An overwhelming problem is like being trapped in a box. To escape, think outside the box.
The solution to problems comes not by focusing on solutions to problems but by making the best of current circumstances.
An overwhelming problem is like being trapped in a box. To escape, think outside the box.
The solution to problems comes not by focusing on solutions to problems but by making the best of current circumstances.
When you find yourself laughing at the various things people seriously do to get to heaven, you are in heaven.
All that matters is energy, as it moves in waves (radio waves, microwaves, infrared waves, light waves, ultraviolet waves, x-rays, gamma rays, cosmic rays) along the electromagnetic spectrum.
Our reality we construct from light waves. They inhabit 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum.
In our reality, we see things being born and dying. Yet nothing is truly born or dies; things simply transition, appearing and disappearing as they move along the spectrum.
True reality is a fleeting dance of energy; endlessly transitioning, yet eternal in essence.
Everyone is a star, though only the stars that have been named are commonly recognized.
Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan, is often described as animistic and polytheistic.
Shinto has animistic qualities as it recognizes the spirit (“kami) in every natural force (e.g., growth and fertility), phenomena, animate and inanimate object, ancestor, and deity; reflecting a deep reverence for the interconnectedness of the seen and unseen universe.
It is polytheistic, as the number of kami is traditionally said to be 8 million.
As the number 8 in Japanese culture symbolizes infinity, the 8 million kami imply the universe is a manifestation of divine energy. This is the essence of pantheism.
As experiencing the entire universe, including ourselves, as a single manifestation of divine energy can feel overwhelming, Shinto practices and rituals are an accessible way to engage with the omnipresent divine.
Describing Shinto as pantheistic or polytheistic depends on perspective. From a distance, it is pantheistic, though in practice it is polytheistic. Ultimately, the perspective is of little matter; either way, Shintoism is an expression of awe and gratitude.
A wonderful life is not one full of wonderful memories, but when the most wonderful time is now.
If one can speak their own mind and yet does not feel powerful, they will never be powerful.
Religions provide their adherents a community life and communion with God.
Adherents drawn to community life appear authentic.
Those drawn to God are sincere.
The authentic focus on the material. They are the self.
The sincere seek the transcendental. They are the soul.
The authentic prize beauty which represents the divine.
The sincere prize the truth. In truth, every thing is beautiful.
The wise change their minds proactively as their perspectives evolve. The generally intelligent are quick to change their minds reactively in response to changing circumstances.
The individual self has many emotions.
Each emotion is a separate self.
Emotions make an individual self a multi-self.
Yet, there is an individual self that has only one emotion.
That is the sole self, the soul.
The soul’s emotion is love.
The multi-self is like a muddy pond stirred by the flow of a stream.
Stopping the flow calms the pond, letting the multi-selves settle at bottom.
Once settled, we can see clearly to the bottom and our reflection on the surface of the pond.
We realize we are the soul and all we see is what we are.
Meditation transitions the multi-self into the soul.
Meditation settles the multi-selves until they are one.
What remains is the soul.
The Way is the path to self-realization.
Self-realization is realizing individual selves and other things in the now are temporary illusions creating chaos of the now. What we are eternally is the sole self, the soul.
The now is the soul’s manifestations or expressions. As the now is indivisible, all selves and other pieces in the now are interdependent; otherwise, they are illusions.
The purpose of self-realization is to make peace of the chaotic now.
Before birth, we are the soul.
Upon birth, we are the now, yet don’t remember we are also the soul.
Oblivious of what we are, we are easily socialized to believe we are an individual self in various roles in the play of life, the now.
As an individual self, we feel apart and separate from the infinite number of everchanging things or pieces in the now. This is duality.
The everchanging pieces and dualities make the now chaotic; at times, violently so.
Upon death, there is an invisible hole in the now into which the self and all pieces disappear.
The hole leads to the soul where all pieces are whole.
The soul has no dualities; no pieces, just peace.
The Way to self-realization begins when we repudiate our socialization and understanding of the now.
Doing so, we realize we don’t know what we are.
We can then come to know the now by observing the now.
As a hand cannot grasp itself, we cannot both be in the now and observe the now.
We need to separate from the now to observe it.
Meditation allows us to observe the now.
In meditation, we see the now begins when we inhale and ends when we exhale.
The sound of the inhale is “sooo”. The sound of the exhale is “hmmm”. Together, they form the Sanskrit word “soham”; meaning “I am”. I am the now. My sounds create the now.
From the silent space between the end of an exhale and the beginning of an inhale, we are outside the now and can observe the now.
In this space, we are the soul.
As the soul, we realize we are also the now.
We love the now which is essentially a manifestation of what we are.
Loving the chaotic now is peace.
If one has food, shelter, security and health and yet does not feel wealthy, they will never be wealthy.
Wealth and power comes to those who are self-actualized.
Eternal being comes to those who are self-realized.
Eternal being has no need for wealth or power.
Eternal being has no needs.
Eternal being is the whole of being.
All things are everchanging.
All things are different from different perspectives and different dimensions.
Any thing of which we are certain is an illusion.
After it’s born, a baby will surely die unless it is loved by some people.
At the end of our days, eternal being will elude us unless we unconditionally love the now and its infinite forms.
Love enables us to survive in life and survive death.
In the now, we are a self.
Before and after the now, we are the soul.
The now never changes, but all forms in the now are ever-changing.
Forms transition until no longer recognized as being what they once were; simply, they die.
When our individual form dies, we are solely the soul.
Unlike a self, the soul is eternal.
As the soul, we are eternal.
The now is the manifestation of the soul.
The soul loves the now, as the soul loves its manifestations.
When we love the now and all its forms, we are the soul. We are eternal being.
Wisdom delivers us to this realization and compassion delivers us to its actualization.
We experience life in reality and as illusions.
Reality is what it is whatever it is, beyond description.
Describing it precludes us from experiencing it.
Descriptions are allusions to illusions.
The smartest are fastest to make the way to the finish line.
The wisest find the shortest and easiest ways.
The son of God is the sun.
“I” is the name of God’s son.
The sun is God’s eye.
God’s eye creates the everchanging, infinite and timeless universe.
Looking into God’s eye, we can only glimpse the blinding whole of creation.
Not to be overwhelmed, we see the whole through the hole of our eye.
Our world is created by our hole into the whole.
In California, the animist gods of forest fires, floods, droughts, mudslides and earthquakes are screaming for people to leave. Yet, the false god of sentimental thinking (the self) tells some people to stay.
Fiction is our memory of non-fiction.
What happened historically is remembered hysterically.
We are born of the soul as a self for a short journey in the play of life.
When we are scripted out of the play, we are no longer a self but remain the soul.
The play is a divine comedy for those who remember the way of the ever-present and eternal soul.
The play is a tragedy for those selves who don’t know the way. They are the lost souls.
Political decadence is when right or wrong is replaced by right or left.
When we know the world solely by what we see and hear, we’re out of touch and can’t tell whether something doesn’t smell right.
Nouns are photos. Verbs are movies.
Nouns are an it. Verbs are the is.
Nouns are created by our consciousness. Verbs are the experience of consciousness.
The goal in the material world is self-actualization, realizing one’s potential; like a seed becoming a fruitful tree.
The goal in the transcendental world is self-realization, realizing we are the eternal soul manifested as an infinite number of everchanging things.
There are two paths to both self-actualization and self-realization: the institutional path and the self-discovering path.
The institutional path in the material world starts with a formal education and continues as one develops in a corporate or governmental organization.
The self-discovering path in the material world is going it alone by starting a business.
The institutional path in the transcendental world is marked by religious texts, codes of conduct, collective rituals and individual practices under the guide of a guru or spiritual leader.
The self-discovering path in the transcendental world is sitting still, observing, asking questions.
The institutional paths limit risk and reward.
The self-discovering paths are limited by the self.
There are many institutional paths but only one self-discovering path.
A subscriber to our blog recently mentioned some of the posts repetitive.
This suggests a main point of the blog has been lost on them; for even if two posts are identical, they are not the same.
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” — Heraclitus
God is everchanging and eternal; a way not going away.
In the Hebrew Bible, YHWH is the name of God.
In Paleo-Hebrew, the written text only included consonants and the reader would supply the vowels during reading. This oral tradition was passed down through generations, but was eventually lost. Today, there is no consensus as to how to pronounce YHWH.
However, the nature of God reveals a possible pronunciation of God’s name.
God self-identifies as: “I am who I am” or “I will be what I will be”. God is manifested in the now as a tangible “who” and outside the now as an unspecified “what”. Taken together: “I am what I am.”
Acronym: IAWIA
IAWIA can be pronounced two ways.
As “I why” wherein the first of two consecutive vowels is voiced and the second vowel is silent.
Or as “a way” wherein the second vowel is voiced and the first vowel is silent.
With both pronunciations, one vowel is voiced and the other silent. God is the manifested and the unmanifested.
“I why” or, in common speech, “why do I exist?” I am what I am, I exist because I exist. There are no reasons or explanations, as all there is is is.
God is “a way“; an everchanging path, being rather than a discrete being.
“a way” is akin to the Taoist concept of Tao (the Way). The Way is ultimate reality; the seen and unseen; the source of all being; the eternally transitioning; ineffable, beyond human comprehension.
“a way” is also a possible pronunciation of YHWH.
“a way” is the sound of breathing (inhale “a”, exhale “way”).
Likewise, “soooo” is the sound of inhaling and “hmmmmm” is the sound of exhaling. Together, they form the word “Soham”, meaning “I am” in Sanskrit.
Every breath of life recalls the name of God.
Nobody is getting out of here alive, but those who know the way. The way is love.
Love connects who we are in the play of life, an expression of the soul, to what we are before and after the play, the soul.
In light of our inevitable death and countless potential disasters, everyday problems aren’t as significant as our mind makes them.
I don’t love what I like more than other things. If I did, I would not love every thing.
We rarely stress about something we can do something about.
The mind causes stress, not circumstances.
If we are not dancing, we are not listening to the music.
Love your self with your soul, not with your self.
Otherwise, you might fuck your self.
Stress is a selfish state of mind.
Stress happens when the self takes control of the mind.
The remedy is freeing the mind from the self.
The etymology of the word “mind” is “memory”.
Remembering what the universe is can free us from the shackles of stress.
The etymology of the word “universe” literally means “turned into one”.
All things are temporarily things in the now, but eternally one thing: the universe.
Who we are is a self. What we are is the universe.
When we only perceive being a self, we suffer selfish states such as stress.
Remembering we are the universe, we have no stress.
Feeling great and being stressed are mutually exclusive states of mind. When we feel great, we cannot be stressed.
When we are grateful, we are “great-full” with no space for stress.
We are grateful when we remember we are lucky. However stressful our circumstances, we are lucky they are not worse.
The word “hap” means luck. The root of happiness is remembering we are lucky.
When we are happy, we cannot be stressed.
Life is a play.
For the actors in the play, it’s a tragedy; good times, bad times, meaningful relationships here and there, but everyone dies at the end.
For the audience, it’s a comedy; watching actors take their roles seriously, though it’s only a play.
When we identify as the self, we are the actors.
The audience is Gods. When we remember we are Gods, we are also the audience.
As Homer once said, near the home of the Gods, Mount Olympus, there is a deafening sound of the Gods laughing. The Gods are laughing at us.
When we die, we leave the play and join our fellow Gods in the audience.
Remembering we are both the actors and the Gods, we can laugh at our selves.
When laughing, we are not stressed.
Much stress is a function of things from the past.
These things are karma: our intentions, actions and consequences of past lives. Karma affects how we experience the now.
Our past lives are not lives we had before this life. Our past lives are passed days of our life. Each day is not a day in a life but a life in a day.
We accumulate much karma over our passed lives.
The people we were in passed lives are illusions. Our memories of them are just a dream; yet, the self tells us otherwise.
When we don’t believe the self-stories about the past, we remember we are only the person we are right now.
Karma of the past is passed and we cannot be stressed in the now.
The self has many faces or emotions, like stress.
The self’s emotions control our mind.
To escape the self we need to calm the self with unconditional love.
Unconditional love comes only from the soul. When we love unconditionally, we are the soul.
The soul is never stressed.
Loving those who dislike you shows them the way to disliking no one.
A meal is judged twice. At the sitting and at the shitting.
Pantheism is a religion without religion.
Organized religions are identity groups typically defined by institutionalized characteristics: belief systems, sacred texts, rituals, moral codes, communal practices, symbols and anecdotes.
As each organized religious group perceives itself different from other groups, religious identity groups (as well as secular identity groups) are inherently dualistic
Pantheism dispels with duality.
Pantheism is the view that while every thing seems unique, all there is is one everchanging thing: God.
Oneness with God is a transcendental experience that dissolves the illusionary and dualistic boundaries that differentiate organized religion and secular groups generally.
Oneness is a direct connection to the divine; much like mystical experiences in organized religions (Sufism, Kabballah, tantra, and Zen meditation) but without the institutional structures framing it.
The state of oneness is characterized by the transition from individual consciousness to divine consciousness; from the view that every thing is finite in space and time (having a beginning and end) to the view that all there is is the everchanging and eternal Everything, God.
In the mystical state of oneness, one loves every thing; though one may not necessarily like every thing from the perspective of their individual consciousness.
When one loves every thing, one feels every thing loves them.
The reciprocal connection of love engenders a transcendental peace, a peace beyond understanding.
Pantheists appreciate organized religions and secular beliefs as different expressions of God; but often view as funny the rituals, dogmas, and hierarchies of organized religions and secular life (non-pantheists) as they obscure the fundamental truth that every thing is sacred.
Those who are non-pantheists often don’t appreciate a pantheist’s perspective. People who take their religious and secular beliefs seriously are put off by those who are laughing at them, though simultaneously loving them.
“Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear.” — Lao Tzu
In each body resides a self.
But the self is many selves, as each emotional states is a unique self.
The selves are like the grains of sand in a muddy pond, the mind.
They preclude us from seeing what’s within the pond and reflections without the pond.
To see clearly within and without, the selves need to settle at pond’s bottom.
This allows the many selves to turn into one.
This is the purpose of meditation.
With eyes open, our mind shows us the infinite manifestations of reality.
With eyes closed, we see one thing: nothing, the true nature of reality.
Everyone is brilliant in some way. The brilliance of those who seem dull is to remind us that we can seem dull too.
Those with microscopic or telescopic minds can see what few others can, but often can’t see what’s before their eyes.
If we are not one with the Everything, we are nothing; in life, relatively nothing; after life, absolutely nothing.
Loving some things even more than your self is selfish when you don’t love all things.
As 85% of disease-related deaths are a function of age. To stay healthy, don’t grow up.
When the wealthiest and most powerful man in the world, Alexander the Great, asked Diogenes of Sinope what he can do for him, Diogenes replied: “Yes, stand a little out of my sun.” .
The greatest gift is to escape the self’s shadow and connect with the source of all things.
Those who know the soul experience a peaceful death; for when the self and its home (the body) are no longer, they will be one with the Everything.
Yet, at their passing, their loved ones will grieve and mourn.
Newborns cry as they transition from one with the Everything into finite beings.
Yet, those welcoming newborns rejoice.
Those peacefully departing and those entering the material world know the joy and peace of oneness with the Everything.
Those distracted by daily life are often oblivious of the oneness before and after the material world.
They grieve when others leave and rejoice when others arrive. Misery loves company.
When good times lead to worse times and bad times lead to better times, that’s called “regression to the mean”.
When good times lead to better times and bad times lead to worse times, that’s called “momentum”.
The Way depends on identifying and balancing these countervailing forces.
In the play of life, we play many roles. The most coveted are the elusive roles of the wealthy, powerful and celebrated.
While talent and effort are needed, most actors awarded these roles are simply lucky.
Unfortunately, even for the lucky ones, all roles are temporary. Eventually, everyone is scripted out of the play.
Actors bring their selves into their roles. However, there is a role that’s only available to those who relinquish their self. The role is easily obtainable and survives the play.
Yet, few players know this role is available: the role of God.
As God, we know life is a play. We’ve created the play for our entertainment. We are the actors and the audience.
We recognize every thing is a manifestation of us, God, and we love everything accordingly.
In Judaism, God is nameless.
God is not one thing to the exclusion of other things.
God is the Everything: the now and what is before and after the now.
However, the Everything is not a thing; it’s the only thing.
God is not a static noun.
God self-describes as “I am”.
God is an unspecified verb, the process of the Everything.
We’re surrounded by an infinite number of things.
As we distance away from them, we see them as one thing.
The soul’s love and the self’s love are the same but feel different.
The soul has only one emotion: love.
The self has a multitude of emotions, including love.
The soul loves every thing, as every thing is a manifestation of the soul. Simply, the soul loves itself.
The self’s love is conditional, loving some things sometimes.
The soul’s love is unconditional, loving all things all times.
The self’s love is ecstasy; love sandwiched between other emotions in striking contrast to love. Ecstasy is joyful and energizing.
Love from the soul is peace; a feeling beyond words, as oneness with the Everything is beyond description.
Ecstasy and peace simultaneously is orgasmic.
Cancel culture is a cancer culture.
When a group of like cells in the body prioritize their growth over the welfare of the body whole, the body eventually dies.
“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has first destroyed itself from within.” — Will Durant
The ratio of thanking/thinking measures our state of happiness.
The universe is a circle.
The space inside a circle is imprecise.
The logical mind sees things as squares, as having a precise space.
The logical mind cannot see the universe, as the space inside a circle cannot be squared.
All things are two things, a reflection of light and a shadow.
The sun creates the light, the thing creates the shadow.
Nothing is perfect, as there is nothing about which to complain.
Before and after the now is nothing.
Before and after the now must be perfect.
“When I was a kid, God often told me that only people create ugliness.” — Kanako Iiyama
Through the eye of God, the manifestation of God (the now) radiates beauty.
Through people’s minds, the beauty is often elusive or even made ugly.
The mind cannot see, it can only compare. The mind compares the now that’s now with the now that’s passed and the future now it imagines or desires.
Comparisons shroud the now with words; precluding a direct experience of the radiant now. As well, comparisons can make the absolutely beautiful relatively ugly.
The now is perfect; eternally now. Yet, none of the things in the now are perfect as all things are ever-changing; at best, perfect temporarily.
Focusing on things, people often complain about imperfections. Complaining is ugly.
Those who know all things in the now are one thing, the manifestation of God, unconditionally love all things as they do themselves.
Those who see things as other than themselves, connect to things with various emotions; many of which are ugly.
Life is a wonderful dream as long as we’re not oblivious we are dreaming.
The “smart dumb” are like hedgehogs. With microscopic or telescopic minds, they do one thing well. Yet, they often fail to see what’s obvious to the naked eye.
The “dumb smart” are like foxes. They don’t do anything especially well but can figure out how to get what they want.
In a changing environment, a hedgehog is less likely to survive than a fox.
The universe is the manifestation of the electromagnetic spectrum.
We see the universe through light waves which are 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum.
If we saw the universe through the entire electromagnetic spectrum, we would wish we were blind; otherwise we would go mad.
Some mindsets are emotional, some practical.
Fire is emotional, water practical.
Fearing its demise, fire hates water.
Fear and anger drive fire to separate water into various small pots to vaporize it easily.
Fire from the political left labels the pots “misogynist”, “racist”, “fascist”, “oppressor”, etc.
Fire from the political right labels the pots “communist”, “anti-Christian”, “immoral”, “un-American”, etc.
Water people don’t like being vaporized, but know ambient temperatures will make them liquid again. Ever-practical, water laughs at fire, knowing fire people will eventually run out of fuel and extinguish themselves.
The etymology of the word “universe” is literally “turned into one.”
The universe is the Everything turned into one thing.
The Everything is the now and what is before and after the now.
Sometimes, the Everything is called “God.”
People pray to God for many specific things, but ultimately happiness generally. The workings of the universe reveals the way to eternal happiness, peace.
God is like a shiny coin rapidly flipping and reflecting light.
One side is called “heads” and the other called “tails.” The plural is used to describe each side because each time we see the same side it is different in time and space than it was before and we are not the same person from one minute to the next.
The side we see is the now. The side we don’t see is what is before and after the now.
As the Everything (God) is rapidly turning, the visible side is just reflections of light. However, the mind slows down the turning and creates detailed images from the light. The images and the stories we tell about them are illusions.
The heads and tails seem a duality. However, the duality is also an illusion. All there is are two sides “turning into one,” the universe in the form of a coin.
Rarely noticed is the edge of the coin, the “third side.” The third side interconnects the two seemingly independent sides that are actually interdependent as one cannot exist without the other.
Horizontally from edge to edge is an invisible central axis, or path, around which the coin dances in perfect harmony. The path is the “Tao.”
The Tao is ultimate reality,* the underlying principle or source from which all things arise and to which they return. The Tao is the natural flow and harmony of the universe.
When we simply appreciate the coin fluttering like a butterfly, we are in tune with the Tao. We are not distracted by images and related stories we’ve created. We are in a state of peaceful harmony.
Most of us are oblivious of the Tao, as our attention is on what was now, what is now and what will be now, the visible side of the coin.
We see what is now in the context of what was and we hope to get lucky; that the next visible side, the next now, will bring us happiness.
“Hap” means luck. It is the root of happiness.
We pray to God to bring us luck.
Yet, when we experience the simple beauty of the Tao, we realize eternal peace rather than temporary happiness.
*While a coin flipping in the air seems a simple process, it’s actually extremely complicated to explain in terms of physics. It involves classical mechanics, rotational dynamics, angular momentum and precession, fluid dynamics, chaos theory and quantum mechanics. In perspective, the theory of relativity is considered easier to come to know than coin flip dynamics.
The soul is the center from which everything springs.
That which is closest to the center is closest to the soul. That is the heart.
Further away from the soul is the self. That is the head and genitalia.
The heart expresses love from the soul.
The head and genitalia express love from the self.
Love is love, but is different depending on its source.
There is love from the self and love from the soul
The self expresses many emotions, including love.
The soul only expresses love.
Love from the self is temporary, as the self also needs to express other emotions.
Love from the soul is unending.
Love from the self is love of specific things.
Love from the soul is love of every thing.
Love from the self is conditional.
Love from the soul is unconditional.
Love from the self is demonstrative.
Love from the soul is ineffable.
Love from the self is finite like the self.
Love from the soul is eternal like the soul.
Love from the self is empathy.
Love from the soul is compassion.
Love from the self is joyous.
Love from the soul is peace.
Knowing who you are, you can make the best of your roles in life.
Knowing what you are is the best role.
“In the beginning…God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” — Genesis 1:1-3
Every thing subsequently is a derivative, or an illusion.
When we are grateful and love the now that is now, we are poised to be happy with the now that will be later.
The messiah is here, but is hiding; yet, revealed through our acts of kindness to all, treating others as we want to be treated.
Within each of us is the messiah, hiding behind our self.
“The Great Way” to enlightenment is like the infinite paths of light that lead to the sun.
“The Great Way” is the realization that the light that’s here is the light that’s there.
It is not the fittest (most able) or the fattest (wealthiest) who are most likely to survive; it is those who are the finest at identifying changing environments and either adapting to change or changing their environment.
Winners in the game of life receive grand prizes.
But every participant gets a consolation prize: the transition to heaven.
The winners completely engaged with their grand prizes often forget to pick up the consolation prize. They will not transition to heaven.
The play of life is a great cosmic joke for those who “get it.” Those who don’t “get it” are the butt of the joke.
Those who “get it” love those who don’t; for without those who don’t, the play wouldn’t be funny.
Moreover, those who “get it” express their gratitude and respect to the ones who don’t; for if those who don’t “get it” abandoned their roles, the ones who “get it” might be recruited for the most difficult roles, the roles of the ones who don’t.
Sometimes, even those who “get it” forget it. This is even funnier when they “get it” again and laugh at themselves.
In the play of life, we are both the actors and the audience.
Wonderful entertainment except when we forget we are also the audience.
Someone who asks a question wants to learn.
Someone who provides an answer wants to teach.
Someone who asks a question and provides an answer wants to sell you something.
Intellectuals are undoubtedly smart, but lack wisdom when they think they are smarter than others.
“He who doesn’t see God everywhere isn’t capable of seeing God anywhere.” — Kotzker Rebbe
Desiring what we don’t have distracts us from appreciating what we have.
Those who “get it” are eternal. Those who don’t “get it” never lived.
When talking about others, we are talking about our self. The self creates the others.
As no one has ever complained about the night sky, the universe must be heaven and Earth must be hell.
“You were born an original. Don’t die a copy.” — James Mason
Once you’re a copy, you’re already dead.
Soulful love is the joy of feeling how someone emanating love feels.
Selfish love is basking in the love showered upon us by others.
The soul loves the light of the sun.
The self loves the warmth of the sun.
Ignorance is bliss.
Temporary bliss for those who think they know what they don’t.
Eternal bliss for those who are curious.
We cannot choose our future, but we can choose how we remember the past which frames how we experience the future.
Enjoy your self, otherwise it might make you miserable.
Those who hate the rich but want to be rich hate themselves.
Love makes all things one thing.
Empirical studies suggest eating “junk food” is a precursor for dementia. However, the relationship may be reverse-causation. That is, an early sign of latent dementia is eating “junk food”.
The rich think the poor are lazy and the poor think the rich were just lucky.
They are both right.
The key to success is luck. Those who work 40 hours/week get paid accordingly and receive 40 lottery tickets. Those who work 60 hours/week receive 200 lottery tickets. Those who work 75 hours/week receive 400 lottery tickets. As well, the rich are more conscientious in checking their tickets for winning numbers.
The soul and the hole makes us whole.
When the love of the soul and the love of the self cross in sexual union, it’s a cosmic orgasm.
Love connects us with the everything, while the self separates us from the everything.
Unconditional love is loving everything. It is the peace of being one with the Everything.
Conditional love is loving some things sometimes and not others. It is an intense physical and emotional state as it’s preceded and followed by other emotional states.
All emotional states, other than love, are a form of selfishness. Love too is selfishness when it connects us with some things but not every thing. Soulful love is love of one thing: the everything.
No one is getting out of here alive, but those who realize they are the Everything.
Many a thank you is heard in the Rewards Department.
Many complaints in the Complaint Department.
God runs the Rewards Department and the Devil runs the Complaint Department.
Before and after the now, we are the eternal soul.
In the now, we are the self; a temporary expression of the soul.
The soul simply is, asking for nothing.
The self is selfish, demanding all our attention.
As the self denies the soul’s existence, we lose touch with the soul.
Ironically, the self will inevitably no longer exist and we will surely die
if we lose our connection to the soul.
Those who rejoice at reflecting the brightest light are often oblivious they cast the darkest shadows.
Praise takes little effort to create, is risk free to distribute and rewards those who dispense it.
Valuing praise at its cost of production, praise is worthless. Yet, most people love being praised and pay handsomely those who praise them, who often appear in the role of salespeople.
Criticism takes thought, effort and is a thankless job; often received as umbrage.
I feel those who criticize me love me and my criticism of others is given out of love. Maybe that’s why I was never much of a salesman.
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Fake artworks are real, but real artworks are often fake.
Fake artworks are forgeries or facsimiles of real artworks.
For most, the experience provided by a fake or real artwork is the same.
As the prices of real artworks often more than 100x the price of fakes, the prices of real artworks are fake.
The now is the everything, yet contains no things.
The now is eternal, yet ever-changing.
The now is real, yet an illusion as what is now is now no longer.
The now is unpredictable.
The now is overwhelming.
We are the now, yet don’t know the now.
All we know is our reactions to the now.
When we observe the now from before and after the now we can we know the now.
With more than a glance at the rearview mirror, we are likely to have an accident.
Awakening dispenses with boredom, as every moment is unlike another.
“Questioning the fabric of reality can led you to either madness or the truth and the funny thing is that you won’t know which is which.” — Lex Fridman
Life is a play; at times a drama, a tragedy, a comedy. Upon realizing it’s a play, the dramas and tragedies are funnier than comedies.
A maze puzzle is a metaphor of our approach to life; focusing on achieving specific goals or a journey to freedom.
The conventional approach to solving a maze puzzle is starting from the edge until we find our way to the middle. This is a goal-oriented approach. Upon realizing our goal, we find ourselves surrounded by the puzzle.
Alternatively, we can start from the middle to find our way out of the maze. Once out, we are “free;” we find ourselves beyond the puzzle, though where we are cannot be described.
Going into the maze puzzle is descending into a rabbit hole. Coming out is arising to the light.
Google Bard describes mindset of those who start at the edge vs those who start at the middle:
Starting from the edge:
Starting from the middle:
The mind can be a dark place, when we don’t open our eyes and see the light.
Some things are less perfect than other things which themselves are not quite perfect. Only the now is perfect, as there is nothing else.
Shit generally trades between $5 – $10/pound. When on a rare occasion it trades at $2/pound, it may be cheap but it’s still shit.
Money is a beautiful thing as it equates the value of all exchangeable things. Yet, money is often ugly in the context of our personal relationship with it.
Unsolicited advice might come from the heart, but often debuts as a bowel movement; a relief to the provider, but a put-off to the recipient.
The work of a man of wisdom is to make happy memories.
God sees God in every thing.
“With modern Western medicine, the upside is you’re alive; but at the cost of being a slave forever.”
In the now, every thing is what it is whatever it is.
Every thing, before and after the now, is the soul.
Before our birth and after our death, our sole identity is the soul.
Upon birth, we transition from being one with everything, the soul, to becoming a unique manifestation or expression of the soul; a seemingly independent entity.
To sustain our independent existence, we develop a self; a sense of being apart and separate from every thing that is not our self. The purpose of the self is to provide us with our needs of food, shelter, security and health. However, the self also engenders desires that become indistinguishable from our needs, putting us in an endless cycle; needs/desires to temporary satisfactions to needs/desires. Clearly, the self demands much of our attention.
Alternatively, our soul identity has us living a life of wisdom and compassion; wisdom, as we experience life not solely from the perspective of our self, but through the perspectives of the infinite manifestations of the soul; compassion, as we love and treat all that is not our self as we love and treat our self.
In the transition to life, we initially remember our identity as the soul as we in turn develop our identity as the self. In childhood, our soul identity embraces magical (animist) thinking as we feel every thing has a spirit within it that can be conjured for our benefit through our living harmoniously with its spirit.
However, over time, as we are educated and socialized, our self becomes our primary identity. While we are both self and soul identity in various proportions, many of us become oblivious of our soul identity.
Ultimately, no one is getting out of here alive. Our bodily death coincides with the demise of our self identity. However, before we complete our transition from physical death to our essentialness, the soul; if our soul identity is our primary identity, we realize we are an eternal being.
Love expressed by the soul is unconditional, unlike love expressed by the self which is conditional.
Love from soul is gold, while love from the self is fool’s gold. A simple acid test can determine whether love comes from the soul or the self.
The test is how do we feel when someone we love engages sexually with someone else. If our love is from the soul, we are happy for them and for whomever they were intimate, as how can we not be happy with the thought of people enjoying themselves. If our love issues from the self, we are angry, jealous, sad or have other unpleasant states of mind.
Love is love. From where it issues is of little immediate matter as love is love.
However, over time, love that flows from the self is temporary; at times running dry as it transitions into other emotional expressions. Love that flows from the soul is eternal, as the only emotional expression of the soul is love.
Moreover, love from the self is conditional, while love from the soul is unconditional.
Love from the self is proclaimed with “I love you.” Love from the soul is expressed as “We love you.” “We” are the gods. Those who don’t recognize everyone is god cannot love unconditionally.
“I am what I am.” — God, Exodus 3:14, The Bible
One day, as Moses was tending his flock he encountered a “burning bush” whose flames were not devouring its branches.
The burning bush was the manifestation of God; everchanging and eternal.
When Moses asked God: “What is your name?”, God said (depending on translation): “I am who I am” or “I will be what I will be”.
In the now, God is a “who”. In the time after (and presumably before) the now, God is a “what”.
Encapsulating all times, we can paraphrase God: “I am what I am”.
In the now, God is a nameless “who”, implying God is not one person/thing or another but every thing.
As “what”, God is an unspecified transcendental potential of infinite manifestations.
God also self-identifies as “I am”; implying God is being, not a being.
God is flow of the Everything.
IAWIA
Acronyms:
“I WHY” (IA-WIA, first vowel pronounced and second vowel silent).
“A-WAY” (first vowel silent and second vowel pronounced).
I WHY
Why do I exist?
Or, more broadly, why does the universe exist?
Reasons/explanations imply cause and effect which in turn imply the universe is comprised of many independent things.
However, all things are interdependent, as the “universe” is “all things turned into one”.
Reasons/explanations are as illusionary as the independence of things.
Simply, the universe just is.
A WAY
The written word for God is YHWH which may be pronounced as “A WAY”.
“A WAY” can be likened to the Tao (“the Way”).
As the Way, YHWH is the underlying natural order of the universe, an eternal and ineffable force that flows through all things.
YHWH is a nameless cosmic force that binds and releases all things; the energy of action and existence.
Aligning oneself with the “A WAY”, one realizes harmony and balance; as all the pieces of the universe come together as one peace.
Religions are like sheep.
Their wool warms and protects us.
Their bodies provide us sustenance.
But, beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
They may make us feel comfortable and safe,
but their only interest is to sustain themselves.
There is a nameless place; before time begins; before we are born; before things become the now; a place of infinite possibilities.
While no one ever speaks badly of this nameless place, we often curse people and things that come from it. By doing so, we are not encouraging that place to send us something we will cherish.
We don’t need to worry about the future as that will be what it will be. However, we need to worry about the past, what we remember and how we remember it, as that will frame how we experience the present.
Those who appreciate life are on the way to happiness. Those who focus on trying to understand life may lose their way.
The luckiest are those who recognize they have been lucky, for they will recognize other lucky opportunities that come their way.
“Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself.”
When we see God in every thing, we are God.
“Art as Experience.”
We experience art suddenly, through our eyes (“wow, oh, hmmm”); and slowly, with our mind (words, thoughts and comparisons).
It’s a unique experience for each of us and a unique experience from one moment to the next; otherwise, our eyes are closed.
I am who I am.
I am various emotional selves in various roles in the play of life. Depending on perspective, I am in my play or other people’s plays.
I am.
I cannot be described otherwise as I am ever-changing. Any description is empty, as by the end of a self-description I am not the person described at the start. description.
I am a verb, not a noun, as I am everchanging. I am being, not a being.
I am what I am.
In the now, I am a who. Before and after the now, I am what, the essence of every thing.
I am the Everything.
I am the soul and its expression in the now.
I am eye.
I am what I see, as every thing I see is me.
I am 1.
I, like all seemingly independent things, am not an independent thing; just a facet of 1 thing, the Everything.
I is time.
The most frequently used pronoun, verb and noun are: I, is, and time.
Taken together, the most frequent sentence would be: “I is time.”
“I is time” is transcendental. I is a flow of events. I is infinite, continuous, eternal.
I am God.
God, to entertain itself, has created the play of life. God is the actors and the audience.
For the actors, the play is a tragedy as everyone is eventually scripted out of the play, dies.
For the audience, the play is a comedy, as the actors take their roles and themselves seriously.
I am 11
In numerology, “Victor Teicher” is the number 11.
Victor: V = 4 I = 9 C = 3 T = 2 O = 6 R = 9
Add the numbers together: 4 + 9 + 3 + 2 + 6 + 9 = 33
Since 33 is a master number, we do not reduce it any further.
Teicher: T = 2 E = 5 I = 9 C = 3 H = 8 E = 5 R = 9
Add the numbers together: 2 + 5 + 9 + 3 + 8 + 5 + 9 = 41
Since 41 is a two-digit number, we need to reduce it to a single digit by adding the digits together: 4 + 1 = 5.
Now we add the numerology for each name together: 33 + 5 = 38
Since 38 is a two-digit number, we need to reduce it to a single digit by adding the digits together: 3 + 8 = 11.
Therefore, the numerology of the name ‘Victor Teicher’ is 11, which is a master number in numerology. This suggests that the person with this name may have a special spiritual mission or purpose in life.
In numerology, master numbers are the numbers 11, 22, and 33. These numbers are considered to have a higher vibration and are believed to carry a special spiritual or energetic significance.
Master numbers are not reduced to a single digit in numerology, unlike other numbers. They are thought to represent spiritual enlightenment, heightened intuition, and a strong connection to the universe or higher power.
Those who have master numbers in their numerology chart may be seen as spiritual leaders or visionaries, and may have a heightened ability to manifest their desires or tap into their intuition. However, master numbers are also associated with greater challenges and responsibilities, as they require a strong commitment to personal growth and spiritual development.
Overall, master numbers are considered to be very powerful and significant in numerology, and are often seen as a symbol of great potential and spiritual evolution.”
I am Victor Teicher.
My role in the play of life is preordained by my name. In German, Teicher is one who ponders. In English, where two vowels together are pronounced as the first vowel with the second vowel silent, Teicher would be pronounced as “teacher.” In Japan, Teicher is pronounced as “taisha,” the ancient shrine where all the gods meet annually. Victor is “conqueror.” Since entering the play of life, I have long pondered the nature of consciousness which led me to where the gods reside. The revelations that have come my way are to teach us how to conquer the self (our personal identity) which imprisons us, precluding us from connecting with the soul and being one with the Everything.
True perfection seems imperfect,
yet it is perfectly itself.
True fullness seems empty,
yet it is fully present.
True straightness seems crooked.
True wisdom seems foolish.
True art seems artless.
The Master allows things to happen.
She shapes events as they come.
She steps out of the way
and lets the Tao speak for itself.
“True perfection seems imperfect, yet it is perfectly itself.”
What may not seem perfect in our mind is actually perfect as it is what it is whatever it is, undisturbed by our perception.
“True fullness seems empty, yet it is fully present.”
Even when we have all the possessions we may desire, we are still empty as the more we have the more we want. In the present (the pre-sent, where every thing is one thing before it is what it is whatever it is in the now), we are one with the everything; truly fulfilled and need nothing more.
“True straightness seems crooked.”
The way of a meandering river is the straightest way to the ocean.
“True wisdom seems foolish.”
Wisdom is the synthesis of many perceptions; some seemingly well reasoned, some silly.
“True art seems artless.”
Art is all that is art-ificial, manmade. Yet, wonderful art doesn’t seem artificial, contrived.
“The Master allows things to happen. She shapes events as they come. She steps out of the way and lets the Tao speak for itself.”
Being open, accepting and making the best of what comes our way leads us to harmony with all that’s about us.
The self and the soul have a symmetrical relationship, laughing at each other.
As the self cannot see the soul, the self laughs at those who identify with the soul; thinking they are fools.
As the soul sees people taking seriously the illusions created by the self, the soul laughs.
But, as the self is temporary and the soul eternal, the soul has the last laugh.
The soul has only a sole expression and a sole emotion.
The sole expression is the now.
The sole emotion is love, connecting every thing in the now.
Before and after the now, the sole thing that is is the soul, the everything. In the now, every thing is the everything.
Upon our manifestation in bodily form, we assume a temporary self which disappears when our body is no longer.
As every thing is a manifestation of the soul, the soul is what connects every thing as one thing, the everything. This connection is called love.
Unlike the soul, the self views itself as apart and separate from every thing that it perceives as not its self. The self connects with every thing with ever-changing emotions like joy, hate, love, anger, indifference, envy, etc.
Our experience of life is a function of how we connect, through the soul or our self.
In a world inherently hostile to the self-sustainment of our bodily form, we need the self to survive. When we do so, we experience life with the emotions of our self. However, when we are not oblivious we are eternally the soul, we can return from the emotional rollercoaster of our self to the eternal love that is the soul; where there is peace beyond words and every thing is absolutely beautiful. That is the purpose of this blook, to guide us to the realization we are the soul.
“You can not escape a prison if you do not know you’re in one.”
The mind creates a familiar and comforting world out of the seemingly chaotic universe. In so doing, it separates us, imprisoning us, from directly connecting with the universe as it is and, ultimately, realizing we are the universe. Unless we come to know we are prisoners of mind, we can never escape. To recognize we are in mind’s prison, we need to realize we don’t know anything. That’s scary, or at least our mind makes us feel it is.
“You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.” — Vernon Howard
The mind galvanizes in us desires that can never be satisfied but temporarily. This is how the mind distracts us from recognizing we are in its prison.
“People like us who believe in physics know that the distinction between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
Everything is all at once. As that is overwhelming, our mind has created time to make it all a seemingly manageable to experience.
Much of what we undoubtedly think we see as reality is just a movie projected from our mind. To see reality we need to close our mind and open our eyes.
In a world in which we can have innumerable pronouns, we’re allowed only one ideology.
“According to the survey by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, 44 percent of those aged 25-34 think “referring to someone by the wrong gender pronoun (he/him, she/her) should be a criminal offense,” versus just 31 percent who disagree.” — Newsweek
The universe is perfect but we see it otherwise when we see ourselves as otherwise.
“I used to think that everyone saw the same thing in a different way, until I realized everyone sees the same thing in the same way but describes it with different stories.”
An extraordinary genius is successful and celebrated by society.
A true genius is happy whether or not successful or celebrated.
Intelligence makes things interesting. Wisdom makes things funny.
“And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness[.]'” — Genesis 1:26
Each of us is a unique face of God.
“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”
Having more questions than answers is energizing.
Having more answers than questions is tiring.
Those who claim their success came from luck are able. Those who think their success came from their abilities are bound to be unlucky.
The time before and after we are alive must be a happy time as no one has ever complained about it.
Awakening is the realization that all times past are a dream.
Those who want to work want work.
Those who don’t want to work want jobs.
In the world of collectible art, the tail wags the dog: the price of an artwork is more impactful than the artwork.
“It’s not a failure; it’s steps to success. There’s always steps to it. Michael Jordan played 15 years, won six championships. The other nine years was a failure? That’s what you’re telling me? It’s a wrong question; there’s no failure in sports. There’s good days, bad days. Some days you’re able to be successful, some days you’re not. Some days it’s your turn, some days it’s not your turn. And that’s what sports is about. You don’t always win. Sometimes other people win. And this year somebody else is going to win, simple as that.
This has to be the worst postseason ever. We have a number in [the locker room] and we were stuck on 15 [wins to the NBA Finals] … which is kind of hard to deal with. But at the end of the day, I feel like they were playing to beat us, and we were playing to win a championship.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the star player for the Milwaukee Bucs basketball team that was the favorite to win the NBA Championship this year. Above, his reaction yesterday when asked if losing in the first round of the postseason means this year was a “failure.” While an avowed Eastern Orthodox Christian, Antetokounmpo seems to be a Taoist as well.
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This symbol of Taoism reveals the essence of Taoism. Tao, in Chinese, literally means the (right) way. The Tao is the way, the nature, of reality; the way of the universe; and the harmonious way or path through life.
The circle represents the universe. Within the universe are two seemingly independent abstract fish forms, in shades black and white, that are actually interdependent as curled together they form the universe as a whole. The fish represent life, consciousness, which is what makes the universe whole.
Each fish has an eye, black or white, reflecting the shade of the other. Looking eye to eye, each sees its own shade in the other. Likewise, when we look in the eye of others, we see ourselves.
The way through the life, along the interface of the white and black forms, is everchanging; bending left and bending right; requiring us to be conscious of our way, lest get lost in the white or black forms.
Ultimately, the symbol of the Tao implies all things in the universe are interdependent; the path through life is everchanging; however, life is in balance, harmonious, when we consciously move between counterbalancing forms.
Another interpretation is the symbol represents two animals engaged in a sexual position commonly known as “69.” If so, the message there is that a happy way to make it through life is simply enjoy yourself.
As above, the Tao acknowledges there are different ways for different people.
When we identify someone as of our kind, we treat them with kindness. When we identify with the universe we treat all with kindness.
Each morning
I return from sleep-death
and ever so slowly separate
from being one with everything in a timeless place
to a finite and temporal self.
Before forgetting from whence I came,
I recite the Mourning Prayer:
Oh eternal universe
oh ever-changing universe
oh timeless universe
oh endless universe.
Thank God for creating the universe
and granting us consciousness to realize our oneness with everything.
The people I’ve been and the roles I’ve played in days passed,
my prior lives,
are illusions
Now,
and every-thing
Regardless of circumstances,
I am grateful for however my life unfolds today,
hopeful to realize divine consciousness,
happy helping others likewise
and laughing at my efforts to realize that which is always here.
Shanti Shanti Shanti
Now awakened,
I reposition from horizontal pose, where all are of equal height, to vertical.
Footsteps away is the throne
for the ritual burial of what nourished me last life.
Then, shower calls my name
for washing and massaging the temporary envelope that holds me together
and, without mirror, mind concentrates on shaving the face.
Once dried and dressed for appearance on stage,
fresh-squeezed blood orange juice
seaweed salad
hardboiled quail eggs toped with anchovies,
followed by a Robusto-size cigar and black coffee.
My new life begins,
for which I already have much to be grateful.
With that in mind, it’s a wonderful day.
To live a life of compassion and wisdom, best to avoid those who lack compassion and their friends who obviously lack wisdom.
Apocalypse is the complete and final destruction of the world as described in the Book of Revelation. While most of us will not be around for the world’s collective apocalypse, each of us will have our own apocalypse/revelation, the end of our days in unitary bodies.
Apocalypse and revelation are used interchangeably, but are different. The etymology of both words is to “uncover, unveil.” However, apocalypse is more about the destruction of the world as we know it and revelation is about what’s revealed by what remains after the destruction.
Apocalypse/revelation is like the lifting of a bride’s veil to reveal her face before the groom kisses her to consummate their marriage. After the kiss, the groom’s unitary existence is over as he is now one with the bride. Likewise, at the end of our days we realize that we are no longer unitary beings; we are one with all that heretofore seemed other than us.
Apocalypse/revelation is when the truth is revealed about consciousness and reality. The veil represents our personal consciousness; the meanings, generalizations and stories we create that mask reality. When the veil is lifted, we see reality as it is: the nothingness that everything is before and after it is what it is whatever it is.
That’s who we are: The nothing that everything is before and after it is, one with everything.
For those who know the veil is illusory, the veil is translucent; allowing them to see reality. Thus, as they know they are one with everything, they treat others as themselves (compassion) and are able to see the world from many perspectives (wisdom). Moreover, when the veil is lifted, apocalypse, it is the time for revelation; to revel with laughter as the illusions are now clearly absurd.
However, for those who think the illusions are real, the veil is opaque. They live as unitary beings and when the veil is lifted the revelation is frightening as hell. Not a surprising outcome as taking our personal consciousness seriously is at times hellish, even before the apocalypse. Unfortunately, it is fear of reality than keeps us from seeing through our personal consciousness which is the foundation of our fear.
While a lie may initially hide the truth, when the truth is revealed the lie ultimately reveals more than it hides.
Every night at sleep-time we die. Every morning upon awakening we are born. Each day is not a day in a life, it is a life in a day. Thus, we’ve lived thousands of lives before our reincarnation today upon awakening.
Before sleep-death, we acknowledge each other with “good evening;” that is, “good even-ing” for in sleep-death everyone (the smart, the stupid, the rich, the poor) is even, equal.
In sleep-death, our soul leaves our body and merges with the universal soul, which in some traditions is called God. When the soul returns to our body, we are born.
Upon awakening, we greet each other and ourselves with “good morning;” that is, “good mourning,” have a good time mourning the people you were in past lifetimes (yesterday and all days now passed) by remembering them in the light of wisdom and compassion; but, don’t identify their life experiences as your own.
Upon awakening and before we assume the roles and circumstances of the person we were yesterday, we recite out loud the Mourning Prayer. The Mourning Prayer acknowledges God’s creation, the universe, and expresses our gratitude for the life and consciousness we have been given which allows us to be one with God. Moreover, we declare that we are free from karma (our intentions, actions and consequences in past lifetimes (days of our life)) and look forward to realizing our purpose in life: to have a wonderful experience, realize our potential of divine consciousness and help others likewise.
Mourning Prayer
Oh eternal universe
Oh endless universe
Oh ever-changing universe
Oh timeless universe
Oh universe of infinite finite things.
Thank you for granting me today a role in the play of life.
The people I’ve been and the roles I’ve played in days passed,
my prior lives,
are illusions in the seemingly real form of memories.
Now, I am who I am
and every thing is what it is whatever it is.
Regardless of circumstances,
I am grateful for however my life unfolds today,
hopeful to realize divine consciousness before I’m scripted out of the play,
happy helping others awaken to their good fortune
and laughing at my efforts to realize that which is always here.
Shanti Shanti Shanti
We recite the mourning prayer aloud, again and again and again, until we feel it and truly awaken. Then, hopefully, we won’t forget who we are as we make our way through this day of life with the peace that comes from not taking our self too seriously; as we know that our self, which will die in the even-ing when our soul departs, is not who we are.
At day’s end, it is time for the Even-ing Prayer before our sleep-death.
Even-ing Prayer
Oh eternal universe
oh ever-changing universe
oh timeless universe
oh endless universe.
Thank God for my role in the universe
and for now,
sleep-death,
when my soul joins God
which is what every-thing is before it is the universe.
Shanti Shanti Shanti
As few remember that every day is our birthday, we should remind whomever we meet with the greeting: “Happy birthday.” Whether they recognize today as their birthday or not, they will undoubtedly have a laugh. What better gift can we give someone on their birthday?
Intellectuals are mischievous entertainers. They make fools of those who take them seriously who in turn wreak havoc on everyone who doesn’t.
Empathy is giving a beggar some money. Compassion is giving a beggar a job.
Only when we shed our clothes are we ready to make love. Likewise, only when we shed the self that covers our soul are we ready to love everyone.
Regretting certain choices we’ve made in the past distracts us from making the most of the present which leads us to future regrets.
A wise man knows he can change the past by changing his perspective. A fool thinks he can affect the future..
We start in life in front of a rabbit hole on a dark night and are given a map through the maze before us. In the darkness underground the map is useless but some are lucky to find their way through to the light. Those who toss the map and look up at the sky realize they’re not rabbits as what they see is what they are.
A house described as “charming” you would never buy from a practical point of view.
Why I loved my father is why he hated me. I thought it was funny when he got angry, but he didn’t get the joke.
Empathy is selfish. Compassion is selfless.
When our mood is dark, we absorb light and our body temperature rises.
When we are lighthearted, we reflect light and are calm and cool.
When you marry someone like your wealthy grandparents, you’re clearly farsighted, not nearsighted.
I am God and anyone who doesn’t recognize I am God doesn’t recognize they too are God.
Heaven is real, hell an illusion.
In heaven are those who realize everything is an expression of God. In hell are those whose mind tells them otherwise.
Raw intelligence is characterized by one’s abilities in matters of conceptual thinking, memory, compiling and analyzing information and creativity. However, the truly intelligent are those who have the ability to learn something from virtually anyone.
Doing stupid things allows you to learn you are stupid. Those who don’t learn this lesson are stupid.
Politicians are a form of comic entertainment. However, when many people take politicians seriously, we’re forced to take politicians seriously because the politicians often lead people to war when they haven’t done a good job at their other responsibilities.
Many people audition for seemingly exciting roles in the play of life. Roles of the wealthy, powerful, successful, happy, etc. However, there are more people auditioning that roles available.
One role for which very few audition and which anyone can have is the role of God. To pass the audition, one needs to just give up all other roles which require the self.
As every-thing is interdependent
every-thing is no-thing
just a facet of everything.
No-thing can be described
as descriptions are empty generalizations,
the personal mind’s creation,
making something out of nothing.
Every-thing is temporary
and everything is eternal.
Descriptions are the personal mind’s vanity,
vain attempts to eternalize that which is no longer.
The universal mind is empty of words.
It is still
and yet busy
eternally manifesting itself as everything.
When our personal mind is still
it merges with the universe mind
and we are one with everything.
The universe is the manifestation of God. Loving God is loving every thing; even those things we don’t like and seek to avoid.
We should always acknowledge and express our gratitude to the God of Luck.
If we think our success comes solely from our abilities and efforts and not from the presence of the God of Luck, the God of Luck will not acknowledge us with his presents.
Those who blame their misfortunes on others don’t learn from their misfortunes which brings them more misfortunes.
Those who see the light embody wisdom.
Those who feel its warmth embody compassion.
Without wisdom and compassion, there is no light.
Something is wrong with our head if we can’t enjoy the pleasures of sex and recreational drugs. Nothing is wrong when we enjoy these things, unless they get to our head.
When you look down on others you cannot see the light.
You can’t push on a string.
Unsolicited monologues get little attention.
However, we have people’s attention when we respond to their questions.
When we question others, they give us their mouth. When they question us, we have their ears.
Ask enough questions and when their mouths tire, they will ask some questions and open their ears.
When we focus on the details, we often fail to see the beauty of the whole.
A beautiful artwork that’s deemed a “fake” becomes less beautiful.
Whether awake or asleep, we are always dreaming.
Those who are asleep don’t know they are dreaming.
Those who are awake know they are dreaming.
More praise and love is given to the dead than the living, because the dead can do no wrong.
Everyone wants something special as long as it tastes like vanilla.
Life is an entertaining journey as long as we don’t forget it’s a temporary holiday from where we permanently reside which is heaven. Even those with the most wonderful lives find themselves in hell when they forget they’re on holiday.
For crying babies, milk brings peace.
As adults, the Milky Way has the same effect.
Unfortunately, few can access the Milky Way today.
120 years ago everyone lived under the dark-sky and could see the Milky Way. Today, 99% of people live with some degree of light pollution, precluding their eyes from drinking the light of the Milky Way.
What is within is always the same, the soul.
What is without is ever-changing.
What is within is essential.
What is without we can live without.
Enlightenment is not a utopia. Enlightenment and unhappiness are not mutually exclusive. One could simultaneously be enlightened and unhappy, momentarily.
The enlightened radiate light. While solid objects cast shadows over them, the shadows are temporary illusions that are quickly dissipated by their light.
The sun shows us every significant thing on earth and the billions upon billions of stars tell us how insignificant it all is.
When we have no doubts about how we see something, we close our eyes to other possibilities.
Heaven is peaceful and those in heaven want to keep it that way. They only let into heaven only those who live peaceful lives on Earth who are already in heaven.
Can we take seriously explanations of the past as no one can predict the future?
Buddha opened his eyes and was able to see the universe as it is. Had Buddha been studying Buddhism, he would have seen many things through his mind which would have precluded him seeing the universe as it is.
Babies see the world as it is, always new as it is everchanging, because they don’t remember what they see.
Every night we die and every morning we are born anew.
Thus, every day is our first and last day of life.
As it’s our first day, everything is fascinating.
As it’s our last day, we appreciate everything.
If someone doesn’t love or respect us, that’s their problem. We can only feel badly for them because they simply don’t get it. However, we too have a problem if we resent them for it.
Everyone’s life is unique, fascinating and entertaining. But that’s often not their experience of it.
Enlightenment is when the lights go on in a theater featuring a captivating movie.
One can live without a mind but not without a heart.
Each of us stars in their own play and plays roles in other people’s plays.
As many plays are not popular, people who star in their own play often spend most of their time in roles in other people’s plays.
To have these people who are in minor roles in the plays of others perform best, we treat them like special guest stars. Maybe one day they will be stars; but, if not, at least they’ll enjoy their roles more than otherwise and that will make our play a better play.
Unless they are sold things, people buy very little.
At birth we separate from being one with the universe. At death, we reunite with the universe. Blessed are those united with the universe in life, for they do not suffer death.
Who we are is revealed by how we describe others. But that’s rarely how we see ourselves.
Unless they are a threat, it is difficult to take seriously someone who takes themselves seriously.
Life is a present gift wrapped by the past. To get to the present, we need to remove the past.
Being eccentric, I sometimes wonder whether I might someday be committed to a mental institution. But as I look at the people around me, I realize I am in a mental institution.
Since early childhood I always felt stupid. Many people seemed strange as I didn’t know why they did what they did and how they thought about things. I still feel stupid but now realize they are not strange. They are like me. They also don’t know why they do what they do or how they think about things.
It’s important to think another world war is coming. If it doesn’t come, we’ll feel terrific as we’ll be in a better position than had there been a war. If it does come, we’ll feel terrific as we would be in an otherwise better position to deal with it proactively.
When we are one with the ever-changing and eternal universe, we love everything and miss nothing.
When we come upon a serious accident, we reveal who we are. Is our first question “what happened?” or “how can I help?”
With our eyes we can see the surface and depth of things. With the eyes of others we can see the nature of things.
Every child has a father but needs to father itself to become an adult.
Life is a ride on a zip line connecting pre-birth and afterlife. The ride at times feels scary, thrilling and even boring. As the ride nears its end, we feel the calmness of our pre-birth.
God runs the Rewards Department.
The devil runs the Complaint Department.
Birth is like nuclear fission, a powerful explosion.
Love is like nuclear fusion, 3-4 times more powerful.
In fission, our soul separates from being one with everything.
In fusion, our soul reunites as one with everything.
When work is just work and not fun, something is not working.
Certainty is an illusion that masks fear of uncertainty.
When we experience the seemingly same thing again and again and each time it’s unique, we are present.
Most people want to have something special as long as it tastes like vanilla.
Seeing the light clears the mind. It’s called photic sneeze reflex.
Judging a decision by its outcome, which is often affected by randomness, is a bad decision.
Everything that comes our way is the best when we make the best of it.
Weddings always make happy memories.
For some couples, it’s the happiest day of their lives as they begin living happily everafter. For others, it’s the happiest day of their married lives as it’s all downhill from there.
Perhaps the most important choice we make in life is between selfishness and happiness. Though selfishness is a choice and happiness is an outcome.
We cannot choose happiness but happiness is possible when we choose not to be selfish.
Science says we see others by the light they reflect. In reality, we see others by the light we project upon them.
“Those who can make you believe in absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.” — Voltaire
Ideologies and identity groups are absurdities that are the foundation of dualities.
Wealth and social status are imaginary hierarchies. Those atop hierarchies are generally very happy with themselves. When they look at those below them, they are pleased as they see the admiring and respectful faces of those below. However, the laws of gravity disturb this otherwise mutually pleasing relationship. Invariably, those atop need to relieve themselves and their droppings are resented by those below. There is nothing imaginary about that.
The greatest blessing is realizing we are blessed.
The pursuit of happiness is a fool’s errand. Happiness is like a mouse, it comes to those who sit quietly with a piece of cheese by their side.
The past are the bars our mind creates holding us prisoner in a cell.
We can incessantly shake the bars, trying to free ourselves, but to no avail.
Letting go our grip, the bars fall to the floor and we can walk away from our cell to freedom.
Those who know they know nothing are childlike. Those who think they know everything are childish.
An enlightening journeyman can guide others on their journey. An enlightened master makes the journeys of others into a business.