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Mind Candy - Introduction

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You, as the wise man, should never be tempted into leaping into the sewer with the other person, who, after all, is playing a patient in an insane asylum! Stay up on the sidewalk (of decency, courtesy and professionalism). Let the other person wallow in their own juices (for three weeks!) Don't spoil their role by attempting to "make them a better person!" And as for yourself, your mind and body really need time to heal. Try to get away from them! This is the wise thing to do. The idea isn't to win some skirmish, the idea is to have your own individual life. Retire from the arena! It's just a sign of intelligence.

2. We're all closely related. In far more brutal times, my ancestors wrote the Bible, and your ancestors wrote the Bible, too! Personally, I practice a philosophy I learned driving a taxicab in San Francisco: a. to communicate honestly, b. to retaliate instantly, c. to forgive completely, and d. to broadcast a clarity of intention. The whole idea is to get away with being yourself, at all times and in all places. Let the world take care of itself.

Never take anything seriously. It's really easy to make friends with a dog, isn't it? The trick is, don't try to change anything. Pull evolution back a notch. It's like agents of dumbness around you. There's two people. At least one's happy. Follow the noble savage.

 

3. You can't get other people to like you. However, you can learn to see who does like you, and learn to listen to what's hidden in people who are deeply hurt or critical. The cleverest way to be able to "do something" about those influences is by having a subtle influence on yourself. Simply by thinking outrageous things, you put the world in a new light: Hitch your wagon to a star.

4. Strangely enough, you don't need to confront or criticize a bully to defend yourself. Be in solidarity with dogs and angry children! – The secret is playfulness, brought into existence by thousands of tiny scripts. You can learn the way children learn, which is by example. Reconnect with the youngest parts of yourself.

Because experience is by nature solitary, most people don't get practical on-the-spot assistance when they get into difficulties. The deepest parts of the mind are "preverbal" and inarticulate, locked down by the fear and inexperience of a child. It's made worse by "bad advice," such as teaching a child to say, "I don't like it when you tease me; please stop," in inappropriate situations. The youngest and preverbal parts of a person need many more specific remedies to verbal violence – distilled through the experience of an adult – into Mind Candy. Tonic, they used to call it – It's an old-fashioned art.

 

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