THE ART OF POWER
--Thich Nhat Hanh

"If your motivation is to punish someone else
or to run after fame, glory, and power, you are
going to suffer a lot." 66

...looking into your intentions, you will discover
your deepest motivations. We have to identify
the source that motivates our actions every day.
A wholesome motivation will bring us well-being;
it can bring happiness to us and many other people.
An unwholesome motivation, will bring suffering
to us, our family, and many people in society. 68

Greed is based on ignorance. 69

We have misperceptions.
We think that if we can obtain certain things, we'll be happy.
But when we get them, we continue to crave and suffer. 69


It is important to look deeply into our deepest desire...


"If you create jealousy, anger, or frustration, you know it is not true love."

"Respect is the first ingredient of true love."--Thich Nhat Hanh

He is a determined revolutionary--not one who asks us to mount the ramparts
in anger, but rather a revolutionary of the human spirit, a revolutionary of
understanding and of love. viii

For millennia, inquiries into the subject of power have focused primarily
on the state's monopoly on violence, its proper legal use, and the legitimacy
and behavior of those who control it. x

A wholesome intention combined with a lucid mind is the prerequisite for genuine power. x

He asks us how we can make the claim to be powerful when we are not free from
the oppression of our anger or the scourge of our fear.

"...if your motivation is to run after fame, glory, and power,
you are going to suffer a lot.

--Thich Nhat Hanh

scourge

Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Anglo-French escorge, from escorger to whip, from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiare, from Latin ex- + corrigia thong, whip
Date:
13th century
1: whip ; especially : one used to inflict pain or punishment
2: an instrument of punishment or criticism
3: a cause of wide or great affliction


vo·li·tion
Pronunciation:
\vō-ˈli-shən, və-\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
French, from Medieval Latin volition-, volitio, from Latin vol- (stem of velle to will, wish) + -ition-, -itio (as in Latin position-, positio position) — more at will
Date:
1615
1: an act of making a choice or decision ; also : a choice or decision made
2: the power of choosing or determining : will
— vo·li·tion·al \-ˈlish-nəl, -ˈli-shə-nəl\ adjective

I need a rich girl

I need a rich girl
to drive my deceased car
to the unemployment line,
so that I can get food stamps
and avoid a job.

I need a pill that will
fill me up, not with envy.
I need a pill that will
make me feel friendly,
not want to kill

I need a friend,
in these united states
of isolation
where, even hell s angels
are afraid to hitchhike,
where thinking
outside the norm
could land you in jail.

I need a reason
to go on living,
and I think that
my children will do.

--Mikel K

Three Laws of Learning

--Rewarded behavior gets repeated
--Ignored behavior stops
--Once a behavior is in place,
variable rewards will strengthen the behavior

Cease to do battle with fate

Perhaps you are seeking all too much
your seeking is making you unable to
find.

Finding means being free, being open,
having no goal.

Some people have to change a great deal,
have to wear all sorts of garments

Wisdom can not be passed on???

One can pass on knowledge, but not wisdom.

--Siddhartha