Work and Teaching

Working hard
To solve a problem
Makes us good teachers;
But, good teaching can never impart
The knowledge gained by having worked hard
To solve a problem.
12.23.2015

Suppression & Explosion

Suppression starts anaerobic fires
Which smolder and spread underground;
When these subtle fires gather enough heat
All of a sudden, they explode with wild flames;
Dictators do not learn this historic lesson.
12.22.2015

Powers & Family

We need not be impressed with size or greatness
Or power or wealth or popularity or violence;
Individual families live longer than empires
And, in the long run, do more good
For the societies they live in;
Family love, given enough time
Has always been able to vanquish
The all mighty and great powers of earth.
12.21.2015

Educated and Primitive

It is harder to enlighten
An educated, biased person
Than a primitive, biased person;
Education’s fanfare, hubris, and style
Can prove more resistant to enlightenment
And can do much more harm than primitivism.
12.20.2015

Leaders & Pleasers

Leaders
Can not be pleasers;
What is best for the country
May not be the best for its individuals.
12.19.2015

Sayings & Truth

Examined carefully
Most sayings contain untruths
Which is why they are popular.
12.18.2015

Age & Love

As we age
When we look at those we love
We feel young
And when we look at ourselves
We feel old;
Spending our latter years
Gazing at those we love
Preserves our souls’ youthfulness.
12.17.2015

Hope & Reality

Sometimes
We are blinded by too much hope
And sometimes, by the lack of it;
Knowing when and how much to hope
Keeps us firmly tethered to reality.
12.16.2015

Truth & Readiness

It is unwise to tell truths
To those unready to hear them
And equally unwise not to tell truths
To those who are ready to hear them;
Sowing truth is like sowing grain
It only grows in ready soil.
12.15.2015

Struggel & Peace

When times are hard
We grow stronger
And when they are easy
We grow weaker;
Struggle sharpens us
And peace dulls our edge.
12.14.2015

Fractures & Spirit

We are only broken
When our spirits are broken;
Most fractures can be mended
But the fractures of spirit
Can only be mended
With love and faith.
12.13.2015

Best & Others

If our best is not good enough for others
Let it be good enough for us;
Others can only best us
By doing their best.
12.12.2015

Christmas & Love

Another Christmas comes to cheer
Let us love long as we're here.
12.11.2015

Memories & Self

We cling to our memories
To find out who we are
To know ourselves
To be connected;
Without our memories
We turn into aging plants.
12.10.2015

World & Kindness

As the world shrinks and its population grows
There will be more need for world citizens
More need for selfless love and sacrifice
For cooperation and conservation
For collective enlightenment
And for kindness to our planet.
12.09.2015

Pleasure & Money

The greatest pleasures in life
Are ones that money cannot buy;
Think of glorious nature
And things we can create:
Children, art, conversation,
Friendships, goodwill, smiles,
Laughter, gardens, and love…
12.08.2015

Love & LIve

To love and let love
Is a better way to live
Than to live and let live.
12.07.2015

Goodwill & Others

When people know
That we think well of them
They behave better when around us
And also when not around us
Because goodwill
Is contagious.
12.06.2015

Loneliness & Vulnerability

To make an effort
To stay connected to friends
Is to remain balanced and whole
Thus avoiding the damaging effects
And the vulnerability engendered by loneliness.
12.05.2015

Ignorance & Enlightenment

Corruption and violence rise
When enlightenment declines;
Ignorance is the greatest enemy
Of advanced, civilized, free societies;
If we fail in our mission for enlightenment
We will continue to be invaded by ignorance.
12.04.2015

Minds & Freedom

Whatever or whoever
Has our minds
Has us;
To surrender our minds
To anyone or anything
Enslaves us;
To remain free
We need to maintain
Total control of our minds.
12.03.2015

Patience & Surprises

Impatience
Is unpreparedness;
If we ready our minds
That an issue will take time
We would become more patient;
If we expect an issue to take less time
We would become impatient if it took longer;
Mental preparation neutralizes surprises.
12.02.2015

Fast & Slow

When we hurry
We do not notice
The charms of life;
Given that life is short
If we were to slow down
We would end up living
So many more lives.
12.01.2015

Love & Anger

Anger causes discontrol
Discontrol causes violence
Violence causes distruction;
Love causes discontrol
Discontrol expresses passions
Passions stimulate creativity;
Better in love than angry
Better impassioned than violent
Better creative than destructive.
11.30.2015