The things that
change are not our real life.
Within us there is another body,
another beauty. It belongs to that ray of light
which never changes. We must discover how to mingle
with it and become one with that unchanging thing.
We must realize and understand this treasure
of truth. That is why we have
come to the world.
Do not look for a chance to go out.
But if necessary, going out is permitted once a month.
People in the past lived in the remote mountains and practiced
far away in the forests. Not only were they free of all worldly affairs,
but they abandoned all relationships. You should learn the heart of their
covering brilliance and obscuring traces. Now is the time for the fire
on your head to be wiped out. Is it not sad if you waste this time,
concerning yourself with secular affairs? The impermanent
is unreliable. Nobody knows where or when this
dew-like existence will drop into the grass.
Not recognizing impermanence is
truly regrettable.
Calmness
in quietude is not
real calm; when you can be calm
in the midst of activity, this is the true
state of nature. Happiness in comfort is
not real happiness; when you can be
happy in the midst of hardship,
then you see the true
potential of the
mind.
Enlightenment
is not an asexual, dispassionate,
head-in-the-clouds, nails-in-the-palms
disappearance from the game of life. It’s a
volcanic, kick-ass, erotic commitment
to love in action, coupled with
hard-headed practical
grist.
QUESTION.
Everyone has a secret agenda.
What’s yours?
ANSWER.
To show what a moral vision
would look like if it were rooted in the quest
for beauty, truth, love, pleasure, and liberation
instead of order, control, politeness,
fear, and self-denial.
Perseverance in stillness,
in both thought and deed, forms
a noble heart. The ultimate fruit of
a noble heart is complete
peace of mind.
sixth changing line
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
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