The ancient Taoist text Zhuangzi describes Lieh Tzu as the sage who rode the wind with an admirable indifference to external things, and thus, in his lightness he was free from all desires to pursue the things that supposedly make us happy. Lieh Yokuo, also known as Lieh Tzu or Master Lie, is attributed as […]
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Miyamoto Musashi | The Path of the Warrior
At the age of fifteen, Miyamoto Musashi went on ‘musha shugyō’, which means ‘warrior’s pilgrimage’. During this time of his life, he traveled the land practicing his skills independently and engaged in a series of duels. After he received ronin status, he encountered the most challenging opponent he ever faced – Sasaki Kojiro – and […]
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The Backwards Law
What if we’d try not to think of a pink elephant. This probably won’t work. Because as soon as the pink elephant appears in our minds, it’s impossible to get rid of it by consciously not thinking about it. And the more we try to get rid of it, the more it persists. The elephant […]
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How to Fight Smart (Sun Tzu)
The Chinese military general and strategist Sun Tzu, who lived around 2,500 years ago, argued that the ability to wage war is of vital importance to the state. According to him, it’s a matter of life and death, and cannot be neglected. In his manual The Art of War, Sun Tzu states that the superior […]
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The Future Is Not Real. Still, We’re Worried Sick About It
In a letter to his dear friend Lucilius, Stoic philosopher Seneca wrote: “There are more things, Lucilius, likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” Chronic worriers tend to be more occupied by the future than by present circumstances. During the day, and even […]
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When Life Falls Apart, Does it Actually Fall Into Place?
A man is chased by a tiger. Suddenly, he encounters an abandoned well. He jumps in, hoping that the tiger can’t reach him there. But then, he realizes that there’s a poisonous snake at the bottom of this dried out well. Before he reaches the bottom, he grabs a root poking out of the wall […]
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Why Letting Go Is Wealth
One day, the legendary Chinese recluse Xu You watched a mole drinking water from a pond. He then realized that the mole, when thirsty, only drinks a bellyful: no more, no less, but exactly the quantity it needs. The mole doesn’t encumber itself with excesses, because that would only impede its movement. Unlike humans, who […]
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Miyamoto Musashi | A Life of Ultimate Focus
Miyamoto Musashi is one of the most legendary samurai and famed as Japan’s greatest swordsman – undefeated in more than sixty duels. After he escaped death during the Battle of Sekigahara, Musashi became a ronin. Aside from being a swordsman, he was also a philosopher, artist, and well-learned Buddhist. Before he died, Musashi left us […]
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The Art of Doing Without Doing
Have you ever reflected on the word ‘doing’? ‘Doing’ points to performance, achievement, effort. It also implies that there’s a ‘doer’ who engages in ‘doing something’, and that there’s a passive element or ‘the thing that’s being done’. But does it work that way? Is there a separation between the thing that ‘does’ and the […]
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The Philosophy of Cobra Kai
It’s not just to reignite his old passion for karate and to avenge his old nemesis Daniel LaRusso. One of the reasons why Johnny Lawrence re-opens his old dojo Cobra Kai is that he believes that by doing so he can give today’s youth exactly what they need: the way of the fist. After saving […]
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