When someone behaves negatively towards you, there are three ways in which you can take it: Insecurity. You take it personally by default, even when you aren't attacked on a personal level. This is due to your lack of self-esteem, typically accompanied by an oversensitivity to nonverbal cues. For all you know, the other person might just be in a bad mood because he is sleep-deprived, love-deprived, angry at or disappointed by someone else, or suffering from suppressed pain—but since you don't … [Read more...]

The Way is the flow of the universe, and Daoism teaches us to go with the flow, to be in harmony with nature. But how could we not do that? How could we ever fail to be in accordance with nature—are we not a part of it? And if we can't paddle against the stream of Life, doesn't this make Daoism meaningless? What's the point of a philosophy telling us to move along the Way if there is no way that opposes the Way anyway? Funnily enough, this apparent pointlessness of Daoism is actually its … [Read more...]

Whatever you do, forget your petty reasons. For let's say you come up with ten reasons to guide or explain an action. You can then order these reasons by their causal or explanatory power, with the first being your strongest reason, followed by your secondary reason, and so on. Ordered that way, chances are that your primary reason is socially acceptable and morally respectable, rather than selfish and reprehensible. Now ask yourself: Is this because your individual will is so closely in … [Read more...]

To find out whether the ego is useful or not, we must first ask: useful for what? So let's see... Is the ego useful if you want to prevent others from walking all over you? No, the ego is not your spine, which would draw prudent boundaries. Rather, the ego is what overreacts when you are afraid that you might be perceived as weak. Maybe the ego is useful when you want to become successful? Well, for becoming successful the ego is not just useful, but necessary, because having … [Read more...]

What Happened With cheery eyes I look back at the past, embracing with love that which cannot be undone—in a great amor fati. With lucid eyes I look back at the past, striving for accuracy in my memories, treating them as historical facts that ought to be true, not emotionally valanced. With gloomy eyes I look back at the past, understanding that what I remember is bound to be distorted, bound to diverge from truth. What Will Happen With cheery eyes I look forth into the future, … [Read more...]