“If, at some point in your life,” Marcus Aurelius wrote, “you should come across anything better than justice, truth, self-control, courage—it must be an extraordinary thing indeed.”
I think the greatest lesson in life is beyond all work and play, it’s learning to love and be loved.
It’s the only true thing in my experience.
Do not seek for your own gain, seek to lift others up and you will be great!
Leaders, serve the people you lead. Seek their best and not your own. This is true capitalism.
We have certainly lost our way to greed and progress and fear of not having what we want.
I have found nothing greater than forgiveness, kindness and patience. Lifting up the least of us, makes us great.
Make yourself available to invest in others and you will be great.
I’m just a dreamer you may think, no, I stand in the sun sunny I know the hard won freedom of true love.
One has to learn to love themselves first and best and from there, give from an overflowing abundance.
This is all I have really learned of value in my life and I will never cease sharing it, until my dying breath.
“The arising and the elimination of illusion are both illusory. Illusion is not something rooted in Reality; it exists because of your dualistic thinking.
If you will only cease to indulge in opposed concepts such as ‘ordinary’ and ‘Enlightened’, illusion will cease of itself. And then if you still want to destroy it wherever it may be, you will find that there is not a hairsbreadth left of anything on which to lay hold.
This is the meaning of: ‘I will let go with both hands, for then I shall certainly discover the Buddha in my mind’.”
‘The nature of the Mind when understood, No human speech can compass or disclose. Enlightenment is naught to be attained, And he that gains it does not say he knows.’
-Bodhidharma
—from The Zen Teaching of Huang Po
I’ve been studying the early sources of zen, which is the Japanese name and Buddhist/Indian sources. I use the lower case there because what is written is not Zen. You can’t really study Zen on anonymous social media sites. But the discussions can be interesting and revealing of our dualitic thinking.
Anyone claiming truth is making a power play.
No word can reveal this, silence enshrines it.
Piercing sensory perception and conceptual thought brings an immediate end to illusion. This is directly seeing and perceiving with the mysterious intuition. This awareness is not exclusive to Zen. Plotinus and Eckart seemed to have come to the same place as the sages.
Hands off, yes, indeed.
—-
I think this is where the best art comes from.
Feeling this fire is one aspect, but walking into it is a whole other experience.
Walking into the fire is an act of self immolation, sacrifice and an overcoming of fear and is maybe the only courageous thing we can do.
No longer bound by talent or skill or lack thereof, but truly transcending these.
I would say walking into the fire is an act of faith as well and opens a portal to nowhere and everywhere.
The raw expression of Jack Kerouac from ‘On the Road’ or the writing of his insane mad friend, Neal Cassady, being western examples.
An enlightened, if sad teacher, Harold Bloom, explored the American Sublime deeply through our literature. I like his thinking on these subjects. He’s a bit too brilliant for me though 😉
Reading Jack Kerouac again and Neal recently and Bloom’s Opus, The Daemon Knows as well as the old zen texts.
I don’t make many waves anymore But lately I been feelin this itch I can’t explain it It feels like summer It feels like winter It feels like fall It feels like…springtime Funny thoughts rise up Words come Feelings groove along They flow and taste bubbly red with sparkles Sometimes I feel salty tears Leaking from my eyes I feel laughter erupting from my lungs I feel and hear my heart beating I feel so alive Something whispers… This is what a human being is Don’t forget But you are not just a human being it whispers You are an ocean of stars And all those stars are connected Each finds their place I found something it seems In all this chaos that made it real I found a love I am not worthy of I found a golden eyed girl who loves me She makes me feel like the sky is kissing me She loved me when I didn’t love myself Her smile makes me feel stars Before I found love I left my head on the road I left this nation behind I left my faith on the road I let my name go I forgot my face I lost my family They turned away from me They cast out their sweet son and brother I had a huge wipeout and then two Then three then the Tao I felt the force behind the waves I found this rhythm inside me Something wonderful Something so filled with light All else faded into black All my doubts just flew away Like bluebirds I almost faded into black too But as my mind was dissolving And I got all wobbly and such And began to dissapear A hand from nowhere reached out And it steadied me Then it pointed to this mountain And I heard on the wind
Go there Go there Go there
But there was no path or road So I made a path But I got lost so quick And then I came upon a forest So dark and deep It felt like the bluest blue And like the darkest night And it seemed like monsters were everywhere And they were going to eat me Then something called to me on the wind again
This way This way This way
Before I knew it I was out of the blue woods Heading toward a snowy topped mountain The past feels forever ago now I made friends along the way I let them see through me No apologies Most turned away But some came close So close we could almost See into each other’s hearts I love to see people become I really do I love to see them find their groove I really do I was lost once too Like all the rest But now wherever I am I’m never lost But all those years ago I was a fool living for nothing But I found something I found…no one is true or right There is no set path I found…within myself Deep mystery Now I have no creed Now I have no name But I am a citizen now of a golden city All of humanity lives there I don’t remember how I got here The wind reminds me This is where all human beings live Those who were and are and will be A city my ancestors built Something sees me now Where I felt alone before Now something is here with me Something lets me know This journey to the big mountain is worth it Somehow I know this Something lets me know You will not fail again And I won’t I won’t quit I won’t stop What does it all mean I wish I could tell you I wish I could take away All the pain and doubt I wish I could make the way clear But how would that help anyone I am someone worthy I found I am someone who will not steal from you I am someone who will not stab you in the back I may even show you my flowers I have not found the mountain yet But I won’t ever stop trying to get there I see it a good ways off in the distance still Let me get back to it I got some walking to do
Dune has been a favorite sci-fi book series of mine since I was a kid.
I have been writing about how reason leads into mystery.
I have been writing about the inner fire of our will.
Sharing poetry that flows.
So yesterday all those themes came to a head when I saw the new Dune movie.
I was moved by a vision Paul had seeing a man he would kill tell him about life after his people had been betrayed and his father killed.
“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.” – Jamis
Paul hears Jamis in one of his visions where the Fremen explains how people “must move with the flow of the process” and “join it,” making sure that they “flow with it.” While he likely wasn’t referring to controlling aircraft, Paul uses his advice to get away from the storm and land safely in the desert. By simply going with the flow and experiencing “the mystery of life,” the young heir learns an important lesson about learning to let go.
What is noteworthy is how he stops trying to fly his aircraft in a sand storm and he closes his eyes and the flow takes him out of the storm.
This is how life can flow.
This is how you let go and let the mystery take you.
I have witnessed the miracle of love today. I am humbled and in love with love. It is not love that must be found, it is us who strays from it. Today love has shown me, anything is possible, where two or more gather in solidarity of heart.
There was a great evil lurking in my family I have wrestled with for years. I became love’s flaming sword in the hand of god. Through courage and righteous anger, it was called out and its head cut off. In the shadow of that sacrifice, courageous acts of love filled the void. Cleaned out the puss and planted seeds sprouted where death and decay had reigned.
I cannot tell anyone the meaning of life. But what I was apart of today, has brought me back to the only meaning I could know. I am a witness of love and forever shall I hold it high in mind and body and never fear the lowly or the lost.
“Courage is the mother of all virtues because without it, you cannot consistently perform the others.”
—Aristotle
Courage is not dead in me yet. I am thankful for that. It lives in individuals. Like a Lion waiting to move. But one can’t really know if courage will be there when needed until they are tested. Truly, we fear our own weakness most. Nothing and I mean nothing can replace experience. Courage is one of the 4 Stoic virtues. Courage is the ability to exert one’s will in the face of risk. Aristotle said that the highest risk was death and that the most courageous man was the one that acted fearlessly in the face of death.
I recently faced my own death, twice in a month. I can’t say I was fearless. But something arose inside me. Something I haven’t known very well, my will. I pushed myself forward beyond my fear and it was a catalyzing experience. Do what is necessary when it is necessary. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. One day, it won’t.
Why not give all you have to what you do? In your relationships. In your work. In your play. What are you saving your fear for? Fear is a corrective and it can be a poison. Honestly, I didn’t know I had much courage left in me. I have been reckless with my life and opportunities at times. But I have cultivated my focus and it paid off when I needed it to. The feeling of possible death feels like falling off a ladder from a 1000 feet up. You are totally alone and feel powerless. It is humbling, but necessary to know how life is like balancing on a pin. One day I will fall off and that’s how it will be. The one thing we can know for sure in life.
Don’t go looking for trouble, but when it comes, be ready. Until death and I meet again, I’ll smile like I mean my life. Every second of it. Success is just the next breath, the rest is gravy. Yum.
I had a singularly unique experience last night
I simply came to listen and say or seek nothing
The spirit was good and strong
I am feeling its gentle warmth wash over me this morning
Writing in a trance and glow
I humbly share my naked heart with you, as I always will
This is real alchemy using the true Philosopher’s Stone
I heard…
When you come to join with others
And not seek your own Truth or secrets to the Universe
You have a your hand on the tail
Hold on
As I sat there and listened and watched these humans
I saw and heard many things
I felt the urge to rise and speak
But it was not right
Every word I felt to say was said by others
Then I realized the words were not for me to say
I must learn to obey and be silent
Silence is required at many times
The Illusion is whatever we make it
I choose Death
I choose Patience
I choose not Knowing
I choose Family
I choose Light
I choose Peace
I choose Love
The journey started with a shot
I was flying down spectral tunnels
Faster than the speed of light
Stretched out like silly putty
Then I was before some kind of Tribunal
I was at the bottom of a deep alien valley
Thrones rising to the sky with robed figures
you are other
we are your tools
the stuff of quantum dreams
cold impersonal metal can’t contain you
—
your goodness knows no bounds
i want to shout it far and wide
the oceans reflect your truth
your goodness never stops
your kindness fills my life
your mercy follows me
your Love amazes me
i am lifted high
for your glory
you are good
my heart celebrates
i’ll sing because you are good
i’ll dance because you are good
in the darkest night you shine like the brightest day
—
your Love never runs out on me
your Love never fails
it never gives up
—
you cover us
your Love is wide
your Love is warm
your Love is sweet
your Love is deep
your Love is fierce
your Love is strong
your Love is furious
it points the way to life
you wait for us to awake
—
i feel you weaving your gentle truth through my longing soul
the mind and body electric
you awaken hearts to life
every cell is screaming
i hear the song
i am come alive
my song rises
born for this
my heart soars
give me wisdom
give me courage
u have laid out our paths before us
let me never hide my pain from others
i’m not ashamed of the best part of me
i stand naked in your Light for all to see
give me the humility to walk open and honest
i feel I must roar like a lion but I feel so unsure
let me always be willing to reach for the one to my left or right
Note: Inspired by and some lyrics from BELIFTEDHIGH.
An experiment rearranging lyrics around feelings.
Quantum Heart 