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“We’re not supposed to” is a myth.
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Just notice the difference between what works and what doesn’t.

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“We’re not supposed to” is a myth.
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Just notice the difference between what works and what doesn’t.

I didn’t say “don’t do it.”
I said “Beware.”

“Since everything is but an ‘apparition’,
Perfect in just being ‘What It Is’ ~ as it is.
Having nothing to do with ‘good’ or ‘bad’,
‘acceptance’ or ‘rejection’ –
You might as well just burst out laughing!”
~ Tibetan Dzogchen master Longchenpa, 1308-1369 AD

Yesterday I missed you terribly
So I closed my eyes
and gave you back to me.
Welcome back.

So your friend does something you were not expecting.
Where’s the surprise?
I wondered for years why if TW was so effective nobody was as “advanced” as KT was even though there’s now been people doing TW for decades. One day I understood that 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 that day into words it would read like this:

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It doesn’t end.
It’s just not a problem that it doesn’t end.
That’s the freedom.
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The most amazing thing I learned that day was just how much I was like everyone else:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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III
Anything that 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.


Sometimes people think they know what I mean
when I write what I write
on this blog.
How curious!
“She is perfect”
…
Keep thinking that.
That’s going to be your demise.

I polled my students from the Spring quarter. Day in and day out for ten weeks I shared myself with them, and so they learned about me things I often don’t know myself. I wanted to know what that is, so I asked them. This is what they said:
Eduardo, your life will be better if you:
• Wore more color
• Go to the movies more
• Meet new people
• Ride a bike
• Go to the gym
• Find a girlfriend
• Go sky diving
• Spend more time with your daughter
• Go on vacation to a new place
• Give breaks during class and watch a funny YouTube video with us every day
• Take time to appreciate the good stuff in your life
• Join the Cal Poly Arab music ensemble
• Didn’t spread yourself too thin
• Work less and go chase women around instead
• Remember to eat lunch every day
• Were more organized
• Didn’t dress so fly
• Could do a one-arm pushup
• Ditched class to go to the beach
• Used your knowledge to get rich instead of teaching at a public university
• Shared more of those weird analogies you use in class with everyone
• Took your students on a field trip
• Shared more about your life outside of work with your students
• Got a puppy
• Played video games
• Swindled kids out of their lunch money
• Listened to all the LP’s of the Velvet Underground on vinyl
• Pick up the guitar
• Take a good vacation and relax
• Dye your hair green
• Went cliff jumping
• Do not watch those mind altering videos your friend from London sends you
• Bring fruit to class
• Listen to Basshunter or global deejays
• Don’t make things too complicated
• You spent less time reflecting on the intricacies of relationships and more time on relaxing
• Follow the advice you give your students regarding the value of questioning your stressful thoughts.
Once more, from my students I learn that I still have a lot to learn.