Reflections And Insights From The Notes And The Lives Of My Cherished Friends

Notes on Life, Power, Hope and Humanity

The world is full of illusions, and those who see through them are considered mad. What are the chances that the irrational mass is driving the rational rare to the illusion that they are the ones who are insane?

I am fortunate recipient of many notes from my friends. I am also a collector of friends of the most unusual types.

The collection of notes provided offers glimpses into the thoughts and experiences of several unusual individuals over the years. These notes touch on a variety of topics, ranging from political figures to personal reflections on life and power dynamics. Through these notes, we gain insights into the perspectives, frustrations, and contemplations of many deep thinkers. I had summarized their thoughts into essays aiming to explore some of the recurring themes and ideas expressed in these notes and their implications on society and the individual.

2015-10.26
养气必自: Only you can build and nourish yourself.
 
柔能克刚, 弱能胜强: The soft can overcome the strong, the weak can overcome the strong.

无为则无不为: Do not go against the tide. Comply with the operation of nature and find the `flow`. They do not have to interfere with the operation of nature and do not do unnecessary things. Get out of the way, or conduce the conditions and let nature conduct its physics. 

高端做事, 低调做人: Do things with clear, refined dedication, yet be a low-key person.
 
工欲善其事，必先利其器: If one desires to perfect one's work, one must first master one's craft.

In one of the early notes, their notes made me realize the true nature of the reality. This sentiment suggests a newfound understanding or disillusionment with many situations apparently understood. It highlights the impact people can have on shaping our perceptions of our surroundings. Whether positive or negative, authorities and their actions can shape our understanding of our society and prompt us to reevaluate our beliefs and values.

The notes collated presents a somewhat critical perspective on humanity. They highlight the common ignorance and obstinate propensity of denial, of one’s own shortcomings as prevalent among most individuals. The author suggests that acknowledging one’s flaws is the first step towards growth and change before tipping the breakthrough. They also emphasize the distinction between misanthropic anger and a genuine desire to save them. They have been misrepresented and misunderstood by the way they speak. They don’t really hate people, they are disgusted with pathological people, and more specifically the mental disease that makes them so. They don’t really hate people, most of them dedicated their lives in a priesthood to save them. Despite expressing frustration with certain individuals, they identify to me as protectors of the vulnerable and I see their role as a force for progressive change.

If love is a much reckoning force than this heinous hatred, what kind of this exhilarating bliss is that kind of power, which we call love, that can overcome these physical impossibilities? How can we harness this power to conquer pain, fear and sorrow, and command an end to all sufferings? We know that darkness can never encapsulate light. If we can fully comprehend this arcanum, we could have surmounted the atrocities of the world, surpass our own selfish weaknesses and perfect the wondrous works of `God` as a symbolic emblem of selfless compassion. In my seek of understanding human hatred, I begin to understand love. The kill and cure live in the same plant. What an irony! - Re: 'Hatred, Love and Human emotions; Beast, Saint, and Man', 2002-07.29

People fear what they don’t understand, and they hate what they fear.

Needless Power Struggle and Its Tragic Consequences

The notes touch upon the consequences of authority falling into the wrong hands. When authority falls in the wrong hands, the innocent shall suffer. People who serve the perverse in authority and willing to corrupt and trade their justice for myopic gains. When you become a puppeteer, you must be prepared to have your strings cut. Believing in promised security is like a kid believing in Santa Claus, the hope is kind and warm, but the reality is cruelly cold.

They do confessed that they have the problem of desiring to control authority, yet never to the sense of wanting it for themselves, but in deciding who should hold it. Authority must be guarded by trusted custodians, not because they want it, but they need it. However, such entrust by populum is rarely the case. It is hard to find the trustworthy people who will put aside the interests of their own. If such people are appointed, the concept of `policing` would be re-associated and redefined with peace-keeping, peace-assurance and peace-building.

The few good people must find a way to turn the tide and shift the stars. These people express a desire to wield authority not for personal gain but as a means to shift the tides and protect the innocent. This sentiment reflects a recognition of the potential harm of benevolence intentions paving the wrong way that authority imbalances can inflict on society. From the discourses, they do possess the capability to bring about change but only with the appropriate use of authority.

Most humans are intellectually lacking, and their rationality is lacking and compromised, but they won’t admit it … but if they do, they will work on it assiduously, and things will change to make the claim invalid, but because they don’t — the statement remains — true.

A: Be careful, s/he is a trouble-maker. S/he fights and stands up for justice. 
Me: (This is the kind of majority we have for democracy) 
- 2017-05.26

People admire the devil, and they jeer at Jesus. - 2002-07.16

It's easier to surmount one's fears than admiration, and it's easier to induce fear than admiration as well. This is why witless people turns brutal. - Re: Waging control, 2009-06.06

There are, for example, anti-vaxxers who ordained upon themselves divine intelligence above people who dedicated decades of their lives on scientific labors, and decide that their paltry “findings” is Nobel Prize worthy to dismissed the work of the scientific community. They imperil others on their religious stand of “freedom to remain in stupidity” and the defense of their “freedom” to not give a shit about others’ (and their safety).

The infighting and excessive competition had discount and marginalize the people, and foolishly tarnished their better forward. Trust is the foundation of any relationship. Every system human builds, works on trust. Without it, everything crumbles.

The greatest deception is self-deception. We often blind ourselves to the truth because facing it is too painful. When can humanity ever be ready? Humanity is as good as the quality of the people.

The Language of Insults and Emotional Vulnerability

One note came into question. When students came to me about their struggles on hostile discussions. The moral question of insulting others and the potential harm caused by emotional distress, aside the potential loss of people working together to make possibilities happen. Insults when escalated to threats or harassment are considered illegal. Threats and harassments manufacture an active compound, but passive wishlist is likewise harmful.

It's hard to defeat someone in an insult who is disguising it as a suck up. - 2012-04.21

Insults hide the need to study the vulnerability of human emotions that words can cause emotional distress and medically emotional injury. Human do have social needs for psychological safety and assurance.

Be aware that you cannot be aware of 2 things at the same time, but you may not know you are thinking of it subliminally.

Moral Justice and Legal Rights

People have a tendency to define their own divine. They are their own exceptions for their own convenience. While we abide to our promise to do no harm and render no hurt through our actions, would we abide to our promise to the same against our inactions?

We are responsible for our own actions, in terms of neurological glitches, God ... is responsible for faulty designs. That includes Old Nick, and we know who created him. - 2012-04.16

"""
A: It is illegal.
Me: Who defines the laws? 
- 2017-10.06
"""

Their sharing with me reveal personal growth and reflections of outliving those who bring negativity and hurts into their lives. They do not engage in futile arguments, but calls for symbiotic growth and co-mining for compounded opportunities. They turn their experiences on the impact of betrayal and personal losses into resilience and determination to protect others from similar harm.

Their existence itself stood as a moral question by demonstrating moral courage in the way they live — What if all your life, you realize towards the end that you are merely romancing a fantasy, and you are waking up from that dream? Will you persist in making that difference?

Even upon a humiliating death, He did not wince a thought of giving up hope. - Re: Dim light on the crucifix, 2004-10.04

这是与另一个人或其他人建立联系的时刻 — — 不仅仅是联盟，而是将部分融合成一个新的整体。(This is a time of connection with another or others — not just an alliance, but a melding of parts into a new whole.)

We get sadder after the funeral at times when we don’t expect the memories to visit us again. Hunt assiduously for learnings in any even the most trivial subjects or topic, and be grateful to the people who helped you in the discovery. This notes have been kept for over 3 decades and is released in the memory of some very treasured friends that are so hard to come by.

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