March 11th, 2010
I wondered for years why if TW was so effective nobody was as “advanced” as KT was even though theres been people doing TW for decades now. One day I understood we were all chasing the end of the rainbow. That day I “graduated.” It was a quiet ceremony. Nobody was informed. I did not receive a special certificate. If I had to put what I learned into words, it would sound like this:
It doesn’t end.
It’s just not a problem that it doesn’t end.
That’s the freedom.
The most amazing thing about what I learned that day is how level ‘from below’ I am to the rest of humanity:
I
I’m just as fucked up as the man next door,
I just don’t beat myself up about it as much as he does.
That’s the enlightenment I know.
And sometimes
I notice he beats himself up much less than I do.
Those days he is the enlightened one
and I’m proud to call him
Teacher.
II
Deep forgiveness for our apparent imperfections.
Deep compassion for our apparent flaws.
A knowing that it’s okay to be just like this.
Even as I try to be a better man with time.
Perfection and Imperfection in perfect harmony.
That is the enlightenment that I know.
III
Anything I can compare myself to
Is imagined.
Why would that be a fair standard of comparison?
Better to spend my time appreciating
How much of a good friend
I can be to myself.
Posted in Begin again, Buddhism, Innocence, Life, Nirvana, Peace, Poem, Samsara, Service, Sharing myself, Surrender, The Work, The gift of inquiry, Truth, Unconditional love, self=Self | No Comments »
February 11th, 2010
- Trust your own inner intelligence above anything else.
- Periodically consider points of view different from your own as a matter of practice, and
- Give yourself extended periods of time every now and then where you completely rest from thinking about spiritual stuff in any way. Devote that time to things you love to do like riding a bike, baking cookies, being with people you care about, living your life.
Posted in Begin again, Friends, Innocence, Life, Peace, Service, Sharing myself, Surrender, The Work, The gift of inquiry, Truth, Unconditional love | No Comments »
January 11th, 2010
Focus on what works,
Discard the rest.
Posted in Life, Nirvana, Truth | No Comments »
December 11th, 2009
Much more than some sort of ‘eternal bliss,’ the end of suffering is a kind of equanimity, a perspective of the sort ‘this, too, shall pass,’ a gentle endurance towards small and large discomforts alike. If those sound like some sobered up (even boring) claims about what freedom can look like in practice, good, because that is the point of this post.
Meditation and self inquiry, dutifully engaged, deliver a taste of this basic freedom, and the miracle, the mind blowing grace of it all, is that THAT IS ENOUGH for us to be able to live a peaceful, joy filled life. The realization of this enoughness can happen in an instant or it may take a lifetime to figure out, and some people die without fully knowing it. It is the veil that separates heaven from hell, in this moment. And this realization can’t be promised. No meditation, medication or ’spiritual technique’ can give it.
This does not render our practices useless, however. Paraphrasing Joan Halifax Roshi: Enlightenment is an accident. Our practices make us accident-prone.
Posted in Begin again, Buddhism, Nirvana, Sharing myself, The Work, The gift of inquiry, Truth | No Comments »
November 11th, 2009
Sometimes people think they know what I mean
when I write what I write
on this blog.
How curious!
Posted in Innocence, Life | No Comments »
October 21st, 2009
“She is perfect”
…
Keep thinking that.
That’s going to be your demise.
Posted in Innocence | No Comments »
October 18th, 2009
Posted in Life, Music | 1 Comment »
October 12th, 2009
by Kent Keith
1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love and trust them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs but follow top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have, and you may get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world your best anyway.
-In gratitude to my dear friend Charlotte Price who sent this my way.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
September 28th, 2009
Being “spontaneous”
is anothe form of posing.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
September 10th, 2009
When you’re blinded by what you know
to the point of hurting people with what you say or do
you don’t really know anything.
Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »
