A hand
shifts our birdcages around.
Some are brought closer. Some move
apart. Do not try to reason it out.
Be conscious of who draws
you and who
not.
A hand
shifts our birdcages around.
Some are brought closer. Some move
apart. Do not try to reason it out.
Be conscious of who draws
you and who
not.
Those
who wish to use
Tao to influence others
don’t rely on force or weapons
or military strategies. Force rebounds.
Weapons turn on their wielders.
Battles are inevitably
followed by
famines.
Just do
what needs to be done,
and then stop. Attain your purpose,
but don’t press your advantage. Be resolute,
but don’t force. Succeed, but don’t
crow. Accomplish, but don’t
overpower.
Overdoing
things invites decay,
and this is against Tao.
Whatever is against
Tao soon ceases
to be.
from The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,
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The wondrous path
of the enlightened ones is straight
and direct. They just pointed directly to
the human mind so we would work
to see its true nature and achieve
enlightenment.
This mind-source
is originally empty and peaceful,
clear and wondrous, and free from the slightest
obstruction. But we screen it off with false thoughts
and give rise to defilements and blockages in this
unobstructed one. We turn our backs on the
fundamental and pursue the trivial
and foolishly revolve on the
cycle of routine.
If you
have great capacity,
you won’t seek outside anymore.
Right where you stand you will come forth in
independent realization. When the transitory blinders
of false perception have been dissolved away, the
original correct perception is complete and
wondrous. This is called the identity
of mind and buddha.
From this,
once realized, it is realized
forever. It is like the bottom falling out of a
bucket: you open through and merge with the Way,
and there is nothing occupying your mind.
Beholding the essence, pure and still,
you receive the use of it and
have no more
doubts.
Mentally repeat,
‘Let all beings be happy;
let all beings be peaceful; let all
beings be blissful.’ So do to the east,
south, north and west. The more you do
that the better you will feel yourself. You will
find at last that the easiest way to make ourselves
healthy is to see that others are healthy, and the
easiest way to make ourselves happy is to see
that others are happy. After doing that,
those who believe in God should pray—
not for money, not for health, nor
for heaven; pray for knowledge
and light; every other
prayer is selfish.
Life is given.
Nothing is earned, so learn
to serve others, not your own desire
and greed and ego. They steal your energies,
whereas devotion builds your strength
and protects the intelligent
flame that leads to the
truth within.