"Human Life as a Poem" - Souvenirs From Dreamland Ep2 ~Lin Yutang

Get the book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688163521?ie=UTF8&tag=heawavbooreva-20&...

Just wanted to share a passage from my favorite book, "The Importance of Living" by Lin Yutang. I'll surely be sharing more from this book soon. Hope you enjoy. :)

Levi Meeuwenberg's video blog: Souvenirs from Dreamland Episode 2

"I think that, from a biological standpoint, human life almost reads like a poem. It has its own rhythm and beat, its internal cycles of growth and decay.
It begins with innocent childhood, followed by awkward adolescence trying awkwardly to adapt itself to mature society, with its young passions and follies, its ideals and ambitions; then it reaches a manhood of intense activities, profiting from experience and learning more about society and human nature; at middle age, there is a slight easing of tension, a mellowing of character like the ripening of fruit or the mellowing of good wine, and the gradual acquiring of a more tolerant, more cynical and at the same time a kindlier view of life; then in the sunset of our life, the endocrine glands decrease their activity, and if we have a true philosophy of old age and have ordered our life pattern according to it, it is for us the age of peace and security and leisure and contentment; finally, life flickers out and one goes into eternal sleep, never to wake up again. One should be able to sense the beauty of this rhythm of life, to appreciate, as we do in grand symphonies, its main theme, its strains of conflict and the final resolution. The movements of these cycles are very much the same in a normal life, but the music must be provided by the individual himself. In some souls, the discordant note becomes harsher and harsher and finally overwhelms or submerges the main melody. Sometimes the discordant note gains so much power that the music can no longer go on, and the individual shoots himself with a pistol or jumps into a river. But that is because his original leit-motif has been hopelessly overshadowed through the lack of a good self-education. Otherwise the normal human life runs to its normal end in a kind of dignified movement and procession. There are sometimes in many of us too many staccatos or impetuosos, and because the tempo is wrong, the music is not pleasing to the ear; we might have more of the grand rhythm and majestic tempo of the Ganges, flowing slowly and eternally into the sea.

No one can say that a life with childhood, manhood and old age is not a beautiful arrangement; the day has its morning, noon and sunset, and the year has its seasons, and it is good that it is so. There is no good or bad in life, except what is good according to its own season. And if we take this biological view of life and try to live according to the seasons, no one but a conceited fool or an impossible idealist can deny that human life can be lived like a poem. Shakespeare has expressed this idea more graphically in his passage about the seven stages of life, and a good many Chinese writers have said about the same thing. It is curious that Shakespeare was never very religious, or very much concerned with religion. I think this was his greatness; he took human life largely as it was, and intruded himself as little upon the general scheme of things as he did upon the characters of his plays. Shakespeare was like Nature herself, and that is the greatest compliment we can pay to a writer or thinker. He merely lived, observed life and went away."
pg 30-31 The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang

Footage Credits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfEnRudysRM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F1ZxYog8Hkc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8PJNfbBSt9I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdZi-WaIpHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5rGi1-vSU8

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[ERICWAGNERSLUCID]

Dude, you ARE there!

The desire of "simplicity" is the first signpost on the road to self realization.

The distance to the goal (the pure self) is decided by the amount of crap in this world you think you need.

The list of things to want "is" endless.

The train through perceived images is partially based on fear of death. However, death of self is where the silence of being and perfect peace lies.

Enjoy the ride, but you can get off the train, by loving yourself, or just say:

"I am the master".

[deathstarcafe]

EPIC BEARD

[Kamehamehadoken]

Hands down, Percolate through your grey matter is the most awesome thing i've ever heard

[thelastpebble]

So this is my idea of emergence. And I'd like to add that your viewpoint is very interesting and I'm in no way attacking anyone. Just offering a view of my perspective. I guess you're the kind of person who can live this way. Obviously, because of what you do for a living. It's great that you accept that it's impossible to have all the answers and to simply live life. That's where we agree.

[thelastpebble]

I don't think that the religious man is in a cage because it gives me, a religious woman a clear field for navigation. A reason to operate in a world filled with chaos. I think of my God as this huge tree and it's blossoms are his creation . Someone with the power to make it happen, wanted something, and then he made it happen. We all operate on love in some way. Why couldn't we have come from love? Throughout the chaos we hear and fine hymn and follow it's pulse.

[thelastpebble]

I have been thinking about this and the idea of emergence. You describe it like a routine , a process. Something repeats itself over and over again and then all of a sudden something unexpectant occurs. And that we live, accepting that the world is a place we can never understand. I accept that I don't understand everything and never will but I want to understand my own experience.

[chronocrusadelover20]

how can anyone be happy with what they have when we live in a materialistic world? very few see what they have, even fewer strive to keep it.

[Jartean197]

I really like that you are talking about interesting topics and bringing up good points to think about. :)

[durb34]

To surf YouTube while drinking a beer on a late Sunday afternoon, while the smell of the evenings potroast fills the house. Ah, is this not happiness.

[11Freerunner]

keep making videos levi! ur amazing free runner and person too