There is nothing I dislike.
you are ladybirds and the smell of a garden
You should expect grace,
that which makes life more than
manageable, but you look elsewhere,
wanting some delight other
than that.
Your conscious being,
with what you’ve been given,
should be like a beautifully laid-out park
with wildflowers and cultivated wonders,
a swift stream with places to sit
and rest beside it.
When a grieving person
sees you, he or see should recognize a
refuge, refreshment, a generous house where
one need not bring bread and cheese.
There will be plenty.
fertilizing my bamboo grove with horse manure
Give up religiosity
and knowledge, and the people
will benefit a hundredfold. Discard morality
and righteousness, and the people will return
to natural love. Abandon shrewdness
and profiteering, and there
won’t be any robbers
or thieves.
These are external
matters, however. What is most
important is what happens within:
look to what is pure; hold to what
is simple; let go of self-interest;
temper your desires.
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You disciples and apostles,
you all do the same work, yet you try
to determine who’s above and who’s below.
Each of you thinks you’re special, and in that
vanity you irritate each other mightily.
You think there will not be enough,
so you fight for your portion
like dogs in the street.
Being in harmony
is the true way, not this itch
of greed, this constricted stall where
you and other donkeys get beaten with a stick.
Move instead to the praise-place, inside the
mystery, where prayer is unlimited,
and you feel the delight of
giving homage.
Those people
who actually realize it just
keep serene and free at all times,
without cravings, without
dependence.