What Lasts

What breathes
dies.

What doesn't
crumbles.

What lives
lasts forever.

Every Face

Every face turned
toward the sun
hides a shadow.

Silent as Light

Wei wu wei is silent as light.
Effortless work lies
within everyone's grasp.

What one hand strives against,
another carries like a breeze.

When the way turns hard,
loosen your grip on the reins.

Hand and Hand

Make one hand wealthy.
Make the other hand poor.

Which life is worn more?
Which life is worth more?

How do you know?

Six Lines

Six lines
draw us together.

Bloodline.
Credit line.
Hairline.
Hemline.
Waistline.
Bus line.

So

So I wake up.
Then what happens?

You become aware.

So I become aware.
Then what happens?

You choose your own actions.

So I choose my own actions.
Then what happens?

You discover who
you already are.

Outside Inside

Wayward streams.
Delinquent storms.
Curious winds.

Wayward mind.
Delinquent soul.
Curious skin.

Why Sex Feels Good

Sex feels good
not because God or evolution
had to make sex feel good
to coax us into reproducing
like shy pandas.

Sex feels good
because God or evolution discovered
we just need to feel good sometimes.

Sometimes, sex is
the only pleasure we can find.

Field Work

Field of grass.
Field of rocks.
Field of corn.

Hard work
teaches patience.

Field of battle.
Field of victory.
Field of defeat.

Painful work
teaches wisdom.

Hardest to See

There will always
be barriers between
here and there.

The hardest to see 
are the ones
I set up myself.

Conflict Bridge

The sky
bridges
every conflict.

Well

When the well is full,
the danger is having too much.

When the well is empty,
the danger is having too little.

When the well is enough,
the danger is having enough.

Discovering Compassion

Wisdom discovers compassion
in a sack of bones.

Flesh discovers compassion
in a searching heart.

Bitter Enemies

All enmity tastes bitter.

Taken

Wealth is a strong chain,
good for binding things.

Money is a meandering stream,
following the easiest path.

Possessions are thieves,
eventually finding a way in.

Pile of Rocks

A pile of rocks.
Nothing.

And yet,
nothing is missing.

Inner Light

What map do I follow
where none has been drawn?

Which direction do I go
when no sign points the way?

Where darkness prevails,
inner light becomes my guide.

Body and Soul

Wisdom and muscle
need each other.

One wants a body.
The other wants a soul.

Two Minds

When one is
of two minds,
it helps if
one mind
faces inward,
and the other
faces out.

What You Seek

If you hope to find,
be intentional about
what you seek.

Not a Pleasure

It may not always
be a pleasure
to please others,
but it shouldn't
be a pleasure
to displease, either.

Heaven

This time will be
better than last time.
This time will be
better than ever before.

This time I won't fail.
This time I'll succeed
beyond my wildest dreams.

This time everything
will turn out perfectly.

This time will change
everything for the better.

This time will be enough
to save me from the future.

This time will be enough to save me.
This time will save me.

This time I'll finally be okay.

The Creating of What I Create

No matter what I create,
it will decay and pass away.

No gate, no wall, no prison.
No work, no child, no art.
None will survive time.

It isn't what I create.
It's the creating of what I create.

Another reason to pay attention.

Life Imagined

If I imagine myself
someplace else,
who is left here
to do the imagining?

If I picture myself
doing something else,
who is left here
to paint that picture?

Which life is richer?
The one imagined
or the one imagining?

Pain Recycling

Like trash floating down a stream,
pain never goes completely away.

Best to recycle it into something new.

Prosperity

We become truly prosperous
when we share our prosperity.

We become truly wealthy
when we give wealth away.

As long as our possessions own us,
we will never escape our poverty.

Fellow Travelers

Disaster and opportunity
travel along the same road.

One is a thief.
One is an ally.

Which is which is hard to know.
They both wear similar clothes.

Real

Real healing
starts in the mind,
not in the body.

Real serenity
starts in the heart,
not in the mind.

Real compassion
starts in Tao,
not in the heart.

Two Gifts

To listen well
to another is a gift,
both for the listener
and the heard.