Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for September 10, 2022

Sounds OK, until he figures out that Insight has a back exit, and will be long gone when he gets there. He won’t get Insight, but he will get Enlightenment.

Notice that he took the easy route. Insight and enlightenment has to be earned the hard way

He is within sight of enlightenment.

Climb every mountain, ford every stream…

How loud can you shout?

hahahaha it builds character

The Buddha said : ‘before enlightenment, cut wood, draw water; after enlightenment, cut wood, draw water.’

If you’re fortunate, true enlightenment doesn’t come finally on the deathbed.

Or maybe the “insight” is right where you are… if you know how to look for it.

He has been enlightened! Lesson 1 – It is not a sin to look at a map (doubt they’ve got GPS there). Lesson 2 – Don’t assume you’re the smartest guy in the world, be willing to ask for help/directions.

Wisdom comes at a high price. No cost, but a price.

There should be another arrow to “knee doctor”. Going up and down that many stairs with a backpack is hard on the knees.

“Sign up for an account and access our “Zoom Room to Enlightenment” group call." “Please visit our cryptic sayings plaque shop on your way out.”

I plan to live to be 104. I have a good shot at it; I’m already most of the way there. I plan to be healthy, happy and sane every moment of it – OK, two out of three isn’t bad.

If I pass the century mark, the miracle would not be living for 100 years, it would be living past 30. I was about as foolish as a person could get up until that age. Wisdom has been seeping in gradually over the following 40 years.

And yet after all that effort enlightenment eluded him. There might be a lesson learned here in history and politics but do you think the ones who would most benefit from that enlightenment will take even one moment to learn something? I once again fear they will not.

How do we know that isn’t just The Wise A** on the Hill from Pearls Before Swine?

Some say life is a self-guided run. That only applies if you’re the only one involved. A rare event.

Make a leap of faith.

That dog is barking up the wrong tr…. ah mountain.

Enlightenment has directories? Who knew!

So close, yet so far…

Every step along the path to Enlightenment, even the false ones, is essential. Congratulations! You have learned What Not To Do.

“ In the islands where I grew up

Nothing seems the same

It’s just the patterns that remain

An empty shell

But there’s a strangeness in the air you feel too well”

He’s not that far, just jump over where it’s closest.

The map is not the terrain, grasshopper, if you sit here then “insight is here”.

Ironically, I need to ask, does this mean DON’T ask for directions?

Wisdom is what comes to some after they have made enough mistakes. Others. . . . “Well maybe the fire has cooled down a bit, I’ll put my hand back in to check.” Or, “Trump says he needs my help, let me set up a transfer of funds, I’ll include my account number just to make sure.”

Go back down to where the paths diverge, and put another directory THERE. You’ll be doing more for future seekers than the sage who hides his wisdom away at the top of a mountain.

Then, when he gets to the other summit, enlightenment will have mood to the next hill

I have the same experience whenever I have to do business at the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

Remember, the steep learning curve is the fastest path to mastery. The long learning curve is the slow one. Mastery in the vertical axis, time on the horizontal one.

The sign should have been at the bottom of the mountain.

If only enlightenment were that easy…

Your first mistake.

And when you get there, the old guy says, “Enlightenment has been within you all this time.” And he’s wrong. Sorry.

I remember someone being interviewed after reaching 100. “To what do you attribute your long life?” asked the interviewer (or words to that effect). The centenarian said “Well, if I’d known that I was going to live this long, I wouldn’t have looked after myself so well when I was young.” Definitely words to live by.