Aging and Humor

 Old Age . . .

 

"To get back to my youth I would do anything in the world, except exercise, get up early, or be respectable." - Oscar Wilde 

 

"The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for." - Will Rogers 

 

"We must recognize that, as we grow older, we become like old cars – more and more repairs and replacements are necessary." - C.S. Lewis 

 

"Old age comes at a bad time." – Sam Banducci “

 

"Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened." - Jennifer Yay

 

"Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard there is nothing you can do about it." - Golda Meir 

 

"The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened. - Mark Twain 

 

"Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes, age just shows up all by itself." - Tom Wilson 

 

"I’m at that age where my back goes out more than I do." - Phyllis Diller 

 

"Nice to be here? At my age it’s nice to be anywhere." – George Burns 

 

"Don't let aging get you down. It's too hard to get back up." - John Wagner 

 

"First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up, then you forget to pull your zipper down." 

Leo Rosenberg

 

"At my age, flowers scare me." - George Burns  

 

"At age 20, we worry about what others think of us…at age 40, we don’t care what they think of us… at age 60, we discover they haven’t been thinking of us at all." - Ann Landers 

 

"As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two." - Sir Norman Wisdom 

 

“The older I get, the better I used to be.” – Lee Trevino 

 

"I don’t feel old. I don’t feel anything until noon. Then it’s time for my nap." - Bob Hope 

 

"Getting older. I used to be able to run a 4-minute mile, bench press 380 pounds, and tell the truth." -Conan O’Brien

 

"When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it’s a sure sign you’re getting old." - Mark Twain 

 

"The idea is to die young as late as possible." - Ashley Montagu

Ikigai: A Reason for Living

"A Reason for Living":  Ikigai

Ikigai "entails actions of devoting oneself to pursuits one enjoys and is associated with feelings of accomplishment and fulfillment."
-  Michiko Kumano

Secrets to a Long and Happy Life

1.  Stay active and don't retire
2.  Leave urgency behind and adopt a slower pace of life.
3.  Only eat until you are 80 per cent full.
4.  Surround yourself with good friends.
5.  Get in shape through daily, gentle exercise.
6.  Smile and acknowledge people around you.
7.  Reconnect with nature
8.  Give thanks to anything that brightens our day and makes us feel alive.
9.  Live in the moment.
10.  Follow your Ikigai.  

-  Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles,  Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, 2017.

Advice from Wise Persons: How to Live the Good Life

Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

TIME: ATTENTION: LANGUAGE by Mike Garofalo

Attention, Language, and Time
Selected Poetry: 2016 - 2026
By Michael P. Garofalo
Poetry WebBook, 85 pages, September 2026. No Ads!

This WebBook is a collection of poems, quips,
quintain stanzas, resource links, lists,
onions, quintain sonnets, docu-poems,
concrete and Text-Art poems, koans,
and hypertext diversions.
All by Mike Garofalo.

It features lifestyles and locales
     in the Pacific Northwest.

It traces the evolution of the poetic voices
     of one old man during a decade.

It offers many examples of
     Quintain Stanzas and Quintain Sonnets.

It essays the front and flanks of Time.

It has a Poem Title Index
                    and a Subject Index.

It provides a free audio-recordings
     of poetry readings by Mike Garofalo.

September 27, 2026. Ver. 32.
Texts-PreSS Couve Publications.

 

All Texts-PreSS Couve WebBooks are Free
Ad Free, Open Access, Uncluttered

Attention, Language, and Time .HTML Current Version.

Backup .PDF on 9/27/2026 Version 32. Unedited.

Texts-PreSS Couve Publications, Vancouver, Washington State

"Discover a Decade of Poetic Evolution

in the Pacific Northwest

In Attention, Language and Time: Selected Poetry,

2016 - 2026, poet Michael P. Garofalo invites readers

on a deeply philosophical journey through the landscapes

of the Pacific Northwest and the inescapable currents of

time. Tracing a decade of artistic evolution, this collection

bridges the profound and the everyday---from the rainy

shores of the Olympic Peninsula and backyard Zen 

meditations to the role of memories, river rafting, and

the irreversible march of entropy and aging.

Garofalo’s versatile voice masterfully navigates a rich

array of forms. Readers will find grounded, conversational

narrative verse and highly structured Quintain stanzas and

Quintain Sonnets seamlessly existing alongside avant-garde

conceptual language, Dadaist surrealism, and visual Text-Art

and Concrete Poetry. Whether contemplating the quiet

fading of campfire embers, unraveling local histories, zooming

in on city life, or deconstructing the very syntax of language, 

this work constantly challenges and rewards the reader's

attention.

Available entirely for free, this 85-page, ad-free WebBook
is structured for effortless digital reading. It features intuitive
internal navigation, comprehensive thematic indexes, and
complimentary audio recordings of the author reading his own work.

Experience the intersection of nature, memory, and
language today---without paywalls or interruptions."

- By Mike Garofalo and Ms. Ai

Flight From Boredom

"No pleasure endures unseasoned by variety."
-  Publilius Syrus  

"The essence of pleasure is spontaneity."
-  Germaine Greer

"Why not seize the pleasure at once, how often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparations."
-  Jane Austen

"Perhaps all pleasure is only relief."
- William Burroughs

"Man, Nietzsche contended, is a being that has leapt beyond the "bestial bounds of the mating season" and seeks pleasure not just at fixed intervals but perpetually.  Since, however, there are fewer sources of pleasure than his perpetual desire for pleasure demands, nature has forced man on the "path of pleasure contrivance."  Man, the creature of consciousness whose horizons extend to the past and the future, rarely attains complete fulfillment within the present, and for this reason experiences something most likely unknown to any animal, namely boredom.  This strange creature seeks a stimulus to release him from boredom.  If no such stimulus is readily available, it simply needs to be created.  Man becomes the animal that plays.  Play is an invention that engages the emotions; it is the art of stimulating the emotions.  Music is a prime example.  Thus, the anthropological and physiological formula for the secret of art: "The flight from boredom is the mother of all art." "
-  Rudiger Safranski, Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography, p. 23



Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness  By Willard Spiegelman.  The seven simple pleasures discussed are: dancing, reading, walking, looking, listening, swimming, and writing.  If you included Taijiquan as "dancing" then all of these can be solitary activities.  Picador, 2010.  208 pages.  ISBN: 9780312429676. 

Pleasure and the Good Life: Concerning the Nature, Varieties, and Plausibility of Hedonism.  By Fred Feldman.  Clarendon Press, 2006.  240 pages.  ISBN: 978-0199297603.  VSCL. 

Pleasure and Enjoyment: Quotations, Sayings, Information

Hedonistic and Epircurean Philosophy

The Five Senses  

Play

Appearing in the Forest

Memaloose Spirits, Ghosts, the Undead
Nehalem Bay, Tillamook, Cape Lookout
Oregon, U.S. Highway 101

Memaloose Ghosts

By Michael Peter Garofalo

Yes, I've heard the Memaloose Ghosts
    in the Sitka swamps all talking,
and I've also left quickly in fear fast walking.
I've dreamt of skulls and skeletons,
graveyards of broken canoes,
Islands of the Dead,
   creepy Clatsop Chinook stories in my head.

In the Nehalem rain,
    with a deep dark dripping forest all around,
A Memaloose Ghost whispered to me
    in these hallowed grounds:

"The tide comes in, the tide goes out;
that's essential, Yes,
to What It's All About.
Your tide flows out, old man;
So it's now best to smile and shout, Yes,
and stroll bravely out."

"Saghili pee keekwillie chuck;
elip lekleh yes ahha,
Iktah Mitlite Konaway
Wake Sia Kopa.
Mika chuck chako
pee klatawa, oleman;
Alta elip klose ahha
tenas hehe pee hyas wawa
pee klata kopa lapea
skookum tum tum
klaghanie ahha."

- Words of the Memaloose Ghost in Her Chinook Jargon; translated above.

At the Edges of the West: U.S. Highway 101 and 1.
Memories of Pacific Coast Places
By Michael P. Garofalo

The poem above "Memaloose Ghosts," is one of dozens of my poems found on my webpage:

At the Edges of the West

https://www.egreenway.com/mpgss/shortpoemsmpg9sea2.htm

Travels on US Highway 101 and 1

Memories of Pacific Coast Places
West Coast Snapshots & Snippets
Delightful Coastal Spur Roads

Docu-Poem, Haiku, Short Poems, Photos,
Quatrians, Graphics, Concrete Poems

By Michael P. Garofalo

Vancouver, Washington

Taoist Immortals

Chronicles of Tao: The Secret Life of a Taoist Master. By Deng Ming-Dao. Harper One, 1993, 476 pages. VSCL. Biography of Kwan Sai Hung.  (1920-...)  A fictional Taoist Master/Immortal.  

"Some of the Masters of Mount Huashan were already addressed as "Immortal."  These were highly regarded individuals, agless in appearance.  Their titles meant "realized persons," signifying that the Masters has fulfilled, as a minimum requirement, the completion of internal alchemy for the sake of longevity, liberation from the cycle of transmigration, enlightened perception of the nature of life, astral travel, and the total memorization of the hundreds of volumes comprising the Taoist Canon." - Chronicles of Tao, p. 69  

Bat Immortal, Yin-Yan Immortals, Frog Immortal ...

Eight Immortals - Wikipedia

Xian - Wikipedia

Xian (Chinese: 仙/仚/僊; pinyin: xiān; Wade–Giles: hsien) refers to a person or similar entity having a long life or being immortal. The concept of xian has different implications dependent upon the specific context: philosophical, religious, mythological, or other symbolic or cultural occurrence. The Chinese word xian is translatable into English as:

• (in Daoist philosophy and cosmology) spiritually immortal; transcendent human; celestial being
• (in Daoist religion and pantheon) physically immortal; immortal person; an immortal; saint
• (in Chinese alchemy) alchemist; one who seeks the elixir of life; one who practices longevity techniques
  • (or by extension) alchemical, dietary, or qigong methods for attaining immortality
• (in Chinese mythology) wizard; magician; shaman; sorcerer
• (in popular Chinese literature) genie; elf, fairy; nymph; 仙境 (xian jing is fairyland, faery)
• (based on the folk etymology for the character 仙, a compound of the characters for person and mountain) sage living high in the mountains; mountain-man; hermit; recluse
• (as a metaphorical modifier) immortal [talent]; accomplished person; celestial [beauty]; marvelous; extraordinary
• (In new-age conception) seeker who takes refuge in immortality (longevity for the realization of divinity); transcended person [self] recoded by the "higher self"; divine soul; fully established being

Xian semantically developed from meaning spiritual "immortality; enlightenment", to physical "immortality; longevity" involving methods such as alchemy, breath meditation, and tai chi chuan, and eventually to legendary and figurative "immortality".

Victor H. Mair describes the xian archetype as:

They are immune to heat and cold, untouched by the elements, and can fly, mounting upward with a fluttering motion. They dwell apart from the chaotic world of man, subsist on air and dew, are not anxious like ordinary people, and have the smooth skin and innocent faces of children. The transcendents live an effortless existence that is best described as spontaneous. They recall the ancient Indian ascetics and holy men known as ṛṣi who possessed similar traits.^[1]

Atterntion, Language and Time by Michael P. Garofalo

 

Attention, Language, and Time
Selected Poetry: 2016 - 2026
By Michael P. Garofalo
Poetry WebBook, 85 pages, September 2026. No Ads!

This WebBook is a collection of poems, quips,
quintain stanzas, resource links, lists,
onions, quintain sonnets, docu-poems,
concrete and Text-Art poems, koans,
and hypertext diversions.
All by Mike Garofalo.

It features lifestyles and locales
     in the Pacific Northwest.

It traces the evolution of the poetic voices
     of one old man during a decade.

It offers many examples of
     Quintain Stanzas and Quintain Sonnets.

It essays the front and flanks of Time.

It has a Poem Title Index
                    and a Subject Index.

It provides a free audio-recordings
     of poetry readings by Mike Garofalo.

 

All Texts-PreSS Couve WebBooks are Free
Ad Free, Open Access, Uncluttered

Attention, Language, and Time .HTML Current Version.

Backup .PDF on 9/27/2026 Version 32. Unedited.

Texts-PreSS Couve Publications, Vancouver, Washington State

"Discover a Decade of Poetic Evolution

in the Pacific Northwest

In Attention, Language and Time: Selected Poetry,

2016 - 2026, poet Michael P. Garofalo invites readers

on a deeply philosophical journey through the landscapes

of the Pacific Northwest and the inescapable currents of

time. Tracing a decade of artistic evolution, this collection

bridges the profound and the everyday---from the rainy

shores of the Olympic Peninsula and backyard Zen 

meditations to the role of memories, river rafting, and

the irreversible march of entropy and aging.

Garofalo’s versatile voice masterfully navigates a rich

array of forms. Readers will find grounded, conversational

narrative verse and highly structured Quintain stanzas and

Quintain Sonnets seamlessly existing alongside avant-garde

conceptual language, Dadaist surrealism, and visual Text-Art

and Concrete Poetry. Whether contemplating the quiet

fading of campfire embers, unraveling local histories, zooming

in on city life, or deconstructing the very syntax of language, 

this work constantly challenges and rewards the reader's

attention.

Available entirely for free, this 85-page, ad-free WebBook
is structured for effortless digital reading. It features intuitive
internal navigation, comprehensive thematic indexes, and
complimentary audio recordings of the author reading his own work.

Experience the intersection of nature, memory, and
language today---without paywalls or interruptions."

- By Mike Garofalo and Ms. Ai

Facing the Precious Mirror

Song of the Precious Mirror Samadhi
By Dongshan Liangjie (807-869)

The Dharma of Thusness
is intimately transmitted by Buddhas and ancestors.
Now you have it;
preserve it well.

A silver bowl filled with snow,
a heron hidden in the moon.
Taken as similar, they are not the same;
Not distinguished, their places are known.

The meaning does not reside in the words,
but a pivotal moment brings it forth.
Move and you are trapped,
miss and you fall into doubt and vacillation.

Turning away and touching are both wrong,
for it is like a massive fire.
Just to portray it in literary form
is to stain it with defilement.

In darkest night it is perfectly clear;
in the light of dawn it is hidden.
It is a standard for all things;
its use removes all suffering.

Although it is not constructed,
it is not beyond words.
Like facing a precious mirror;
form and reflection behold each other.

You are not it,
but in truth it is you.
Like a newborn child,
it is fully endowed with five aspects.

No going, no coming, no arising, no abiding;
“Monkey Mind”– is anything said or not?
In the end it says nothing,
for the words are not yet right.

In the hexagram “double fire,”
when main and subsidiary lines are transposed,
Piled up they become three;
the permutations make five.

Like the taste of the five-flavored herb,
like the five-pronged vajra.
Wondrously embraced within the complete,
drumming and singing begin together.

Penetrate the source and travel the pathways,
embrace the territory and treasure the roads.
You would do well to respect this;
do not neglect it.

Natural and wondrous,
it is not a matter of delusion or enlightenment.
Within causes and conditions, time and season,
it is serene and illuminating.

So minute it enters where there is no gap,
so vast it transcends dimension.
A hairsbreadth’s deviation,
and you are out tune.

Now there are sudden and gradual,
in which teachings and approaches arise.
With teachings and approaches distinguished,
each has its standard.

Whether teachings and approaches are mastered or not,
reality constantly flows.
Outside still and inside trembling,
like tethered colts or cowering rats.

The ancient sages grieved for them,
and offered them the dharma.
Led by their inverted views,
they take black for white.

When inverted thinking stops,
the affirming mind naturally accords.
If you want to follow in the ancient tracks,
please observe the sages of the past.

One on the verge of realizing the Buddha Way
contemplated a tree for ten kalpas.
Like a battle-scarred tiger,
like a horse with shanks gone grey.

Because some are vulgar,
jeweled tables and ornate robes.
Because others are wide-eyed,
cats and white oxen.

With his archer’s skill,
Yi hit the mark at a hundred paces.
But when arrows meet head-on,
how could it be a matter of skill?

The wooden man starts to sing,
the stone woman gets up dancing.
It is not reached by feelings or consciousness,
how could it involve deliberation?

Ministers serve their lords,
children obey their parents.
Not obeying is not filial,
Failure to serve is no help.

With practice hidden, function secretly,
like a fool, like an idiot.
Just to continue in this way
is call the host within the host.

- Dongshan Liangjie (807-869 CE, China)
Tozan Ryokai Daiosho (Japanese Name)

Daodejing, Chapter 24

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 24

"He who stands on tiptoe does not stand (firm);
He who strains his strides does not walk (well);
He who reveals himself is not luminous;
He who justifies himself is not far-famed;
He who boasts of himself is not given credit;
He who prides himself is not chief among men.
These in the eyes of Tao
Are called "the dregs and tumors of Virtue,"
Which are things of disgust.
Therefore the man of Tao spurns them."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 24

"By standing on tiptoe one cannot keep still.
Astride of one's fellow one cannot progress.
By displaying oneself one does not shine.
By self-approbation one is not esteemed.
In self-praise there is no merit.
He who exalts himself does not stand high.
Such things are to Tao what refuse and excreta are to the body.
They are everywhere detested.
Therefore the man of Tao will not abide with them."
-  Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 24

"It is not natural to stand on tiptoe, or being astride one does not walk.
One who displays himself is not bright, or one who asserts himself cannot shine.
A self-approving man has no merit, nor does one who praises himself grow.
The relation of these things (self-display, self-assertion, self-approval) to Tao is the same as offal is to food.
They are excrescences from the system; they are detestable; Tao does not dwell  in them."
-  Translated by Dwight Goddard, 1919, Chapter 24   

"Those who are on tiptoes cannot stand
Those who straddle cannot walk
Those who flaunt themselves are not clear
Those who presume themselves are not distinguished
Those who praise themselves have no merit
Those who boast about themselves do not last
Those with the Tao call such things leftover food or tumors
They despise them
Thus, those who possesses the Tao do not engage in them"
-  Translated by Derek Linn, 2006, Chapter 24  

企者不立.
跨者不行.
自見者不明.
自是者不彰.
自伐者無功.
自矜者不長.
其在道也, 曰餘食贅行.
物或惡之.
故有道者不處.-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 24 


ch'i chê pu li.
k'ua chê pu hsing.
tzu chien chê pu ming.
tzu shih chê pu chang.
tzu fa chê wu kung.
tzu ching chê pu ch'ang.
ch'i tsai tao yeh, yüeh yü shih chui hsing.
wu huo wu chih.
ku yu tao chê pu ch'u.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 24 



"Standing tiptoe a man loses balance,
Walking astride he has no pace,
Kindling himself he fails to light,
Acquitting himself he forfeits his hearers,
Admiring himself he does so alone.
Pride has never brought a man greatness
But, according to the way of life,
Brings the ills that make him unfit,
Make him unclean in the eyes of his neighbor,
And a sane man will have none of them."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 24  


"He who stands on tiptoe is not steady,
He who holds legs stiffly cannot walk.
He who looks at self does not see clearly.
He who asserts himself does not shine.
He who boasts of himself has no merit.
He who glorifies himself shall not endure.
These things are to the Tao like excreta or a hideous tumour to the body.
Therefore he who has Tao must give them no place."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 24  


"He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm;
he who stretches his legs does not walk.
He who displays himself does not shine.
He who asserts his own views is not distinguished.
He who vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged.
He who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to him.
Such conditions, viewed from the standpoint of the Tao,
are like remnants of food, or a tumor on the body, which all dislike.
Hence, those who pursue the course of the Tao do not adopt and allow them."
-  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 24   



"Quien se sostiene de puntillas no permanece mucho tiempo en pie.

Quien da largos pasos no puede ir muy lejos.
Quien quiere brillar
no alcanza la iluminación.
Quien pretende ser alguien
no lo será naturalmente.
Quien se ensalza no merece honores.
Quien se vanagloria
no realiza ninguna obra.
Para los seguidores del Tao, estos excesos son como excrecencias
y restos de basura que a todos repugnan.
Por eso, quien posee el Tao
no se detiene en ellos, sino que los rechaza."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 24  

"Standing on tiptoe, you are unsteady.
Straddle-legged, you cannot go.
If you show yourself, you will not be seen.
If you affirm yourself, you will not shine.
If you boast, you will have no merit.
If you promote yourself, you will have no success.
Those who abide in the Tao call these
Leftover food and wasted action
And all things dislike them.
Therefore the person of the Tao does not act like this."
-  Translated by Charles Muller, 1891, Chapter 24


"Those who tiptoe do not stand.
Those who stride do not walk.
Those who see for themselves are not discerning.
Those who affirm for themselves are not insightful.
Those who attack it themselves do not achieve.
Those who esteem themselves do not become elders.
When these are in guides, we say:
'Excess provision; redundant action.'
Some natural kinds avoid them.
Hence those who have guides don't place them."
- Translated by Chad Hansen, Chapter 24


"One who tiptoes to stand taller does not stand firm;
One who strides to walk faster does not walk long;
One who self-touts does not shine;
One who self-justifies does not reassure;
One who self-aggrandizes does not accomplish;
One who self-serves does not endure.
They, in relation to Direction, are the equivalent of leftover food and excess fat.
They are unattractive;
they are not held by those with Direction."
- Translated by David H. Li, Chapter 24


Is That a Fish in Your Ear?: Translation and the Meaning of Everything  By David Bellos.  New York, Faber and Faber, 2011.  Index, notes, 393 pages.  ISBN: 9780865478763. VSCL.  




A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   

Chapter 24, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

Subject Index to 813 Stoic Lessons, Discourses, and Letters

Subject Index to 813 Stoic Lessons, Discourses, and Letters

Indexing by Michael P. Garofalo
First Draft, July 23, 2023. Updated Quarterly.  30 Pages.
Green Way Research, Vancouver, Washington

Daily Stoic 366 Lessons Philosophy (STOA)

Epictetus 95 Discourses (EPI)

Fireplace Records 30 Chapters (TFR)

Meditations Marcus Aurelius (AUR)

Philosopher's Garden of Insights (PG)

Seneca 124 Letters (SEN)

Lessons, Letters, and Discourses from Stoics:
https://www.egreenway.com/buddhism/koans.htm

Subject Index to 3.855 Lessons From
Zen Buddhists, Stoics, and Solitary Taoists

Subject Index to 1,685 Zen Buddhist Koans

Subject Index to 813 Stoic Lessons, Discourses, and Letters

Subject Index to 1,546 Taoist Lessons, Chapter, and Stories

Cape Disappointment WA Campground

 I really enjoyed the privacy of this yurt campground. Nobody was camping in the area. Very quiet.

Sit Quietly: Focus and Forget

"Teach us to care and not to care.
Teach us to sit still."
- T.S. Eliot

"You are sitting on the earth and you realize that this earth deserves you and you deserve this earth.  You are there - fully, personally, genuinely."
-  Chogyam Trungpa

"Remain sitting at your table and listen. 
Do not even listen, simply wait, 
be quiet still and solitary. 
The world will freely offer itself 
to you to be unmasked, 
it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy 
at your feet."
-  Franz Kafka


"Sit quietly
focus and forget
rest with the great achievement.
The ancient child asks
"what is the great achievement?"
It is beyond description in any language
it can only be felt intuitively
it can only be expressed intuitively. 
Engage a loose, alert, and aware
body, mind, and sound
then look into the formless
and perceive no thing.
See yourself as a sphere
small at first
growing to encompass
the vastness of infinite space. 
Sit quietly
focus and forget then
in a state of ease and rest
secure the truth of the great achievement.
Employing the truth will not exhaust its power
when it seems exhausted it is really abundant
and while human art will die at the hands of utility
the great achievement is beyond being useful.
Great straightness is curved and crooked
great intelligence is raw and silly
great words are simple and naturally awkward. 
Engaged movement drives out the frozen cold
mindful stillness subdues the frenzied heart.
Sit quietly
focusing
forgetting
summon order from the void
that guides the ordering of the universe."
-  Tao Te Ching, Chapter 45, Translated by John Bright-Fey, 2006



"There are many matters and many circumstances in which consciousness is undesirable and silence is golden, so that secrecy can be used as a marker to tell us that we are approaching the holy."
-  Gregory Bateson, Angels Fear




Sitting in the Garden

Zuowang Meditation

Spirituality and Nature

Ten Transformative Practices (Paramitas)

 The Essence of the Ten Transformative Practices

"Generosity arises from unselfishness and nonattachment.

Ethics involves virtue, integrity, and self-discipline.

Patience requires resilience, acceptance, and fortitude.

Effort means courage in joyous perseverance.

Meditation implies mindfulness, concentration, reflection, and introspection.

Transcendental wisdom includes discernment and self-knowledge.

Skillful means arise from resourcefulness and imagination.

Spiritual aspirations include noble intention and resolve.

Higher accomplishments require leadership, powers, and positive influence.

Awakened awareness means pristine realization.

These are the ten arms and legs of the radiant body of the Bodhisattva,
Whose heart is Bodhicitta, selfless love and compassion.

- Buddha Is as Buddha Does: The Ten Original Practices for Enlightened Living By Lama Surya Das, 2007.

Virtue Ethics Studies
Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, Philosophers
By Michael P. Garofalo

 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

Virtue Ethics

Paramitas

The Ethical Precepts and Philosophical Tenets of Zen Buddhism

The Ten Grave Precepts (Rules, Guidelines, Principles of Behavior)

Pragmatism

Taoism

Buddhism

 

Complexity is Closer to the Truth

 

        The Fireplace Records, Chapter 40

Complexity is Closer to the Truth

 

In my experience, life is rightly characterized as diverse, complicated, varied, rich in multiplicity, saturated with the 'ten thousand things.'  Personally, I find little need to seek or to find or to have the "experience of unity."  This state of "unification," when actualized, is in most cases rather fleeting.  It may be profound, but no more so that the beauty of complexity and the fascinating reality of diversity.  I do not find the experience of the multiplicity of things distressing, disturbing, or disheartening.  

Just because all of the eggs today are in one basket does not make the colored basket more real or more interesting or more valuable than the eggs.  

Ignoring the facticity of the complexity of the natural and mental realms seems to me a more serious ignorance, not very sensible, and ultimately unwise.  I long ago gave up on any quest for "enlightenment" (in Hindu or Buddhist terms) and prefer the ordinary state of mind grounded in a world that is not simple, not one, not unified, complex, and rich in details.  To claim that our normal experience of complexity and variety is an "illusion" or "ignorance (avidya) seems to me a form of incorrect judgment.  

No doubt, trying to simplify one's life has its benefits, reducing sensory overload can reduce stress, and not becoming overly infatuated with novelty can be helpful; but, pushing on this strange path towards the "enlightenment" or "realization" of a pure and uncluttered "Unity" can produce its own distressing and disturbing predicaments for a person.  

Many philosophers, ancient and modern, have made a sharp distinction between appearances and Reality, the many and the One, the phenomena and the Noumena, and multiplicity and Unity.  For me, it is muddled thinking to call all of our experiences "just fleeting illusions" and fabricate a true realm of being outside of our personal and social and practical experiences.  Indeed, we can't "see" in any ordinary sense of "see," the cells, molecules, atoms, and the subatomic particles that constitute the objects of our macro-cosmic world; but, this in no way means the multiplicity of objects in our ordinary environment are in any way "illusions."  The meaning of "objects" is much more complicated, varied in linguistic usage, and functional in many practical contexts.  Again, complexity is closer to the truth. 

Comments, Sources, Observations, Koans, Poems, Quips:

Now is Real, a Unified Instant, but Fleeting.

Time

Complexity and Diversity 

Nature Mysticism:  Resources, Quotes, Notes

Gardening and Mysticism

Riddles (200+ Riddles, with No Ads.)

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Stories. 

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Bibliography, Commentary, Information

The Daodejing by Laozi

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings, Quips, Maxims, Humor

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

The Fireplace Records (Blog Version) By Michael P. Garofalo