In the post The Map is not the Terrain I explain why our ideas about reality are not reality, yet here I wanted to unpack what is meant by Map, in the Map vs Territory dichotomy. Below it outlines what encompass the many maps we use to navigate reality, express our ideas on it and […]
No self (Anatman, 空 kū)
Here I talk about one of the three marks of Existence (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण, trilakṣaṇa, Japanese: 三法印 sanbōin). The Buddhist idea of ‘No-self ‘(Sanskrit: Anatman, Japanese: 空 kū) It’s a feeling of a self an ego. A thinker who thinks, a person who does, a feeler who feels, a senser behind our sensations. The habitual way […]
Impermanence (Annica, Anitya, 無常 Mujō)
Here I talk about, Impermanence (Sanskrit: Anitya). One of the 3 Marks of Existence in Buddhism (Pali: tilakkhaṇa; Sanskrit: त्रिलक्षण, trilakṣaṇa, Japanese: 三法印 sanbōin) What it means is that that all things are in a state of flux. All conditioned things are changing, birth and death, ageing process, objects, possessions, the natural world. It also […]
Romantic to Classical, and back again
Looking back at my journey, trying to deal with the anxiety and fear that held me back, I can see a pattern or path between two forces or worldviews in my life. That of Passion and Reason, or as I will describe here Romantic and Classical attitudes towards life. But what are these two drives […]
Why it’s so hard to accept reality? (and why we must)
Reality troubles me like anyone else. I find it hard to accept that which I disagree with, or I can see causes suffering the suffering I witness. My answer to all this has been a mixture of anger, frustration, and withdrawal from the world. But this in no way to live, to try a separate […]
There is no Secret Ingredient (to life)
‘I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.’ -Umberto Eco At some point in our lives, we ask ourselves ‘why am I here?’ Why does the cosmos, and therefore […]