Survival Help

We are a communal species. This explains everything from tribes and clans to hamlets and nations. We need one another. We cannot survive on our own.

But we also need to help one another. This is another reason we cannot survive on our own.

Hallowed Name

If the name of Tao
is not the name of Tao,
it is because no name
can name Tao.

If no name can name Tao,
it is because there is
no Tao to name.

How do you name
everything and nothing
in a word?

Finding Balance

Finding balance
is a matter of finding
the center point.

No center point
is permanent.

Repair Work

How do you repair a broken wall?
One brick at a time.

How do you repair a broken promise?
One truth at a time.

How do you repair a broken friendship?
One day at a time.

The Greatest Loss

Sweep away the past,
and you destroy your roots --
sometimes a good thing, sometimes not.

Sweep away the future,
and you commit yourself to darkness --
a dark commitment.

Sweep away the present,
and you rob yourself of contentment --
by far the greatest loss.

Found

Found poem.
Found music.
Found art.

These are
all around us.

The poems,
the music,
the art
are not in
what is found.

They are
only found
in the finder.

Remaining Blind

It is as if we are all joined at the hip and don't know it. We lash ourselves to one another with paths and roads and highways and phone lines and cable TV and the Internet, and yet we fail to see that these are just physical manifestations of our collective spiritual reality.

The saddest part is that we remain blind to our spiritual oneness because we want to.

Becoming Myself

When I accept that I am who I am (whether I'm acceptable or not), I begin the real journey of becoming myself.

The End of History

At what point does
what has already
passed into history
cease to direct
our current path?

When do history
and memory stop
controlling this
present moment
from so far away?

Even Trees Know

When we think
we aren't connected,
we're wrong.

Even trees know this.

What Seasons Teach

Dead winter.
Dogwood spring.
Bleached summer.
Cloudy Fall.
Winter again.

Seasons teach us
what we need to know
when the time arrives
for us to know it.

The Hardest Part of Healing

The hardest part of healing
my body, mind, or spirit
is not the healing.

It isn't the frustration
of being infirm.

It isn't the slow pace
of recovery.

The hardest part
of healing is
allowing myself
not to be whole yet.

Interesting Knot

When I was saved,
I had fear.
That's why I was saved.

Now I'm not saved,
and I don't have fear.

Interesting knot:
fear and salvation.

Lost Children

A child lost at the fair
who does not yet know he's lost
is full of wonder and curiosity.

A child lost at the fair
who knows he's lost
is full of terror and despair.

A child lost at the fair
who knows he'll be found
is full of patience and anticipation.

We are all lost children.

A Pleasant Companion

A quiet mind is a pleasant companion.

Only Balance

Chaos is temporary.
Order is temporary.
Only balance is forever.

Never the Same Sky

I can look at the sky every morning
and never see the same sky twice.

I can look at the ocean every evening
and never see the same ocean twice.

I can look in the mirror day after day
and never see the same face twice.

If I do not pay attention,
I will not realize these things.

Having Enough

Scarcity creates wealth.
Wealth creates scarcity.
Which is the snake's head
and which is its tail?

Be grateful, and you will
always have enough.

The Coldest Heart

The coldest heart
is not the mean one.

It is not the tough one.
It is not the forbidding one.

It is the one with the deepest cut.

Where's the Fun in That?

When I take control
of those around me,
I not only rob them
of their own free rein,
but I also give up
my own freedom
from being responsible
for their behavior.
Where's the fun in that?

Always Springing Into Being

In the subatomic world, particles burst into being for brief spans, then disappear again. Or they turn into waves. Or they split into more particles, or they morph into different kinds of particles, altogether.

We are made up of these particles. So is the rest of the universe. We are always springing into being. We are forever new. We are always and everywhere unique.

What a shame it is that we so seldom realize this.

Lessons Abound

Lessons abound.
Everything teaches.

It falls to us
to decide what to learn.

Four Teachers

Fear teaches us to hurt each other.
Hope teaches us to trust each other.
Compassion teaches us to help each other.
Wisdom teaches us to accept each other.

Communal Species

What does it mean
to be a communal species?

Why do we have
this need for one another?

Why do we need
to know we are not alone?

After this Failure

After this failure,
I learn.
After the next failure,
I learn.
After the failure after that,
I learn.

Failures are
the branching roots
of the tree
of the knowledge
of good and evil.

How Do I Know?

How do I know the branch will break
unless I bend it till it snaps?

How do I know the fire will burn
unless I reach out and touch the flame?

How do I know the lake will yield
unless I step out of the boat and walk?

Worrying About Results

Worrying about results is unproductive.

Putting Others First

Being selfless and putting others first
is not really selfless if I expect to gain
what I want through doing so.

True selflessness arises when my ego
knows it already has everything it needs.

Two Bowls

Begging bowl.
Giving bowl.
Which is which?

The Geography of Wickedness

My friend's enemy is my enemy.
My enemy's enemy is my friend.

Is wickedness really how I want
to measure out the globe?

Some Voices

Some voices can only be heard
in the middle of chaos.

Some sounds only become known
in the middle of noise.