the lame goat finds herself in front

stefano zocca

 

Thought of worldly things

is an enemy to the sweetness of spiritual

consciousness. Silence your thoughts. Bewilder

yourself with God. Your mind will fall away

and your heart will open.

 

Forwardness in worldly

ways is backwardness in reality.

When the herd turns back toward God,

its leaders end up in the rear! The lame goat

that was hindmost finds herself in front, and the

ones who worried about her are ecstatic now.

How do saints and prophets get to

be  that way? By breaking

their own legs.

 

They make themselves

lame by renouncing expertise in

the ways of the world. Understanding that

it’s not the way home, they wash their hearts clean

of such knowledge. If you want to reach heaven,

follow the branches that lead to that root.  

Be the lame goat here, and

lead the herd home.

 

Jalal al-Din Rumi

 

grasping at objects

all be gone tomorrow

 

Repeatedly undergoing

birth and death is just due to grasping

at objects. When we reflect back on the mind that

grasps at objects, we see that the real identity of mind

is originally pure. Within this purity, grasping mind

does not exist. Within nirvana, fundamentally

there are no thoughts moving; the

movement is ever still. Being

still, there is no

seeking.

 

Records of the Lanka

 

the search for happiness

grace

 

The search

for happiness is not

about looking at life through

rose-colored glasses or blinding oneself

to the pain and imperfections of the world.

Nor is happiness a state of exultation

to be perpetuated at all costs; it is

the purging of mental toxins,

such as hatred and

obsession.

 

Matthieu Ricard

insight is a function of the spirit

papa

 

Intellectual

knowledge exists in

and of the brain. Because the brain is

part of the body, which must one day expire,

this collection of facts, however large

and impressive, will expire

as well.

 

Insight,

however, is a function of

the spirit. Because your spirit follows

you through cycle after cycle of life, death,

and rebirth, you have the opportunity of cultivating

insight in an ongoing fashion. Refined over time,

insight becomes pure, constant, and

unwavering. This is the beginning

of immortality.

 

from Hua hu Ching, Chapter 35

 

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