Author Archive for carl

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How Come Education Always Fails to Educate?

by carl on July 8, 2008 in Blog. 2 Comments

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What an outrageous notion. Outrageous but true for the most part I suspect. Allow me to educate you. ;-) It has been my experience (and yours too I guess) that deeper understanding is a slow process of realizing what I don’t need to know. Education can never teach us what we don’t need to know. The scope is way to broad, infinitely broad, for that. So, in truth, we use education to set things up so they can be laid aside. Kind of ironic don’t you think. Yet another irony is the fact that we need to put education on its ‘pedestal of value’ so we will take it seriously enough to set it up. But, let’s keep this a secret between us. The social order may collapse if wind of this gets out.

—Carl

My Mother The Animal

by carl on June 20, 2008 in Blog. 2 Comments

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Naturally that’s a compliment! There’s more to it though. First, of course we are all animals. The principle difference between us and the others is our ability to think and remember what we think. We can dwell on issues. Now, my mother has been a very feisty person for all of her 98 years, and I don’t expect that to change. Sure, she’s slowed down a lot this past decade or two, but the fire is always there.

We’ve had a contentious relationship since I was in my teens. In fact I joined the Air Force at 17 to get away. We get along well now though, ever since I ceased needing to have her ‘understand’ me. I found that if I simply accepted her, that imparted to me the ‘understanding’ I so craved. Interesting aspect of the reflective nature of perception.

Yet, even now we will have an occasional emotional run in. The interesting animal aspect to this is that she doesn’t remember very well those events for more than a few hours. The next day is a new day. In this way she is more like other animals than she’s ever been. The same is happening to me to a lesser degree already. Not being as able to remember now as well as in my youth means less for me to dwell on, less to worry about, less to separate me from the rest of life on earth. With fewer memory and energy resources now, I’m more focused on using what I have left for recalling what I truly want to remember.

—Carl

The Prison ~ Fortress of Perfection

by carl on June 9, 2008 in Blog. 3 Comments

Very young children are curious and open to the world around them. They experiment with their vocal chords and limbs and gradually learn the two most crucial skills in life: walking and talking. They are not hindered by a fear of making mistakes; they jump right in and tackle the task at hand. As our cognitive ability awakens and we gather in wide learning, a contrast between this ‘known’ (our learning) and the unknown increases drastically and our insecurity mounts (this is one reason for the Buddhist and Taoist helpful hint to “desire not to desire, and learn to be without learning“). To compensate for the insecurity learning causes, we seek protection through perfection. This presents a curious evolutionary problem.

I’ve never found seeking or expecting perfection useful or empowering. Rather, the perfectionist approach misses opportunity’s daily knock on the door. Clinging to perfection is a hurdle to surmount before we can accomplish our private ends. We miss out on life when we are seeking, expecting, or hiding behind perfection’s secure walls. Frankly, if we approached life as perfectionists in early childhood we never would have learned to walk or talk.

Note: It is the seeking, clinging and expecting perfection that leads to difficulty. Working within perfection, moment to moment, is entirely different. Or as the Bhagavad-Gita (the ‘yoga bible’) puts it, “A harmony in eating and resting, in sleeping and keeping awake: a perfection in whatever one does. This is the Yoga that gives peace from all pain”.

That’s Nuts; Why Do That Anyway?

by carl on May 24, 2008 in Blog. 1 Comment

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Well because it looks cool, right? Oh no, you said it looks nuts. Frankly, no one sets off to do that kind of yoga posture. The core principle of Hatha Yoga is reflected in what Hatha means: ‘Ha’ means sun; ‘tha’ means moon. The idea is to work with a burning fire like the sun, yet rest still in the passive coolness of the moon. The work over the years increases flexibility, balance and strength. As these increase, one must naturally move into the posture more and more to experience the same level of work. Simply put, the goal is to always be a beginner. To do that, one needs to go to one’s limit. Going to one’s limit eventually brings one’s towards ‘nutty’ looking postures. Alas, it’s an imperfect world.

Diet Tips for the Tubby and Previously Tubby

by carl on May 7, 2008 in Blog and Photo. 1 Comment

Low Cal

My oh my, look at that dish! I’ll eat it all and still be hungry”¦ but not so hungry that I’ll need to eat more. This dish is only about 200 calories, give or take, so it probably looks like it is more fattening than it is. Here’s the recipe:

  • 2 corn tortillas — 120 calories
  • 1 large sliced tomato — 20 calories
  • 2 tbsp. parmesan — 40 calories
  • 2 tbsp. pinto beans — 20 calories
  • Jalapeños pepper slices — calories negligible
  • Garlic salt — calories negligible

—–

Optional:

Mushrooms, onions, green or red peppers – calories negligible

Herbs (oregano, basil, pepper, etc) – calories negligible

Place in toaster oven until tortillas are crisy and then eat slowly so as not to burn your tongue. Follow this with a like hot jug of my ‘lemon and green tea especial’.

Enjoy!
—Carl

Exercise . . . Let’s Be Honest

by carl on March 28, 2008 in Blog. 8 Comments

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During my years abroad I noticed that it was never the peasants doing yoga, tai chi, or exercise in general. The enthusiast always seem to come from the wealthier classes. Indeed, the same is generally true in this country, though we don’t have many peasants any more. I figure the people working the hardest to support themselves and families have little need, inclination, energy or time for ‘personal growth’. I suppose we use formal exercise is a way to make life more meaningful.… Continue reading ‘Exercise . . . Let’s Be Honest’

Be Where Now?

by carl on February 21, 2008 in Blog and Brief. 2 Comments

The admonition to ‘be here now’ is kind of silly in a way. Everyone is ‘always here now’. In fact, that is part of our problem is it not? Well, being ‘always here now’ is not the problem, but rather, we desire more from ‘now’ than ‘now’ has to offer. What ‘now’ has to offer is either not enough, or it’s too much.. or so our mind’s imagination tells us.

—Carl

(And now, back to your regularly-scheduled blog.)

Peace on Earth?

by carl on January 30, 2008 in Blog and Brief. 0 Comments

When? Now? It’s all in the eye of the beholder isn’t it? In fact our idealistic yearning for physical peace on earth is largely as symptom of our lack of inner peace. And ironically, the worldly chaos and wars we have is also a symptom of that inner disconnection we feel. The human by-path is that we think and feel we can resolve this through deeds and action.

—Carl

Learning to Be… or Not to Be?

by carl on December 16, 2007 in Blog and Brief. 0 Comments

We can’t learn to be who we are not, nor unlearn to be who we are. The only path is to learn who we are. Knowing who we are, our ‘original nature’, allows us to make the most of life with a minimum of wasted energy and time. I heard someone say recently, “don’t push the river, it’ll flow by itself.” I’d rephrase that a little, “We need not push the river, it’ll flow by itself”. Ruthlessly knowing our needs and fears helps with this by helping us know the benefit of resorting to no action.