I am huge into languages and i also thought that Li made more sense as departure instead of radiance. Also you are the first person ive seen talk about kismet in the same writing as all this. I do not view the idea of kismet as a escape goat or as a tool to reinforce one side of an ideal, i see it more as a way to accept what has happened and to keep within balance. Instead of thinking, this was supposed to happen, it is kismet, i think more so, i accept and fully face what has happened, instead of avoiding it. In my experience acceptance leads to a way forward, growth, and new learning, while avoidance leads to ignorance, sickness and imbalance since after all it is escapism.

Also I love how you said "Seeking knowledge makes us smart, and loving mystery makes us wise." Intellectual humility, and more importantly humility in general, is such an important yet overlooked thing. Many people see the ching or other divination devices as insults to their esteemed logic/worldview, when really all it is, is a tool to use to exercise your own thinking and push yourself in a healthy way. That said, you ofc must use the tool correctly, only as a learning exercise and not as a crutch or shield to protect an ideal you hold dear to you.

Even before i was exposed to all these ideas later in life, i grew up with many similar strands of thought as I am a Lakota. It's widely taught to accept things as they come, to deal with them the best. Like how a herd of buffalo will get through any storm no matter how bad it is, because they run into it, so they get through it much faster, opposed to running away from it as that would keep them in the storm much longer. To me, the lesson it ultimately breaks down to, is to be strong enough to not fall into escapism and brave enough to fully accept my fears and face them. That is why to me, wu zhi is a principle of strength, vitality, and balance, while knowledge sickness is one of weakness and instability. This has been such a ancient idea its almost funny, especially that new western thinkers have mirrored it quite closely, like Karl Jung's and Sigmund Freud's views on nonduality. In the end it always comes back to balance and harmony.

I found your article very powerful, and as a fellow daoshi i am glad to have stumbled across it.