Intention 1- I Support Life
I refrain from opposing or harming anyone. I allow others to have their own experiences. I see life in all things and honor as if it were my own. I support life.
I refrain from opposing or harming anyone. I allow others to have their own experiences. I see life in all things and honor as if it were my own. I support life.
::
Not Christian or Jew or
Muslim, not Hindu,
Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen.
Not any religion
`
or cultural system. I am
not from the east
or the west, not
out of the ocean or up
`
from the ground, not
natural or ethereal, not
composed of elements at all.
I do not exist,
`
am not an entity in this
world or the next,
did not descend from
Adam and Eve or any
`
origin story. My place is
the placeless, a trace
of the traceless.
`
Neither body or soul.
I belong to the beloved,
have seen the two
worlds as one and
that one
call to and know,
`
first, last, outer, inner,
only that breath breathing
human being.
::
sufi mystic – jelaluddin rumi – 13th century
As translated by Coleman Barks, © 1995.
The following statements by these gentlemen on the topics of reincarnation, karma and presence reflect my own views. Many years ago as a young man I had a vision of great magnitude in which I was standing on a wide path, a road, which came spiraling up from below. It was like an endless funnel and this road, this path, was spiraling around and up the inside of this funnel-like landscape. I recognized it as the path of time and of myriad past human generations. As I gazed mesmerized by the sheer magnitude of this scenario, someone on the opposite side of this ‘inverted mountain’ waved to me. In that moment I waved in return and recognized that the one ‘over there’ was me in another life. Continue reading
Dear Friends,
The first part of this article consists of some short passages from a text by the Zen master Linji with my comments. The second part is Linji’s complete text. The passages that I comment on are the ones that caught my attention most strongly. Of course, as with any text from the sages, there are many pearls to be found throughout the text. My intention is to make this text more accessible for those readers who may not know of Linji.
Continue reading
excerpt from
There is a big misunderstanding about the idea of naturalness. Most people who come to us believe in some freedom or naturalness, but their understanding is what we call jinen ken gedo, or heretical naturalness. Jinen ken gedo means that there is no need to be formal—just a kind of “let-alone policy” or sloppiness. That is naturalness for most people. But that is not the naturalness we mean. Continue reading
Wonderful spiritual music by Bill Douglas from the album of the same name. A beautiful Irish blessing set to music, with lyrics, based on an Irish poem prayer. The most peaceful, relaxing song you’ll ever hear. Thanks to Mr. Douglas for allowing use of his song. Continue reading
This short excerpt on J Krishnamurti’s understanding of the movement of discontinuity reveals to me how much my view is conditioned by that which apparently continues from one moment to the next. I see my wife and the mental/emotional habit is to see her as the one I know and have known for some years now. It is the same with most everything in my life; I take it for granted that most things will be as they were the last time I encountered them. Continue reading
Ode to Joy – Beethoven’s 9th – Ode an die Freude
(YouTube title: “BANCO SABADELL – Som Sabadell flashmob”)
Ode to Joy (English translation)
Joy, bright spark of divinity,
Daughter of Elysium,
Fire-inspired we tread
Thy sanctuary.
Thy magic power re-unites
All that custom has divided,
All men become brothers
Under the sway of thy gentle wings. Continue reading
The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love. It may look paradoxical to you, but it is not. It is an existential truth: only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core of the other person – without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without reducing the other to a thing, and without becoming addicted to the other. They allow the other absolute freedom, because they know that if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be taken by the other, because it is not given by the other.
— Osho, Being In Love
Thanks RetaCatherine Orsten for this quote!