Tag Archives: Nagarjuna

Ferrets don’t elect their kings…..

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Ffolkes,
“I’m dappled and dreary, and ready for sleep”  It’s odd that Paul Simon should know how I feel this morning… it’s even odder that I should feel like this after 8 or so hours of sleep. Aren’t we supposed to wake up with bursting energy, having filled our depleted stores through the miracle of sleep? I believe we are, so going through a whole night, and still needing rest, is somewhat discouraging, to say the least.

I’m so tired, I’m breaking the first rule of typing, taught to me so many years ago by Mr. Morgan, who always wore a pastel colored jumpsuit, a different shade for each day of the week…. You may take that information as you wish; I had to…. My typing class was on Wednesday during summer break, so we always got the same color to look at, this nauseating shade of lime sherbet (or less discreetly, vomit green)….

Any who, Mr. Morgan was big on posture and proper technique, so sitting straight and keeping one’s wrist arched over the keyboard were considered basic. I’m so tired this morning, and my back is so stiff and sore, I’m listing heavily to the right, and my wrists are resting on the edge of the laptop, moving the fingers without even lifting off where I’m leaning. Sitting straight is what I’d call an impossible dream for me, and leaning on one supportive arm or the other is now a basic rule-of-life to avoid major pain. So, Mr. Morgan can take his posture and technique, and firmly put them where the sun don’t shine….

I suppose I’m going to have to suck it up, and either go back to bed, returning later to finish this, or just get on with it. For now, we’ll push on, and hope we find a pocket of energy down the line a bit. Sometimes they hide….. and then pop up when not expected. Usually, it is at a good time, so I’ll trust to fate today (something I rarely do, deliberately…. as you may know from previous posts, I’m not big on believing that fate is written in stone, so I don’t give in to it very often….)  If this works, all well and good; if not, well,….. fuck it…. Shall we Pearl?…..

“Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), “Circles”
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Yesterday, I sat down in the afternoon to do some pearl diving, as my stash was getting low. Out of the first ten pearls offered up for my perusal, the following entries, all but one from Smart Bee itself, popped up one after another, just as if they were meant to be together. Upon rearranging the order slightly, I found them to be correct; together they make a fine little old-school pearl. So, without further ado, follow the bouncing thought bubble to the ending point, where you will find yourself in possession of a valuable piece of virtual wisdom…. or possibly, a great deal of confusion…. your choice, both are free of charge….

Although everyone is entitled to be stupid, some abuse this privilege. — Smart Bee

Keep the pointy end forward and the dirty side down. — Smart Bee

I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad.  It’s dead! — Smart Bee

Tomorrow & tomorrow & tomorrow creeps in this rutabaga… — Smart Bee

Ignorance of one’s ignorance is the greatest ignorance.– Smart Bee

“YOW!!  I’m in a very clever and adorable INSANE ASYLUM!!” — Zippy the Pinhead

I think the final line from Zippy punctuates the idea very well, ending not only with wisdom, but with two exclamation points to drive it home!!…. Such courteous service, you won’t find just anywhere…. Most bloggers would just abandon you, leaving you to figure stuff out on your own. But, not here at gigoid’s house.. we’re all about customer service….. I hope you enjoyed the ride; you may now go on to the next section…..
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Ogden Nash is one of my favorite poets, mainly for his sense of irreverence. Below you will find three poems that demonstrate his mastery in different ways. The second poem, Fleas, is considered to be the shortest poem ever written, and I believe it holds the Guinness Book of Records title for that category….. Enjoy!…..

A Caution To Everybody

Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.
~~~~~~~~~
Fleas

Adam
Had’em
~~~~~~~~~
Listen…

There is a knocking in the skull,
An endless silent shout
Of something beating on a wall,
And crying, “Let me out!”

That solitary prisoner
Will never hear reply.
No comrade in eternity
Can hear the frantic cry.

No heart can share the terror
That haunts his monstrous dark.
The light that filters through the chinks
No other eye can mark.

When flesh is linked with eager flesh,
And words run warm and full,
I think that he is loneliest then,
The captive in the skull.

Caught in a mesh of living veins,
In cell of padded bone,
He loneliest is when he pretends
That he is not alone.

We’d free the incarcerate race of man
That such a doom endures
Could only you unlock my skull,
Or I creep into yours.

All three poems by Ogden Nash
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My search for pearls today keeps coming up with stuff more appropriate to the old style; nothing to rant about so far. But the following group of pearls does have a conclusion in mind, and for bonus points, you can tell me your thoughts on that in the comments section below…. good hunting!…. and don’t hurt yourself looking for the point; it won’t be on the quiz……

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” — Stephen Roberts

There is no ornament like virtue,
There is no misery like worry,
There is no protection like patience,
There is no friend equal to generosity.
— Nagarjuna (c. 100-200 A.D.)

When an Agnostic dies, does he go to the Great Perhaps? — Smart Bee, in sardonic mode, tongue firmly planted in cheek….

The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.
Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise?  Then I said in my heart, that this is also vanity.
For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten.  And how dieth the wise man?  As the fool.
— Ecclesiastes 2:14-16

“Is this bullshit or fertilizer?” — Smart Bee

There you go….. hope you have as much fun with it as I did….. and, sorry, if my over-enthusiastic handling of the various parts has caused them to appear somewhat bedraggled…. they’ll fluff out in the sunshine….
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Six of one, half-dozen of the other….. that’s how it shakes down around here in the mornings…. This Pearl, though light on original material, feels like a good one, so I’m not going to even think about it….. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Trial by margarine….

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Ffolkes,
Not wobbling is harder than it seems it would be; it takes a lot of concentration. And Murphy is certainly no help. My primary regret is that Life doesn’t come with a handy User’s Manual. It seems to me that something important like this would come with a few instructions, but nooooo, you have to guess. How to tie a shoe? Figure it out. How to eat? If you’re hungry, you’ll eat; but be careful not to eat the wrong stuff. You have to already know the wrong stuff. Get married? Good luck, because you are on your own. Raise kids? Actually, there are a lot of books on this, but each one advises different techniques, and they’re all useless. Even if you choose the right one, there’s still no guarantee that your kids won’t end up with their picture on the post office wall.
We don’t get a manual, and we sure could use one. If we had one, everyone could be given their manual on the first day of school, and we could all learn something more useful than Dick’s inane conversations with Jane. Of course, even if we had a manual, many folks would just ignore it, or use it to gain some kind of advantage over others. That’s the part that even the manuals don’t understand or explain; human nature defies classification. No matter how good a system is, no matter how high the ideals striven for, no matter how noble are some people, there will always be someone who perverts and twists things to suit their own purposes. There is always some idiot who believes they are ‘mo bettah’ than other folks, and who will try to arrange matters so they have power. This is why we have global warming, and impending financial ruin, and constant wars. As long as there are people who desire power, we will continue to have these issues, and we will most certainly join the dodo, the brontosaurus, and every other species that has become extinct. The difference between all of them and us is that we will become extinct by our own hands. There, now don’t you feel better?….

“I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.” — Agatha Christie

“I am ignorant of absolute truth. But I am humble before my ignorance, and therein lies my honor and my reward.” — Kahlil Gibran

There is no ornament like virtue,
There is no misery like worry,
There is no protection like patience,
There is no friend equal to generosity.
— Nagarjuna (c. 100-200 A.D.)

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.” — Lazarus Long, from Robert A. Heinlein’s “Time Enough For Love”

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” — Dalai Lama

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m a little worried about the future….I sure hope there is one…….y’all take care out there….

Sometimes I sits and thinks,

and sometimes

I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer at play..

Kowabunga!

Dancing the tortellini tango….

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Ffolkes,
With a loud ‘POP’! a running young man appeared out of thin air on a round platform, which sat in solitary silence upon the top of a moderately large hill. The young man stopped running as soon as his feet hit the platform, and he came to a halt near the edge. From his vantage point on the platform, he could see across the small valley below to the sheer-sided, massive mountains on the far side. A small, intensely white orb was setting behind the mountain, and the lengthening shadows spoke of the approaching night in silent harmony. As he watched, lights began to appear down in the valley, lighting the windows of what appeared to be a small village of perhaps eight or ten buildings. More yellow than white, the lights blinked and danced in the still cooling air, and gave promise of welcome. The young man stood for a moment, gazing down, then turned and walked rapidly to his right, where a small vehicle sat waiting. Inside he could see the profile of a young woman with long, flowing hair, black as the oncoming night. She turned to face him, and offered a brilliant smile, which lit her whole face, changing her appearance from merely attractive to blinding beauty. “Welcome home, Ari,”, she said, “I’m glad you’re here. You’re just in time to help us celebrate.” The young man, whose face had remained grim, gave a small smile, and breaking his silence, said, “Thanks, Lina, it’s good to be home. Has everyone else arrived?” “Yes,” she replied, “you’re the last, as usual.” His smile returned, and he settled back into the seat as the car began to move, following the road which seemed to appear before them magically as it moved. (to be continued….)


Hmm….interesting. It seems our young man has fallen into an adventure of some kind. I suppose further episodes will tell us the rest of the story….I’m as befuddled as you are, as this is just coming out by itself, without any kind of plot line or plan. Kinda fun, actually! We’ll see where it goes from here….. Well, brain freeze…..since nothing else even remotely entertaining is coming to mind, I guess we will proceed to the meat of the program. Today’s offerings are my favorite type of aphorisms; succinct, pithy, and deep as a 1000 year-old well. It takes a good grasp of language to persuade so much truth to reveal itself in one line, and these folks demonstrate their mastery well. A couple of them, specifically the poem  (or part of one) and the last line were included just because of the picturesque structure and brilliant use of words to build strong images in the mind. Even if one doesn’t know exactly the point they are trying to make, it feels good just to read them. Or maybe that’s just me….well, anyway, enjoy!…..

“Although a cloth be washed a hundred times, how can it be rendered clean and pure if it be washed in water which is dirty?” — Nagarjuna (c. 100-200 A.D.)

“Hateful to me as are the gates of hell, is he who, hiding one thing in his heart, utters another” — Homer (c. 700 B.C.)

Do not go gentle into that good night
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
— Dylan Thomas

“The only problem with seeing too much is that it makes you insane.” — Phaedrus

“Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.” — Eric Hoffer

“Forward goes the vanguard of the lunatic fringe,tickling the death clowns of normality.” — HealNorm

“tickling the death clowns of normality.”  Absolutely brilliant! Brain on, and engaged; proceed with the day….and y’all take care out there…..

 

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!