'The essence of jnana is to discover who you are. Like japa, jnana also involves a distinctive method, which is a variety of via negativa, a 'negative route'. Very simply, one assumes a meditative posture – sit in a quiet place and quiet the mind – and then begins to question who one is. The suggested answer is "neti neta" – "not this, not that." In other words, you will discover who you are by realizing who (or what) you are not. For example, if you ask, "Am I my body?" you can come up with any number of arguments to support a 'No' answer. (1) If you were to lose your arm, you would still be you (in your entirety). (2) Your body looks completely different today from how it looked when you were an infant, yet it is the same 'you'. (3) Every single atom of your body has been replaced in that span of time, yet it was you and still is you.'

'While I haven't (yet) re-established connections with lovers from long ago, I have availed myself of the opportunities of Google to find former classmates, teachers and friends from years past. I'm amazed at how quickly, even after twenty years or more, we can pick up where we left off. There's something about email's democratic nature that makes it easy to send a message to someone you haven't talked to in decades. A phone call out of the blue seems too potentially disturbing, and a written letter seems too formal; but email makes it seem quite natural to contact acquaintances from years ago. Should they choose not to answer, one can shrug it off with an "Oh, well, that’s how it goes." But should they reply, it can be the continuation of a beautiful friendship.'

'Wanting to believe that something is "still good!" is not, after all, restricted to things we eat. In life, the five-second rule translates into hanging on to rotten boyfriends long after we know the relationship has spoiled or suffering from the misguided notion that pregnancies can't occur if the contact is brief enough. Believing in the five-second rule requires an appreciation for risk, as well as an equal combination of naive optimism and self-loathing -- hoping for the best but willing to admit you deserve the worst, should the worst involve salmonella.'