What lies
outside my mind
is of no concern to it.
If you could learn this lesson,
you’d be standing straight.
You can come back
to life.
Author Archives → Brian
a darkness as much of the womb as the grave
Anything could happen,
and whether we act or not has everything
to do with it. Though there is no lottery ticket for the lazy
and the detached, for the engaged there is a tremendous gamble
for the highest stakes right now. I say this to you not because I haven’t
noticed that this country has strayed close to destroying itself and everything
it once stood for, in pursuit of empire in the world and the eradication of democracy
at home, that our civilization is close to destroying the very nature on which we
depend—the oceans, the atmosphere, the uncounted species of plant and
insect and bird. I say it because I have noticed: wars will break out,
the planet will heat up, species will die out, but how many,
how hot, and what survives depends on whether
we act. The future is dark, with a
darkness as much of
the womb as the
grave.
Rebecca Solnit
a joy free of any impulse to act
Flowers,
sesame seed, bowls of
fresh water, a tuft of kusa-grass,
all this altar paraphernalia is not needed
by someone who takes the teacher’s
words in and honestly
lives them.
Full of longing
in meditation, one sinks into
a joy that is free of any impulse to act
and will not enter a human
birth again.
this heart sanctuary does exist
The place
that Solomon made
to worship in, called the Far Mosque,
is not built of earth and water and stone,
but of intention and wisdom and
mystical conversation and
compassionate
action.
Every
part of it is intelligent
and responsive to every other.
The carpet bows to the broom. The door
knocker and the door swing together
like musicians. This heart sanctuary
does exist, though it cannot
be described.
Solomon
goes there every morning
and gives guidance with words,
with musical harmonies, and in actions,
which are the deepest teaching. A prince
is just a conceit, until he does
something with his
generosity.
Hua hu Ching ☯️ Chapter 78
There are
many partial religions,
and then there is the Integral Way.
Partial religions are desperate, clever, human
inventions; the Integral Way is a deep expression of the pure,
whole, universal mind. Partial religions rely on the hypnotic manipulation
of undeveloped minds; the Integral Way is founded on the free
transmission of the plain, natural, immutable truth.
It is a total reality, not an
occult practice.
The Integral Way
eschews conceptual fanaticism,
extravagant living, fancy food, violent music.
They spoil the serenity of one’s mind and obstruct one’s
spiritual development. Renouncing what is fashionable and embracing
what is plain, honest, and virtuous, the Integral Way returns you
to the subtle essence of life. Adopt its practices and you
will become like they are: honest,
simple, true, virtuous,
whole.
You see,
in partial pursuits,
one’s transformation is always
partial as well. But in integral self-cultivation,
it is possible to achieve a complete metamorphosis,
to transcend your emotional and biological
limitations and evolve to
a higher state of
being.
By staying
out of the shadows and
following this simple path, you become
extraordinary, unfathomable, a being of profound
cosmic subtlety. You outlive time and space
by realizing the subtle truth
of the universe.
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