Free Will

Free will is the ego thinking it is separate from Tao.

Not the Done

A root will burrow a long way for water.
A branch will stretch a long way for light.

Where does the water come from
to power the burrowing search for water?

Where does the light come from
to power the stretching search for light?

When I do what is already in me to do,
it is the doing that matters, not the done.

If You Pray

When you encounter what could be either a coincidence or the answer to a prayer, which do you choose to believe?

Permanent Crisis

What is necessary this morning
will not be necessary in a year.

What is pressing this afternoon
will not be pressing in a week.

What is urgent this evening
will not be urgent in a day.

What is crucial this moment
will not be crucial in an hour.

No crisis is permanent.

Creating Opposites

How often do we unwittingly make war
to bring peace into being?

How often do we unknowingly inflict pain
to bring mercy into being?

How often do we blindly create chaos
to bring serenity into being?

Learning Patience

Patience is what we learn
when we live in the future
instead of the present.

This moment
is a cup overflowing.

What patience
is needed for that?

Crossroads

Crossroads matter more to us
when we're lost than when
we know where we want to go.

Unfamiliar Ground

When I enter unfamiliar ground,
I slow down and step carefully.

When the unfamiliar becomes known,
I move quickly without even looking.

What a pity it is to forget that
the universe is new every moment.

Why Not Want to Like?

What makes one person likable
and another person not?

If I like someone,
is it because
of something in me
or because
of something in the other?

If part of it is because
of something in me,
why wouldn't I want to try
to like everybody I meet?

Two People

When two adults are
in love with each other,
why should it matter
what color they are?

When two adults are
lifelong companions,
why should it matter
what gender they are?

When two adults are
committed for a lifetime,
why should the rest of us
have any say in that at all?

Just Show Up

Rolling slowly through
another cloud-soaked day
under an absent sun.
Restlessly at rest.
I hear rain dripping
and worry about the roof.

I forget I'll be okay.
I forget I have
nothing to fear.
I forget I can handle
whatever comes my way --
assuming I show up for it.

What I Don't Know

Knowing what I don't know is more important than knowing what I do know.

Familiar Paths

I travel the same paths, day in and day out. They're well worn in my mind.

I follow them because they simplify my life. They save me from having to think about how to get from where I am to where I want to be. The path is already laid out in my mind.

Is this why I'm here, though? To follow the same paths over and over?

It seems like such a waste to have this extravagantly mysterious experience I call my life, yet not examine it while I'm in it. I'd even argue that's why I'm here -- to explore this unique point of view.

When I help somebody else do the same, that completes the circle.

Without Pain

Without pain,
there is no consequence.

Without consequence,
all paths are equal.

When all paths are equal,
choice becomes irrelevant.

When choice is useless,
freedom becomes meaningless.

Earth and Sky

Earth and sky
meet at the horizon,
but it is a false border.

From the earth,
the sky is a temple
built on solid ground.

From the sky,
the earth is a pearl
growing inside.

From the horizon,
there is only
earth and sky.

Hard Passages

Be grateful
for the hard passages.

You are not the only one
who has scraped through
these narrow pains.

Everyone who makes it
helps widen the passage
for the next to come along.

Pain becomes a blessing
when you help ease the way
for another lost soul.

To Believe or Not to Believe

To believe or not to believe?
If I'm not paying attention,
I'll see this as a question --
not the choice it turns out to be.

What a Great Thing

What a great thing it is
to be here to hear this bird.
Its singing and my listening
are one and the same.

What a marvel it is
to be here to see this sky.
Its clouds and my watching
are one and the same.

What a mystery it is
to be here to live this life.
Its life and my living
are one and the same.

Graced

Have grace.

The Beginning of Life

My life begins
when I pay attention.

Making the Familiar Unfamiliar

To learn something new
while traveling a familiar path,
I find I have to slow down
and pay attention.

It's the only way
to make the familiar
unfamiliar again.

Yin Yang

Why is life hard?
To create simple.

Even Fear Finds a Home

Fear is a product of ego.
Ego is a product of separateness.
Separateness is a product of the ten thousand things.
The ten thousand things are a product of Tao.
Tao is a product of itself.

Even fear finds a home in Tao.

Only as Holy

I am only as holy as I discover myself to be.

The Only Free People

The only free people on earth are the ones who realize they have nothing to lose.

Spirituality. Sexuality.

Spirituality.
Sexuality.

One is physical.
One is mystical.

One is finite.
One is infinite.

One is external.
One is internal.

One is two.
One is one.

One is sensuous.
One is sacred.

Both are human.
Both are divine.

Knot Problem. Knot Solution.

A knot is a problem
when it needs to be untied
and cannot be.

A knot is a solution
when it needs to stay tied
and it does.

Whether problem or solution,
the knot remains the same.

It is the perspective
of those who encounter it
that brings meaning.

The Box of Time and Space

What happens in one place and time
cannot repeat itself somewhere else.

Every event is unique.
It is unique if for no other reason
than that time and space
make a time for it to happen
and a place for it to happen,
and so it happens.

To see outside time and space
is to discover anything is possible.

Lake Hand

A lake rides
on top of the earth
like a drop of water
caught in the curve
of my hand.

No difference.

And all
the difference
in the world.

Jonah's Lesson

In the belly of the great fish,
we are prepared by God.

If we don't want to be swallowed,
we stay clear of the sea.