A

sage is subtle,

intuitive, penetrating,

profound. His depths

are mysterious and

unfathomable.

The best one

can do is describe his appearance:

he is as alert as a person crossing a winter

stream; as circumspect as a person with neighbors

on all four sides; as respectful as a thoughtful

guest; as yielding as melting ice;

as simple as uncarved wood;

as open as a valley;

as chaotic as

a muddy

torrent.

Why “chaotic

as a muddy torrent”?

Because clarity is learned by

being patient in the heart of chaos.

Tolerating disarray, remaining at rest,

gradually one learns to allow muddy

water to settle and proper

responses to reveal

themselves…

from the Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 15

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photo: jeremy koreski

 Those

who wish to

embody the Tao

should embrace all things.

To embrace all things means first

that one holds no anger or resistance

toward any idea or thing, living  or

dead, formed or formless.

Acceptance is the very

essence of the

Tao.

To embrace

all things means also that one

rids oneself of any concept of separation;

male and female,  self and other, life

and death. Division is contrary

to the nature  of

the Tao.

Foregoing

antagonism and separation,

one enters into the harmonious

oneness of all

things.

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 3

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Lord,

make me an

instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt,

faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness,

light; Where there is sadness, joy, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and

it is in dying that we are

born to Eternal

Life.

Saint Francis

Inside,

the strength of simplicity

and self-knowledge. Outside, the

beauty of acceptance

and gentleness.

This

hexagram

encourages you to

cultivate a quality of grace

in your relationships and in your

general way of being. In this way you gain

a power greater than any other to open a way

through obstruction in your dealings with

others. Good fortune is yours if you

concentrate on bringing more

grace to your thoughts

and actions

now.

It is

human nature

to want to use forceful ways

to try to get what we want from others

and from life. Our egos encourage us to act

aggressively, to speak boldly, to intimidate others,

to “buffalo” our way through difficult situations.

This false power can be momentarily satisfying

to our ego, and temporary victories can be

won in this way, but genuine power

and lasting progress come from

a different kind of strength

altogether.

They

come from inner

strength, which is characterized

by a steadfast devotion to the principles

of humility, simplicity, equanimity,

and acceptance…

…By

practicing quiet

strength within and gentle

acceptance without, you acquire

a grace that dissolves

all barriers to

progress.

The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 22, Pi (Grace)

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 If you

want to cultivate

the Way and attain realization,

first get rid of warped behaviors. With

external affairs cut off so that there is nothing

to get on your mind, then sit straight and gaze inwardly

with accurate awareness. As soon as you notice

a thought arise, immediately extinguish it;

arrest thoughts as they arise, in

order to make your mind

peaceful and

quiet.

Next,

even though you

may not obviously have

any obsessions, still floating,

wandering, random thoughts are also

to be extinguished. Work diligently day and

night, never giving up for a moment; but only extinguish

the stirring mind, do not extinguish the shining mind.

Disappear into the empty mind; do not disappear

into the possessive mind. Do not dwell

on any thing and the

mind will be

stable.

This

method is mysterious,

with benefits that are very profound.

Unless you already have affinity for the Way

and have undivided faith in it,

you cannot truly

appreciate

it.

Even

if you know how

to recite the texts, you still have

to discern reality from artificiality. Why?

Sound and form dim the mind, falsehoods fool the ears;

personality and ego become second nature, the

disease of self-affirmation is deep-seated.

When the mind is separated from

the Way, the principle is hard

to comprehend.

If you

wish to return to

the supreme Way, have

deep faith and first accept

three precepts. If you practice in

accord with these three precepts

consistently from beginning to

end, then you will attain

the true Way. The three

precepts are:

1. simplifying involvements

2. not craving anything

3. quieting the mind

If you

diligently practice

these three precepts without

flagging, then even if you

have no mind to seek

the Way the Way

will come of

itself.

 
Treatise on Sitting Forgetting

Thinking

and talking

about the Integral Way

are not the same as practicing it.

Who ever became a good rider

by talking about

horses?

If you wish

to embody the Tao,

stop chattering and start practicing.

Relax your body and quiet your senses.

Return your mind to its original clarity.

Forget about being separated

from others and from the

Divine Source.

As you

return to

the Oneness, don’t

think of it or be in awe of it.

This is just another way of separating

from it. Simply merge into

truth, and allow it

to surround

you.

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 49

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Venture

with love and

you win the battle.

Defend with love and you are

invulnerable. Heaven’s

secret is motherly

love.

from the Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 67

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Words

can never convey

the beauty of a tree; to understand it,

you must see it with your own eyes. Language cannot capture

the melody of a song; to understand it, you must hear it

with your own ears. So it is with the Tao: the only

way to understand it is to directly

experience it.

The subtle truth

of the universe is unsayable

and unthinkable. Therefore the highest teachings

are wordless. My own words are not the medicine, but a prescription;

not the destination, but a map to help you reach it. When you get there, quiet

your mind and close your mouth. Don’t analyze the Tao. Strive

instead to live it: silently, undividedly,

with your whole harmonious

being.

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 30

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Cling to the power of higher truth.

It is

in the nature of

being human that we are

dependent in many ways: dependent

on water, air, and food for nourishment;

dependent on shelter for warmth and protection;

dependent on each other for family life and friendship.

We are also spiritually dependent: when challenges

arise, each of us must have some place

to turn for guidance and

support.

The image

of the hexagram Li is that

of fire clinging to the wood that it burns.

Without a supply of fuel, there can be no fire.

Likewise, a person without a source of

spiritual sustenance cannot

give off light in dark and

challenging

times.

Difficult situations

tempt us to doubt the power

of humility, acceptance, and correct behavior.

We long to abandon our inner balance and lash out.

It is just at such moments that it is most important to cling

to what we know to be good and true and correct —

like fire clings to the log it burns. By doing

this we obtain the aid of the

Higher Power.

You are

advised to cling to proper

principles now. Quietly, willingly,

joyfully cling to what is superior in yourself;

cling to the possibility of a positive outcome in the situation

that faces you, no matter how unlikely it may seem;

cling to the good in others, even when it is

obscured by inferior influences; and

cling to the power of the Deity to

deliver truth where it

is needed.

Trying times

bring us the gift of showing

where our devotion to proper principles

ends. Deepen that devotion now, cling to truth

and acceptance and independence,

and you will meet with

success.

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes:

Hexagram 30, Li (The Clinging, Fire)

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Tao

doesn’t do

anything, yet it

leaves nothing

undone.

If you

abide by it,

everything in existence

will transform itself. When, in

the process of self-transformation,

desires are aroused, calm

them with nameless

simplicity.

When

desires are dissolved

in the primal presence, peace and

harmony naturally occur,

and the world orders

itself.

from fhe Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 37

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I don’t know what

sort of a God we have been talking about.
The caller calls in a loud voice to the Holy One at dusk.
Why? Surely the Holy One is not deaf.
He hears the delicate anklets that

ring on the feet of an insect

as it walks.

  
Go over and over

your beads, paint weird designs on your forehead,
wear your hair matted, long, and ostentatious, 
but when deep inside you there is a

loaded gun,  how can you

have God?

 
Kabir

An

unavoidable time of

adversity. Quiet strength

insures a later

success.

It is a time of oppression and exhaustion. None of us escapes such moments; they are simply a part of living. By meeting them in the correct spirit and cheerfully bending instead of breaking, you weather the adversity and meet with success at a later time.

Inferior elements, either in one’s self, another, or the larger world, interfere now to restrain the superior person. It is foolish to fight against the restraint; success is simply not possible now. Rid yourself of the desire to progress and return to neutrality and acceptance…

By opening your mind, quieting your heart, and calmly holding to proper principles, you make it possible for the Creative to eliminate the oppression that currently exists.

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 47, K’un / Oppression / Exhaustion

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No teacher 

or master is in possession 

of your enlightenment. Ultimately 

only you can free yourself. Just shed your 

delusions like a sweaty shirt and slip into the 

stream of zen and tao, empty minded, 

quiet hearted, at rest in the midst 

of everything and at peace 

with all that

occurs.

Polish yourself 

on your own over and over 

until you disappear, and you’ll wake up 

right where you are. You’ll see straight 

through the snares of the world and

pass freely into complete 

realization.

from

the forthcoming

Wei wu Wei

Ching

Heaviness is

the root of lightness.

Tranquility is the master

of agitation.

This

is why the sage

travels all day without

ever losing sight of her baggage.

She may live in a glorious palace,

but she isn’t attached to

its pleasures.

Why

should the lord

of ten thousand chariots 

behave lightly in

the world?

One who

acts lightly loses her

foundation. One who becomes

agitated sacrifices her

mastery.

The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 26

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photo of sinead o’connor: andrew catlin

Turning

an object and turning

the mind is rejected by the great sage.

Explaining the mind and explaining true nature

is not agreeable to buddha ancestors. Seeing into mind and

seeing into true nature is the activity of people outside the way.

Set words and phrases are not the words of liberation. There

is something free from all of these understandings:

“Green mountains are always walking,” and

“Eastern mountains travel on water.”

You should study this

in detail.

Dogen

To be

a dervish means

to be a lump of sifted earth

with a little water sprinkled on top.

It means to be something that neither

harms the soles of the feet nor

leaves a trail of dust

behind.

Ansari

To the

ordinary person,

the body of humanity seems vast.

In truth, it is neither bigger nor smaller than

anything else. To the ordinary person, there are others

whose awareness needs raising. In truth, there is no self, and no

other. To the ordinary person, the temple is sacred and

the field is not. This, too, is a dualism

which runs counter to

the truth.

Those who

are highly evolved

maintain an undiscriminating

perception. Seeing everything, labeling

nothing, they maintain their awareness

of the Great Oneness. Thus

they are supported

by it.

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 19

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Look

at this world.

Jesus used to flee from

this world like a mouse from a cat.

A man should be a seven-headed

lion – he should lose it all, not

worry, and sacrifice

everything.

In that

caravanseri there

was one of those merchants —

seventy bales of silk, servants and

merchant girls. He did

not know who had

created

him.

Shams