Jim "Mugs" Martin

Dr. Raftery, my boyhood friend Jim "Mugs" Martin, taught me this in eighth grade. He was fond of saying,

"I just can't figure it out. And when I can't figure it out, I don't understand it."

He stated clearly one of the central truths of Buddhism and Taoism: "as is." Things are as they are, and you cannot figure them out.

Of course, we boys had never heard of Buddhism and Taoism, but "Mugs" knew we were living it even if we did not have a fancy name for it.