The trouble with concepts is that they don’t often relate to reality in a useful way. Only through direct experience can we see what concepts are useful in a given moment, and in order to have a direct experience, we have to give up all our concepts, at least for a moment.

The trouble with direct experience is that it’s not always comfortable, and so we tend to wrap ourselves in a cocoon of our favorite concepts, lulled by the thoughts that are most familiar and agreeable to us.

And the trouble with that is that as long as we stay there, avoiding discomfort, we are cut off from direct experience,from the very things that make life joyful and vibrant.

And so we hide from life, hemmed in by our own ideas, wondering why we feel so empty and alone.