Rough Seas

Most of us imagine that the meaning of life is found in doing. Actually, it is found in being.

It is existence itself that is meaningful and when we realize this fact, we have little difficulty navigating the turbulent waters of life.

Trap Door

The danger of drinking too much alcohol is that it opens the trap door to the subconscious from which Seven Devils emerge.

Shadow

If you should die beneath the shadow of your ego, your grave "would be in nothingness."

What Child Is This?

14-year-old Cassidy Goodson hid her pregnancy. Frightened and alone, with little or no support from her unaware family, Ms. Goodson gave birth in her bathroom and then immediately ended the life of her newborn because she "didn't know what to do with it."

The authorities have decided to try Ms. Goodson as an adult. State Attorney Jerry Hill justified his decision because he thinks that "the facts demand first-degree murder charges." As a result, Ms. Goodson faces life in prison.

Hear me. If this child goes to prison for life, an entire generation will be condemned. For unless the children of man rise up and denounce the cold and cruel logic of our justice system, not one among them will find happiness in their lifetime.

For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.--Matthew 7:14

Well Done

The litmus test for a well-designed product is simple: If I have to read the manual, the designer failed.

The product's use and functionality should be readily apparent.

In Our Defense

Eric Hoffer is the greatest defender of all that is truly human and worthwhile in man.

Occupation

If someone were to ask me what my occupation is, I would reply that I am a student.

I study everything.

No Escape

When we act on our self-centered desires, we end up unfulfilled and unhappy. We then try to escape our unhappiness.

However, when we run, our prison--the ego--runs with us.

In true meditation, we study how to get rid of the ego.

This is no easy task. Krishnamurti speaks of being "industrious" when observing how our minds function in our daily lives. Constant effort is required.

There is no escape.

The Good Fight

My past life can be interpreted as an expression of everything that is wrong with our culture. I did not take the straight and narrow way, but wandered down the road and took every detour that I came upon.

Like Henry David Thoreau, I have followed "the bent of my genius, which is a very crooked one, every moment."

It was a voyage of discovery and once I embarked there was no turning back:

If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.—Charles Bukowski