Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Monday, December 30, 2013

Showing the Way


Fog blankets the valley.
Clouds overshadow the peaks.

The path ahead is never clear.
The path behind is never easy.

When we let go of expectations,
we let Tao show us the way.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Passion Compassion


Passion drives us
to do what we do.

Compassion drives us
to do no harm in the doing.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Friday, December 27, 2013

Eventually


Every fence wears out.
Every wall comes down.
Every barrier falls away.

Another reminder
we are all connected.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Finally Losing Hope


When a good man
finally loses hope,
he becomes a beggar.

When a poor man
finally loses hope,
he becomes a corpse.

When a rich man
finally loses hope,
he becomes aware.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Time Being


Spend time hating,
and you become a hater.

Spend time loving,
and you become a lover.

Spend time being,
and you become who you are.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Bright Future


Every bright future
begins in darkness.

To have a bright future,
live this moment first.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Cold


A warm home
won't thaw
a frozen spirit.

Frigid weather
can't freeze
a warm heart.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Diverse Strengths


Different trees for different climates.
Different grasses for different terrains.

I cannot say you should not be here.
You cannot say I should not be here.

When our own weaknesses confront us,
we discover the strengths of diversity.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Adjusting Course


In both small ways and large ways,
our behavior follows the same course.

To affect the large, adjust the small.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Solitary


When we finally
get enough money
that we no longer
have to care about
anyone but ourselves,
we've just locked the door
to our own prison cell.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Like Every Leaf


Like every leaf,
we are different.

Like every leaf,
we are the same.

Our differences
make us sacred.

Our oneness
makes us divine.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Three Walls


First are the walls we build
to protect us from our enemies.
They're built on expedience.

Second are the walls we build
to protect us from our friends.
They're built on experience. 

Third are the walls we build
to protect us from the will of God.
They're built on illusion.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Child's Play


Spirituality arises from experience.
Religion arises from spirituality.

Or religion arises from belief.

Belief arises from outside of us --
sacred writings, ancient stories,
received wisdom, witnesses.

When belief meets experience,
it ceases to be belief.

What it depended on before
becomes like child's play.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Fleeting


No matter what we have or lack,
we can find things to be happy about.

Even a life of poverty is full
of fleeting moments of pleasure.

The hardest place to find
satisfaction is in a life of plenty.

Happiness will always be temporary.
Contentment is to accept that.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Unhurt


Our capacity to forgive
will always be limited
by our fear of being hurt.

Our true self cannot be hurt.
When we discover this,
forgiveness flows like water.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Building a Life


The scaffolding
of other people's faith
can support us
for a long time,
but all of the finish work
takes place inside.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Bending Rivers


Pain has a way of healing us.
Suffering helps to make us whole.

Happiness is never permanent.
Contentment accepts what is.

Every life is a bending river,
flowing over rocks to the sea.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

One Point


Your life is
the one-pointedness
of the Divine.

You are the beginning
and the end
of God's attention.

Tao sees as you see.
You are Tao focused on
the ten-thousandth thing.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Carried Away


We grow where we are planted,
unless a wind carries us somewhere else. 

Monday, December 9, 2013

Light to Light


We travel from
light to light
even in darkness.

The darkness
is our blindness
to these lights.

The cure
for our blindness
is simply to wake up.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

I Hate You


I hate you because
you have stringy hair.

I hate you because
you have yellow teeth.

I hate you because
you smell like old clothes.

I hate you because
you need so much help.

I hate you because
you remind me you and I are One.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Different One


The different one
is a most important one
because the different one
is the one who helps
the other ones question
their sameness.

The different one
is the one who opens a door
to a different way of seeing.
This is not good or bad.
Just another way to see.

The more ways we see,
the more wise we become.
The different one
helps us bring this about.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Daily Bread


To be thankful
for our daily bread
is to be thankful
for an awareness
of our own hungers.

Our hungers help us
discover who we are,
and who we are not.

True daily bread is that 
which feeds our true selves.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Passages


No dark passage
ends without light.

No bright passage
ends without dark.

Light or dark,
every passage leads
deeper into Tao.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

When We Think


When we think about boundaries
more than we think about community,
we travel deeper into loneliness.

When we think about community
more than we think about boundaries,
we scatter power among many.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

How You Use It


Power flows
to those who know
how to use it.

True power flows
to those who know
how not to misuse it.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Engraved


No matter how deeply we engrave
the boundaries that separate us,
there is always common ground.