Rusty prayer wheels
on a dusty street.
They squeak & they squeal,
& no circuit completes,
but still hands reach out for each one
'cause who has faith in the clean wheel spun?
Rusty Prayer Wheels [Lyric Poem]
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Category Archives: Philosophy of Life
PROMPT: Minimalism
Absolutely. The IKEA Nesting Instinct has run amok, and Consumer is a definitionally discontented state of being.
Personally, I hate that I know what a duvet is.
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FIVE WISE LINES [June 2026]
When I was younger I could remember anything,
Mark twain
whether it had happened or not;
but my faculties are decaying now and soon
I shall be able to remember only the things
that never happened.
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled,
Plutarch [paraphrased]
but a fire to be kindled.”
Judge a man by his questions
Voltaire
rather than his answers.
Resist much, obey little.
Walt whitman; “To the states“
People don’t take trips —
John steinbeck
trips take people.
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PROMPT: Any Philosopher
Daily writing prompt
If you could have dinner with any philosopher, who would it be?
Diogenes the Cynic would be a hoot. Alternatively, Zhuangzi (莊子.) Obviously, my tastes run toward a philosopher that could teach me about how to be free, rather than to teach me some sort of rigorous approach to thinking. I’m stocked up on the latter, but in deficit of the former.
(I’m assuming this to be a “living or dead” question scenario. Usually, I prefer to talk to the living, but I don’t think modern academia has been good to the crazy sage philosopher. I might be able to find a Daoist hermit in a cave somewhere or maybe a Tibetan Nyönpa, but I couldn’t say what his or her name would be.)
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PROMPT: Fear and Self-Doubt
Feel it but don’t feed it. I feel whatever emotional sensation it brings with my whole attention, but don’t ruminate — i.e. don’t let the mind go into worst-case scenario building or pity partying or self-criticism. Use the sensation as an anchor for one’s awareness. This honors the source of consternation while recognizing that one’s mental (/ emotional) experience of an event is not the event, itself — i.e. that one has influence over one’s experience even when one has zero influence over the event. Gain confidence with the small emotional experiences and work toward the big ones.
This was the great gift I received in being taught sakshi bhava, the yogic practice of dispassionate witnessing.
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PROMPT: Expected to Hate
I’ve had it the other way round (i.e. disliked a movie I expected to like,) but I can’t really say I’ve ever watched a movie that I expected to hate. Do people do that? In the very short life one has, are there people who sit around entertaining themselves with movies they expect to not be entertaining? Despite all that I have learned in this life, people perplex me more and more each day.
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PROMPT: Meaning of Life
I don’t know that there is a meaning of life, and — if there is — I truly doubt that it’s one size fits all. I’ve got to give it to the Existentialists on this particular question.
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PROMPT: Word or Phrase
“Popularity contest,” as in “This isn’t going to win me any popularity contests, but…” You know what’s not popular? Popularity contests. I’ve never heard of one. What you are really saying is, “I’m about to be a jackass, and I just want you to know that I’m aware I’m being a jackass.” Just own your jackassery all ready. You can’t soften the blow of being a jackass.
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PROMPT: Perfect Road Trip
As loosely and flexibly as your stress tolerance will bear.
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PROMPT: Minimalist
You own few things and nothing owns you.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 