Perspective

Two birds waited for the sun to rise.

Said one, "Soon, I shall eat."

Said the other, "Already, I sing!"

'Beginner's Mind' is Not Just for Beginners

In Zen Buddhism, the notion of 'beginner's mind' - a state of receptivity - has been written about extensively.

I was wondering if there was a similar teaching in the Christian tradition, and ran across this astounding statement by Jesus:

"When, therefore, a teacher of the law has become a learner in the kingdom of Heaven, he is like a householder who can produce from his store both the new and the old." (Matthew 13:52)

Keep it Simple!

Bread feeds us. We are nourished and sustained.
Love is our bread.
Simplicity of the heart compels us to discover in our bread simple meanings to boundless love. Now is the time to discover our simplicity, our meaning, and our love.

excerpt from: The Antidote to Time, Lessons from the Dream.

Start Small!

Tibet's patron saint, Padmasambhava, said:

"Though my View is as spacious as the sky,
my actions and respect for cause and effect are as fine as grains of flour."

Start with the smallest details, and the big stuff will take care of itself.

The Eight Mundane Concerns

Four pairs of polar opposites are identified as "mundane" concerns.

One is defiled by the mundane concerns if one's motivation derives from:

Attachment to gain, or fear of loss.
Attachment to pleasure, or fear of pain.
Attachment to renown, or fear of infamy.
Attachment to praise, or fear of blame.

Source: "Essence of the Heart Sutra," His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Lynx: Wild Wanderer

It is said that the lynx, the beautiful wild cat of the vast northern boreal forest, may wander its entire life, never retracing its steps.

I find this example from nature to be a wonderful model of impermanence. Love is the ultimate wanderer, ever new yet always at home in the land that sustains it.

Let your mind be transported to the silent snowy lands of the lynx, and consider that our own spirits have a similar nature. Think of the marvels that the lynx eyes every day in its quiet refuge. What great natural wisdom it contains within...

The Dharma of Equanimity

Until we actually love our enemies,
Our love of family and friends will be quite limited.

(Actually, one of the most stunning aspects of learning to love our enemies is that we realize that many of the negative thoughts and feelings that we project on our enemies also seep into our interactions with friends and family. At first, we may excuse these things when we become aware of them because we know we love those that are closest to us; we can't possibly be seeing our loved ones in such a negative light. But if we truly practice equanimity - seeing all with an even eye - we will come to the understanding that we have barely scratched the surface of truly practicing love.)

The Blessing Call

Let us touch the light
We know shines behind the darkness between the stars.

And if not that
Then the light of the stars themselves

And if not that
Then the light of the sun in the bright day

And if not that
Then the light of the sun that glows on the moon

And if not that
Then the light of the fire around which we sing and sleep

And if not that
Then the glow of the fire on the faces of those with whom we sit

And if not that
Then the shine in the eyes of those at whom we gaze

And if not that
Then the darkness behind the glow
In the eyes of those whom we love

For in this darkness

We will touch the light
Which shines behind the darkness between the stars

         -excerpt from Sweet Unpleasant Realities.

Oceans and Seas

Every person has both a personal ocean of fear which they must master, and the collective one in which we are all forced to swim for at least a time. The two seas are connected. When we discover love, and abide in it, our personal ocean of time evaporates. This in turn diminishes the depths of the collective fearful abyss of all humanity.

Excerpt from "The Antidote to Time, Lessons from the Dream."

Flip Sides of the Same Coin

It seems to me that mastery and acceptance are very closely related.

The Spirit of Love

You might be able to scare the hell out of a person,
but you cannot scare the spirit of love into them.

Goals

There is a higher goal than enlightenment, and that is relationship.

The Christmas Feast!

Breathe, dance and celebrate this day!

A Simple Prayer

May I forget the faults of others as readily as I forget my own!

Every day is a new day!

Whatever the trials and victories of the day before, embrace the morning as a new creation.

You are a timeless mountain.
The waves lap against your shins.
A grandfather gazes lovingly at his grandchildren.
Somewhere, the sun is rising.

Witnesses to the Unknowable

It is necessary to actually try to pierce the veil of the unknowable before it can take on the spacious quality with which it can illumine and inform all activities of the mind.

Wisdom Mind

Each one of us is a universe of thoughts, feelings, expectations and intentions.  We barely know this about ourselves, let alone each other.  We are most at home when we sense a fundamental equality with all beings.  Draw near to the great I AM!  Breathing and dancing, we will open the gates to love and be set free.

The Second Circle is Earth

A Canticle to the Second Circle:  The Second Circle is Earth

Touched as chosen, dancing breath upon the Earth.
All Earth in Unique Time.
To Earth's circle we are delivered,
Earth born we are.
Earth's circle nourishes our strengths.
Earth circle reveals weakness,
Weakness that Spirit dedicates to strength.
Earth carries us to knowledge of others.
Earth we have been.
What we will be, Earth can taste.
Rejoicing Earth in what we are.
Sentient Earth.
Blessed Earth.
Earth hears when heard by us.
Earth has touched what we now feel.
In ancient witness,
Earth shares.
Earth releases.
Earth embraces.
Earth prepares.
Earth receives.
Earth restores.
Earth upholds.
Blessing upon blessing.
Sacred home to all humankind.
All humankind,
Lie down upon dust.
By water be covered over.
By fiery depths be consumed.
By elemental winds be scattered.
By breath,
By dance,
Know Earth.

- from Sweet Unpleasant Realities -

Be Multilingual in the Languages of the Spirit

The future belongs to those who communicate in a language of the heart.

There Is Only One

"Knowing one way thoroughly, you accomplish them all."
- Traditional Buddhist saying -

The Palimpsest

Anyone who traverses the same ground repeatedly will become intimately familiar with its features.

If one has a practice that leans towards freedom, and one explores it thoroughly, then that which one has discovered will become a type of "ground" that can become the foundation of all actions.

In the present moment, the ground need only be explored once to have been explored thoroughly.  Time to move on.

Mindful repetition (such as chanting) can be very helpful though when stuck in a groove of ego or self.

The goal is to be free of any concept of self that impairs the free expression of truth and compassion.

Keyword: free

Side Effects

We are harrowed and hallowed by the sufferings of our loved ones.
We are never quite the same after standing at the side of someone who is sick.
We touch our weaknesses, and find our strengths...

True Strength

Recognizing your own weakness is a form of strength.

Simplicity in Motion

It could be stated that enlightenment is nothing more, or less, than the relentless application of compassion to the changing nature of existence.

Excerpt from "The Antidote to Time, Lessons from the Dream."

Altruism and Action

When we see a person in any type of pain, we should react in as visceral and enlightened a fashion as if we had just witnessed them being struck in the face with a brick.  If our minds are not so dulled as to be sleeping, our response will be immediate.  We will seek to reach out to them with a solidity that can only derive from the innate compassionate fire of love.  In short, we will essentially feel that we had been struck.