BLISS JUNKIE

One result of discovering the amazing teachings of Eastern philosophy was that I began to closely study my own relative nature. Over time I came to the conclusion that it was composed of two almost equal but opposing sides: yes, I was half hedonist and half ascetic. Not surprising since we are enmeshed in a dualistic structure and are inclined to strong likes and dislikes. The stronger the personality, the more intense are these likes and dislikes, so, someone like me, for instance, would seek all sorts of sensory pleasure while suffering from an abysmally low tolerance for pain.

Now a wise human would gravitate to pleasures that are meaningful and that last, but the confused adolescent that I was sought enjoyment in fleeting things that left me dissatisfied and hungry for more. It was only when I heard the phrase: “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” that I woke up with a start and realized that I had been frittering away my precious life in repeating the same old nonsense and foolishly expecting the results to be gratifying.

Steve Jobs, The I Ching and the Binary Mechanism of the Universe: The 5000 year old digital revolution…

My friend John Nicholas Stoodley has played fascinating roles all over the world: while still at school, he was commissioned to produce a special design for the artist Picasso; he went on to assist Valentino in Rome, to run a champion basketball team from Los Angeles, study metaphysics in Manila, and to rewrite the world’s oldest book (the I Ching) in France. In his very own words, he has “done a lot”! John currently lives on a small tropical island and has just published a unique website on the I Ching based on over twenty years of personal research on the subject: https://newiching.com/ Now here’s what he has to say about the digital revolution: