Tag: Buddha

I find it very empowering to accept the pain and suffering that go hand in hand with being alive, and actively finding ways to make the “bad stuff” enjoyable (or better yet, finding ways to use it to my advantage). The other way, trying to always view life through rose-colored lenses and ignoring the existence…

When I lie down in bed or I’m relaxing with friends, I find it useful to remember that hierarchies of values become utterly meaningless over the span of eternity, and also in the face of cosmic annihilation. But I find it imperative to impose them while I’m engaged in activity, so that I have solid…

I’ve tried fleeing from evidence time and again.  Even though it felt good in the short term, it chipped away at my perception little by little, and diminished my capability to the point where I had no idea which way was up, and everything I attempted produced a discordant result. Yeah, I’d rather just suck…

I felt so much freer when I started to realize how much of my behavior is completely predictable.  I began to examine my tendencies and address them with adequate controls, rather than blindly forging ahead and pretending I was exempt from their influence.

“What do you do when everyone’s against you, when no one’s looking, or you want to quit?” I think this is the right question to ask if you want to determine whether someone embodies their convictions under adverse circumstances.

When I was younger, I believed that ethical principles alone could carry me to victory, but as I grew older, my observations on adversity have led me to change my opinion. I now believe that civilization is fragile, and that the ability to achieve a positive result is what allows us the option to behave…

The easy (and long-term dangerous) way to earn trust is by getting people to like you; it’s easy to fall out of “like” with someone. The harder (and long-term safer) way to earn trust is by continually backing claims with ethics-bounded results.  While people may not like you, they will always respect you, and that…

“How do I say the same truths that’ve been said over and over, and imbue them with a charge of magnetic resonance?  How do I embody these truths, so when they spill from my lips, they don’t come across as empty platitudes?”   —age-old questions faced by all storytellers.

If one is fortunate and strong enough to survive the experience, I believe that the death of all hope can be an unexpected segue into unprecedented greatness.

The higher realms [of success and fortune] seem to necessitate a corresponding increase in timeless qualities (which are often the initial cause for entrance into those very realms in the first place)…qualities like discipline, strategic thinking, honesty with oneself, compassion, humility—all those qualities echoed throughout countless stories and myths. In other words, if I happen…