April 25

In Kyoto there is a shrine famous for its stone garden. For centuries, fifteen stones of different shapes and sizes have been resting in a garden of carefully raked sand. By tradition, the stones represent the fifteen basic problems of mankind—every person names his or her own. But all the stones cannot be seen at the same time. The message I take away from the enigmatic stones at Kyoto is that no one can or should try to contemplate, much less solve, all his problems at once. People should instead make a deliberate mental effort to block out all their problems except one, and concentrate on solving that one—this way there is more mental strength to apply.