Category Archives: Philosophy

FIVE WISE LINES [October 2026]

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You can never plan the future by the past.

Edmund burke

In the garden of gentle sanity,
may you be bombarded by
coconuts of wakefulness

Chögyam Trungpa; Timely Rain

…the most fruitful developments
frequently take place at those points
where two different lines of thought meet.

Werner heisenberg

My miracle is that when I feel hungry I eat, and when I feel thirsty I drink.

Bankei (Upon being challenged to produce a miracle during his lecture at Ryumon-ji Temple)

We cannot catch the fleeting minute
and put it alongside a later minute.

Arthur Milne

PROMPT: Good Person

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What does it mean to be a good person?

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I don’t know that it has a meaning. I tend to consider dualities in Taoist terms. Every Yang has a seed of Yin; the Yang flows into Yin and back again.

PROMPT: Bucket list

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What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list?

To travel to, or to take over and rule with an iron fist? “Bucket list” seems a bit intense for the former. You make a plan and pack a bag. No one has to die here. [Unless one’s dream destination is North Korea, in which case, maybe.]

PROMPT: Know

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What’s one thing you know now that would have saved your younger self a lot of pain?

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I believe the distinction between knowledge and wisdom is that one merely needs to be able to understand knowledge, but one must be able to live wisdom. For example, one can teach a five-year-old Jesus’ lesson about turning the other cheek, and they may understand every word but still be struggling to live it sixty years later.

My point is that I’m doubtful that knowing anything would have saved me pain because I would have had to live it, and that takes time, experience, and struggle.

PROMPT: While Traveling

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What’s the best way to meet new people while traveling?

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Don’t travel in a big tour group or cruise. As a single or a couple, one can’t help but interact with locals. Stay where nationals of that country stay; eat where they eat.

PROMPT: Aliens

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If aliens arrived tomorrow, what’s the first thing you’d ask them?

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Do you speak English? 你会说普通话吗？¿Hablas español?

Alternatively, do you have a spare Babel Fish?

Anything else seems pretentious. I certainly don’t speak Alpha Centaurian.

PROMPT: Underrated Life Skill

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What’s the most underrated life skill?

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Juggling. Because there is absolutely no way to learn it without failing thousands of times. It’s not the dexterity, but the tenacity, that is of value. Not to mention the lessons of neither rushing nor overreaching that it teaches. Some balls must be left to drop.

PROMPT: Mantra or Philosophy

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What’s a personal mantra or philosophy you live by?

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First, I don’t have a mantra. While I believe Transcendental Meditation to be a fine approach, other meditative techniques have resonated with me more on a personal level. Unless by “mantra” one is looking for a soundbite that encapsulates the entirety of one’s philosophical thinking — which I also do not have. (At least not a stable one.) Philosophically, I am a Traveler (or, identically – I would argue, a Student.) Epistemologically, this requires a humility about what can and can’t know (though, admittedly, not necessarily humility — generally speaking,) a willingness to empty one’s cup to allow for consideration of new information, and an openness to adopting foreign and unfamiliar ideas where they prove useful.

PROMPT: Explore

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What’s the best way to explore a new city?

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On foot, with few objectives locked in, and with a willingness to adjust to opportunity.

In other words, you should never be so obsessed with what a place once was that you miss that it still is — i.e. jumping around from ruin to ruin and never interacting with living natives.

PROMPT: Genie

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The genie grants you a wish. What is it?

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Oh no, I read the myth of Midas, I’m not falling for that one.