Morning Glories
don’t feel slighted
because they bloomed
in the shadow of
Mexican Sunflowers…
Though the humans
who otherwise might
stop to admire them
can now not be
bothered to notice them.
Flower Mind [Free Verse]
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Category Archives: Philosophy of Life
PROMPT: Dream Home
I think Chōmei said everything that need be said on the matter — and more eloquently than I would — in Hōjōki [i.e. 10-Foot Square Hut.]
For elaboration, see…
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FIVE WISE LINES FROM WILLIAM JAMES [Feb. 2025]
Our view of the world is truly shaped
by what we decide to hear.
The greatest weapon against stress
is our ability to choose
one thought over another.
The art of being wise is
the art of knowing what to overlook.
We have grown literally afraid to be poor.
We despise anyone who elects to be poor
in order to simplify and save his inner life.
Whenever two people meet,
there are really six people present.
There is each man as he sees himself,
each man as the other person sees him,
and each man as he really is.
NOTABLE MENTIONS:
We may be in the Universe as dogs and cats
are in our libraries, seeing the books
and hearing the conversation,
but having no inkling of the meaning of it all.
My experience is what I agree to attend to.
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BOOKS: “Practical Taoism” ed. / trans. by Thomas Cleary
Practical Taoism by Thomas ClearyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – Shambhala
Like a number of Eastern systems, Taoism is thought of in many different ways by many different people, and a few of those ways are fairly “out there.” To some, it is a philosophy. To others, it is a religion. To still others, it is a style of magic. By “practical Taoism” Cleary is suggesting that the many varied sources from which he drew snippets, assembling them together to make a coherent whole, reflect some of the more down-to-earth philosophy of “inner alchemy.” [Not to be confused with the “alchemy” in which lead is turned to gold, but sharing the central idea that methods exist to convert a low-quality entity into a high-quality one, but in the case of inner alchemy these methods are breathwork, meditation, and movement techniques that improve one’s vitality as a human being.]
The good news is that Cleary does collect a group of ideas that seem less arcane and cryptic than the average Taoist inner alchemy manual content (or, at least, they are translated so as to seem so.) The bad news is that the average Taoist inner alchemy manual was apparently pretty darn arcane and cryptic, such that even this selection isn’t exactly clear as a limpid stream. Some parts of it are straightforward, but one still has some work to do to make sense of what the original authors were trying to get across. [Some readers will enjoy that more than others.]
Presumably owing to the attempt to simplify through selection and translation, the book isn’t annotated, nor does it feature much ancillary material besides a relatively lengthy introduction to setup the reader with a contextual backdrop. So, there is not a lot of help to clarify ideas that are murky. (I do recognize the translator’s challenge in that there is only so much he can do to try to clarify ideas without imposing upon the authors’ intensions.)
I enjoyed, and learned from, this book — even if I didn’t always feel I was reading a “practical” guide to self-betterment.
View all my reviews
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Mountain Envy [Free Verse]
Ah, the mountain!
Old enough to know
When to stay quiet,
And disciplined enough
To stick to it.
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PROMPT: Perspective
Daily writing prompt
How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?
I’m getting more at ease with Death by the day. In a broader sense, it’s progressively easier to not get worked up over the everchanging and unpredictable nature of the world.
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Swimmingly [Free Verse]
Swim through the world
- effortlessly -
Don't crave speed;
Maximize the glide.
With each stroke,
Sail as far as the limbs
will send one.
Don't thrash. Don't splash.
Don't gasp.
Feel the catch. Feel the pull.
Don't let short, wild motions
exhaust one.
Breathe!
Be wary of drag.
Put less effort
into propulsion,
And more into streamlining --
Shoot through the void,
without struggle.
Never lose sight of the value
of a good glide.
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PROMPT: Complain
People. They’re the worst. Or, possibly, technology. It’s a close runner up, at least. Of course, on some level, it’s all one shitstorm. Humans are the technological animal, and technology facilitates the making of comfort junkies who avoid deep thought at all costs. (Which is at the core of my beef.)
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“The Past” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]
The debt is paid,
The verdict said,
The Furies laid,
The plague is stayed,
All fortunes made;
Turn the key and bolt the door,
Sweet is death forevermore.
Nor haughty hope, nor swart chagrin,
Nor murdering hate, can enter in.
All is now secure and fast;
Not the gods can shake the Past;
Flies-to the adamantine door
Bolted down forevermore.
None can re-enter there, --
No thief so politic,
No Satan with a royal trick
Steal in by window, chink, or hole,
To bind or unbind, add what lacked,
Insert a leaf, or forge a name,
New-face or finish what is packed,
Alter or mend eternal Fact.
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FIVE WISE LINES [January 2025]
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, does not go away.”
Philip k. dick
“The Wu and the Yue peoples hate each other. But in the same boat in a storm, they work together like left and right hands.”
SunZi in The ART of War
“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.”
anthony bourdain
What allows great kings and generals to win, more frequently than ordinary men, is foreknowledge.
Sunzi in The ART of war
Foreknowledge cannot be attained by spirits or deduced or calculated.”
“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
T. S. Eliot
