Simple Questions, Simple Answers

Simple questions lead
to complicated answers.

Simple answers lead
to complicated solutions.

Confusion and Clarity

Confusion makes clarity possible.

How Much Did We Own?

When a close one dies,
those of us left behind
may feel we have lost them.

But how much of them
did we own to begin with?

The real loss occurs
as our memories fade
and we forget even
the sound of their voice.

Hard to Learn

Hard lessons are painful to learn,
but what comes hard is hard to forget.

Winning?

Striving to win.
Is that always a good thing?

Pushing hard to advance.
Is that always the best way forward?

Surrendering to the pursuit of success.
Is that how you want to spend your life?

New Vista

When I am tired and weak
and lost along my spiritual way,
I slow down and watch my feet,
step by step by step.

The path continues before me,
carrying me along.

When I look up again,
the vista always takes my breath away.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Holiness grows out of the ground of failure
more often than out of the ground of faith.

Sainthood is not something earned
but rather something found in living.

Reverence is bestowed not by godliness
but by rediscovering the awe of children.

Life Everlasting?

If we last forever
after we die,
is our perspective
forever limited
to the narrow keyhole
of our earthly life?

And if we enter
into a vast room
of all knowing
upon our death,
what happens
to that narrow soul
we were in life?

To give up who I am
to enter into all there is
seems an easy choice.

Intentions and Dreams

Intentions show me where I am.
Dreams show me who I am.

Between Root and Branch

Roots seek water.
Branches seek light.

Between heaven and earth,
every tree finds what it needs.

The Burden of Selfishness

Selfishness is a burden
fear gives us when we forget
we already have what we need.

Small Packages

Every twig carries forests inside.
Every pebble carries mountains inside.
Every raindrop carries oceans inside.
Every soul carries Tao inside.

The Hardest Danger to Overcome

When someone hurts us,
it's natural to build a wall.

When we feel threatened,
it's natural to raise our defenses.

When enemies mass on the horizon,
it's natural to stockpile weapons.

But the hardest danger to overcome
is our own fear of suffering.

Three Guests

First is the guest
you invite into your home.

Second is the guest
you invite into your heart.

Third is the guest
you invite into your pain.

Which?

Which is older,
an acorn or an oak?

Which is deeper,
an eye or an ocean?

Which is harder,
a child or a parent?

Which is wiser,
a question or an answer?

Blessings and Sorrows

A hard life is full
of hidden blessings.

An easy life is full
of hidden sorrows.

Satisfying Decision

Satisfaction is a decision
to live in peace with all
that one cannot control.

The Pain of Not Forgiving

When a hurt is deep and old,
the wound seems new at every touch.

When apologies are long in coming,
the wait seems a waste of time.

But the deepest and longest injury
is always the pain of not forgiving.

The Only One

How many trees crowd
the landscapes of the universe?

How many birds fill the air
with their singing on distant planets?

How many women nurse
their infants throughout the galaxy?

How many minds imagine
their earth is the only one?

Strength and Weakness

Strength is relative.
What is strong in one place
becomes weakness in another.

To embrace both
strength and weakness
is a step toward wholeness.

Acceptance from Acceptance

When I accept others as they are
and not as I would have them to be,
I set the stage for my own acceptance.

Four Gifts

The gift of patience
comes with waiting attached.

The gift of mercy
comes with injustice attached.

The gift of compassion
comes with suffering attached.

The gift of wisdom
comes with ignorance attached.

Hard or Easy?

Hard question or easy answer.
Which is the better path to wisdom?

Painful Gratitude

When I learn to be grateful
even in the middle of suffering,
I discover there are things
I can only learn through pain.

But it's still hard to be grateful
for the suffering of a loved one.

True Well-Being

We all have an obligation to seek
the well-being of our individual lives,
but to increase our own well-being
at the expense of others is impossible.

Back to Life

A return to life
doesn't always require
a death beforehand.

Sometimes, we don't
realize we've died
until we come back.

Battlelines

When both sides are wrong,
healing must start from within.

Every Green Leaf

Every green leaf
carries autumn inside.

Every storm cloud
hides a brilliant sky.

Every answer
begs another question.

Every death
makes room for new life.

Overwhelming Fear

Fear arises from outside.
Love arises from inside

and overwhelms it.

Closing Doors to Forgiveness

When I apologize,
I open a door.

When I fail to apologize,
the door remains closed.

A closed door doesn't make
forgiveness impossible.

It just keeps it
on the other side.

Perspectives

Walled in or walled out.
Which brings peace of mind?

Old map or new compass.
Which shows the true way?

Different Roads Home

Walk one road and
end up at one place.

Walk a different road and
end up at a different place.

And yet, do we not arrive
back home in the end?

Illusion

What is inside us
and what is outside us
do not seem to be the same.

Another illusion.

Intersections

Peace and war intersect
at the crossing of difficulty and ease.

Ignorance and wisdom intersect
at the crossing of blindness and sight.

Joy and suffering intersect
at the crossing of heaven and earth.

Seven Gifts

Amity amid conflict.
Grace amid strife.
Patience amid loss.
Serenity amid chaos.
Insight amid suffering.
Generosity amid poverty.
Compassion amid fear.

Storm

Lightning splits the sky in two
like a yardstick striking a desk.

Thunder tumbles across the city
like children sent out to play.

Runoff courses through gutters
like rumors across a schoolyard.

Child's play in the hands of the Divine.

Out of Lack

Gratitude grows out of lack
and flowers in abundance.

Hunger Makes Me Grateful

Hunger makes me grateful
for the food on my plate.

Thirst makes me grateful
for the drink in my cup.

Illness makes me grateful
for every breath I take.

Loneliness makes me grateful
for every friend I meet.

The Nature of Patience

Patience is like water.
It flows past frustrations
like a river around stones.

True patience has no end.
It can level a mountain
of pain and disappointment.

It wells up from the spring
that nourishes us all and
keeps us steady in this moment.

You Can Keep Him

Why would a loving God
bring us into this life
without our permission
and expect us to be perfect,
then cast us into eternal hell
after we die if we fail
to live up to His demands?

Doesn't sound very loving to me.

Saturated

A branch floats along a river.
Water soaks into the fibers,
and the wood sinks to the bottom.

Does the branch become the river
because it's saturated with water?

Does the water become a branch
because it saturates the wood?

Does Tao stop being Tao
just because it saturates us?

Answers and Questions

Which matters more?
The answer to a question,
or the question itself?

Which lasts longer?
The satisfaction of an answer,
or the fascination of a question?

Which rings truer?
The clearest answer,
or the simplest question?

Seek and Find

When I seek, I find.

What I find is not
always what I seek.

What I seek
is not important.

What I find
is not important.

What matters
is the seeking.

Only the New Lasts

We set a stone to mark
the passing of a loved one
and hope it will last forever.

But even stones
are not permanent.
The old passes away
to make room for the new.

This is the only permanence
the universe offers.

Among Trees

Be present among trees,
and trees will be present in you.

Be mindful among flowers,
and flowers will be mindful of you.

Be aware of birds singing,
and birds will sing your whole life.

Hidden

Isolation hides fear.
Fear hides misery.
Misery hides insight.

Resting Tao, Working Tao

Nothing I do for myself
brings greater comfort
than resting in the Tao.

Nothing I do for others
brings greater pleasure
than working in the Tao.

None

No mystery
is deeper
than Tao.

No question
is broader
than God.

No doubt
is longer
than Compassion.

The Limit of Imagination

What is the limit of imagination?
What is the border of thought?
What is the boundary of the unknown?

Only the imagination can imagine
a limit to the imagination.

Only thought can think out
the borders of thought.

Only the unknown can know
the boundaries of the unknown.

Simple Sight

Seeing is easy
when I remember
to look at what's right
in front of my eyes.