Doubly Blind

If you're too busy
to notice the flowers
blooming around you,
you're doubly blind.

Even the blind can smell
what they cannot see.

The Road of Time

The road of time
leads out of darkness
into darkness.

This moment is
where the light is.

Forest Walk

Spring wet leaf.
Summer dry leaf.
Fall mountain leaf.
Winter ground leaf.

I watch my life
play out before me
season after season
on every forest walk.

Old as the Hills

Money is not a ruler.

To have a lot of it
doesn't make us more.

To have the least amount
doesn't make us less.

Everyone should know this.
It's as old as the hills.

Inside Job

When we are young,
we think Tao is outside.

When we are older,
we think Tao is inside.

When we are ancient,
we know there is no outside.

Simple and Profound

The simplest things
are profound within.

The profoundest things
are simple within.

Wisdom gives us
the eyes to see this.

Owner

See mountains in the distance
and own them with your eyes.

Hear birds in the trees
and own them with your ears.

Touch stones along a wall
and own them with your fingers.

Experience each moment in full
and own more than enough.

Broken

Not every broken tie
should be mended.

Not every broken oath
should be condemned.

Not every broken bone
should be avenged.

Double Path

Some paths run
in two directions.

If you travel one,
you travel both.

To realize this
requires attention.

The Slit of Time

Time is a slit in the paper
of our separateness.

We press our eye against it
to watch what lies beyond.

Feeling Age

The body feels age
in the bones, 
in the joints,
in the tissues,
in the mirror.

The mind feels age
in the obituaries,
in the invisibility,
in the defeat of dreams,
in the fragility of life.

The spirit feels age
in a deeper wisdom,
in the thinning of worry,
in the bliss of being, 
in the comfort of silence.

Our Communal Life

From family to tribe
to settlement to nation.

When we work together,
anything is possible.

When we work at odds,
prosperity dwindles for all.

Three Sisters

Forgiveness has three sisters.

The first is named Grace.
She gives without being asked.

The second is named Charity.
She leaves stones unturned.

The third is named Hope.
She counts nothing as lost.

Cleft

We cleave ourselves
into different tribes
like a mountain shot
through with fault lines.

Some fissures run deep.
Some are mere chalk lines.
Yet every tribe overlaps others.
We're members of many tribes.

My freedom of movement
expands with every tribe
that counts me as a friend.
Why would I not want this?

Flowing in Tao

Time stops and eternity begins.
What looks common is anything but.
Answers are waiting for the questions.
Each encounter advances all sides.

Undone

An agile brain can
neutralize a stronger body.

An elegant touch can
win over a clever mind.

A curious spirit can
undermine a bitter heart.

Reflection

A lake with a rocky bottom
can still reflect a perfect sky.

But only when it remains still.

Money Pools

Money flows
toward money.

It accumulates
where the greatest
fear lies.

Caterpillar

A grandparent.
A predator's victim.

Fascination of children.
An ancestor.

A survivor.
A parent's child.

By these common bonds,
a sibling of humanity.

Body Snatcher

Tao walks with my legs,
breathes with my lungs,
watches with my eyes,
listens with my ears,
thinks with my brain,
believes with my heart.

Tao and I create my life
moment by moment.
When I look, Tao sees.
When I listen, Tao hears.
When I touch, Tao feels.
When I ask, Tao answers.

Judgment Day

Judgment Day
comes every day
we forget we are
children of the Divine
and lack nothing.

We judge others
against our own desires
and refuse to help
those who are hungry,
those who are thirsty,
those who are naked,
those who are sick,
those who are in prison.

It's our own judgment
we should learn to fear.

Rain Tao

Tao is like rain.

Too little dries us out
and makes us brittle.

Too much soaks deep
enough to reach the heart.

Tour of Homes

Each life has many homes.

First is the home
of our earliest memories.

Second is the home
 where we learn about power.

Third is the home
that shows us about pain.

Fourth is the home
we call our own.

Fifth is the home
we discover inside.

Sixth is the home
that holds our bones.

Seventh is the home
we never lose.

No Room

Tao needs no
room to be present.
Tao needs no
clock to exist.

The walls of space
and the roof of time
are gifts of the Divine.

They make us possible.

What They Carry

Mountains carry darkness.
Forests carry light.

Both carry Tao.

The source of all
light and darkness.

Cave Dweller

Empty stomach.
Empty mind.
Empty spirit.

What was it
that drove
our ancestors
out of their caves?

Descendants

Stars into dust into
planets into plants into
people like trees walking.

It's taken the universe
billions of years
to bring us into being.

Shouldn't we be
taking better care of it
while we're here?

No Corners

There are
no corners
in nature.

Only edges.

Spend It Now

What is the future?

A hand-drawn map
of unknown territory.

What is the past?

A ledger of accounts
impossible to balance.

What is this moment?

The only wealth that
never accumulates.

Tao Calling to Tao

Belief brings Tao
into existence.

Belief comes from Tao.
Tao calling to Tao.