There are only two mistakes
one can make along the road to truth;
not going all the way, and not starting.
Buddha

You must understand the whole of life,
not just one little part of it. That is why you must read,
that is why you must look at the skies,
that is why you must sing and dance,
and write poems and suffer and understand,
for all that is life.
Jiddu Krishnamurti

My religion consists of a humble admiration
of the illimitable superior spirit
who reveals himself in the slight details
we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.
Albert Einstein

In oneself lies the whole world and
if you know how to look and learn,
the door is there and the key is in your hand.
Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door
to open, except yourself.
Jiddu Krishnamurti

A human being is a part of a whole, called by us “universe”,
a part limited in time and space.
He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings
as something separated from the rest…
a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us,
restricting us to our personal desires and to affection
for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves
from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace
all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Albert Einstein

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and all science.
He to whom this emotion is a stranger,
who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe,
is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.
Albert Einstein

“What you get by reaching your destination
isn’t nearly as important as what you become
by reaching that destination.”
Scott Reed

I was watching “The Late Show with David Letterman” the other night, and Charles Moore was one of the guest. His discussion about the floating garbage shocked me. The amount of garbage floating in the pacific ocean is double the size of Texas. It is harming and killing all the sea creature in the area. I have heard something about it a few years back but didn’t get a chance to watch any video or read any article about it until last night.

We have made great advances in science and technology. It has made our lives much better, but everything that share this earth with us is paying the price for our convenience and cleverness.

Recycling is good but it’s just a bandage to the problem. The root of the problem is plastics, is it possible to stop using it? Everything we buy comes in plastic packaging, and we carry them home in plastic bags. We use it for everything, and it’s everywhere. This video gives an overview of the situation.

Some things I’m doing and we can all do:

• recycle everything – all plastic containers, newspaper, paper, cans, batteries, phones, etc.
• reuse – bring my own canvas bag for groceries, use both side of the paper before recycling, reuse containers to store things, etc.
• go glass, wood or metal – try to buy and use glass, wood or metal rather than plastic
• use less – water, energy, and fuel; and packaged processed food and products;

Problem areas:

• groceries – everything is wrapped in plastic, sometimes multiple layers.
• grocery bags – I live in a condominium, so I use plastic bags to put wet and smelly food stuff before throwing in the garbage bin. I don’t have a good alternative yet.
• things we use daily are made of plastics or has plastics. (comb, toothbrush, toothpaste tube, chairs, tables, computer, car, pen, etc.)

We can help to reduce, but ultimately companies have to change at the source. It’s a big problem because every company in the world would need to find alternative materials, and would cost lots of money.

We can’t solve problems
by using the same kind of thinking
we used when we created them.
Albert Einstein

Two things are infinite:
the universe and human stupidity;
and I’m not sure about the the universe.
Albert Einstein

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought,
but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
Albert Einstein

Any intelligent fool can make things
bigger,more complex, and more violent.
It takes a touch of genius –
and a lot of courage –
to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein

The release of atom power has changed everything
except our way of thinking…
the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind.
If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.
Albert Einstein

Hitler and Mussolini were only the primary spokesmen
for the attitude of domination and craving for power
that are in the heart of almost everyone.
Until the source is cleared, there will always be
confusion and hate, wars and class antagonisms.
Jiddu Krishnamurti

A man who is not afraid is not aggressive,
a man who has no sense of fear of any kind is really a free,
a peaceful man.
Jiddu Krishnamurti

Great spirits have often encountered
violent opposition from weak minds.
Albert Einstein

“If you are distressed by anything external,
the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it;
and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

The alarm rang and I sleepily opened my eyes. They felt sticky as if something glued them together. I blinked a few times and felt debris shifting under my eyelids. I could see, but through patches of shifting blurs as the debris moved. I rubbed my eyes and tears flowed forcing most of the stickiness out the edges of the eyes. I got up and open my eyes and the blurriness was gone. In the restroom, I pour salt water into the goggle, bent forward, placed it on my eye and blinked thirty times. I lowered the goggle and saw white things floating in the salt water. I washed the same eye again and then switched to the other eye. Even though my eyes felt clean after tearing and rubbing, I’m surprise to see how much debris get collected in the water after the wash.

Eye wash is a great way to clear debris from the eyes. It’s quick and simple.

Materials
	What you need: 1. Swimming goggles (I use one side) 2. 500ml water container (I use one with a large cap so it’s easier to wash.) 3. 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon 4. salt Make the salt solution: - Fill the water bottle with filtered water. - Put 1/2 tsp salt into the water bottle, screw on the cap, and shake until the salt dissolves.

Instructions
	Washing your eyes: 1. Fill the goggle with the salt solution. 2. Cup the left eye with the goggle, blink 20-30 times, and dump the water. Repeat once more for the same eye. 3. Repeat step 2 for the right eye.

Doing an eye wash is refreshing and a good method for clean out the eyes.

Note and Tips
1. If you put on moisturizing or night cream on your face, wash it off before you wash your eyes. The moisturizer may sting your eyes.
2. Keep the goggles and salt water solution clean. Wash the goggle thoroughly after each use. Wash the solution container at each refill.
3. Check the water in the goggle after each washing, I’m always surprise by how much debris is in the water even though I may not feel it in my eyes. Sometimes a thin layer of oil sits on top of the water in goggle.

Recently I scratched my gum with the back of the toothbrush as I was brushing my teeth. I didn’t bothered with it, and by that evening the scratched area was painful, a bit swollen, and my tooth ached. The area was tender when I brushed my teeth.

Having had good result with alcohol for other mouth problems, I tried using some vodka.

I used a teaspoon of vodka and swooshed it over the painful gum and tooth. I kept the alcohol in the painful area for about ten seconds before swallowing. Amazingly, the throbbing prickly pain disappeared, and the gum felt numbed.

In the morning, the swelling had lessened, the tenderness in the gum lessened, and the aching in the tooth was gone. After brushing my teeth, I applied the alcohol again and tried to keep the area clean during the day. That night, the gum was still a bit red but the swelling and tooth pain was gone. I applied the alcohol again before sleeping. The next day, the gum was back to normal.

Alcohol is an amazing tool! Hopefully, it can help you.

When I can’t read or see something clearly, I squint to make it clear. It feels as if I’m using my eyes to grab the image. This normally sharpens the image for a second and then it becomes blurry again. Then, I quint harder to keep it clear. This cycle makes my head feels as if screws are being tightened on my temples and the back of my head. This is definitely not the right way to see something clearly. So, why did I do it every time I want to see something clearly?

Don’t Try

It’s difficult to change because I didn’t know any better. When something is difficult to do, I naturally try harder. But, our eyes doesn’t seem to work on this principle. We can’t flex the eye muscles to see better, and the harder we try the more problem it causes. If we close our eyes, take several deep breaths and relax, when we open them, the image generally looks clearer. It’s easier to see clearly with relaxed eyes than stained eyes. If trying harder doesn’t work, it makes sense not to strain and let the eyes sharpen the image by itself. This goes against my natural instincts to try harder, so I have to constantly remind myself to relax my eyes.

Letting the eyes sharpen an image by itself is easier said than done. Straining to see clearly is a habit, and it’s not easy to untrained. How does it feel not to strain or let the eyes focus naturally? I know how it feels to squint and strain to see clearly. I try many eye exercises and eye massages, but I still strain to see clearly.

Relaxed Eyes

It occurred to me one day, as I was getting ready for bed, that my eyes are most relaxed when I’m asleep. I lay down and sense how the eyes feel when I’m about to sleep. I feel the soothing warm eyelids closing, the calmness of the dark, the tensed eye muscles melting into relaxation and the relaxed eyes sinking slightly inward. I try to remember this relaxed feeling. I want to use this feeling to relax my eyes when I notice that I’m straining them.

Persistence

The challenge is to replace the squinting and straining with this relaxed-eye feeling. I constantly remind myself, “don’t force your eyes to see clearly. It’s OK that it’s blurry; let it sharpen naturally.”

This is the battle I will continue to fight until I’m free of my glasses.