Borderline

Boundaries
become thinner
as our need for help
grows more dire.

Wrong Turns

Life is full of intersections.

Knowing when to turn
and when to continue on
is the work of experience.

What brings experience?
Making wrong turns.

Hidden

The secrets we hide from others
are reflections of the secrets
we hide from ourselves.

The Line

On this side
of the line
is the good.

On that side
of the line
is the bad.

Take away
the line.

Does good
fade away?

Does bad
overwhelm?

Eternity's Palm

Where is the future?
It lives in your imagination.

Where is the past?
It lives in your memory.

Imagination and memory
live only in this moment.

Eternity holds this moment
in the palm of its hand.

Word Problems

Celebrate distress in your life.
It is the vehicle of passion.

Avoid contentment at all cost.
It is the carrier of dissatisfaction.

Every line is bisected
countless times before it ends.

Straight lines and crooked lines
are not defined by their color.

Extra Layers

We build layers from inside out
to hide the deepest kernel
of who we worry we might be.

But every layer is just one more
we have to cut through to hack
our way back to who we already are.

Empty Life

What exists
where there is nothing?

What lives
in the emptiness between?

Distance is always an illusion.
Separateness is only a claim.

The Color of Light

White contains every color.
Black contains every color, too.
Light makes the difference.

What we take in through our eyes
is nothing compared to what
we make of it in our mind.

The Nature of Wisdom

It's our nature to be
builders of bridges,
stringers of wires,
connectors of souls.

We are also by nature
builders of walls,
stringers of fences,
closers of doors.

Wisdom teaches us 
what to build,
what to string,
what to open and close.

Truth Hunt

Our experiences in life
are nontransferable.

This is why truth varies
from person to person.

When I am afraid,
I hunt for truth outside
my own experience.

When I am awake,
I hunt for truth inside
my own experience.

Three Bowed Heads

One mind is looking.
One mind is worrying.
One mind is praying.

The first reaps knowledge.
The second reaps pain.
The third reaps gratitude.

Heaven and Hell

Heaven is not above us.
Hell is not below us.

Hell we create with our fear.
Heaven wells up from inside.

Decisions

Some decisions
are turning points.

Some decisions
are two paths crossing.

The first kind
change your life.

The second kind
change your doubt.

Fossil

Soft molds hard.
Sand accrues to stone.
Flesh leaves a mark.

For a time.

Temples

The ten thousand things.
Temples of Tao.

Everything is a gift.
But not all gifts are opened.

Daring Climb

Daring starts
at the foot
of the mountain.

Not at the peak.

Common Ground

Common ground
exists in any conflict.

But we won't find it
until we're both
willing to look for it.

Ten Thousand Answers

The edge of light
is also the edge of darkness.
What lies between?

How can a simple line
divide anything in two?

Tao answers with
ten thousand things.

Listening for Silence

Silence is
sometimes a river,
sometimes an ocean,
sometimes a desert,
sometimes a well.

Swift. Vast. Empty. Deep.

What better reasons
to listen for it?

Anger Is Nothing

Anger is nothing but
pain turned outward.

Sometimes, that's
the only way it can go.

Simple Mercy

To catch a glint
off the current
that carries us along
like leaves.

Dependent

To be a child
is to be dependent.

We are all children
under the skin.

It's a shame
we forget this.

Surprised by What Doesn't Last

We build one impermanence
on top of another impermanence
like layers of sedimentary rock.

New houses on top of old houses.
New farms on top of old farms.
New towns on top of old towns.
New nations on top of old nations.
New civilizations on top of old civilizations.

And still, change surprises us.

What Passes Through

Our senses are like windows.

What is outside remains outside.
What is inside remains inside.

What passes through the glass
is light and all of its reflections.

Four Humor Questions

Where in the universe
did humor first evolve?

What storms carried it
to our planet, our shores?

What virus spread it
among us like a plague?

What mystery keeps us
laughing even now?

Eye of the Believer

Sacred river.
Wicked river.
Same rushing water.
Same curving shore.

Holy mountain.
Devil mountain.
Same green valleys.
Same cloudy peaks.

What we see depends
on what we believe.

What we believe depends
on what rivers we cross,
what mountains we climb.

String

The past is a nest
of both snakes and birds.

The future is a bowl
of both figs and hemlock.

This moment is a string
waiting to be plucked.

Four Reminders

Tao is the dancer.
We are the dance.

God is the gardener.
We are the garden.

Allah is the dreamer.
We are the dream.

Yahweh is the mirror.
We are the reflection.

Predictable

Winds rise and fall
by their own clock.

Rains follow the seasons
of their own calendar.

Wisdom arrives from
a different direction every time.

Looking Outside

We look outside of ourselves
at what we think is not us.