Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for September 20, 2021

I’m so confused.

They are all capable of sitting cross legged. One would expect the businessman to be sitting in a chair.

Ask if they have a whine list.

The insight I got from studying “at” Zen for a while: You may successfully live in the moment, but for best results, you need to plan ahead, so you get enough practice that you don’t need to think it through when the time comes.

As for that last guy, he’s right to the extent that wisdom comes from experience… and experience comes from making mistakes… all of which must have already happened for it to do you any good.

Don’t bother thinking ahead, the government will take care of you puke puke

I think about the past & future constantly but coast on autopilot in the present.

Ah, but do they accept Discover card?

Just like those old time Burma Shave roadside commercials.

That’s the way Trump Disciples use the Constitution and the Bible.

They pick ONLY the parts they like and trash the rest.

I’ll take one from column A, and one from column B, and one from column C, mixing and matching to encompass all the variety that life throws at me!

Taken together, they can be part of wisdom. Taken separately, they are insanity.

Presently we are learning from the past so we are able to know where we want to be. Life in the fast lane on the highway of life.

[“Life in the Fast Lane" is a song written by Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey and Don Henley, and recorded by the American rock band the Eagles on their 1976 studio album Hotel California. “Life Is a Highway" is a song by Tom Cochrane from his second studio album, Mad Mad World (1991). ]

I’d join the guy on the right watching reruns of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on his cave TV.

(The one with George C. Scott.)

Reminds me of Sgt Schultz

Advanced doctoral philosophy course required ?

I can agree with all three of those “sages”. Why can’t we get them all together? I still like the ‘Think Ahead’ guy in the suit.

These guys are more useful than the proverbial three monkeys.

We learn from the past not to repeat mistakes in the present so we can plan a better future.

It is always so much better to ask others for the purpose of your life than to try and find it for yourself.

The lottery numbers are on the back of the mountain…

Memories show us as we once were

Dreams show us as we would like to be

Education, perseverance, and a sense of humor help us along the way

Serendipity makes the trip interesting

Or, as a wise man once said Life ain’t no easy gig. You gotta find your beat

If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down.~Toni Morrison

Isn’t it cold and uncomfortable up there?

Where is the Grand Panda and his teachings? Sad.

How many actuaries does it take to drive a car? Four. One to steer, and three to look out the back window and tell you which way to turn.

Wisdom is simply the discovery of the information you need, when you need it, to do what you need to do in time to avoid making another mistake.

The first guy didn’t think ahead enough to have a candle.

‘Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom.’ [Terry Pratchett]’With age comes wisdom, but sometimes age comes alone.’ [Oscar Wilde]

You can look to the future, you can look to the past, but you can only live in the present. It is always “now,” and you are always “here.”

You can be better and wiser tomorrow than you were yesterday; it depends on what you do today.

I don’t understand.

Three neatly lettered aphorisms, dealing with time: one to be mindful of the future, one to be mindful of the present, and one to be mindful of the past. Future guy is wearing a suit, but has no candle. Present guy is wearing Buddhist robes (Kasaya from Mahāsāṃghika?) and his candle is guttering (because its a very old sect?). Past guy is wearing a hoodie? And his candle is fresh.

Is this story all about the (superficiality of the) seeker?

The first guy clearly isn’t thinking ahead to Friday, or he’d be dressed casually.

The existential version of “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”

Life is a rigged multiple choice test.

If you learn from the past and think ahead you can live well now.

It is sad we don’t learn from history. From pandemics, racism, empire building and even wars, you can see how we ignore the lessons our father’s before warned us about. Even in the 17th and 18th centuries they realized the importance of isolation and covering the face, and innocultions, as preventive step to contain an incurable disease.

If you do not know the wisdom of the past, looking forward is a pointless exercise, as you will no way of understanding what you see there.

MOST important: They are all right.

Why only 2 candles? Also, those are not votive candles.

Are their names Larry Moe and Curly? Or Manny, Moe and Jack (I forget which one had the cigar in the old ads). Or their girls: Fanny, Flo and Jackie?

The guy in the middle must not get much business. Why would anybody seek enlightenment if they’re not interested in the future?

How can all 3 be so wrong?