Make No Progress Today

"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it," is a pretty famous line from the Bible, the book of Psalms to be exact. It was written by a famous wise man, King Solomon, of "split the baby" fame.

The Bible is chockfull of wisdom, without doubt. But I'm much more comfortable these days quoting a line from the Tao Te Ching: A New English Version (Perennial Classics) than I am quoting from the Bible (though I know it very well) because so much of what is said about the Bible is sectarian; that is, religion in service to the ego, as Eckhart Tolle puts it in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61).

The Philosophy of Success

Philosophy is the foundation of everything. Or to put it more accurately, philosophy--specifically that branch of philosophy called metaphysics--is the study of the foundation of everything. So I think it's important (See The Anatomy of Success elsewhere on this blog).

The term metaphysics probably comes from Aristotle. In the first collection of his lectures, the chapter on what he called the study of First Philosophy came right after the one on physics. In Greek, meta means "after," thus the field of First Philosophy is called Metaphysics today, so one theory goes.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,by Robert Persig, is one of my favorite books. And one of the biggest contributions that book makes is toward a better understanding of early philosophical thought for us normal folk.

On Chaste-ness

I'm sitting alone on Christmas Eve writing my blog. So what subject should come to mind but Chaste-ness?

I use the term "Chaste-ness" because the correct term "chastity" is fraught with heavy baggage that includes medieval apparatus designed for its bodily enforcement (see photo; that doesn't look comfortable). But chaste-ness has nothing to do with the body. It's all about the mind.

For any of you who know me well (make that very well, and there are only a few), I will strike you as one of the least chaste people you've ever known. Well, things change.

Chaste-ness has not only to do with sexuality. It pertains to all aspects of life. But for the moment, let's stick with its most well-known benefactor. Believe it or not, your sex drive offers you a unique opportunity for transcendence, one you're wise not to pass up.