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“When we experience danger, the healthy brain produces chemicals that create feelings of elation, exuberance, even grandiosity. These chemicals help protect us, preparing us to face danger. Our world of relative safety has not diminished the human response to these chemicals. We crave the high that danger and risk bring us. Extreme sports, drugs, financial risk, sex, extreme behaviors of every kind. It’s a merry-go-round of desire and fulfillment, fear and release, danger and safety, risk and reward. It’s human to feel this way.
wind, forest, fire, mountain.
One must aspire to be as swift as wind, as gentle as a forest, as fierce as fire, as unshakable as a mountain.
Vertigo, she knew, was not the fear of heights but the fear of annihilation, of throwing oneself into the abyss.
True beauty is something that attacks, overpowers, robs, and finally destroys.
Rehearse your death every morning and night. Only when you live as though already dead will you find freedom.
the most precious place: the place for those who change us.
We must love those who make us better, even if they hurt us in the process.
From ancient times, the emperor was considered a god by the Japanese people. Quite literally so. Throughout our history, the connection between the emperor and divinity defined Japanese society. It is often blamed for the extreme nationalism that caused so many people to obey his orders blindly. Such unquestioning nationalism led to the many atrocities that occurred in the emperor’s name—the atrocities in China and Korea and throughout Southeast Asia. The Americans understood that officially severing the emperor’s connection to Amaterasu, and publicly announcing that he was not divine, would
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“The Kojiki tells Amaterasu’s story,” Sakura said. “One day, the sun goddess disappeared into a cave, bringing eternal night. Saddened by the darkness that enveloped the world, her brother tricked her to come out of the cave, restoring light. After her return, Amaterasu gave her descendant, Jimmu, the first emperor of Japan, three imperial treasures—a mirror, a jewel, and a sword. These treasures give the imperial family legitimacy as the descendants of the goddess, but also, it is said, they contain tremendous powers in their own right.”
Begin the first day of the new year in training, her father always said, and the remaining days will be filled with strength.
“Fear is just the opening move,” he said. “The faster you get past it, the sooner you get to the good stuff.”
In a labyrinth, a solver can move through a path forever, in constant motion. While a maze will stop you cold if you take the wrong path, a labyrinth will trap you forever.
it’s a human trait to see others for what they do and not who they are.”
Stephen Hawking gave humanity a one-in-twenty chance of surviving
a grid of nine numbers that added up to fifteen in every direction.
the Lo Shu Square was an ancient magic square first drawn in China more than four thousand years ago.
“A turtle is at the heart of the Lo Shu Square mythology,” Rachel said. “In ancient China, there was an incredible flood. In fact, flood narratives are nearly universal, all of them telling stories of massive changes to human civilization. Anyway, during this flood, people offered sacrifices to the Luo River, hoping to assuage the god causing the flooding. A turtle emerged from the water, and it had a strange pattern on its back.”
“Circular dots,” Brink said, “that marked the nine sections of the turtle’s shell. Those dots formed a three-by-three grid that created a magic square.” “The Lo Shu Square was widely adopted and served as an important reference for planning cities and temples—informing rituals of geomancy and feng shui. Some people say that the Lo Shu Square is an invention that changed civilization, on par with fire or law or storytelling.”
The sword is brute force, or valor. The jewel is kindness and compassion, or benevolence. The mirror is the combination of masculine and feminine—balance, harmony, and wisdom.
“It reads: Ware tada taru wo shiru,” she said. “Which means: All one must learn is to be content.”
All we have to learn in this life is to be satisfied with what we are, with ourselves. We are enough. You are enough. Nothing you can solve, nothing you can do, will change that. It is the greatest challenge, but it also brings the greatest reward.”
