Old Year

There is no end.
There is only change.

Fallow

The fallow season of the spirit
is a dark and cold passage.

But like dormant farmland,
it incubates the next harvest.

Adding Labels

God looks through our eyes.
Tao listens through our ears.
Allah touches through our fingers.

But we're the ones who add the labels.

Target

Letting go of the target
is the hardest thing
about hitting the target,
because to hit the target
is to miss the target.

It isn't the target.
It's the connection.

The connection is
the one true hit.

Keep Climbing

Every mountain looms larger
the closer you get to it,
and shrinks with every step
you take toward the summit.

State of Mind

Clouded mind.
Busy mind.

Clear mind.
Contented mind.

Still mind.
Calm mind.

Silent mind.
Deep mind.

Birth of a Miracle

Every birth should be
considered a miracle.

And the life that unfolds from it
should be kept in the same light.

Changing Answers

Which matters more to you,
the outer journey or the inner path?

Which makes you happier,
the outer world or the inner wisdom?

Which do you turn to when in need,
outer beliefs or inner experiences?

The answers change with age.

Balancing Act

Each beginning
opens a door,
but it also closes one.

The universe
gives with one hand
and takes with the other.

Opening and closing.
Giving and taking.
Life's balancing act.

Hell for Heaven

Heaven and earth
are never adversaries.

Our own hells lead us
to think otherwise.

When we give up hell,
heaven blooms everywhere.

Small Heart

My heart is small.
The needs are huge.

My hands are weak.
The helpless are many.

My skills are few.
The work is unending.

But the small, the weak,
and the few are enough
in the flow of Tao.

Silent Discovery

Sometimes darkness
comes from light.

Sometimes light
comes from darkness.

But never is there
darkness without light.

Never is there
light without darkness.

Silence is how
we discover this.

Genesis

To see God as light
and only light
is to cut ourselves off
from the God that scares us.

But why should we fear?
Didn't God give us
both darkness and light
from the beginning?

City Wise

Cities grow
from the ground up,
not from the top down.

They're built for everyone,
not just the powerful few.

Wise cities remember this.
Dying cities don't.

Not the Season

Frenzy is not a season.
Chaos is not joy.

As Tao

What is the smallest thing?
What is the briefest span?

These are the building blocks
of the ten thousand things.

The smallest and briefest
create everything as Tao.

Conversion

Darkness turns light
into wisdom.

Light turns darkness
into salvation.

Tortured Fears

The only accurate information
we can gain through torture
is insight into our own fears.

Good Medicine

Wisdom brings healing.
Insight brings wisdom.
Silence brings insight.
Pain brings silence.
Experience brings pain.
Time brings experience.
Breath brings time.

Which Hand

Charity in one hand.
Cruelty in the other.

Which hand will I open
first?

What Color?

What color
would you be
if you could be
any color
you wanted?

Purple for strength?
Blue for courage?
Green for humility?
Yellow for wisdom?
Orange for diligence?
Red for compassion?

Or would you rather stay
with what you know?

Black for struggle.
White for luck.

The Only Truth

The only truth I can verify
is the truth of my own experience.
But even that can't be trusted.

Nothing can be verified.
The only truth is the truth
of what I choose to believe is true.

Stones across a Stream

I see limits
every where I turn.

When I stop turning
and look straight ahead,
limits become stones
across a stream.

Will

How much will is involved
when a plant grows out of a wall?

How much intention drives
a bird to fly a thousand miles?

What are these but the will to be?
And what is the will to be but divine?

Never Frozen

Happiness isn't frozen in time.
Only our memories of it are.

What memory holds is never
enough to fill this moment now.

This is the only place where
happiness can happen.

Abandoned Children

Not all
abandoned children
are children.

This is why
we don't always
recognize them
when we see them.

To love the child
within each of us
is a good start.

Sinners and Saints

We call ourselves sinners
because we fall short
of our best desires.

But we're also saints
because we're all
vessels of the divine.

Open Ears

Inside or outside.
Which voices do I follow?

If I listen only to the ones inside,
I risk losing my community.

If I listen only to the ones outside,
I'll never find my true self.

Best to keep both ears open.

Six Lessons

Simplicity isn't simple.
Love hides seeds of pain.
Answers aren't always answers.
Perfection isn't without blemish.
Wisdom is a journey.
Salvation is unnecessary.

Those Who Hate You

No matter who you are,
there are those who hate you.

They may not even know you,
but they hate you anyway.

They hate you because
you're different from them. 

They hate you because
they don't understand you.

They hate you because
they're afraid of you.

But their hatred is powerless,
unless you hate them back.

Measuring Stick

If money is how you
measure your worth,
you'll never have enough.

If control is how you
measure your power,
you'll be forever thwarted.

If joy is how you
measure your life,
you'll find reasons to sing.

Empty and Full

True emptiness
is not empty.

True fullness
is not full.

Emptiness is ripe
with possibility.

Fullness holds
only what you need.

Garbage

Hate is
the garbage
of fear.

Justice

If you want
to stand up
for justice,
live a just life.

Build community
wherever you are.

One way or another,
you'll get what you give.

Thanksgiving

The straightest way
to turn pain into wisdom
is to be grateful for the pain.

The simplest way
to turn darkness into light
is to be thankful for the darkness.

Gratitude opens our eyes
to things we can't see
any other way.

Mattering to Tao

Would the universe
be less without us?
Would life be incomplete
in our absence?
Does it matter
that we're here at all?

No way to know.

It's better just to live
this moment as though
we matter to Tao.

Nothing More

There is what is.
There is what I see.
There is what I think I see.

What I think I see depends on
what I tell myself I see.

What I see depends on
where I turn my gaze.

What is depends on
what it is and nothing more.

Last to Discover

Fish are the last
to discover water.

Believers are the last
to discover Tao.

Gate of Indifference

What stands between us
and the future that looks so bright
is nothing more than the gate
of our own indifference.

Enter Here

If your heaven
has a gate,
then it's a heaven
you've created,
not a heaven
God created.

God wouldn't
create a heaven
with a gate,
much less a fence.

Every Journey

Wherever it takes us,
every journey brings us
back home in the end.

But home is never the same
after we've been away.

Darkness of Tao

The darkness of Tao
only frightens me when
I forget the light of Tao.

Tribal Paradox

My tribe helps keep me safe,
but it also hems me in.

The first allows me to explore.
The second pushes me to explore.

Exploration opens my eyes 
to a much larger tribe.

A box within a box within a box.

Forever Beautiful

Why should I want
to be happy every minute?

If it were always noon,
I'd miss the stars.

If it were always midnight,
I'd miss the blue sky.

Rising or setting,
the sun is forever beautiful.

Stream

What is surface?
What is depth?

See only surface
and know only
shadows of self.

See only depth
and know only
shadows of Tao.

Making the Journey

Each path has
its resting places.

Each resting place
has its purpose.

Together they make
the journey possible.

Can't Save a Forest

I can't save a forest,
but I can save a tree.

I can't build a city,
but I can build a life.

I can't liberate a nation,
but I can free my own mind.

Insane Doubt

Doubt serves a purpose.

It takes away my sanity
long enough for me
to see how crazy I am,
then Tao blows it away
like a wisp of smoke,
and I am once again
in my right mind.

Thirst

Who is thirsty?
Who has enough?
Who has too much?

All thirst for water. 
Many thirst for money.
Some thirst for power.
Few thirst for wisdom.

Big surprise.

Both Minds

There is the mind
that tells me I am not
anyone else but myself.

There is the mind
that tells me I am not
anything else but One.

Both minds chatter.
Both minds prosper.
Both minds hinder.

No mind is true mind.

(But what mind would
ever find its way to that?)