Very clever use of quotation with the fish remark. You note that Zhuangzi wrote "...how do you know what makes fish happy" knowing that this was put into the mouth of the sage's friend after Zhuangzi pointed out that the fish below them were happy. I have been missing part of the subtlety of their dialog. Yes, the friend is right that the sage is not a fish so doesn't know how he knows, and the friend is not the sage so the friend doesn't know what the sage knows. I had read this as an attack on ad hominem arguments, which it is, but it is also the subtle point you wanted to make, I think, as a throwaway: the friend IS right: the sage doesn't know HOW he knows the fish are happy; and yet the sage is right: he knows THAT the fish are happy. And so for all of us, I think. Like you, I believe that each of us can know what is right for one's own self, even though I, myself, am not all of us. Thanks.
Yes, sir, I resonate with this essay and with your heart, Diamond-Michael!
Recently, I mentioned in a note waking up with a mild sense of anxiety. A few people have tried to psychoanalyze that, but their solutions are not correct. What I didn’t mention is that I have awakened with this mild sense of anxiety for years, and I have actually just this week figured out its source.
For 40 years, I didn’t like my work. I continued to do that work not only because I have children, but also because I was conditioned to believe that a real man works hard. If he didn’t work hard and steady and throughout his life, he was irresponsible.
So the anxiety that I wake up with is habit. But in actual fact, I am also, like you, now embracing my essence, and, as best I can, letting go of the fears and attachments that not working so hard brings up in me.
Thanks so much for this post. It really helps me to feel seen and heard and empowered!
"In other words, stop waiting. Stop pretending. There is no dress rehearsal. If you’re not living aligned with your essence today, you’re wasting the only moment you truly have." Yes!
What more can one ask of himself?
TRUTH! Yes
Very clever use of quotation with the fish remark. You note that Zhuangzi wrote "...how do you know what makes fish happy" knowing that this was put into the mouth of the sage's friend after Zhuangzi pointed out that the fish below them were happy. I have been missing part of the subtlety of their dialog. Yes, the friend is right that the sage is not a fish so doesn't know how he knows, and the friend is not the sage so the friend doesn't know what the sage knows. I had read this as an attack on ad hominem arguments, which it is, but it is also the subtle point you wanted to make, I think, as a throwaway: the friend IS right: the sage doesn't know HOW he knows the fish are happy; and yet the sage is right: he knows THAT the fish are happy. And so for all of us, I think. Like you, I believe that each of us can know what is right for one's own self, even though I, myself, am not all of us. Thanks.
Yes, sir, I resonate with this essay and with your heart, Diamond-Michael!
Recently, I mentioned in a note waking up with a mild sense of anxiety. A few people have tried to psychoanalyze that, but their solutions are not correct. What I didn’t mention is that I have awakened with this mild sense of anxiety for years, and I have actually just this week figured out its source.
For 40 years, I didn’t like my work. I continued to do that work not only because I have children, but also because I was conditioned to believe that a real man works hard. If he didn’t work hard and steady and throughout his life, he was irresponsible.
So the anxiety that I wake up with is habit. But in actual fact, I am also, like you, now embracing my essence, and, as best I can, letting go of the fears and attachments that not working so hard brings up in me.
Thanks so much for this post. It really helps me to feel seen and heard and empowered!
Sometimes who we really are is not who we thought we wanted to be. I found this for myself and am the better for it.
"In other words, stop waiting. Stop pretending. There is no dress rehearsal. If you’re not living aligned with your essence today, you’re wasting the only moment you truly have." Yes!