the past and have a firm grip of the steering wheel.

New Year 2023

Dear Subscribers,

Hope all is well and getting better.

May you have a healthy, wealthy and happy New Year and all time thereafter.

Health is key to realizing wealth. Wealth is having our needs provided and not distracting us from realizing happiness.

Always and all ways,

Victor Teicher

Rumi 1

“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.”

Likewise, the less you look, the more you can see.

In quietude and with eyes closed, we are free from the world our mind has created, we forget our self and solely the soul remains which is all that ever was, is and will be.

Ross Levin

“When you believe in Santa Claus you can get lots of presents because there is always someone who wants to be Santa.”

It’s easier for us to find Santa than for Santa to find us. If we work to find Santa, it makes it easier for Santa to find us. Practically, if we work and socialize with wealthy people we have a good chance some of them will be our Santas.

Nothingness And Emptiness

Nothing is every-thing before it is what it is whatever it is. As nothingness, every-thing is one indescribable thing,

In the stillness and quietude of meditation we can experience the nothingness of everything. Otherwise, we are overwhelmed by the infinite things that make up everything, so we organize things in containers; words, descriptions, generalizations, categories and stories describing many seemingly similar things.

However, as every-thing is unique and ever-changing, no thing can be containerized. Thus, the containers are empty. Anything within them is an illusion.

Likewise, the Self is an empty container. However we describe it is an illusion. The soul is the nothingness from which every-thing springs.

J. Robert Post

“…searching for your true self is a bit like wandering around in your living room wondering how to get home[,]” like a dog chasing its tail.

The wanderer and the dog take their ways seriously, until they’re overwhelmed by frustration or exhaustion. However, they’re funny from the perspective of the Gods watching the play of life. The Gods are the embodiment of wisdom, having different perspectives with at least one that’s funny.

The Gods have no empathy for the wanderer or the dog, but they have compassion. The Gods know that the overwhelmed wanderer and dog having lost their ways now have the opportunity to realize where and who they are.

Trip To Tibet

Robert Thurman is a scholar, author and academic who founded Tibet House and was in 1965 the first American Tibetan Buddhist ordained by the Dalai Lama.

For many years, Thurman biannually lead groups on tours of the holy sites in Tibet. In the late 1990s, I sought to join Thurman on such a tour.

I contacted Geographic Expeditions (GE), the tour organizer, two years before Thurman’s next trip. I was told that as I was the first inquiry, I would head the list of those going. After, periodically I called GE for an update on the timing and particulars of the trip. Finally, some months before the trip, I was told that as they had received more interest from people than available slots, 15, everyone was required to write an essay as to why they wanted to go; however, as mine was the first inquiry, my essay was proforma and I could rest assured that I’d be included on the trip. In my essay, I spoke about my collection of ancient Himalayan and Tibetan Buddhist art and that I had read a couple of Thurman’s books.

As the tour was coming together in final form, GE contacted me to say that Thurman was only accepting applications from “serious Buddhists” which he didn’t deem me to be one. Thus, my application was rejected. I was surprised as “serious Buddhists” seemed an oxymoron. Inquiring further, GE said they had 16 essay applications. I was the only one rejected from going on the trip.

My reaction to this news: a hearty laugh. It was funny, like other similar situations I’ve been in, but I hadn’t thought why until recently. What’s funny is imagining that some people in my situation would be upset about it, something that’s passed, instead of otherwise rejoicing about their good fortune. After waiting two years, spending time with inquires, writing an essay, being told they are good to go and very much looking forward to the trip, some would be upset being rejected. However, their consolation prize was having the financial resources, health, time to take such a trip and now, not going on the trip, extra time and money to spend on something else. As such, they should be grateful for their good fortune; especially as thinking about a trip is more than half the experience of it.

It’s funny to think that some people choose to view their circumstances in ways that make them unhappy. Maybe that’s what serious Buddhists do. If so, it’s good the serious Buddhists were allowed on the trip and not me, as that precluded anyone becoming unhappy.

First Love

Years ago, soon after college, I had a girlfriend with whom I was in love like never before. It was wonderful every which way, a fine balance of complementary roles and common interests. Moreover, she had a stimulating mind and body. Sex was cosmic; orgasm was the Big Bang, we were one with everything.

One day, she declared that she met another guy and wanted to leave me. I was happy for her as she felt she was going to greener pastures. I was also happy for myself as her leaving allowed me greater freedom to connect with others.

Ultimately, she returned and we continued our relationship where we left off. It was terrific once again. However, when I had an occasion to leave for another girl, she was quite upset, but not sad. It was then I realized she may have loved having me but not me.

Discrimination Is Funny

Early in my Wall Street career I was rejected as a applicant for a trading job at a premier money management firm because I am a Jew. The firm’s managing partner was a reasonably smart and affable US born gentleman who was proud of his German roots. While we met for interviews many times, got along along very well and clearly I was the best candidate for the job (the person ultimately hired was not particularly talented and didn’t last long at the job), he was uncomfortable with Jews based on his family’s lore. This was clear based on his social club memberships, that he had no Jews on staff and that as a member of the board of directors and employee of a Wall Street brokerage firm he was the sole vote opposing the merger of the brokerage firm with a Jewish-owned commodity trading firm which resulted in the commodity firm become the largest stockholder of the brokerage firm. That is, that he would henceforth be working for Jews.

Ultimately, rejected from this plum job, I took a job at a third tier firm. While opportunity lost and rejection on the grounds of religious heritage might have provoked anger or dismay in others in like circumstances, I thought it was funny.

I loved this managing director (as I do everyone) but viewed him as struggling with a mental handicap that limited his ability to make choices that would be in his best self-interest. His mental handicap is “labeling,” the generic form of discrimination.

Labeling, like broad generalizations and categorizations, seems to make us comfortable, thinking we understand individual things; but, ultimately, labeling reveals we know nothing about the individual things we label. When someone knows nothing but thinks otherwise, that’s funny. It’s funny that his ignorance was my bliss and, in hindsight, the story of the experience is better than would have been the job.

The Quarantine

In January, 2022, during the waning days of the quarantine pandemic (yes, a pandemic of quarantines), I travelled to Japan where strict quarantine protocols were still in effect; upon entering Japan I would be sequestered for three days in a government managed hotel. While I could have delayed the trip until the quarantine was lifted, it seemed fun to experience a quarantine.

Given a choice between three days of quarantine and three days of leisure, clearly I’d choose leisure. However, the quarantine didn’t seem it would be much of a problem and as 90% of any experience is experiencing oneself, the quarantine like most things would be fun for me. Moreover, the stories my memory could weave out of the quarantine experience would make it fun regardless of what it was at the time.

After a 14 hour flight from New York City to Tokyo, I was among a thousand or so people held at Tokyo airport for processing. We were held captive for 15 hours by dozens of police officers and people running around in hazmat suits. Everyone was in operating room mode, all masked up. It felt otherworldly, even in Japan which is already otherworldly. Food rations were limited to the inedible that no dietician would ever recommend; hot dogs, bread, sugary fruit juices. As we were closely packed together, people slept on chairs and floor, a veritable petri dish where a single Covid infected individual could easily spread the virus. At some point, people’s street clothes looked like pajamas needing a wash; people became restive. Finally, after extensive testing of secretions from nose to spit and waiting on innumerable lines with paperwork in hand, we were taken to a government hotel and placed in solitary confinement. My room was luxurious from the perspective of anyone living before 1850 or currently in a refugee camp, but otherwise basic. Fortunately, there was a big clock in the room, allowing me to identify breakfast, lunch and dinner as each meal was essentially the same thing, whatever the thing was. I did have the freedom to smoke cigars in the room; though the hotel stopped offering coffee three years back and what’s a cigar without a coffee! Entertainment was via cell phone and emails; fun connecting with others who pitied my plight which truly wasn’t bad. Ultimately, I’d recommend a quarantine as a good remedy for jetlag.

After the quarantine, I returned to the everyday world and typical high points of a trip to Japan; restaurants, onsens, meetings with colorful people, viewing gardens and landscapes and visiting shrines. Today, I hold little memory of those moments, but the odd and peaceful time in quarantine is with me forever. If we can’t enjoy a quarantine in a civilized country, how can we enjoy most things.

David Hamono

“Hard to wake someone who believes their eyes are already open.”

Courtesy Of David Hamono

“The richest person is not the one who has the most but who needs the least.”

Once we have our basic needs of food, shelter, security and health and have no desires, we do not suffer from selfish distractions in pursuit of things material or otherwise. All that remains is gratitude for what we have and have not, a key to happiness; the purpose of wealth.

Empathy Is Harmful, Compassion Is Helpful

In the early 1980s, I worked at Oppenheimer & Co, a medium-size stock brokerage firm. At year-end, employees were evaluated and given bonuses. However, for some, the news was otherwise; they were fired. John, with whom I was friends, was fired. This came quite unexpectedly to John who had envisioned a lifelong career at the firm.

John, distraught, took to tears. John’s empathetic friends were quick to console him. I didn’t. I saw him as selfish, focusing on a small disappointment instead of being grateful for his good fortune relative to 99% of others living on this planet. I eventually came by and congratulated John at now having all sorts of opportunities he hadn’t considered before his firing. As well, I thought we could figure a way John might wrangle some termination payments from Oppenheimer. But John would have none of this talk of making the best out of current circumstances. He wanted to continue wallowing in self-pity. He wanted empathy, not compassion.

From my perspective, John was not in any immediate financial difficulties. He was a talented guy who could easily find another Wall Street job. As he didn’t have a cancer protruding out of his ass, he had much about which to be grateful and happy. His sadness was about being fired, an event that seemed real as the self is obsessed with the past; not letting John accept it as passed. John was a prisoner of his self. That was sad.

Empathy is harmful, compassion is helpful. When someone is distraught, it is their self that has upset them. Empathy acknowledges the self’s thoughts and feelings which encourages us to take the self seriously, allowing the self to continue wreaking havoc upon us. Alternatively, compassion dismisses the self and efforts to helping others make the best of their circumstances. Simply, empathy is consoling someone who’s upset about having lost their job which keeps them from finding a new job and compassion is helping them find a new job.

Vector

Dear Subscribers,

A rose is a rose is a rose and what we choose to call a it doesn’t change what it is. Yet, to organize the world about us and facilitate communication, we have created words as symbols for things and actions. Some words are names which identify individual people. Those words often have other symbolic meanings which may reflect the nature of the person identified by the name.

My name, given me at birth, is Avigdor. It is an Israeli name. It means “by father, the tall and courageous.” Jewish tradition has it that newborns are named after deceased relatives. I was named after my great grandfather, Wigdor. Wigdor, by some accounts, means “logical thinker.” My name was revelatory as my early years were somewhat defined by my father who was taller and more courageous than me and as such ruled over me in ways that made little logical sense to me. For example, metaphorically, at times he got angry and cried over milk I spilled and punished me accordingly, while it seemed to me that we should simply mop up the milk and go buy some more to replace it.

At 13, bar mitzvah time, when Jewish boys graduate to become men, I changed my name to “Victor.” Victor suited me as I aimed to be victorious in the matters that held meaning to me, commercial matters and romantic relationships.

In the play of life, “Terrific,” in Act 1 we are born and socialized. In Act 2 we have our Earth experience of career, family and pursuing various other personal and social interests. Act 3  is The Transition. The Transition is the path or way from our alive bodily state to our bodily death. Successfully done, we realize our potential of divine consciousness as we transition from being a finite person on Earth to being one with everything.

In Act 3, my name in Act 2, Victor, no longer suits me. As The Transition is the way from our life as a finite self to the eternal soul which is what we are before we arrive on Earth, my name should reflect my role in the play of life which is to follow and show others the way. A vector is a course or compass direction. Thus, henceforth, my new name is Vector.

Always and all ways,

Vector Teicher

Way Of Way 242

Four organs define our relationship with others.

Our upper organs, head and heart, represent wisdom and compassion which connect us as one with others. With wisdom we see the world through the eyes of others. With compassion we help others as we would ourselves.

Our lower organs, stomach and genitals, represent our needs and desires and drive us to compete with others.

Our upper organs can bring us to heaven. Our lower organs often make for a hellish experience.

While our upper organs have divine potential, often they are like our lower organs in terms of our relationship with others. Whether the relationship is divine or offensive is revealed by what comes out of our mouths, the top of our alimentary canal. What comes out the bottom of the canal, near our lower organs, is invariably offensive.

In Memory Of Moke Mokotoff

Those who seek the knowledge of spiritual teachers are destined to be students forever. Seeking, like desires generally, cannot be satiated but temporarily; thus, creating an endless cycle of seeking, realizing and seeking again. Moreover, identifying with a role, such as a student in the play of life, makes it difficult to free oneself from one’s self; the essence of spiritual awakening.

Awakening is the realization there is nothing to seek. All is within us. To see the light we need to be aware it exists, so we can see it when it arrives. Awareness of the light creates the light.

Moke Mokotoff was a dealer of ancient Asian art. More significantly, Moke was a lifelong devoted student of Buddhism, attending countless guru-led meditation retreats and immersing himself in Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. While the presumed endgame was awakening and enlightenment, Moke prioritized his studies instead. Being was not his goal, seeking was. That made for fun conversations with a “serious” Buddhist. However, perhaps Moke was right as we all eventually become, as Moke is now, one with everything; in the meanwhile, enjoy you time in life in roles that make you and others happy.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing. Love is knowing I am everything.”

Bert Lance

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Those who are broken try to fix that which isn’t broken; a fool’s errand, as they can never find something unbroken until they fix themselves. Appreciating things that serve their function allows us the time to appreciate much more; that’s how an unbroken mind works.

God

God is beyond our perception and imagination.

But God has birthed an infinite number of visible sons, the stars.

One son of God is our sun.

Our sun is a generous god.

It creates and energizes us upon our birth at sunrise.

That’s why the first day of the week is Sunday.

Our sun is also a jealous god,

hiding from us all of God’s sons

whom we can only see upon our death at nightfall

when we become like God,

beyond perception and imagination

Atrocities

There have been and are now countless atrocities mankind has committed against mankind. We have created many stories about these horrors, such as who should be blamed for causing them. Yet, the horrors will continue until we collectively accept them as a reminder that we have much about which to be grateful in our current circumstances. Gratitude is an essential element of happiness. Happy people don’t commit atrocities.

Lying To The Public

Lying to a government official is a criminal matter. Yet, when governments lie to the public, that is not a crime; though it often leads to disastrous results like wars, wide scale prosecutions and poor health outcomes (drug laws) and political repression.

If lies promulgated by governments were a crime, governments would dramatically shrink in size as many government workers and politicians would be imprisoned; especially the most dangerous ones, those who are truly sincere, the ones lying to themselves.

Buddha Or Psychopath

There is a Buddha parable that goes like this:

One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. “You have no right teaching others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.”

Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?”

The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”

The Buddha smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger is yours to deal with.”

At that moment, the angry young man awoke and became a lifelong disciple of Buddha.

This story is reminiscent of my relationship with my father. From the time I was 13 until I went to college, my father was often angry with me; frustrated that I questioned his authority and mocked his core social and political beliefs. He screamed at me and on occasion hit me (not to hurt me but to vent his frustration). One time he said: “I wish you were never born.” To which I replied: “That’s your problem.”

Was my reply reflective of a Buddha nature or a psychopathic mental disorder? My father would likely say the latter (he at times called me a “sadist”) as my reply didn’t bring him to see the light; it just made him more angry.

After my father’s untimely transition from life at 60 years old, I was once overwhelmed by sadness and tears; reflecting on not having awakened father to experience life as it is and not solely as he was.

Smart Guys, Wise Guys

Educational institutions identify smart guys who society ushers into jobs that make laws and rules. The smart guys painstakingly work at rule-making, take themselves very seriously and get quite upset when people break or find ways around their rules.

Wise guys figure ways around laws and rules and invariably laugh, for relatively less effort they are better remunerated than smart guys.

When wise guys figure ways around rules, smart guys eventually take notice and write more rules to thwart the wise guys. Of course, the wise guys figure ways around the new rules. This minor cycle continues until at some point the rules cause the wise guys to work relatively longer and for less renumeration than the smart guys.

Then, the wise guys move on to other venues for better opportunities. Soon after, price goes up and quality goes down for the goods or services subject to the rule-making.

Ultimately, it’s clear that the smart guys weren’t so smart. They’re fired from the organization at which they worked and their rules are abolished.  A new system emerges with limited rules, causing prices to go down and quality to rise. However, soon after, smart guys are hired again to make rules. A new grand cycle then begins.

Irish Catholic Boys School, Late 19th Century

“There once was a beautiful nun

who didn’t have any fun

taking boys for a run

because she had none.”

Merry Saint Patrick’s Day

Leftist Cities

New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are leftist cities; those who still live there are politically on the left and those who aren’t have left. It’s like a virus, either you are the virus (you are left) or you’ve had enough of the virus and have left. Those who know the consequences of having the virus for a long period leave to live in other cities. Those who are the virus are hopefully slow in their migration to other cities.

The virus is an ideology. Those who conform and live according to the left ideology are not human; they are the ideology. Those who can observe and reflect on how real life unfolds know the impracticality of the left ideology. They are generally ok humoring the ideology but don’t want to be prisoners of it.

Those who have left may find the foregoing funny, unless those who are left have invaded their reasonably well-functioning cities. Those who are left cannot find it funny because viruses don’t have a sense of humor.

Governments created the virus in a lab. The work of highly educated people.

Courtesy of Marc Faber, The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report

The British-American author and journalist Christopher Eric Hitchens (1949–2011)…once recounted a story about Chou En-lai, who served as the first Premier of the People’s Republic of China from 1954 until his death in 1976. According to Hitchens, Chou had been invited to speculate on how the course of history would have been altered if, say, Nikita Khrushchev had been assassinated instead of John F. Kennedy. Chou’s austere version of Marxism made him dubious about the importance of things like sheer accident and mere individuals. But in this instance, he was prepared to allow that things might have been different. How different? “Well,” said Chou with complete gravity, “I hardly think that Aristotle Onassis would have married Mrs. Khrushchev.”

Steve Jobs

“I look in the mirror every morning and ask myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

Every day is not a day in a life, but a life in a day.

When every day is everyday, we have yet to awaken.

Upon awakening, every day is our first day in life; every-thing is new and unique like never before as we are unfettered by thoughts from time passed or time future.

Bernard M. Baruch

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

Paradox 10

Drinking water is essential to life, but may be unhealthy.

Unlike Austria, Germany and The Netherlands, where tap water is sand filtered and disinfected by exposure to ozone and ultraviolet light, most countries add chlorine and sometimes fluoride to their tap water; rendering their water artificial. While no definitive conclusions have been made regarding the long-term effects of drinking artificial water, as most artificial foods are harmful to long-term health, it’s likely artificial water has the same effect.

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