24
Sep
20
Sep
(picture, created in photoshop, click here to see a larger view)
“Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has.” – Martin Luther
Martin Luther didn’t have much good to say about reason. He likened reason to the Devil’s bride, a “pretty whore” that comes in and thinks she’s wise in what she says and that her words come from Providence. And indeed we treat reason like a whore using her to support our twisted logic and bolster our world view.
(Picture, thanks to the Flying Kiwi)
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an equation, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly…specialization is for insects. – Robert A. Heinlein
Create some space right here right now that you can step into right now and be who you want to be and do what that person would be doing right now…let go of any mind made pressures or obstacles…
Who would you be? And what would you be doing?
Who you are is who you are right now. And in accordance with Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence thought experiment, would you be happy to repeat this moment for all of eternity?
Edie Brickell confessed that philosophy is the talk on a cereal box. I usually don’t pay attention to what’s written on the box apart from the brand name. I like to know what I am about to eat. After I pour my cereal, I usually put the box back in the cupboard.
But my mind happened to be elsewhere this morning.
I was mulling over a problem. I like to pace when I think. I was pressed for time, so this morning I had to pace, eat, and think at the same time. I know, I know, men aren’t suppose to able to do more than one thing at a time. But hey, sometimes you have to be different.
In mid-stride, the writing on the cereal box caught my attention. In big purple letters was the question:
“What am I?”
Hmmm…
I’ve previously wrestled with the question of “Who am I?” But I’ve never stopped to consider, “What am I?”
I am reminded of a poster I saw a long time ago. It had a picture of a monkey scratching his head. The caption read: “Just when I’d figured out the answers to life, they changed the questions.”
“They” changed the question on me this morning.
Check out the video, What I am.
17
Nov
what have you done in the past week to improve so that you are better this week than last?
31
Oct
If you want to accomplish something of significance, you have to put in the blood, sweat, and tears to do it. It is that simple. But as Morpheus says in The Matrix, ‘there is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path’.
(2)
At present I work to maintain the conditions, possessions, and position I have now. I am doing the things I need to do to maintain the status quo. Is the status quo good enough? In the context of my life the status quo consists of a loving, healthy, happy family. The kids are doing well in school. They have what they need to feel nurtured and nourished. They have an active social life and appear to be well liked amongst their peers. The wife and I have more or less the same. When I am not doing things to aggravate the wife, she seems happy. And when I am not doing things to aggravate myself I am happy.
(3)
I cause myself aggravation when I want what I don’t have and when I imagine that I will lose what I do have if I don’t push myself to do more and more. I convince myself that I have to keep up with the imaginary Smith’s and Jones’s. Alan de Botton calls it status anxiety. It is an anxiety caused by what we think others think of us; whether they judge us a success or failure, a winner or a loser. Go to any networking or social function where no one knows who you are and what is one of the first questions people ask you? ‘What do you do?’ This is the moment when you are suppose to ‘strut your stuff’, spread your feathers like a peacock to impress. Or you mumble something and quickly change the subject. I usually avoid the answer by saying. ‘I shake hands and kiss babies.’
(4)
Nietzsche says the ingredients of fulfillment are: a position in the world, sex, intellectual mastery, and creativity
Am I fulfilled?
My position in the world feels like a grain of sand on a beech. Sex (like most men, I could always do with more). Intellectual mastery (striving for, but easily distracted by other things). Creativity (working toward expressing it more thoroughly).
(5)
Should I continue to maintain the status quo? I could if I take myself out of the system where I am judged by what I do, by how much money I make, by what kind of car I drive, by what position I hold, and by what access I have to the top of the line consumer must haves to be seen as successful.
(6)
Should I become a free thinker and unplug from the system?
24
Oct
A Zen Master named Hakuin had returned to his village after a long journey. His students wanted to know how the journey went. But Hakuim did not remember the journey.
“My pupils, I regret that I cannot tell you how I travelled, because I do not remember,” said the Master.
“Master, it must be the same as whenever you travel; you are greeted by warm welcomes and gracious respect, befitting a man of such wisdom,” said the first student.
“Perhaps it was so,” said Hakuin.
The second student chimed in, “Master, maybe you travelled unassumingly as a tramp pretending to be a fool of no importance, to better observe the world.”
“Perhaps it was so,” said Hakuin.
“Master, do you not remember? I travelled with you,” said the third student. “Also, I videotaped your reception at the village of Edo.”
“Ah,” said Hakuin. “Graciously play the videotape, my pupil.”
The student played the tape. It showed Hakuim speaking to many men.
“Master, I was mistaken,” said the second student. “I see that they listen to you with respect and attention; you did not travel disguised as a fool.”
“No Master, I was mistaken,” said the first student. “These men are transfixed with surprise, they watch and listen to you because you travel as a fool, and they are astonished to see a fool speak so confidently.”
“Perhaps it was so,” said Hakuin. “But then, am I teacher or fool?”