Addicted to YA discussion

Friday night again!

Neil wrote: "Friday night!"

Best part of the weekend! Gonna have to revisit the "Brilliance of Pliability and Flexibility" chapter and cheer myself up from the challenges I met this week haha

Beatrice wrote: "Friday night! Best part of the weekend! Gonna have to revisit the "Brilliance of Pliability and Flexibility" chapter and cheer myself up from the challenges I met this week haha"

Know what you mean - I liked it when it said something along the lines of "Burn through all that's standing in your way like fire - make all these obstacles your feedstock..."

It's a very practical book - I'll give you that. The tips helped me closed a deal this week

Lawrence wrote: "It's a very practical book - I'll give you that. The tips helped me closed a deal this week"

Congratulations! Worth a good celebration

Thanks guys for the recommendation. Frankly I was a bit skeptical at first as to how practical and useful this book could be, so I didn't really purchase it straightaway. Instead, I managed to find a free preview of this book on Amazon and went through it:

https://www.amazon.com/How-Happy-Happ...

Turns out the book was indeed unique and rather helpful so I went through the whole book - I feel these advice and tips have really helped push me to a new level in life and career. Thanks for bringing my attention to it.

Joshua wrote: "...Instead, I managed to find a free preview of this book on Amazon and went through it:

https://www.amazon.com/How-Happy-Happ..."

Wow - thanks Joshua. Didn't know there was free preview available for this book. Thanks a lot - will check it out!

Neil wrote: "Friday night!"

Sunday is slipping away and Monday is coming... Any quote to prep me for that would be appreciated haha

I’ve got one: “The secret of joy in work is contained in one word—excellence…”

Here is a similar one: "An interest in your job makes excellence at work." Or Confucius: "Pick a job you love and you'll never have to work a single day."

Julian wrote: "Here is a similar one: "An interest in your job makes excellence at work." Or Confucius: "Pick a job you love and you'll never have to work a single day.""

Both cool

Guys I watched Oppenheimer on Sunday and some quantum physics theories laid out by the scientist to explain the basics of atomic bombs really got me thinking - the incredible amount of energy hidden in still things; the world-destructing power that could be unleashed when the force joining the atoms (hidden in the apparently "empty" magnetic/gravity field between and within the atoms) is unleashed...

This somehow reminds me how a chapter of this book explained the power hidden in the void (Power of the Void) and also why a tranquil mind can bring up powerful thoughts and denote vehement life force. Seems science and philosophy do sometimes speak to each other in peculiar ways

Hem. Now that you talk about Oppenheimer ... I watched it with my wife and when Oppenheimer explained that light behaves like particles when it IS OBSERVED, but like wave when it is NOT OBSERVED, I thought that sounds really weird and there is no logic to it at all, yet it is true and forms the basic theory of the nuclear weapon. It feels like someone created this three-dimensional world like a computer program, and in operating it deliberately left a "bug" to tease us who think that this three-dimensional world is absolutely true. Reminds me of the mention of "beings" in higher-dimensional world in the introduction of the book and its explanation as to how our five senses and emotion could sometimes deceive or distract us and shield us from the truth...

Ha! I'll watch the movie

Elliot wrote: "Ha! I'll watch the movie"

It's a good one

Julian wrote: "Hem. Now that you talk about Oppenheimer ... I watched it with my wife and when Oppenheimer explained that light behaves like particles when it IS OBSERVED, but like wave when it is NOT OBSERVED, I thought that sounds really weird and there is no logic to it at all, yet it is true and forms the basic theory of the nuclear weapon...."

Haha - I can almost imagine a confession from the high-dimensional being: "Er... Seems someone left a bug when I asked them to create the three-dimensional world. Worry not - I'll remove the bug in the next version of the universe when I develop it..."

I can't watch Oppenheimer ... I watched too much Marvel, gangster TV shows and Bond films. All I saw was (SPOILERS!) Iron Man trying to frame the Peaky Blinder boss but got his evil plan divulged by the big villain in No Time to Die...

Elliot wrote: "Ha! I'll watch the movie"

I'll watch Barbie instead :)

Julian, talking about science and philosophy, remember when the book gave an analysis as to how the "omnipresent paradox" principle correlates with (but goes wider) than the law of relativity in physics? Everything being relative, they present a Yin (negative) and a Yang (positive) etc. and how that could be put into practical use in life and career etc.

Yes I recall towards the end of the book it referred to the inception of the universe from the void and explained that at the very moment the "non-being" turned into "being", such "being" started having a depth and thereby, two different sides (a Yin and a Yang). That explained why following power of the void came the principle of omnipresent paradox. It presented the ecosystem from which all thoughts and practical advice in those chapters derived from.

Beatrice wrote: "I'll watch Barbie instead :)"

Haha how was it

Chris wrote: "Julian, talking about science and philosophy, remember when the book gave an analysis as to how the "omnipresent paradox" principle correlates with (but goes wider) than the law of relativity in physics..."

Their application is quite different though. The same chapter demonstrated how the "omnipresent paradox" principle can be applied for practical use in commercial negotiations, job interviews, romantic relationship-building etc.

Guys I finished a book of Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray) this weekend and found something intriguing. The book was about (as you probably know) a young man led by his corrupt upper-class friend to become completely obsessive with his brief youth (which he managed to prolong by some weird method), to take extreme indulgence in satisfaction of all senses real-time, and to take full advantage of his beauty to womanize all innocent girls around him. He ended up becoming constantly agitated, demented, crooked and died a sinful and horrible death.

The funny bit is that these values seem exactly the opposite of what the How to be Happy book taught about having an invincible mind for happiness and success: recognising power of the void and emptying the mind of unnecessary worries and wants; respecting the omnipresent paradox and enjoy a balanced mind; retaining pliability and avoid rigidity; rein in the desire; etc. Very interesting

That's probably because all sins and crimes committed by Dorian Gray, in that novel of Oscar Wilde's, track their roots back to greed (for everlasting youth) and vanity/ego (to show off one's beauty and cute lovers etc.) Those inferior ways of thinking ultimately led the young man down the path of a horrible death and possible an afterlife in hellfire (he voluntarily sold his soul for the wish to assign his own aging process to the painting).

You feel that's exactly opposite of what the Happy book taught because that book started right with the "Wooden Rooster" phenomenon, demonstrating how to get rid of ego and vanity to make oneself mentally invincible and psychologically undefeatable. As to the greed for youth, that book talked about power of the void, in which process it demonstrated how vain it was to cling on to the concepts of time, age and even "being", and how powerful one will become once he realises how to wield the power of void like Buddha and Tao masters.

Talking about ago and egotism, I agree with the conclusion that how old a person is depends not on his age, but on how strong his ego is. Old people, comparing to young people, are hindered much more badly by their ego. For example, if they are recommended something good and useful, either they will be hindered by their cynicism (a manifested effect of egotism), drawing from the so-called experience in their past so cannot benefit from the new item, or they think the level of their life has already been fixed so cannot be saved or elevated by anything good anyway. Both ways of thinking are definitive indicators of old age - truly young people never entertain these types of thoughts.

So true… Being old is not about age, but about how one perceives new things coming his way. It’s a sure sign of old-age if he perceives it with cynicism and without curiosity, or consider his future life to be without room for improvement by any good and useful things

Beatrice wrote: "So true… Being old is not about age, but about how one perceives new things coming his way. It’s a sure sign of old-age if he perceives it with cynicism and without curiosity, or consider his future life without room for improvement..."

Haha indeed - I'm young mostly because I'm curious. And interested in developing myself as I still look forward to a better future

Well, in its epilogue, the book ended up bringing forth the ecosystem tracking the root of all seven principles back to the ultra-true state of "non-being" before the inception of the universe. That was probably why all those advice and practical tips set out in it ultimately found their roots in Power of the Void.

This somehow reminds me of the classic Buddhist scripture, Diamond Sutra, where towards the end it explained that "Tathagata", the adopted name of the Supreme Buddha, means "going back to the original". It seems that the book came to the same conclusion after it demonstrated how the practical advice deriving from Taoism, Zen, western schools of philosophy and Christianity applicable to this 3-dimensional world could potentially come down to the same conclusion. Very interesting

That's probably a depth beyond ordinary readers' apprehension

Joshua wrote: "That's probably a depth beyond ordinary readers' apprehension"

Does have to edify many people though - the successful bunch will always be a minority

Neil wrote: "Doesn't have to edify many people though - the successful bunch will always be a minority"

True... Most people have neither the willingness nor the patience to learn useful things for success

Chris wrote: "True... Most people have neither the willingness nor the patience to learn useful things for success..."

Think many people are able to accumulate knowledge in various ways, but very few can apprehend wisdom. As a Japanese saying goes, "Knowledge without wisdom is like a load of books on an ass' back".

I heard a similar saying about knowledge and wisdom: "A knowledgeable fool cannot taste wisdom, just like a spoon cannot taste nice soup."

“To get knowledge you learn something new everyday; to get wisdom you unlearn something old everyday.”

Bruce wrote: "“To get knowledge you learn something new everyday; to get wisdom you unlearn something old everyday.”"

Indeed - as Socrates finally realized: "The only thing I know is that I know practically nothing." THAT means he has achieved wisdom

Learning knowledge exhausts people; learning wisdom exalts people

Understanding that all knowledge is relative - that is wisdom. So Einstein has wisdom for his theory of general relativity.

Neil wrote: "Understanding that all knowledge is relative - that is wisdom. So Einstein has wisdom for his theory of general relativity."

Wisdom is knowing the limit of knowledge

Indeed, "knowledge" is a completely different concept from "wisdom". Knowledge exalts as well as restricts the one who possesses it. It improves as well as burdens those who have it. It leads as well as misleads people. But wisdom only exalts without restricting, improves without burdening, leads without misleading. That's why Socrates ended up recognising "The only thing I know is that I know practically nothing" ; and Einstein recognised that everything is relative (everything...including knowledge...) With that, they finally achieve wisdom...

To demonstrate why knowledge could be harmful and only wisdom is worth pursuing - remember at the beginning of the Bible, what turned Adam from immortal to mortal, put shame into his heart and give him a harmful ego which made him aware of his own nakedness? A fruit. From which tree? "The Tree of Knowledge."

Cool guy

Julian wrote: "To demonstrate why knowledge could be harmful and only wisdom is worth pursuing - remember at the beginning of the Bible, what turned Adam from immortal to mortal, put shame into his heart and give him a harmful ego which made him aware of his own nakedness? A fruit. From which tree? "The Tree of Knowledge."..."

You talk books away Julian

Elliot wrote: "Cool guy"

He is an interesting character - seems quite serious about everything

Julian wrote: "To demonstrate why knowledge could be harmful and only wisdom is worth pursuing - remember at the beginning of the Bible, what turned Adam from immortal to mortal, put shame into his heart and give and give him a harmful ego which made him aware of his own nakedness? A fruit. From which tree? 'The Tree of Knowledge'..."

Ha! Reminds me of Paradise Lost...

Well, Paradise Lost reminds me of the ego issue too: when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and developed sin, the first piece of harmful character they got is ego - they started becoming aware of their own nakedness and therefore "hid" from God (think of the metaphorical meaning behind this phrase - to hide from God).

This probably reinforces (in a slightly weird way though) the book's starting rule of tucking away the ego and becoming invincible... Is it effectively telling us to go back to the original state when we haven't sinned? This might not be far wrong because in Buddhism, the name of the supreme Buddha, Tathāgata, has the meaning "Going back to the original"...

The first thing Adam realised after eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, was himself (ego) - that he is naked and should hide from God. The second thing he realised was how desirable Eve's body was (desire). This goes back to why there are chapters dedicated to removing ego and reining in unhealthy desire to achieve success and invincibility, but reckon the analysis there is more practical and easier to understand

Guys you are burning my CPU here, but I have a vague feeling you are right

Well... Bible and Paradise Lost aside - from another angle, Buddhism draws all its strength and inspiration from the understanding that "Appearance of all beings ultimately tracks back into nothingness" - this is about power of the void as well - the book we are discussing just explains the thoughts in more understandable terms and demonstrates how this power can be wielded in practice to achieve invincibility and success

Elliot wrote: "Guys you are burning my CPU here, but I have a vague feeling you are right"

And mine too...But I know what you mean

It's not meant to be mysterious or anything - these things are all practical, applied in the right manner