the tale that wagged the blog

2011-11-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

I am not an object in Consciousness but its source,
its Witness, pure shapeless Awareness.

Love is seeing the unity under the imaginary diversity.

When all the false self-identifications are thrown away, what remains is all-embracing love. (195)

To see myself in everybody, and everybody in myself, most certainly is love. (91)

The consciousness in you and the consciousness in me, apparently two, really one, seek unity and that is love. (70)

Excerpts from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj's I AM THAT

2011-10-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche said:

The dragon carries an image of the dynamic qualities of the natural world, the sequence of weather and seasons. It identifies with mind beyond ego, and not the petty grasping and clinging that mark our ordinary life in the world.

The Dragon thunders in the sky with the sound of compassion that awakens us from delusion and increases what we can know through hearing. Dragons have the power of complete communication. Just as we do not see sound, we do not see dragons -- at least not usually. Her main quality is power, dominance over the sea, and the water element.

FOUR DIGNITIES OF THE WARRIOR'S PATH:

There is a developmental process for deepening and furthering authentic presence called the warrior's path of the four dignities. The "developmental path of deepening and furthering authentic presence"... "This path is connected with how to incorporate more and more space into your world, so that ultimately you can achieve the realization of the universal monarch. As your world becomes more and more vast, obviously any notion of self-centered, egotistical existence becomes increasingly remote. So the path of Four Dignities is also connected with realizing ego-less-ness. The four dignities are meek, perky, outrageous and inscrutable."

The Warrior of Inscrutable: ("Druk")

"Dragon is the experience of fulfillment and un-contrived, spontaneous achievement... is energetic, powerful and unwavering." Two Categories of Inscrutable:

The State of Inscrutability: "because fearlessness has been achieved, you develop gentleness and sympathy, non-committal, but with a sense of humor. Like the state of being a dragon who enjoys resting in the sky among the clouds and the wind. However, that state is not static. Dragon abides in the sky in the summer, and hibernates in the ground during the winter."

There is "some feeling of predictability within the context of predictability; a settling down in your confidence; solid but relaxed, open and fearless, wakefulness and intelligence, self contained and confident; a sense of genuineness without deceiving yourself or others. Settled. State of wholesomeness. Question and answer occur simultaneously and therefore inscrutability is continuous. inscrutability responds with deadly accuracy beyond aggression but with basic confidence. The expression of inscrutability is how it manifests itself in action. The main point is being somewhat non-committal, but seeing the project through to its end. At the same time, you are very loyal to others, so that you always accomplish your project with sympathy for them."

The Manifestation of Inscrutability: "is methodical and elegant. You don't spell out the truth. You imply the truth. Spelling out the truth: it loses its essence and becomes either "my" or "your" truth; it becomes and end in itself. Like spending your capital when no one gets any profit. Implying the truth: it doesn't become anyone's property. When the dragon wants a rainstorm he causes thunder and lightning; the imprint of the truth is more important than the truth itself. The truth doesn't need a handle."

The Vision of Inscrutability: "is to create an orderly and powerful world full of gentle energy; begin at the beginning .. look for the ignition. Find a sympathetic environment .. not jumping to conclusions, discover positive and negative conditions, find further starting points. Generating more sympathetic environments you are not suffocated by the course of action you are taking. The warrior never becomes a slave of his own deed. So The Action of Inscrutability: is to create an environment which contains fearlessness, warmth and genuineness" The Experience of Inscrutability:"is ... you find a state of true healthy mind. The Cultivation of Inscrutability is to learn to be. Everyone possesses the potentiality to be confident; enlightened confidence-not confidence in something, but just being confident. This confidence is unconditional. inscrutability comes form giving rather than taking. As you give, you find services available automatically-thus the warrior conquers the world."

*words of Chogyam Trungpa in the Sacred Path of the Warrior.

Use the time of your life.

2011-08-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

Use the time of your life. Develop your inner happiness.

Recognize the impermanence

of all outer pleasure.

Live as a Yogi
Do your spiritual practices.
Work as a Bodhisattva
for a happy world.

Become an Amitabha
a Buddha of love and light.
Turn your world into the paradise Sukhavati,
by unfolding the enlightenment energy within you.

Search you a spiritual master,
who knows the goal of enlightenment.
Change your world into a place of grace,
by understanding all the phenomena as spiritual exercises.

Dedicate your actions to the benefit of all beings.
Send all beings light.
Live for the happiness of all beings.
So you get the energy of light.

~Patrul Rinpoche

to cover her eyes and sing

2011-08-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Cindy Jeanne Cohen (1949 - 2011)

I will not be able to put into words the depth of sorrow I feel for the passing of Cindy Cohen. So, perhaps it would be best to crystalize the memories and meanings of my childhood as seen from the innocent view of the “children's table”. It was here that it truly began-- my Jewish childhood; not in the hallways of Hebrew school or dressed up in that flattering teal bat mitzvah dress, but perched into the fold-out card table at the end of another Passover dinner; an unfathomable seder plate spread out with untouchable and curious tasting nuggets of history.

And then, there was Cindy: the good-smelling unspoken conductor of it all who would be gracefully pulling things out of the oven while simutaneously stirring things in the pot, brewing the decaf, and controlling the little dogs. Cindy was a Master of Ceremony. But in my eyes and in my heart, Cindy held just one beautiful purpose- to cover her eyes and sing. When she this, all time stopped, and even my young heart understood that what was happening was timeless and sacred. She was my corner stone, her face now eternally etched into my memory with peace and sacrality; bathing in the candle light soft with her own love and affection.

Every year, for just about all of them, the Carmona family would walk down Conifer Street to the Cohen's house dressed in our holiday best. We would walk together past the crickets and the creek, already hungry for Charoset, this exodus as a family becoming more important then I will ever realize. Even as I grew into a teenager showing up drunk on wine coolers or home from college and feeling like the self-righteous Buddhist, I showed up. We always made it to the Passover table. Even now, with our own kids and new families, the new dogs and new vegetarian recipes, tradition remains the simple act of coming together. These precious evenings came together not without the strong and supportive husbands, the tolerable if not excited children, timeless friendships, gifts of good food and abundance, of loving servitude, perseverance, and now a deeply felt humility.

It is undeniable that Cindy will be missed and always loved. I am so grateful for her life and her friendship and her gifts. May we all learn from her to be reverent of tradition and generous with body and spirit.

Rest in Infinite Peace dear Cindy Cohen.

The Mind of Absolute Trust

2011-08-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

The great way isn't difficult
     for those who are unattached to their preferences.
Let go of longing and aversion,
     and everything will be perfectly clear.
When you cling to a hairbreadth of distinction,
     heaven and earth are set apart.
If you want to realize the truth,
     don't be for or against.
The struggle between good and evil
     is the primal disease of the mind.
Not grasping the deeper meaning,
     you just trouble your mind's serenity.
As vast as infinite space,
     it is perfect and lacks nothing.
But because you select and reject,
     you can't perceive its true nature.
Don't get entangled in the world;
     don't lose yourself in emptiness.
Be at peace in the oneness of things,
     and all errors will disappear by themselves.

If you don't live the Tao,
     you fall into assertion or denial.
Asserting that the world is real,
     you are blind to its deeper reality;
denying that the world is real,
     you are blind to the selflessness of all things.
The more you think about these matters,
     the farther you are from the truth.
Step aside from all thinking,
     and there is nowhere you can't go.
Returning to the root, you find the meaning;
     chasing appearances, you lose their source.
At the moment of profound insight,
     you transcend both appearance and emptiness.
Don't keep searching for the truth;
     just let go of your opinions.

For the mind in harmony with the Tao,
     all selfishness disappears.
With not even a trace of self-doubt,
     you can trust the universe completely.
All at once you are free,
     with nothing left to hold on to.
All is empty, brilliant,
     perfect in its own being.
In the world of things as they are,
     there is no self, no non self.
If you want to describe its essence,
     the best you can say is "Not-two."
In this "Not-two" nothing is separate,
     and nothing in the world is excluded.
The enlightened of all times and places
     have entered into this truth.
In it there is no gain or loss;
     one instant is ten thousand years.
There is no here, no there;
     infinity is right before your eyes.

The tiny is as large as the vast
     when objective boundaries have vanished;
the vast is as small as the tiny
     when you don't have external limits.
Being is an aspect of non-being;
     non-being is no different from being.
Until you understand this truth,
     you won't see anything clearly.
One is all; all
     are one. When you realize this,
     what reason for holiness or wisdom?
The mind of absolute trust
     is beyond all thought, all striving,
is perfectly at peace, for in it
     there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow.

Seng-Ts'an

Saturday Night Tribute to Pablo Neruda

2011-07-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

Keeping Quiet

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.

For once on the face of the earth
let's not speak in any language,
let's stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

Now I'll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.

Past

We have to discard the past
and, as one builds
floor by floor, window by window,
and the building rises,
so do we go on throwing down
first, broken tiles,
then pompous doors,
until out of the past
dust rises
as if to crash
against the floor,
smoke rises
as if to catch fire,
and each new day
it gleams
like an empty
plate.
There is nothing, there is always nothing.
It has to be filled
with a new, fruitful
space,
then downward
tumbles yesterday
as in a well
falls yesterday's water,
into the cistern
of all still without voice or fire.
It is difficult to teach bones
to disappear,
to teach eyes
to close
but
we do it
unrealizing.
It was all alive,
alive, alive, alive
like a scarlet fish
but time
passed over its dark cloth
and the flash of the fish
drowned and disappeared.
Water water water
the past goes on falling
still a tangle
of bones
and of roots;
it has been, it has been, and now
memories mean nothing.
Now the heavy eyelid
covers the light of the eye
and what was once living
now no longer lives;
what we were, we are not.
And with words, although the letters
still have transparency and sound,
they change, and the mouth changes;
the same mouth is now another mouth;
they change, lips, skin, circulation;
another being has occupied our skeleton;
what once was in us now is not.
It has gone, but if the call, we reply;
"I am here," knowing we are not,
that what once was, was and is lost,
is lost in the past, and now will not return.

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

2011-05-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

No end, no end to the journey

no end, no end never

how can the heart in love

ever stop opening

if you love me,

you won't just die once

in every moment

you will die into me

to be reborn

Into this new love, die

your way begins

on the other side

become the sky

take an axe to the prison wall,

escape

walk out like someone

suddenly born into color

do it now

~Rumi

2011-05-03T05:08:00.000-07:00

"Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."

~ Martin Luther King, Jr

2011-01-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

Lists of things to do

to make the future better:
all of them are gone.

Soaking in Shoji,

no too hot or too cold;

ice melts, unaware.

The day you were born

the Buddha told his father

that life was unfair.

THANKSGIVING 2010

2010-11-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

It is not for me to decide what anyone else should or should not eat, I can only share with you why I choose to eat and live the way that I do.

It's Thanksgiving and I feel it is time for me to put into words my feelings towards eating turkey. Not my turkey, not your turkey but the 45 million turkeys that bejewel American dinner tables across the nation today. Glistening in the sweet succulence of gluttony and grandeur there lie a bird stuffed taut full of secrets; much like the extend-o dinner tables that get longer around holiday season, what you see is not always what you get. Not long before the light or dark meat and various preferable appendages, there was a short-lived “life” of an unhealthy and grossly unnatural animal—a turkey.

“But my turkey is 'Free-Range' 'Organic' and.....” Well, I'm sorry to tell you this but it's all bullshit. Turkeys produced for your palette are so genetically dwarfed that left to their own devices are unable to sexually reproduce and sometimes are often unable to stand on their own two dysfunctional legs. According to the USDA's regulations “access to the outdoors” merely means that the fowl can see the outside through a screen window. Industry can label their animals “organic” and still torture it! All farmed animals live in fear; they suffer and endure unimaginable cruelty and abuse.

Back to Thanksgiving. I believe in gratitude and often I actually feel it. I also believe in sacrifice; however, these turkeys did not jump onto the conveyer belt begging to be slaughtered for my sentimentality or warped sense of tradition. As far as I can see, to eat meat I must turn my head and cover my eyes and open my mouth for the sensual pleasure of the festive moment. I do not and will not take pleasures at the expense of another animals suffering. As Jonathan Safran Foer writes it: “We can't plead ignorance, only indifference.”

America was built on crime and consumerism but the celebration of Thanksgiving is about America's ability to sustain itself. We indulge in the foods that we are able to produce on this homeland—potatoes, corn, squash. Turkey, however, is unbelievably unsustainable!

“Animal agriculture makes a 40% greater contribution to global warming than all transportation in the world combined; it is the number one cause of climate change.”

Can you believe that?!

So not eating animal products, including eggs and dairy, is how I choose to treat the powerless and unloved animals; because I do not eat alone and I do eat by proxy, I feel the need to write these words down, vote openly and speak up with conviction! This is a choice that I have been making for over half of my life. It is undeniable that eating animals is a dubious choice on many levels; an iniquitous commonality that is not limited to ethical, nutritional and environmental consequences.

“ And more than any other food, the Thanksgiving turkey embodies the paradoxes of eating animals: what we do to a living turkey is just about as bad as anything humans have ever done to any animal in the history of the world. Yet what we do with their dead bodies can feel so powerfully good and right. The Thanksgiving turkey is the flesh of competing instincts—of remembering and forgetting.” -Jonathan Safran Foer

2010-09-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

The world is being run on time, by time, for time, and at no time are we free
Just to sit and enjoy even the outward forms of the Beloved's beauty.

Each drop-bubble in time is a sphere bounded, but infinite;
So fragile, yet the whole of creation is in it.

It is a mirror, never reflecting truth, but the drop-soul's desires
No matter how deep one dives in the truth-quest or how high one aspires.

Good man, bad man -- economy-tailored or king-sized --
Each gazes in his bubble-mirror self-hypnotized.

Since the blows of my will are too feeble to break my looking-glass,
At least, Beloved, let it reflect only your beloved face.

Then, though still in time, I will no longer be a fool
Under time's tyranny, but under your benign rule.

The amazing universe and this beautiful earth will vanish, leaving not a trace behind,
When your glance shatters this so-unbreakable mirror of my mind.

~Francis Babazon

2010-08-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

Tribute to Alan Watts (8/27/10)

And the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging to belief, of holding on.

...But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be. ..Faith is a state of openness or trust... In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe, becomes a person who has no faith at all.
How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god.
Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command.

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

We cannot be more sensitive to pleasure without being more sensitive to pain.

We identify in our experience a differentiation between what we do and what happens to us.

So the Bodhisattva saves all beings, not by preaching sermons to them, but by showing them that they are delivered, they are liberated, by the act of not being able to stop changing.

So then, the relationship of self to other is the complete realization that loving yourself is impossible without loving everything defined as other than yourself.
So what is discord at one level of your being is harmony at another level.

The ego is nothing other than the focus of conscious attention.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.

Things are as they are. Looking out into it the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.

You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.

To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.

2010-08-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

This existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds

To watch the birth and death of beings is like looking at the movements of a dance.
A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky,
Rushing by, like a torrent down a steep mountain.

~BUDDHA

2010-08-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Friend, this is the only way

English version by Ivan M. Granger

Friend, this is the only way
to learn the secret way:

Ignore the paths of others,
even the saints' steep trails.

Don't follow.
Don't journey at all.

Rip the veil from your face.

~Sachal Sarmast

2010-07-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

Late Night Tribute to Egon Schiele

"All beautiful and noble qualities have been united in me... I shall be the fruit which will leave eternal vitality behind even after its decay. How great must be your joy, therefore, to have given birth to me."

"Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal."

"At present, I am mainly observing the physical motion of mountains, water, trees and flowers. One is everywhere reminded of similar movements in the human body, of similar impulses of joy and suffering in plants."

"Everything is dead while it lives."

"I am so rich that I must give myself away."

"To restrict the artist is a crime. It is to murder germinating life."

~Egon Schiele

2010-07-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

Profound and tranquil, free from complexity,
Uncompounded luminous clarity,
Beyond the mind of conceptual ideas;
This is the depth of the mind of the Victorious Ones.

In this there is not a thing to be removed,
Nor anything that needs to be added.
It is merely the immaculate
Looking naturally at itself.

NYOSHUL KHEN RINPOCHE

2010-07-03T10:54:00.001-07:00

"It was with the utmost reluctance that I found the figure could not serve my purposes. But a time came when none of us could use the figure without mutilating it."

"The progression of a painter's work as it travels in time from point to point, will be toward clarity.. toward the elimination of all obstacles between the painter and the idea.. and the idea and the observer.. To achieve this clarity is inevitably to be understood."

"Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit, and the only means of making concrete the purpose of its varied quickness and stillness."

~Marcus Rothkowitz (Mark Rothko)

2010-06-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

A Morning Tribute to Joseph Campbell 6/22/10

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain."

"Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls."

"I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive."

"Myths are public dreams, dreams are private myths."

"The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature."

"Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging."

"When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness."

"Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again."

~Joseph Campbell

2010-06-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

"Self deception often arises because you are afraid of your own intelligence and afraid you won't be able to deal properly with your life. You are unable to acknowledge your own innate wisdom. Instead, you see wisdom as some monumental thing outside of yourself. That attitude has to be overcome." -CTR, Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior

2010-06-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

"...For when you experience bliss, it's a sign that desire has temporarily dissolved. When you experience real clarity, it's a sign that aggression has temporarily ceased. When you experience a state of absence of thought, it's a sign that your ignorance has temporarily died. By themselves they are good experiences, but if you get attached to them, they become obstacles."

~SOGYAL RINPOCHE

2010-06-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

"Look at the sun. The sun is shining. Nobody polishes the sun. The sun
just shines. Look at the moon, the sky, the world at its best.
Unfortunately, we human beings try to fit everything into
conditionality. We try to make something out of nothing. We have messed
everything up. That's our problem. We have to go back to the
...sun and the moon, to dragons, tigers, lions, garudas."

2010-05-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

Renunciation has both sadness and joy in it: sadness because you realize the futility of your old ways, and joy because of the greater vision that begins to unfold when you are able to let go of them. This is no ordinary joy. It is a joy that gives birth to a new and profound strength, a confidence, an abiding inspiration that comes from the realization that you are not condemned to your habits, that you can indeed emerge from them, that you can change, and grow more and more free.

2010-04-16T21:50:00.001-07:00

Rest in natural great peace
This exhausted mind
Beaten helpless by karma and neurotic thought,
Like the relentless fury of the pounding waves
In the infinite ocean of samsara.

Rest in natural great peace.

NYOSHUL KHEN RINPOCHE

2010-04-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

When I walk beside her
i am the better man
when I look to leave her
I always stagger back again
once I built an ivory tower
so I could worship from above
and when I climbed down to be set free
she took me in again

there's a big
a big hard sun
beaten on the big people
in the big hard world

when she comes to greet me
she is mercy at my feet
when I see her pin her charm
she just throws it back again
once I sought an early grave
to find a better land
she just smiled and laughed at me
and took her blues back again

there's a big
a big hard sun
beaten on the big people
in the big hard world

when I go to cross that river
she is comfort by my side
when I try to understand
she just opens up her eyes

once I stood to lose her
when I saw what I had done
bound down and flew away the hours
of her garden and her sun
so I tried to warn her
I'll turn to see her weep
40 days and 40 nights
and it's still coming down on me

there's a big
a big hard sun
beaten on the big people
in the big hard world

-Eddie Vedder

Fall in! Fall in!

2010-03-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever tried to enter the long black branches of other lives --
tried to imagine what the crisp fringes, full of honey, hanging
from the branches of the young locust trees, in early morning, feel like?

Do you think this world was only an entertainment for you?

Never to enter the sea and notice how the water divides
with perfect courtesy, to let you in!
Never to lie down on the grass, as though you were the grass!
Never to leap to the air as you open your wings over the dark acorn of your heart!

No wonder we hear, in your mournful voice, the complaint
that something is missing from your life!

Who can open the door who does not reach for the latch?
Who can travel the miles who does not put one foot
in front of the other, all attentive to what presents itself
continually?
Who will behold the inner chamber who has not observed
with admiration, even with rapture, the outer stone?

Well, there is time left --
fields everywhere invite you into them.

And who will care, who will chide you if you wander away
from wherever you are, to look for your soul?

Quickly, then, get up, put on your coat, leave your desk!

To put one's foot into the door of the grass, which is
the mystery, which is death as well as life, and
not be afraid!

To set one's foot in the door of death, and be overcome
with amazement!

To sit down in front of the weeds, and imagine
god the ten-fingered, sailing out of his house of straw,
nodding this way and that way, to the flowers of the
present hour,
to the song falling out of the mockingbird's pink mouth,
to the tippets of the honeysuckle, that have opened

in the night

To sit down, like a weed among weeds, and rustle in the wind!

Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?

While the soul, after all, is only a window,

and the opening of the window no more difficult
than the wakening from a little sleep.

Only last week I went out among the thorns and said
to the wild roses:
deny me not, but suffer my devotion.
Then, all afternoon, I sat among them. Maybe

I even heard a curl or tow of music, damp and rouge red,
hurrying from their stubby buds, from their delicate watery bodies.

For how long will you continue to listen to those dark shouters,
caution and prudence?
Fall in! Fall in!

A woman standing in the weeds.
A small boat flounders in the deep waves, and what's coming next
is coming with its own heave and grace.

Meanwhile, once in a while, I have chanced, among the quick things,
upon the immutable.
What more could one ask?

And I would touch the faces of the daises,
and I would bow down
to think about it.

That was then, which hasn't ended yet.

Now the sun begins to swing down. Under the peach-light,
I cross the fields and the dunes, I follow the ocean's edge.

I climb, I backtrack.
I float.
I ramble my way home.

~Mary Oliver

2010-03-10T08:03:00.000-08:00

The obliteration of your isolation
the complete explosion
of you fondest notion
This disintegration
is your elevation
It's a grand illusion, it's a grand illusion

You're crying,you're trying so hard now
You'll be laughing
a hundred thousand years
There is only one day
and tonight is the night
It's a grand illusion

The devastation of your separation,
the disillusion of
your constitution,
It's exhilaration,it's your liberation
It's a grand illusion,it's a grand illusion

You're crying,you're trying so hard now
You'll be laughing a hundred
thousand years
There is only one day
and tonight is the night
It's a grand illusion

-Joan Osborne, from her album Righteous Love

2010-03-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

photo by Canan Oner

O sweet everlasting Voices, be still;
Go to the guards of the heavenly fold
And bid them wander obeying your will,
Flame under flame, till Time be no more;
Have you not heard that our hearts are old,
That you call in birds, in wind on the hill,
In shaken boughs, in tide on the shore?
O sweet everlasting Voices, be still.

-W B Yeats

2010-02-23T07:06:00.000-08:00

November 7, 1997

"New York City"

"I would like to throw caution into the wind and experience life fully in each moment. No longer postponing life, allowing for all the possibilities...Letting desire have its satisfaction. Seeing the true nature of wanting and inquiring deeply into the intention of each action. I am uncovering that which has been lying beneath the surface of awareness and beginning to see more clearly in the light of conscious living and the investigation of the deathless."

Noah Levine; Dharma Punx: A memoir

2010-02-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

Seeing a man who was tilling the earth,
a fool, unable to control himself, cried out,
"Why are you ruining this soil?"
"Fool," said the man, "leave me alone:
try to recognize the difference
between tending the soil and wasting it.
How will this soil become a rose garden
until it is disturbed and overturned?"

Rumi

2010-02-07T16:06:00.000-08:00

To know Tao
meditate
and still the mind.
Knowledge comes with perseverance.

The Way is neither full nor empty;
a modest and quiet nature understands this.
The empty vessel, the uncarved block;
nothing is more mysterious.

When enlightenment arrives
don't talk too much about it;
just live it in your own way.
With humility and depth, rewards come naturally.

The fragrance of blossoms soon passes;
the ripeness of fruit is gone in a twinkling.
Our time in this world is so short,
better to avoid regret:
Miss no opportunity to savor the ineffable.

Like a golden beacon signaling on a moonless night,
Tao guides our passage through this transitory realm.
In moments of darkness and pain
remember all is cyclical.
Sit quietly behind your wooden door:
Spring will come again.

~Loy Ching-Yuen

~sogyal rinpoche~

2010-02-03T07:46:00.001-08:00

A wave in the sea, seen in one way, seems to have a distinct identity, an end and a beginning, a birth and a death. Seen in another way, the wave itself doesn't really exist but is just the behavior of water, "empty" of any separate identity but "full" of water. So when you really think about the wave, you come to realize that it is something that has been made temporarily possible by wind and water, and is dependent on a set of constantly changing circumstances. You also realize that every wave is related to every other wave.

2010-01-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

"There is never a sudden revelation, a complete and tidy explanation for why it happened, or why it ends, or why or who you are. You want one and I want one, but there isn't one. It comes in bits and pieces, and you stitch them together wherever they fit, and when you are done you hold yourself up, and still there are holes and you are a rag doll, invented, imperfect. And yet you are all that you have, so you must be enough. There is no other way."
— Marya Hornbacher (Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia)

Walt Whitman

2010-01-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

Has anyone supposed it lucky to be born?
I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.
I pass death with the dying and birth with the new-washed babe, and am not contained between my hat and boots,
And peruse manifold objects, no two alike and everyone good,
The earth good and the stars good, and their adjuncts all good.
I am not an earth nor an adjunct of the earth,
I am the mate and companion of people, all just as immortal and fathomless as myself,
(They do not know how immortal, but I know.)
Every kind for itself and its own, for me mine male and female,
For me those that have been boys and that love women,
For me the man that is proud and feels how it stings to be slighted,
For me the sweetheart and the old maid, for me mothers and the mothers of mothers,
For me lips that have smiled, eyes that have shed tears,
For me children and the begetters of children.
Undrape! you are not guilty to me, nor stale nor discarded,
I see through the broadcloth and gingham whether or no,
And am around, tenacious, acquisitive, tireless, and cannot be shaken away.

Umar Ibn al-Farid: from the Poem of the Sufi Way

2010-01-05T06:06:00.000-08:00

Whispering, then listening close
     from the vision of one

          casting away his all, instantly,
               out of an omnipotent hand.

Thus I read the knowledge of the scholars
     in a single word,
          and I reveal all the worlds to me
               with a simple glance.

I hear the many voices
     of those who pray in every tongue
          in a space of time
               shorter than a flash.

And I bring before me
     what before had been
          too far away to bear,
               in a blink of my eye.

I inhale the bouquet of gardens
     and the sweet scents clinging to the skirts
          of the four winds,
               in a simple breath.

I survey the far horizons round me
     in a momentary thought,
          and cross the seven heavens
               with a single step.

Yamei

2009-12-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

In one shrill cry
the pheasant has swallowed
the broad field.

Little Tiger By Kelsang Gyatso (1708 - 1757)

2009-12-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

The honey bee, a little tiger,
is not addicted to the taste of sugar;
his nature is to extract the juice
from the sweet lotus flower!

Dakinis, above, below, and on earth,
unimpeded by closeness and distance,
will surely extract the blissful essence
when the yogins bound by pledges gather.

The sun, the king of illumination,
is not inflated by self-importance;
by the karma of sentient beings,
it shines resplendent in the sky.

When the sun perfect in skill and wisdom
dawns in the sky of the illuminated mind,
without conceit, you beautify
and crown the beings of all three realms.

The smiling faces of the radiant moon
are not addicted to hide and seek;
by its relations with the sun,
the moon takes waning and waxing forms.

Though my gurus, embodiment of all refuge,
are free of all fluctuation and of faults,
through their flux-ridden karma the disciples perceive
that the guru's three secrets display all kinds of effulgence.

Constellations of stars adorning the sky
are not competing in a race of speed;
due to the force of energy's pull,
the twelve planets move clockwise with ease.

Guru, deity, and dakini -- my refuge --
though not partial toward the faithful,
unfailingly you appear to guard
those with fortunate karma blessed.

The white clouds hovering above on high
are not so light that they arise from nowhere;
it is the meeting of moisture and heat
that makes the patches of mist in the sky.

Those striving for good karma
are not greedy in self-interest;
by the meeting of good conditions
they become unrivaled as they rise higher.

The clear expanse of the autumn sky
is not engaged in the act of cleansing;
yet being devoid of all obscuration,
its pure vision bejewels the eyes.

The groundless sphere of all phenomena
is not created fresh by a discursive mind;
yet when the face of ever-presence is known,
all concreteness spontaneously fades away.

Rainbows radiating colors freely
are not obsessed by attractive costumes;
by the force of dependent conditions,
they appear distinct and clearly.

This vivid appearance of the external world,
though not a self-projected image,
through the play of fluctuating thought and mind,
appears as paintings of real things.

2009-12-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

Keep on knocking
'til the joy inside
opens a window
look to see who's there

Rumi!

2009-11-29T13:24:00.000-08:00

On the death of the Beloved

by John O'Donohue

Though we need to weep your loss,

You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or might or pain can reach you.

Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of colour.

The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.

Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.

Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was live, awake, complete.

We look towards each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.

Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul's gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.

Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.

When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.

May you continue to inspire us:

To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.

The Celestial Fire

2009-11-24T12:10:00.000-08:00

Now an angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in a blazing fire --

a fire that devours fire;
a fire that burns in things dry and moist;
a fire that glows amid snow and ice;
a fire that is like a crouching lion;
a fire that reveals itself in many forms;
a fire that is, and never expires;
a fire that shines and roars;
a fire that blazes and sparkles;
a fire that flies in a storm wind;
a fire that burns without wood;
a fire that renews itself every day;
a fire that is not fanned by fire;
a fire that billows like palm branches;
a fire whose sparks are flashes of lightning;
a fire black as a raven;
a fire, curled, like the colours of the rainbow!

--Yannai

2009-11-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

I am going on a picnic and I am not bringing Halloween. I would love to kick Halloween and it's sweet bucket ass back out on the sidewalk. Why? It's personal.

Honoring the dead is a Beautiful tradition; a promising meditation; a Divine worship; a ceremonious Dance with the Spirits! Whether we think about it or not, Death awaits us-- buzzing patiently on the windowsill of Consciousness. Because it is that time of year, I invite the souls of my beloved to pass into the present moment. Of course, they don't really need an invitation; the come with the ease of dew and arrest the tender spaces of the body-mind. *There really is no travel to do all! It's are here now!* But anyways, at night I dream of my past Hebrew names and in the morning I can feel my Grandma rubbing the marrow in my left forearm.

This year I left the candy of my porch. While my porch light illumines the young kids who don't even bother to dress up anymore (and take the entire stash to dump into their 'Whole Foods' bag), I sit inside by candlelight. In this womb I contemplate my inner-light. This year, I choose to not be taken by another hungry ghost, to not disconnect: Evolve, not dissolve. Tonight the veils are so thin that I would like a clear lens to see with!

Perhaps we might teach out children to never wear a mask, never hide in cloaks, never assume the posture of a wilted flower. Help our friends to WAKE UP and let the sugar coated leaves dissolve...

Please don't get me wrong--I like treats really I do! But I am desperately learning that Moderation is God. Halloween is like a national billboard that reads:

"Grab a pixie stick and just snort diabetes strait into your brains!" "Don't honor the inevitable....go on and grasp and get..."

I'd like to see a billboard that says:

"Contemplate the Impermanence of it all!
Meanwhile...
May our Bodies be Cherished!"

2009-10-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber, and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca on your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what these Ithacas mean.

Constantine P. Cavafy

2009-10-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

Don't seek, don't search, don't ask, don't knock, don't demand - relax. If you relax, it comes. If you relax, it is there. If you relax, you start vibrating with it.

Osho

2009-10-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

Imagine the brain, that shiny mound of being, that mouse-gray parliament of cells, that dream factory, that petit tyrant inside a ball of bone, that huddle of neurons calling all the plays, that little everywhere, that fickle pleasuredome, that wrinkled wardrobe of selves stuffed into the skull like too many clothes in a gym bag.

-Diane Ackerman

2009-09-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

According to Dzogchen, the entire range of all possible appearances, and all possible phenomena in all the different realities, whether samsara or nirvana, all of these without exception have always been and will always be perfect and complete, within the vast and boundless expanse of the nature of mind. Yet, even though the essence of everything is empty and "pure from the very beginning," its nature is rich in noble qualities, pregnant with every possibility, a limitless, incessantly and dynamically creative field that is always spontaneously perfect.

2009-09-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

अन्तोनिया मचाडो

I
The eye you see is not
an eye because you see it;
it is an eye because it sees you.

II
To talk with someone,
ask a question first,
then -- listen.

III
Narcissism
is an ugly fault,
and now it's a boring fault too.

IV
But look in your mirror for the other one,
the other one who walks by your side.

V
Between living and dreaming
there is a third thing.
Guess it.

VI
This Narcissus of ours
can't see his face in the mirror
because he has become the mirror.

VII
New century? Still
firing up the same forge?
Is the water still going along in its bed?

VIII
Every instant is Still.

IX
The sun in Aries. My window
is open to the cool air.
Oh the sound of the water far off!
The evening awakens the river.

2009-08-27T08:30:00.001-07:00

On Resurrection Day, the sun and moon are released from service:
and the eye beholds the Source of their radiance,
then it discerns the permanent possession from the loan,
and this passing caravan from the abiding home.
If for a while a wet nurse is needed,
Mother, quickly return us to your breast.
I don't want a nurse; my Mother is more fair.
I am like Moses whose nurse and Mother were the very same।

Rumi

2009-08-11T07:08:00.000-07:00

The drop dies in the river
of its joy
pain goes so far it cures itself

in the spring after the heavy rain the cloud
disappears
that was nothing but tears

in the spring the mirror turns green
holding a miracle
Change the shining wind

the rose led us to our eyes

let whatever is be open

-Mirza Ghalib

2009-08-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

The spirit of poetry came to me and said
"You poor thing. You don't know how to listen.
Listen to me.
Listen."

When I began to listen to poetry is when I began to listen to stones,
and I began to listen to what the clouds had to say,
and I began to listen to others.

And what is most important for all of us, is to learn to listen to the soul,
the soul of yourself,
in here,
but which is also the soul of everyone else.

- The Native American poet Joy Harjo on PBS

2009-07-31T05:55:00.000-07:00

God Pursues Me Everywhere
God pursues me everywhere, Enmeshes me in glances, And blinds my sightless back like flaming sun. God, like a forest dense, pursues me. My lips are ever tender, mute, so amazed, So like a child lost in an ancient sacred grove. God pursues me like a silent shudder. I wish for tranquility and rest -- He urges; come! And see -- how visions walk like the homeless on the streets. My thoughts walk about like a vagrant mystery -- Walks through the world's long corridor. At times I see God's featureless face hovering over me. God pursues me in the streetcars and cafes Every shining apple is my crystal sphere to see How mysteries are born and vision came to be. - from "Human, God's Ineffable Name," by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, freely rendered by Rabbi Zalman M. Schacter-Shalomi. Available from the Reb Zalman Legacy Project

2009-07-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

-Maya Angelou

2009-07-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

2009-07-21T06:57:00.000-07:00

The Moment

And not once,
but many times over,
again and again,
how we disappeared
into that deep well
of darkness, shuddering beneath that load of silence,
clinging to our narrow ledge.

Yet the darkness, sometimes,
unfolded as light.
Our atoms dissolved in it,
each separate molecule opening
into a radiant disk of feeling.

How still we became,
witness and thing seen,
spectacle and observer,
each point admitting an untrammeled flood.

~Dorothy Walters

2009-07-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

The Ocean cannot stay alone

and so the notion of wave is created.

When waves rise Ocean loses nothing

and when waves fall Ocean gains nothing.

Samsara, the illusion, Maya, the play,

is the wave on the Ocean of Nirvana.

Waves are not separate from the Ocean,
rays are not separate from the Sun,
You are not separate from
Existence-Consciousness-Bliss.
This is a reflection of That.

Sri H. W. L. Poonja: author of This

2009-07-02T06:23:00.000-07:00

Pablo Neruda:


Too Many Names
Mondays are meshed with Tuesdays and the week with the whole year. Time cannot be cut with your weary scissors, and all the names of the day are washed out by the waters of night. No one can claim the name of Pedro, nobody is Rosa or Maria, all of us are dust or sand, all of us are rain under rain. They have spoken to me of Venezuelas, of Chiles and of Paraguays; I have no idea what they are saying. I know only the skin of the earth and I know it is without a name. When I lived amongst the roots they pleased me more than flowers did, and when I spoke to a stone it rang like a bell. It is so long, the spring which goes on all winter. Time lost its shoes. A year is four centuries. When I sleep every night, what am I called or not called? And when I wake, who am I if I was not while I slept? This means to say that scarcely have we landed into life than we come as if new-born; let us not fill our mouths with so many faltering names, with so many sad formalities, with so many pompous letters, with so much of yours and mine, with so much of signing of papers. I have a mind to confuse things, unite them, bring them to birth, mix them up, undress them, until the light of the world has the oneness of the ocean, a generous, vast wholeness, a crepitant fragrance.

2009-06-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

I came into the unknown

I came into the unknown
and stayed there unknowing
rising beyond all science.

I did not know the door
but when I found the way,
unknowing where I was,
I learned enormous things,
but what I felt I cannot say,
for I remained unknowing,
rising beyond all science.

It was the perfect realm
of holiness and peace.
In deepest solitude
I found the narrow way:
a secret giving such release
that I was stunned and stammering,
rising beyond all science.

I was so far inside,
so dazed and far away
my senses were released
from feelings of my own.
My mind had found a surer way:
a knowledge of unknowing,
rising beyond all science.

And he who does arrive
collapses as in sleep,
for all he knew before
now seems a lowly thing,
and so his knowledge grows so deep
that he remains unknowing,
rising beyond all science.

The higher he ascends
the darker is the wood;
it is the shadowy cloud
that clarified the night,
and so the one who understood
remains always unknowing,
rising beyond all science.

This knowledge by unknowing
is such a soaring force
that scholars argue long
but never leave the ground.
Their knowledge always fails the source:
to understand unknowing,
rising beyond all science.

This knowledge is supreme
crossing a blazing height;
though formal reason tries
it crumbles in the dark,
but one who would control the night
by knowledge of unknowing
will rise beyond all science.

And if you wish to hear:
the highest science leads
to an ecstatic feeling
of the most holy Being;
and from his mercy comes his deed:
to let us stay unknowing,
rising beyond all science.

John of the Cross

2009-06-26T06:28:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time... the organs of the body like eyes, ears, limbs became jealous of the tongue, saying that they make all efforts for securing food, but the tongue enjoys this. They stopped working and never sent any food. Tongue is the one that tastes the food and passes only palatable items of food inside, which is converted by the internal organs into energy giving blood. The tongue does not retain it. But for this vital part played by the tongue, the other organs would not be able to function at all. When the other organs became jealous of the tongue and stopped sending food with a view to harm it, they spelt their own ruin by such action, as they could not function when there was no food and consequently no supply of energy for these organs to function. Similarly, jealousy on the part of a person ultimately results in his own ruin.

2009-06-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

He who binds to himself a Joy,
Does the winged life destroy;
He who kisses the Joy as it flies,
Lives in Eternity's sunrise.

WILLIAM BLAKE

2009-06-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

I became water
and saw myself
a mirage
became an ocean
saw myself a speck
of foam
gained Awareness
saw that all is but
forgetfulness
woke up
and found myself
asleep.

~Binavi Badakhshani

2009-06-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

Since pure awareness of nowness is the real buddha, In openness and contentment I found the Lama in my heart. When we realize this unending natural mind is the very nature of the Lama, Then there is no need for attached, grasping, or weeping prayers or artificial complaints, By simply relaxing in this uncontrived, open, and natural state, We obtain the blessing of aimless self-liberation of whatever arises. DUDJOM RINPOCHE

2009-05-31T07:25:00.000-07:00

Where is righteousness? It is in your conduct, thoughts, words and deeds. Righteousness dwells in your heart. When the impulses arising from the heart are expressed in words, that is Sathya (Truth). To translate those words into action is Dharma (Righteousness). For all these, Love is the primary requisite. Love in action is righteousness. Love in speech is Truth. Love in thought is Peace. Love in understanding is Non-violence. When you realise that God is in everyone, you will practise non-violence. God is one, though He may be worshipped in different forms and by different names - Rama or Krishna, Allah or Jesus, Hari or Sai.

- BABA

2009-05-29T15:48:00.000-07:00


Last night, as I was sleeping
Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt -- marvelous error!— that a spring was breaking out in my heart. I said: Along which secret aqueduct, Oh water, are you coming to me, water of a new life that I have never drunk? Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt -- marvelous error!— that I had a beehive here inside my heart. And the golden bees were making white combs and sweet honey from my old failures. Last night, as I was sleeping, I dreamt -- marvelous error!— that a fiery sun was giving light inside my heart. It was fiery because I felt warmth as from a hearth, and sun because it gave light and brought tears to my eyes. Last night, as I slept, I dreamt -- marvelous error!— that it was God I had here inside my heart.

Antonio Machado

2009-05-24T11:44:00.001-07:00

When we are in a negative frame of mind, it is only natural to doubt rather than to believe.

From a Buddhist point of view, doubt is a sign of a lack of complete understanding and a lack of spiritual education, but it is also seen as a catalyst in the maturing of faith. It is when we face doubts and difficulties that we discover whether our faith is a simplistic, pious, and conceptual one, or whether it is strong, enduring, and anchored in a deep understanding in the heart.

If you have faith, sooner or later it may well be put to the test, and wherever the challenge may come from - from within you or from outside - it is simply part of the process of faith and doubt.

~Sogyal Rinpoche

2009-05-01T08:06:00.001-07:00

"If you spent one-tenth of the time you devoted to distractions like chasing women or making money to spiritual practice, you would be enlightened in a few years!"

RAMAKRISHNA

2009-04-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

A land not mine, still
forever memorable,
the waters of its ocean
chill and fresh.

Sand on the bottom whiter than chalk,
and the air drunk, like wine,
late sun lays bare
the rosy limbs of the pinetrees.

Sunset in the ethereal waves:
I cannot tell if the day
is ending, or the world, or if
the secret of secrets is inside me again.

Anna Akhmatova

(1889 - 1966)

2009-04-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

In rendering seva (selfless service), one should not think that their services should be confined to the poor and the destitute. There is no need to make any artificial distinction between the rich and the poor in the sphere of service. What matters is the service done to a person who needs it. Your concern should only be with what kind of service is required, when and where, and not the status or position of the person concerned. The primary requisite is a genuine spirit of love and camaraderie. If there is no feeling of kindness and compassion, whatever service that is done becomes an artificial exercise, done for getting publicity or recognition. Ostentation in rendering service is harmful as it will only inflate the ego.

~Baba

2009-04-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

My trip: April 2009

We stayed in a cozy hotel named Hotel Provencial in the heart of the French Quarter. After a short rest we headed out on foot to see the local shops and restaurants; chalk full of ornate masks, beads, tourists and tourist collectables the city was more crowded then we could have imagined. We strolled along cobblestone streets, the smells of seafood, coffee and good old fashion beer blowing in from the Mississippi River and out of the many outdoor cafes. Water dropped into our hair from freshly watered plants that lined the balconies along every street. Each balcony was adorned in beads or local art; it seems Mardi Gras is an ongoing annual event. A quick walk down Bourbon Street, where the streets really do flow with beer, we just as quickly decided not to go back there ever again. Apparently, the Pirate Festival coincided with our trip so we dined in the infamous French Market Restaurant with the local mates. I had never had fried oysters before, or Crawfish for that matter, so we feasted like wild tourists and enjoyed the live jazz in the outdoor dining area.

The food was so good we went back the next morning for the Sunday brunch! I think my favorite part of New Orleans, besides the fried foods (shrug), is the people; everyone was so laid back, charming and helpful and I just LOVE how they all say "Yes, Ma'am."

A few more stops in the Big Easy, and it was time to head out toward the panhandle of the Sunshine State...

We arrived Sunday evening and I met the family...and I mean the entire family, including the cats: Dusty, Nash, and Pitty, along with Jack and Jill, or more commonly known as the 'kids'.

We took a few road trips down the coast into the local fishing towns of St. Joe, Apalachicola, and Carabella. We even hit a beautiful stretch of land called Cape San Blas (where we would eventually go back to ride horses.) One of our favorite destinations was the tiny island of St. George.

Candid Shot: After kayaking with his Dad, Ryone rinses off in their state of the art outdoor shower!

On out last night, perhaps my favorite, we all ate dinner out at the St. Joe Harbor. As the sun set magically on the Gulf we shared our seafood and enjoyed the good company. I will remember this night forever.

2009-04-01T06:59:00.000-07:00

Since everything is but an apparition, Perfect in being what it is, Having nothing to do with good or bad, Acceptance or rejection You might as well burst out laughing! LONGCHENPA

2009-03-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

Mirror Pond on Mount Taibo in Shanxi

The water and my mind have both settled down
Into perfect stillness.
Sun and moon shine bright in it.
At night I see in the surface
The enormous face of my old familiar moon.
I don't think you've ever met the source of this reflection.
All shrillness fades into the sound of silence.
But now and then a puff of mist floats across the mirror.
It confuses me a little
But not enough to make me forget to forget my cares.

Hsu Yun

(1839 - 1959)

2009-03-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

Morality is not something that you must force upon yourself; it is your natural quality. Therefore, first and foremost, cultivate morality. Only then will divinity blossom in you. The entire world will prosper when man adheres to morality. Wherever you are, whatever you do, consider morality as the basis of your life. Morality alone grants true and lasting reputation. You can earn divine grace and happiness only when you cultivate morality.

~Baba

- BABA

2009-03-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

In my dreams:

I almost died three times.

First, I was driving along an overpass as my car lost control; I was forced onto the guard rail and eventually over it. Miraculously, I grasp hold of the rail and watch as my van plummets toward the ground.

Second near death was another car accident. This time, however, I am flung into tree tops and I fly Tarzan style until I am safe.

The third car crash, I am near a beautiful river with spring flowers and I glide happily, knowingly, to my near death death experience.

Am I grasping at life? Do I fear death or do I go towards death with elated spirit?

"At the moment of death, our state of mind is all-important. If we die in a positive frame of mind, we can improve our next birth, despite our negative karma. And if we are upset and distressed, it may have a detrimental effect, even though we may have used our lives well. This means that the last thought and emotion that we have before we die has an extremely powerful determining effect on our immediate future.

This is why the masters stress that the quality of the atmosphere around us when we die is crucial. With our friends and relatives, we should do all we can to inspire positive emotions and sacred feelings, like love, compassion, and devotion, and all we can to help them to "let go of grasping, yearning, and attachment."

~Sogyal Rinpoche

I massaged a woman recently who had the words Carpi Diem tattooed on her rear.

Seize the day!

2009-03-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamed of crocodiles. A few nights ago it was wolves. I am learning to learn about these various animal medicines and apply them to my my life. This is what I found out:

Wolf Energy

In Native American traditions, Wolf is said to be "teacher" medicine. Humans have followed Wolf for millennia, studying Wolf's ways of the hunt, learning from their social structure. Wolf is allied with Sirus, the Dog Star, and it is said in many cultures, that our ancestors and teachers came from there. This is agreed upon by Australian Aborigines, and the Dogon tribe of Africa, as well as certain Native American tribes. Wolf has much to teach us, if only we will listen.

Wolf is allied to the moon and lunar energies, teaching us to respect our emotions and unconscious urges. Respect for the wildness of our animal natures, and willingness to face the dark within ourselves is an imperative for Wolf people. Trust in the unspoiled nature of your Child/Wolf self.

Because the Moon rules psychic perception, Wolf people should work on learning to trust their intuition and psychic urges, to listen for the still small voice within.

The communal nature of Wolf's culture and hunting helps us to learn to cooperate to achieve a goal. Wolf people make good "team players" and are fiercely loyal to those they consider part of their pack. They often have strong leadership qualities, however they must often learn to balance their tendency for "social dominancing." As a predator, Wolf culls the sick and weak of the herd. Wolves are often quick to scent when a situation is "sick," and will work to change it. It is important that they learn to lead the situation gently, and without tearing others apart, or the pack may turn on them.

Wolf's capacity for communication suggests that Wolf people should learn to utilize the strength of their voice and to be aware of their body language. When dealing with Wolf people, listening for the nuances of vocal tone and watching their motions will help in gaining an understanding of them. Wolves often make excellent bards and storytellers.

Ritual is very important to Wolf. Both the little rituals of day-to-day conduct, and the bigger rituals of lunar howling. Whatever their spiritual beliefs, Wolf people will feel more in tune when they honor and re-link (the actual meaning of the word "religion") with the life force.

Crocodile and Alligator Energy

In ancient Egypt Crocodiles were venerated as gods. At shrines in Kom-Ombo in Upper-Egypt and in Crocodilopolis (Fayum) they were even hung with jewelry and gold bracelets and mumified after their deaths. Crocodiles were believed to bring the rains which overflowed the Nile and left potent mud to fertilize the lands. At the same time, they were feared for their destructive power.

This alliance with the processes of Birth and Death and Rebirth, gives crocodilian people a Plutonian energy of transition and transformation. Their life's lessons often center around the many small deaths they go through as they grow and change. Like the ebb and flow of the Nile, the crocodilian must learn to release the past and bring in the new, but without drowning and destroying all in their wake. They have great creative power, given by the fertile mud in which they bask. Yet they must learn gentleness, so that they do not crush their own children within their jaws.

The association with water, and the fact that their eyes can peer above it, gives crocodilians the power to see above emotion (water) and to find the logical (air) answers. They may be seen as "cold-blooded" by others. In actuallity, they are creatures of emotion, which they often hide from others beneath their thick and gnarled skins.

As slow as they might be to act upon their own emotions, crocodilians will guard their nests with ferocity. Threatening the "children" (whether a loved one or a creative project) of a crocodilian will bring a swift and drastic response.

The myth of Crocodile Tears is also an important one for Crocodillan people. Often one of their lessons is to learn to be truthful with themselves and others about their emotions. There may be a need to cry and release. Or the person may reflect one emotion to others, while feeling another.

crocodilian people can be masters of "ready stillness". Often they seem to be drifting aimlessly. They have found that it is best to wait and drift up on a problem or situation, carefully timing the attack. Once the answer is within their grasp, they lunge forward and hang on until the problem is wrestled into submission.

If a Crocodile or Alligator lunges too soon, their prey may escape. Until they learn this lesson, crocodilian people may thrash against the need for stillness and inaction. It is imperative that they learn the "zen of right timing" -- that all things occur in the time which is best and proper.

Alligators and Crocodiles may have been part of the genesis of legends of Dragons. Like Dragons, crocodilians are often the guardians of great and powerful treasures of knowledge and wisdom. Yet it is imperative to treat the wisdom gained with great respect lest it swallow you whole.

2009-03-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

photo by Marko Beslac

We encountered the house of realization,

We encountered the house of realization, we witnessed the body. The whirling skies, the many-layered earth, the seventy-thousand veils, we found in the body.

The night and the day, the planets,
the words inscribed on the Holy Tablets,
the hill that Moses climbed, the Temple,
and Israfil's trumpet, we observed in the body.

Torah, Psalms, Gospel, Quran --
what these books have to say,
we found in the body.

Everybody says these words of Yunus
are true. Truth is wherever you want it.
We found it all within the body.

Yunus Emre

Yunus Emre is considered by many to be one of the most important Turkish poets. Little can be said for certain of his life other than that he was a Sufi dervish of Anatolia. The love people have for his liberating poetry is reflected in the fact that many villages claim to be his birthplace, and many others claim to hold his tomb. He probably lived in the Karaman area.

His poetry expresses a deep personal mysticism and humanism and love for God.

He was a contemporary of Rumi, who lived in the same region. Rumi composed his collection of stories and songs for a well-educated urban circle of Sufis, writing primarily in the literary language of Persian. Yunus Emre, on the other hand, traveled and taught among the rural poor, singing his songs in the Turkish language of the common people.

2009-03-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I bought a dream journal. It is beautiful with rainbow threads and light blue pleather. My dreams have been remarkable (to say the least) and I felt like recording them would be helpful in self-reflection. First off, I have a new appreciation for the vast genius and creative enormity of our subconscious minds. I might have to call it our super-conscious minds. Our ability to create magical works of art, or music or poetry is infinite. How many times a night so I lay dormant while my mind creates these elaborate scenarios to clue me in, just a little bit, to the makings of my reality.

This week I dreamed about my deepest fears of abandonment, of death and annihilation, of my inner child. Last night, I was in a large house and scrambling to close all the windows because a killer 'fog' was trying to get in. This 'fog' as it were, was dependent upon my thoughts and feelings. If I had a pleasant or uplifting thought, the fog would be less deadly. The house was floating through the sky and I watched as a almost Eastern European landscape emerged under the fog. When I awoke, I read this:

"Buddha sat in serene and humble dignity on the ground, with the sky above him and around him, as if to show us that in meditation you sit with open, skylike attitude of mind, yet remain present, earthed, and grounded. The sky is our absolute nature, which has no barriers and is boundless, and the ground is our reality, our relative, ordinary condition.

The posture we take when we meditate signifies that we are linking absolute and relative, sky and ground, heaven and earth, like two wings of a bird, integrating the skylike deathless nature of mind and the ground of our transient, mortal nature."

I had the feeling that the 'fog' was representative of the quality of my mind; I must focus on staying positive, clear and grounded.

There is no reason to hide from something that you alone are controlling. Mind control.
At least that is my interpretation for today.

2009-03-02T13:59:00.000-08:00

When I consider the virtue of abusive words,

(from The Shodoka)

When I consider the virtue of abusive words,
I find the scandal-monger is my good teacher.
If we do not become angry at gossip,
We have no need for powerful endurance and compassion.
To be mature in Zen is to be mature in expression,
And full-moon brilliance of dhyana and prajna
Does not stagnate in emptiness.
Not only can I take hold of complete enlightenment by myself,
But all Buddha-bodies, like sands of the Ganges,
Can become awakened in exactly the some way.

Yoka Genkaku (Yongjia Xuanjue)

2009-02-25T13:57:00.000-08:00

Taken

First, you must let your heart
be broken open
in a way you have never
felt before,
cannot imagine.

You will
not know if what you are
feeling
is anguish or joy,
something predestined
or merely old wounds
flowing once more,
reminders of all that is
unfinished in your life.

Something will flood into
your chest
like air sweetened by
desert honeysuckle,
love that is too
strong.

You will stand there,
very still,
not seeing what this is.
Later, you will not remember
any of this
until the next time
when you will say,
yes, yes, I have known this before,
it has come again,
just as your eyes fold under
once more.

Dorothy Walters 2006

2009-02-23T19:19:00.000-08:00

Soul And The Old Woman

What is the soul? Consciousness.

The more awareness, the deeper the soul, and when such essence overflows, you feel a sacredness around.

It's so simple to tell one who puts on a robe and pretends to be a dervish from the real thing.

We know the taste of pure water.

Words can sound like a poem but not have any juice, no flavor to relish.

How long do you look at pictures on a bathhouse wall?

Soul is what draws you away from those pictures to talk with the old woman who sits outside by the door in the sun.

She's half blind, but she has what soul loves to flow into.

She's kind; she weeps.
She makes quick personal decisions, and laughs so easily.

-- Mathnawi: VI: 148-50 Version by Coleman Barks "The Soul of Rumi" HarperSanFrancisco, 2001

2009-02-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

Waking

Even the man who is happy
glimpses something
or a hair of sound touches him

and his heart overflows with a longing
he does not recognize

then it must be that he is remembering
in a place out of reach
shapes he has loved

in a life before this

the print of them still there in him waiting

Kalidasa (350? - 430?)

2009-02-14T07:53:00.000-08:00

When the Day came --
The Day I had lived and died for --
The Day that is not in any calendar --
Clouds heavy with love
Showered me with wild abundance.
Inside me, my soul was drenched.
Around me, even the desert grew green.

~Kabir

Happy Valentines Day.

2009-02-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up. Instead of saying to myself "I am going to meditate" I said "I am going to breath."

For all the cures, inspirations and affirmations that may help on our journey, I found this one to be most helpful: be here now. Rather than worry about the day, the week, the month, I vow to stay (as best as I can) in the present moment.

May all beings be free of anxiety and may the Gods bless New Mexico with no more snow.

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down the dulcimer.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

~Rumi

2009-01-29T07:43:00.000-08:00

Painting by Carlos Paez Vilaro
(my newly discovered favorite artist from Uruguay)

If you earn the wealth of pure love, you become the richest person in the world. He who is contented is the richest man in the world and the one who has many desires is the poorest man in the world. Today, man is filled with desires from top to toe. As long as one has desires, one can never be happy and peaceful. Give up desires and see for yourself how much love and bliss you get. The bliss you experience will be far superior to all the happiness you have experienced before. All the bliss is within you. But you are imagining that it is outside. What is outside is only the reflection, reaction and resound of what is within you.

~Baba

- BABA

2009-01-18T08:22:00.000-08:00

Karma is not fatalistic or predetermined. Karma means our ability to create and to change. It is creative because we can determine how and why we act. We can change. The future is in our hands, and in the hands of our heart.

Buddha said:

Karma creates all, like an artist,
Karma composes, like a dancer.

~Sogyal Rinpoche

2009-01-16T08:24:00.000-08:00

How hard it can be to turn our attention within! How easily we allow our old habits and set patterns to dominate us! Even though they bring us suffering, we accept them with almost fatalistic resignation, for we are so used to giving in to them. We may idealize freedom, but when it comes to our habits, we are completely enslaved.

Still, reflection can slowly bring us wisdom. We may, of course, fall back into fixed repetitive patterns again and again, but slowly we can emerge from them and change.

Last night I dreamed that I got drunk. This led to feelings of guilt and anguish as I tried to explain my behaviors to my family. My Mom, in particular, was in distress. It has been a year since I let go of that habit. Still, my subconscious persists. I see this dream as a means to reflect on the true nature of an abusive habit: guilt, anguish, distress...add that to powerlessness, numbness and attachment.

It is a blessing that we are able to change. It takes strength, persistence and sometimes support, and...

it is always worth it!

2009-01-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

"Not Here"

There's courage involved if you want
to become truth. There is a broken-

open place in a lover. Where are
those qualities of bravery and sharp

compassion in this group? What's the
use of old and frozen thought? I want

a howling hurt. This is not a treasury
where gold is stored; this is for copper.

We alchemists look for talent that
can heat up and change. Lukewarm

won't do. Halfhearted holding back,
well-enough getting by? Not here.

-- Version by Coleman Barks
"The Soul of Rumi"

2009-01-11T23:05:00.000-08:00

In our minds, changes always equal loss and suffering. And if they come, we try to anesthetize ourselves as far as possible. We assume, stubbornly and unquestioningly, that permanence provides security and impermanence does not. But in fact impermanence is like some of the people we meet in life - difficult and disturbing at first, but on deeper acquaintance far friendlier and less unnerving than we could have imagined.
~Sogyal Rinpoche

2009-01-07T15:27:00.000-08:00

The moon shines in my body...

The moon shines in my body, but my blind eyes cannot see it:
The moon is within me, and so is the sun.
The unstruck drum of Eternity is sounded within me; but my deaf ears cannot hear it. So long as man clamours for the I and the Mine,
his works are as naught:
When all love of the I and the Mine is dead, then the work of the Lord is done.
For work has no other aim than the getting of knowledge: When that comes, then work is put away.

The flower blooms for the fruit: when the fruit comes, the flower withers.
The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it wanders in quest of grass.

~Kabir

2008-12-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this time.

Thou Livest!

Thou livest, but not from determined time or known epoch.
Thou livest, but not with soul or breath, for Thou art soul of the soul.
Thou livest, but not as the life of man that is like vanity, its end in moths and worms.
Thou livest, and whoever attains Thy secret will find eternal delight --
"and eat, and live for ever."

~Solomon ibn Gabirol

2008-12-18T20:49:00.000-08:00

Praying

It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.

~Mary Oliver

2008-12-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

Snow can wait, I forgot my mittens
Wipe my nose, get my new boots on
I get a little warm in my heart when I think of winter
I put my hand in my fathers glove

I run off where the drifts get deeper
Sleeping beauty trips me with a frown
I hear a voice you must learn to stand up for yourself
Cause I cant always be around

He says when you gonna make up your mind
When you gonna love you as much as I do
When you gonna make up your mind
Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that Ill always want you near
You say that things change my dear

Boys get discovered as winter melts
Flowers competing for the sun
Years go by and I'm here still waiting
Withering where some snowman was

Mirror mirror wheres the crystal palace
But I only can see myself
Skating around the truth who I am
But I know, dad, the ice is getting thing

Hair is gray and the fires are burning
So many dreams on the shelf
You say I wanted you to be proud
I always wanted that myself

Lyrics from Tori Amos: 'Winter'

2008-12-11T15:52:00.000-08:00

This self-sufficient black lady has shaken things up

Listen, faithful Tibetans!
I am merging with the fundamental, the ground of all that is---
physical pain and suffering are disappearing....

The son, the inner elements of my body,
is reuniting with the mother, the outer elements.
Her physical remains will disappear into earth and stone.

The compassion of the Guru has never left me;
his manifestations fill all the world and call out to welcome me.

This wild lady has done everything;
Many times have I come and gone, but now, no longer.
I am a Tibetan wife sent back to her family.
I shall now appear as the Queen, the All-good, the Dharmakaya.

This self-sufficient black lady
has shaken things up far and wide;
now the shaking will carry me away into the southwest.

I have finished with intrigues,
with the fervent cascades of schemes and deceptions;
I am winding my way into the expanse of the Dharma.

I have mourned many men of Tibet who have left me behind---
but now I am the one who will go to the land of the Buddhas.

~Yeshe Tsogyal

(Yeshe Tsogyel (or Yeshe Tsogyal) is traditionally said to have been a princess in pre-Buddhist Tibet. She was married to a king at the age of twelve, but ran away to study meditation for three years with a Buddhist master and travelled to Nepal. She later returned to Tibet to help establish Buddhism in Tibet.)

2008-12-03T16:56:00.001-08:00

Someone told me recently that the "problem" with society is that everyone feels the need to control their lives and perhaps the lives of others; the way to live with happiness is an occasional break from these constrictions. I have always been a true dichotomous thinker: either it is black or it is white. And I admit it- this way of thinking has always gotten me in trouble. While these ideas of moderation, exploring the gray areas, walking the "middle" path... is intriguing, I still feel a strong to connection to what Virginia Wolf once said:

"To enjoy freedom, if the platitude is pardonable, we have of course to control ourselves. We must not squander our powers, helplessly and ignorantly, squirting half the house in order to water a single rose-bush; we must train them, exactly and powerfully, here on the very spot."

I think freedom and happiness can be a result of control. Like yogis and martial artists and dedicated athletes. Why squander our energy? If we are compassionate with our selves, and are able to see control as a way of refining our abilities (even our ability to relax and rest!) then there is no reason to 'blame' society for the misinterpretations of our own egos.

2008-11-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

I give thanks for my Mom who loves me unconditionally and who will always be my biggest supporter, compassionate admirer and trustworthy friend. She my Mom. I love her.

I give thanks for my Dad who's heart is opening to immeasurable proportions. I am grateful for his wisdom, his time and his willingness to go with the flow.

I give thanks to my sisters for without them I would be lost. I am grateful for their consistent love, support, and creativity. I can only imagine the words to express how deeply I care for my sisters.

I am grateful for the friends that I have made in the last year.

I am so freaking grateful for my boyfriend Ryone who has opened up my heart and forced me to do a lot more work in therapy! Thank you for allowing Love to grow.

Thank you Reece for speaking from you heart and being such an amazing person. I am so proud of you for so many reasons.

I am thankful for the time it has taken me to heal; although there is much work to do, patience is my greatest teacher.

I thank the Universe for this path because it just couldn't happen any other way. May there be perseverance, love, courage, strength and trust...always.

2008-11-12T08:48:00.000-08:00

The Musk is Within the Deer

The musk is within the deer,
But he searches for it outside in the grass
instead of searching within himself.
He runs back and forth,
Wondering where the fragrance comes from.
The fragrance is nearby,
But he knows it not.

Caught by delusion, he roams about.
So do all people wander in pilgrimages
and outer observances.
If you wish to obtain your own true Home,
Then find it by looking within yourself
and dwell therein.

~Sant Dariya
(Sant Dariya emerged as a poet-saint who encouraged harmony between Hindus and Muslims. He received enlightenment at the age of 20, and began to teach a path of non-violence and love for all.)

2008-11-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

The Mind of Absolute Trust

The great way isn't difficult
for those who are unattached to their preferences.
Let go of longing and aversion,
and everything will be perfectly clear.
When you cling to a hairbreadth of distinction,
heaven and earth are set apart.
If you want to realize the truth,
don't be for or against.
The struggle between good and evil
is the primal disease of the mind.
Not grasping the deeper meaning,
you just trouble your mind's serenity.
As vast as infinite space,
it is perfect and lacks nothing.
But because you select and reject,
you can't perceive its true nature.
Don't get entangled in the world;
don't lose yourself in emptiness.
Be at peace in the oneness of things,
and all errors will disappear by themselves.

If you don't live the Tao,
you fall into assertion or denial.
Asserting that the world is real,
you are blind to its deeper reality;
denying that the world is real,
you are blind to the selflessness of all things.
The more you think about these matters,
the farther you are from the truth.
Step aside from all thinking,
and there is nowhere you can't go.
Returning to the root, you find the meaning;
chasing appearances, you lose their source.
At the moment of profound insight,
you transcend both appearance and emptiness.
Don't keep searching for the truth;
just let go of your opinions.

For the mind in harmony with the Tao,
all selfishness disappears.
With not even a trace of self-doubt,
you can trust the universe completely.
All at once you are free,
with nothing left to hold on to.
All is empty, brilliant,
perfect in its own being.
In the world of things as they are,
there is no self, no non self.
If you want to describe its essence,
the best you can say is "Not-two."
In this "Not-two" nothing is separate,
and nothing in the world is excluded.
The enlightened of all times and places
have entered into this truth.
In it there is no gain or loss;
one instant is ten thousand years.
There is no here, no there;
infinity is right before your eyes.

The tiny is as large as the vast
when objective boundaries have vanished;
the vast is as small as the tiny
when you don't have external limits.
Being is an aspect of non-being;
non-being is no different from being.
Until you understand this truth,
you won't see anything clearly.
One is all; all
are one. When you realize this,
what reason for holiness or wisdom?
The mind of absolute trust
is beyond all thought, all striving,
is perfectly at peace, for in it
there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow.

Seng-Ts'an

2008-11-05T09:06:00.001-08:00

Ho! Mesmerized by the sheer variety of perceptions, which
are like the illusory reflections of the moon in water,
Beings wander endlessly astray in samsara's vicious cycle.
In order that they may find comfort and ease in the luminosity
and all-pervading space of the true nature of their minds,
I generate the immeasurable love, compassion, joy and equanimity
of the awakened mind, the heart of Bodhicitta.

JIKMÉ LINGPA