The words are spoken in silenceHeard only in the heartDo not doubt what they revealMore real than any heard in mindTrust the truth of what is known beyond knowingAnd do not be misled by thoughtThat seeks to hold illusionBe thou thus ignited With what has always burnedDeep Deep
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Understanding that we do not know is wisdomBelieving that we know the unknowable is sufferingFirst year law students often arrive expecting that they are going to be told all the answers to legal questions. After a few weeks of hearing professors say, “That depends on …,” they begin to suspect that the professors know the
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 71 Read More »
This is a beautiful chapter that acknowledges how elusive something so simple can be.My words are very easy to knowVery easy to put into practiceYet under heaven no one is able to know themNo one can put them into practiceWhen people ask me to explain Tao to them, or ask me what they need to
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I’ve always loved this story: As Buddha was walking down the road, someone approached from the other direction. This person was awed by the radiance shining from Buddha. Excuse me, but are you a god?No.Are you a king?No. Are you a wizard?No.Well, then what are you?I am awake. That story has always inspired me. When I think
Weaponized Enlightenment Read More »
A meditation teacher was describing two approaches to attaining enlightenment. One, he said, is like showing someone a picture of a cake and telling them “Go make this.” The other is like giving someone a recipe. I understood what he meant. He was suggesting that the instructions in the recipe would be more helpful than
As already noted by many people, 20/20 represents perfect vision, making 2020 the year of perfect vision. I love that. This year is an invitation to look with our inner sight, to see things not as we wish them to be, or imagine them to be, but as they are. To see through the stories,
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Darkness darkness, be my pillow Take my head and let me sleepIn the coolness of your shadowIn the silence of your dreamDarkness darkness, hide my yearningFor the things that cannot beKeep my mind from constant turning Towards the things I cannot see ~Stephen Stills Today is the first day of winter, the season we associate with
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The title to this post is more “religious” sounding than my usual writing. Yet this phrase came to me up at the cabin this last weekend and it has persistently stayed with me. So I, in turn, have persistently stayed with it! I meditated and asked this phrase to reveal to me its message. And
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As I explained in Part 1, this unusually long chapter resembles a string of proverbs. Picking up from the earlier post, here are some key passages from the rest of the chapter. Action leads to failureGrasping leads to lossThus the sage refrains from action and does not failRefrains from grasping and does not lose Once
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 64 (Part 2) Read More »
They paved paradiseAnd put up a parking lot~Joni Mitchell Every other weekend, I leave my urban home to spend a few days at my forest cabin. Two weeks ago, I missed my usual weekend because I was sick. So when I went this last weekend I had been four weeks away. I always savor the
Tao is the honored source of all creationThe awakened person treasures itThe unenlightened are protected by it This chapter is an ode to the natural beauty and humble majesty of Tao. Similar to the Bible’s observation that the sun shines and the rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, here we are told
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The wonders of this existenceOpen your heart with the pain of lossEach moment comes and then is goneIts leaving is feltIts loss is mournedEven as we welcome the next precious momentLife and death in each breathArms open wide
I’m reading a book titled “What is Mysticism” by Jon Mundy. Yesterday I read this passage: Mostly, it’s a profound inner knowing and an awareness of the interconnectedness of all things – a sense that everything is perfect just the way it is. When I read it, I got chills because I was blessed to
Everything – No Matter What – Is Perfect Read More »
I woke up this morning feeling so grateful, grateful for everything. Really, everything. If you follow this blog, then you know I’ve been through some challenging times in the last year and a half, and especially in the last few months. I became sorrow’s apprentice and learned to grieve (still learning). Along the way, amazing
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Find the cost of freedomBuried in the groundMother Earth will swallow youLay your body down ~Stephen Stills For the last few days, I have awoken humming this refrain. It replays throughout the day and rocks me to sleep. Although it was written about war, it sings to my soul about internal war, the one
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This chapter highlights the folly of thinking that we know what’s good or bad, or that we can control things outside ourselves. It begins with an observation about government. When government is unobtrusivePeople are wholesome and pureWhen government is oppressivePeople are restless and contentious The Tao Te Ching’s passages on government are consistent with the
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Someone I once knew used to say that his prayer was “whatever it takes.” What he meant was that he would do anything in order to open his heart ever wider to Love, to surrender ever more unreservedly to the Beloved, to fly ever more fearlessly into the all consuming fire of the Heart. I
When I’m at my cabin, I walk my dog off leash, as do many folks who have cabins nearby. When approaching other people, whether they have dogs or not, I call my dog to heel so that she won’t bother them. If the other people have a dog, I clip my dog’s leash on for
Questioning Assumptions Read More »
I went to a presentation recently that purported to be informational. And it was. However, as the presentation began, I realized that the information was being offered in the context of a sales pitch. The “product” would benefit my life in grand ways. It was unique and far superior to anything in the same category,
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I began this year thinking of it as the year of the heart. Heart energy had exploded open in my soul. I was aflame for the Beloved. It was exciting, but hard to sustain. Fire, after all, consumes. In martial arts we use the wisdom of the Chinese five element practice, which associates elements with