I often don’t remember what others claim I’ve said, but remember, in great detail, what others have said to me.

Maybe what goes inside my head is mine and what leaves my head is someone else’s.

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.

Google Bard responds:

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

“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.

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.”

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.

“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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

“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.

“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing. Love is knowing I am everything.”

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.

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.

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

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.

“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.

“Hard to wake someone who believes their eyes are already open.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

“…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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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

“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.

“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.

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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

“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.

“Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until they speak.”

“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.

“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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

“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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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.

“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.

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