Do Not Love Comfort

Confucius said, "The scholar who loves comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar." It's not one of those made-up Confucius say sayings, this one he really said. It's true. To delight in the truth (also Confucius) is greater than loving or knowing the truth. However. If you delight in the truth you must allow a little bit of discomfort. That means sleeping less than 12 hours a night, not gorging yourself with food, and not relaxing on the sofa all the time.

This is not me saying these things, it's Confucius's quotes. He did not have sofas in his time though. Or did he? Either way, wisdom is not free. It takes hard work. It takes work to meditate when you're feeling lazy, and it takes work to ask real questions. It takes work to study a little bit extra, and to wake up early. It takes restraint to not eat that extra snack that would otherwise slow you down and waste time. We don't have a lot of time on this Earth. People may think that means you should party and live for now, and maybe, but it also means trying to know. Don't we all want to know?

You lack discipline

Keeping a routine shows that you have discipline. You should be able to have a simple, daily regimen of healthy things that really keep you sane and balanced. On the other hand, intensity and perseverance are something else entirely. That is not discipline. Getting that extra rep when you lift is not discipline. It is worthwhile, but it is something else. It is strength, and intensity. Discipline is waking up a the same time every day, eating the same amount most days, and doing good healthy things each day. Do you have discipline?

Trying Out Christ

My friend who is a minister-in-training told me if I wanted to root my faith, pray, then read the bible. I am a Zen Buddhist by training so I don't necessarily believe in God. I tried this little Christian experiment. My old personality came back, which was refreshing. Also, I stopped worrying if people talked about me. These were small "gifts," if you will. I'm still not completely converted as my scientific thought doesn't lead me down that road. Also, why surrender to a King? Even the King of Kings? It may be worth it, but I don't need to be a perfect sage who is totally humble before the higher power. I'm just a small, arrogant little grain of sand.

What is is. And what is ain't ain't. And something either is or it ain't.

This pyramid was actually a scheme in order to mummify pharaohs. It had a pharaoh burying schematic.

Sleeping on the floor day two, and what I will do differently

I attempted sleeping on the floor, and lie awake for 4 hours. I fell asleep after getting into bed, and slept 7 or so hours comfortably. However, now that I have worked all day, will lift weights and do yoga and tai chi likely, and will study and meditate, I may be tired enough to fall asleep on the floor. It is supposed to be very humbling, so I will persist because I am overwhelmingly conceited.

Sleeping on the Floor

Hello,

I will sleep on the floor tonight. My lifestyle is somewhat monkish already, and I am sleeping on the floor tonight because I am trying to curb my libido. Also, I have heard it is humbling to sleep on the floor, which is probably true because you're grounding yourself and physically being in a low spot. I have slept on the floor before, and always felt it enjoyable, even if I ended up with a slight cold afterward. I picked a spot tonight in my room that's not full of cathair as I am allergic, and my floor is wooden. I'm using a yoga mat and a sleeping bag, and sleeping on my back.

So far I fell asleep for five minutes, of stage 1 sleep. The back of my head was hurting a little as I tried to fall asleep, which took an hour, but I am told not to use a pillow if I want to get the optimal health benefits of improved posture. I will try to repost about how this sleeping on the floor experiment goes.

You Can Disagree With Non-Contradiction, But That Won't Be a Contradiction

The Law of Noncontradiction is a law which can be not believed by a person, but never contradicted. It is probably impossible to actually prove the law, but I think the world is much more fun if you believe the law. It means that humor comes not in coming up with nonsensical contradictions which have no grounding in understanding, but rather in refuting these contradictions. For example, to say, "People who say less is more should not become mathematicians. People who say you get what you give should no be accountants." Less is not more. More is more. Having confidence in this view is very playful.

All the same, it is not necessary to hate anyone for holding illogical views. There is no need to try to convert them. If they are nice, good people, it is really OK for them to hold views you don't believe in. I believe they are imperfect views. They believe they are "perfect imperfections," in the words of John Legend. Actually, I think all imperfections are imperfect, because of noncontradiction.

All nonsense is the same. However, it can be interpreted as sense by a conscious person. Interestingly enough, there is only ever one consciousness at a time by an individual. I first encountered this idea in Bernard Baars' writing. There are many paradoxical ideas in the subconscious, but the conscious mind presents a uniform whole. The nonsense may have functions to be put together by the higher conscious process (which is my idea) but it is still arbitrary. That is the only view I can obtain which rectifies the noncontradictory nature of the finished product of consciousness with the chaos of the unconscious.

This leads to another idea, which is that contradictions are simply  metaphors which do not have to be taken absolutely seriously. They can be used as poetry, or play, but they do not have to be considered actual truth. This is quite possible, and it also allows the person to be less rigid in views about concreteness. Things are not so solid then. Maybe, though I think a typically logical view of contradiction is more realistic.

Still, the first few principles do not have to be a truth claims. They can be sincerity and kindness themselves.