MA certainly never meant to be ironic. He was a man trying to be good while confronted with evil all around. Which is part of the irony. Which then leads to the irony of that more of his legacy, more study of his and the other great minds would lead to a better world. They all follow the Tao in some way.
One of the main perks is that in order to enjoy living, to be alive, one does not rely on the rest of the world anymore. Accepting our responsibilities, what is within our power, also leads to rejecting what is not, liberating us of it. Within the fine line, as always. Real awareness is not an excuse for egoism, but the strength to set limits when necessary, and hopefully come back to that same point later, review, and grow.
I despise how "New Ageism" perverted useful words into hulls. Awareness, mindfulness, all that fake yoga crap. There's a lot of precision in those words, but they've been abused so much that I don't like to use them to not be put into "that category". Yeah. Still gotta work on that.
I call it "mindlessmess" these days. They have ruined it - but think they are on point
Mindlessmess. That's perfect. Love it, thank you!
Edit - just saw that you left a tip! I'm honored! Thank you!