lo fi samurai

enlightenment

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Mon, 6 Feb 12 23:35:00 UT

The sage describes enlightenment as transcending the cycle of death and rebirth. In essence, merging with the eternal.
Enlightenment is achieved not through learning but by observing
Not by adding but by subtracting
Not through effort but through discipline
More in the stomach and less in the head

Image Credit: FORS Team, 8.2-meter VLT Antu, ESO
Molecular Cloud Barnard 68

taotebling

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Sun, 5 Feb 12 13:08:00 UT

Respond to debt as you would the first signs of sickness
Treat discretion as you would a bowl of water made with your hands
Long term is frozen with time
Short term is a flowing river

>-<

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Wed, 18 Jan 12 00:25:00 UT

Open needs to close to make open brilliant
Close needs to open to give close relevance

New places lead to new times

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Fri, 9 Dec 11 10:02:00 UT

I am going to throw a cliche at you.
If you are finding yourself bored, than you are
(and let me put this on it's own line)
Boring.

We have the tendency to walk around the same places
like rodents in a giant cage.
When we go to new places it takes us outside our minds
and into the collective mind of the world around us.

resisting change

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Mon, 21 Nov 11 15:08:00 UT

To resist change is to resist the way.

Purposeful work

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Fri, 18 Nov 11 07:35:00 UT

People are driven by purpose.
We are motivated when we know that what we do means something.
Even the most difficult task can be liberating with purpose.
The simplest task can enslave when it has no meaning.

speak, action

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Nov 11 10:10:00 UT

The wise often don't speak, letting actions speak for themselves.

Judgements

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Tue, 15 Nov 11 14:32:00 UT

Judgements are best approached with caution and spoken about with reluctance.

Science vs Religion

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Wed, 19 Oct 11 23:26:00 UT

Science provides a useful language when describing the mechanics of the universe, how it works, and how the pieces fit together.
It only falls short when it attempts to explain the nuances of the conscious experience.

Religious philosophy gives us an effective framework that simplifies the complexities of purpose, meaning, and other concepts beyond the quantifiable realm.
Yet it lacks the ability to explain how things actually work.

When the one is used to do the other, there is confusion.
Minds bent on complication see the two as opposing.
They are really used for different ends.

exhaust

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Mon, 26 Sep 11 23:52:00 UT

The human primate is as easily amused
as he is worn out.
It is as though the concept of energy conservation
is continually defeated by
'one more chance with inertia'.
How many wars he wins by always sitting.
How much rest he loses by always moving.

protected by virtue

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Wed, 21 Sep 11 00:56:00 UT

There are some who are simply protected by virtue.
They move from right to left
yet stay to the center.
Never fearing death
they walk away from the edge.
Never fearing life
they walk toward it.

Amusing Ourselves To Death

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Sun, 7 Aug 11 18:07:00 UT

Ultimately I gotta agree.

Look at that, you son of a bitch

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Thu, 4 Aug 11 22:42:00 UT

"You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the Moon, international politics looks so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, 'Look at that, you son of a bitch.'"
-Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut

quote credit to the amazing Starts With A Bang.

constancy

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Tue, 2 Aug 11 01:11:00 UT

What is constant
Constantly protects
Thus it retains constancy
What lives
Lives to live
Thus it is able to live
Who is free
Frees the free
Thus remaining free

the path

lukemckibben@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Jul 11 12:04:00 UT

The wise stick to the path
never pretending to know where it will end
The fool thinks he has the answer
The lazy never walk
and the proud find a reason they don't have to