The soul
must suffer secrets
that cannot be said — public
humiliation, people pointing
with contempt. While you
are a human being,
stay inside this
scorn.
Work
there, patiently, with
the others. When you’re
pure spirit, quickly
leave.
look it in the eye
Buddhism
advises you not to implant
feelings that you don’t really have or avoid
feelings that you do have. If you are miserable you
are miserable; that is the reality, that is what is happening,
so confront that. Look it square in the eye without flinching.
When you are having a bad time, examine that experience,
observe it mindfully, study the phenomenon and learn
its mechanics. The way out of a trap is to study the
trap itself, learn how it is built. You do this by
taking the thing apart piece by piece.
The trap can’t trap you if it has
been taken to pieces.
The result is
freedom.
what you should know to be a poet
all you
can know about animals
as persons. the names of trees and flowers
and weeds. the names of stars and the movements
of planets and the moon. your own six senses,
with a watchful elegant mind. at least
one kind of traditional magic:
divination, astrology, the
book of changes,
the tarot;
dreams.
the illusory demons
and the illusory shining gods.
kiss the ass of the devil and eat shit;
fuck his horny barbed cock, fuck
the hag, and all the celestial
angels and maidens
perfum’d and
golden–
& then
love the human:
wives husbands and friends
children’s games, comic books, bubble-gum,
the weirdness of television and advertising.
work long, dry hours of dull work
swallowed and accepted and
lived with and finally
lovd. exhaustion,
hunger,
rest.
the wild
freedom of the dance, extasy
silent solitary illumination, entasy
real danger. gambles and
the edge of
death.
fame & fortune are shallow & injurious
People yearn
for fame and fortune,
but this is like aching to taste the
point of a weapon. These are shallow,
confusing, empty of virtue — yet
people become fixed on them
and lose their way
forever.
Look closely
at things that shine
without substance. Fame
enflames one’s idea of self and
separates one from humanity. Touched
by it, people grasp desperately to
get and keep it. What is the
wisdom, though,
in resisting
change?
Fortune
is a lover similarly
impossible to satisfy.
Constantly demanding energy
and attention, fencing off people’s
hearts, it returns less and less to
the soul. Yet common people
contort themselves
into cripples
chasing
it.
See
the injury
built into these,
and let them
go by.
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go into the desert at night
Do you
imagine the universe
is agitated? Go into the desert
at night and look out at the stars.
This practice should answer
the question.
The superior
person settles her mind as
the universe settles the stars in the
sky. By connecting her mind with the
subtle origin, she calms it. Once
calmed, it naturally expands,
and ultimately her mind
becomes as vast and
immeasurable as
the night
sky.
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Hua hu Ching, and Art of War for
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