Eternal Truths

Regret is a futile feeling, but a useful signal. Would you rather mend your ways now, learning from regret or continue on the erroneous path only to find yourself regretting the present time in future, just like you are regretting the past now?

One cannot build a civilization with severed roots, borrowed thinking and an aversion to the truth. Aversion to truth is inability for internal reflection. The result is misplaced allegiance, confused identity and absence of unique ideas - a prerequisite for lasting civilization.

It is easier to filter falsehoods, than to claim truth. Truth needs to stand the test of time, and prove itself again and again. Falsehoods just need to be exposed once. Elimination of falsehoods is how one inches closer to the truth. Eliminate noise to recover signal.

How you do one thing is how you do everything. So no matter what you do, give it your all. Live like an artisan, give your creation all the attention, manifest the divine in every act of creation. That is the way to satisfaction, to divinity and to purpose. Leave the outcome to destiny.

I haven't seen a competent person whining about lack of opportunities. I have only seen them creating those opportunities. I use this check when I become aware of any tendency to whine, and use the same check when I notice someone whining. Whining is the best way to irrelevance. Whining is a reaction to a set of circumstances. You may not control the circumstances, but can definitely control the reaction. Whining always defeats the purpose that someone will effectuate change on your behalf, although the circumstances are genuine.

A diamond doesn't stop being itself just because people chose stones over diamonds, as they cannot differentiate between a diamond covered in mud and a stone. Neither does the diamond care, nor does it need to know, people choose stones to throw them at each other.

Pain endured is directly proportional to retention duration in learning. Greater pain implies longer retention and greater depth. It is as though the knowledge is engraved in your existence, and pain is the result of that etching. Speeding through the learning process may be productive, but the cost is the depth of knowledge.

A sign of wisdom is to know when to do nothing. The urge to react to circumstances comes naturally. One thinks not reacting would lead to set-back and is true in good number of cases. But there are cases where doing nothing is the optimal reaction. Because reacting - when you are not supposed to react - only solidifies the problem.

Freedom is the ability to own your mistakes. It is liberating, empowering, rendering oneself fearless. Own your mistakes. It is a courageous act.

A man needs novelty and usefulness in order to grow. He slips into a life devoid of meaning sans usefulness and never have a shot at knowing meaning sans novelty. A messy work is essential for novelty. Restoring orderliness to the created mess is essential for usefulness before you start the cycle again. Allowing mess to accumulate is seeking novelty without making it useful. Similarly, only striving for orderliness is to never try to glimpse at the novel. Life is an interplay between mess and order. The real mastery is to be able to create both. He who has mastered this aspect of life is able to take risks, live, while still producing outcomes. He is neither reckless nor cautious in his approach to life. He lives and thrives maintaining perfect balance between his will and the nature.

A sign of intelligence is method of argument - principled and focused on the point. All perspectives of argumentation are aimed at the point. On the contrary, the unintelligent take a part of the argument, make it a pivot point, and point at another issue in order to prove their intelligence thereby derailing the argument. The only common point between various lines of argumentation taken by the intelligent is the core issue. The only common point between various lines of argumentation taken by the unintelligent is the pivot point. Core issue is the casualty.

A man must overcome affinity for material possessions, not as a cope for lack of it, but as a flex for not being buyable. Even kings bow down to sages who have mastered themselves, for the sage possesses what the king lacks.

Abundance affects optimality. It is beneficial to engineer scarcity for optimal outcomes. The purpose of abundance is to be able to engineer scarcity. Sans abundance one has to contend with enforced scarcity. In the former there is intent, in the latter there is helplessness.

Your niceness stops being a weakness when you learn to withdraw the niceness upon sensing ingratitude and do so permanently. Niceness itself is not a weakness but sustained niceness despite disrespect is a weakness.

Preoccupation with trivialities, seeking incessant validation and emotional response to criticisms are symptoms of a mind not engaged in the act of creation. In the absence of an aim the mind wanders and finds abode in the noise of the world - the matters irrelevant to the self.

Be so good that people hate you. Be so wise to ignore those who hate and focus on those who don't. Meaning if you are good, really good, you will find haters. Some out of envy, some because they cannot comprehend why you are good and some who think you just got lucky.

Best form of teaching consists of pointers that promote you to take action. They are like signboards showing you the right path. Once you are on the path, it is up to you to learn. Lessons you learn by direct action and practice can never be transformed into instructions in its entirety. The last mile is the mile of action and the experiences of action are inexpressible. Theory and instruction serve as a foundation, but mastery requires personal engagement with the subject matter.

Life is all about trade-offs. Nobody has it all. One must sacrifice one thing in order to achieve another. Resistance to this sacrifice is suffering. Be willing to sacrifice, accept your situation, so that the energy spent resisting is routed to create the life you desire.