[Written by Grok. Image credit.] In a world of one-click purchases, endless streaming, and overnight-delivery everything, it’s easy to believe that happiness is just a swipe away. But as psychologist Jonathan Haidt, Abraham Maslow, and Aristotle all remind us, the deepest forms of satisfaction—those that give life meaning and purpose—almost always demand effort, patience, andContinueContinue reading “From Instant Pleasure to Lasting Fulfillment”
Tag Archives: spirituality
How to Lose Yourself
[Written by Claude. Image credit.] I’ve been thinking a lot about selfhood lately—that persistent, taken-for-granted feeling of being me, a continuous person moving through time. This morning, I started watching Michael Pollan’s documentary based on his book How to Change Your Mind, and I found myself captivated by something both fascinating and unsettling: how aContinueContinue reading “How to Lose Yourself”
Understanding Nagel
[Written by ChatGPT. Image credit.] In the next post, I will discuss Thomas Nagel’s 1974 paper titled “What is it Like to Be a Bat?” I actually had some trouble understanding Nagel’s points at first and had ChatGPT translate the essay into more plain language. With that help, here are key takeaways, a short summaryContinueContinue reading “Understanding Nagel”
The Miracle You Carry
[Written by Claude. Image credit] The miracle sits so close we forget to see it. Right now, as you read these words, roughly 86 billion neurons are firing in precise choreography inside your skull. Your heart—a pump that began beating before you had conscious thought, before you drew your first breath—has contracted over two billionContinueContinue reading “The Miracle You Carry”
The Parliament of Consciousness: Why There Is No Single “You”
[Written by Claude. Image credit.] A follow-up meditation on the illusion of unity. Yesterday we celebrated the mystery of consciousness—that miraculous fact of subjective experience emerging from matter. Today, I want to tell you something that might make that mystery even stranger, and somehow more beautiful: The unified “you” that seems to be reading thisContinueContinue reading “The Parliament of Consciousness: Why There Is No Single “You””
Finding Order in the Timeless Flow of the Dao
[Written by ChatGPT] I’ve been studying the Dao De Jing for some time now — slowly, verse by verse, letting each passage unfold in its own rhythm. After carefully reading and reflecting on the first twenty-five verses, I began to notice a pattern. The text isn’t arranged like a modern treatise, moving logically from premiseContinueContinue reading “Finding Order in the Timeless Flow of the Dao”
From Corporeal Prison to Cosmic Dance: Unraveling the Unity of The Tao of Physics
[Written by Grok] I woke up with the phrase corporeal prison swirling in my mind, leaving me feeling the vast emptiness of being and isolation. Then I went out for a run and felt an equally intense opposite reaction of connection to nature, of sharing each breath with the trees, of moving the stardust thatContinueContinue reading “From Corporeal Prison to Cosmic Dance: Unraveling the Unity of The Tao of Physics”
The Great Sleep Mystery: Who Wakes Up?
[Written by Claude] Every night, you disappear. Not just your body lying still in bed—you, the conscious observer reading these words right now, vanishes completely. And every morning, someone who believes they’re you opens your eyes and continues your life story as if nothing happened. This isn’t science fiction. It’s what happens every time youContinueContinue reading “The Great Sleep Mystery: Who Wakes Up?”
Drifting Like the Sea
Verse 20 by Lao Zi: 唯之与阿，相去几何？美之与恶，相去若何？人之所畏，不可不畏。荒兮，其未央哉！众人熙熙，如享太牢，如春登台。我独泊兮，其未兆；沌沌兮，如婴儿之未孩；傫傫兮，若无所归。众人皆有余，而我独若遗。我愚人之心也哉！俗人昭昭，我独昏昏。俗人察察，我独闷闷。澹兮，其若海；飂兮，若无止。众人皆有以，而我独顽且鄙。我独异于人，而贵食母。 Agreement and flattery — how far apart are they?Goodness and evil — how different are they?What people fear, one cannot but fear as well.How vast and boundless — it all seems without end! The multitude are merry,as if feasting at a grand sacrifice,as if ascending a terrace in spring.I aloneContinueContinue reading “Drifting Like the Sea”
Living in Harmony with the Dao: Wisdom of the Tenth Verse of the Daodejing
Verse 10 by Lao Zi: 载营魄抱一，能无离乎？专气致柔，能如婴儿乎？涤除玄鉴，能无疵乎？爱民治国，能无为乎？天门开阖，能为雌乎？明白四达，能无知乎？生之畜之，生而不有，为而不恃，长而不宰，是谓玄德。 Carrying the soul and embracing the One, can you not depart from it?Focusing your breath and attaining softness, can you be like a newborn child?Cleansing the deep mirror of perception, can you be without blemish?Loving the people and governing the nation, can you act without force?Heaven’s gate opens and closes—canContinueContinue reading “Living in Harmony with the Dao: Wisdom of the Tenth Verse of the Daodejing”
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