A real book is a book that you don’t already agree with.

You are not the problem.

Reading your blog, I don’t know anything about you or your identity, only superficial things like who you know, who you’ve read. You’re book list is filled with male dominating, self empowering, ‘how-to’, and these books lack any real thinking. What do you think about when you meditate, other than better ways to think? A worth meditation, no doubt, but useless unless you use this improved thinking to do actual thinking.

btw, nice neuro-linguistic programming… having to type in ryanholiday at the end of this…

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What now? Let’s just all give up.

I’m enjoying the discussion the two of you are having, and I hope you’ll continue it. I used to live in a way similar to James, judging from what I’ve read in James’ posts. At some point in the last few years, I found myself hopeless and inexplicably panicked. After some reconsideration of how I was living and thinking, I came to see the value of non-attachment and not-doing, and I believe that this has opened me up to live in a more free and genuine way.

Ultimately the earth and the sun will collide, and more ultimately the universe might collapse in on itself entirely at some point, and maybe even more ultimately all that matter might burst forth in another Big Bang-like event. So what does it all mean? Perhaps strangely, accepting these limitations has allowed me to appreciate living and working more than actively trying to produce something of value ever did.

This is a conflict I face in my thoughts fairly often. I think I see where both of you are coming from, but I’d really like to see you guys continue this conversation. I would have just said that, but I felt like I should subject my own thoughts to some critical evaluation as well.

Cheers

My definition of “you” lies in what you’ve created, not in who you are. The “you” — the person, the character, the ego, the human being who lives every day — will ultimately die and perish. Your accomplishments however will live on. They are the real “you”. If you’ve made a difference in this world, if you’ve developed new technologies, built useful products, wrote books or spearheaded vital research projects then this will live on even after you die. Perhaps for a few years, perhaps for many. Names like Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates, Thomas Edison, Julius Caesar among many, manny others are immortal. Do I want this form of immortality? Certainly. Can I get it? Only one way to find out.

But you might say, what if you never accomplish anything remarkable and only suffer years of work — what if you miss out on all the fun and excitement of life by being too focused on whatever it is your goals are? It won’t matter. Why? Because I would have lived a life true to my ideals. If I die tomorrow, I would die as a man who’s walking the path he set before himself — a man with his own ethics, vision, ideals and determination. Pleasure is easy. You can submit to it daily for short term rewards, but ultimately what you’ve had will die with you. I’m not after this way of life because I don’t attach much value to it. This doesn’t mean I’m not having fun — it just means that the destination matters more to me than the journey because thats where *my* ego lies — my “me”.

And if your achievements are worth anything in the first place, they will matter no matter how you think of yourself. When you say that you want to take yourself seriously to make your achievements matter more, that reeks of a high-strung, praise-seeking mentality.

There is no need for the ego, or for “yourself” for that matter, because that’s not really you. You are your actions, your values, your relationships. You are not that ego-driven illusion that you conjure up in your mind.

Nick brings up an excellent point in pliability as well.

You shouldn’t throw out the ego (that will be throwing yourself out), you only throw away fantasies that are clouding your vision. You do this because you want to achieve more, and you want these achievements to matter.

You can indeed take yourself lightly and still be wildly productive. There is a strange phenomenon in the universe that rewards the nonchalant and tortures the desperate. I’m not saying don’t have goals, just don’t make them life or death. Simply do what has to be done, and eliminate the ego. The world will be a better place when people begin to act in accord with nature rather than getting caught up in the “me me me” mentality.