If There Is a Devil

Everything that
fear tells me to do
drives me deeper
into fear.

If there is a devil,
fear is it.

Fear Masks

Fear is hatred.
Fear is injustice.
Fear is greed.

Fear is violence.
Fear is intolerance.
Fear is isolation.

Fear is depression.
Fear is terror.
Fear is worry.

Fear is arrogance.
Fear is pride.
Fear is distrust.

Fear is unmasked
by compassion.

Marks

We mark
our presence
in the world
not for others
but for ourselves.

Time rubs out
every trace,
but we don't care.

Time can't
rub out this
moment
now.

The Cost of Not Loving

Where does fear come from?

From the fear of dying?
From the fear of not lasting?
From the fear of not mattering?

Fear comes from none of these. 
Fear comes from not loving.

Diverse Worlds

Without diversity,
there is only one
color of flower.

Without diversity,
there is only one
species of tree.

With diversity,
there is struggle
and compromise.

Which world
would you rather
call home?

Half a Life

Living a short life is both
a blessing and a curse.

Living a long life is both
a blessing and a curse.

Living half a life is neither.

If Living

If living among fear,
sow compassion.

If living in fear,
seek compassion.

How Strange

Molten upheaval below.
Heavy weather above.
These made the earth I know.

Painful turmoil within.
Difficult passages without.
These made the life I know.

How strange to find light
in such rough places.

Water Ways

Floods drain away.
Droughts end in rain.
Nothing stays the same.

Every cloud is a cloud.
Every mountain is a mountain.
Different but the same.

The river of time flows on.
The ocean of Tao receives all.

Five Hard Stones

One stone is for striking an enemy.
One stone is for bracing a wall.
One stone is for blocking a bridge.
One stone is for breaking a spirit.
One stone is for trying to kill fear.

How Good

If heaven is
my real reason
for being good,
how good am I?

Better to leave
heaven to the gods
and try love instead.

Four Mysteries

Life is a mystery
to the mind.

Death is a mystery
to the heart.

Tao is a mystery
to the body.

Self is a mystery
to the spirit.

Stable

The best way to create
a stable life tomorrow
is to live a stable life today.

Every day was once
the tomorrow of yesterday.

Sleeper

To see only the flower
and not the stem
is to see with closed eyes.

Deficient Attention

Beauty doesn't have to
call attention to itself.

Arrogance and fear do.

Time for Ignorance

Sometimes, I have to stop
and take time to be ignorant.

To know that I don't know
is a gift, not a burden.

The more bewildered I feel,
the clearer the sky becomes.

Its Own Life

Don't fear tomorrow.
Every choice has its own life.

Good or not so good,
Tao can be found in every one.

Standing Against

If I take a stand with God
against the whole world,
I'm not taking a stand with God.

If I defend a holy place
against the whole world,
it ceases to be a holy place.

Standing against the world
is guarding an island of fear.

God stands against no one.

Field Work

Love and fear grow up
together inside us like
fields of wheat and weeds.

Figuring out which is which
is the labor of a lifetime.

Hell Healer

Heaven isn't
in the heavens.

Heaven is in the heart.
Heaven is in the mind.
Heaven is in the soul.
Heaven is in the spirit.

Heaven is in the pain.
Heaven is in the suffering. 
Heaven is in the disaster.
Heaven is in the violent act.

It goes there to heal the hell.

Decision Point

When I come to the edge of a stream,
I have to make a decision.

Do I wade out into the current?
Do I turn and walk along the shore?
Do I turn back and retrace my steps?
Do I just stop and sit down?

It's impossible not to decide.

When I reach the edge of myself,
there's only one decision to make.

Do I let go, or not?

Found

Am I lost because
I can't find my way?

Or am I lost because
I can't find myself?

Or am I lost because
I can't find Tao?

What Tao has found
can never be lost.

Table

Every shared meal
is communion.

Share broadly.

Daily Reminders

Dawn reminds me
of what I do not know.

Dusk reminds me
of what I cannot know.

Day and night remind me
of what I do not want to know.

Storm Warning

Faith can make storm clouds
evaporate into a clear blue sky,
but it can't stop the floods
their rains bring anyway.

Inside Job

Lasting change
can only arise
from within.

All other change
is temporary.

Where Is Heaven

Heaven is never a place.

It lives in those who trust
their path to Tao.

Listening for It

Music comes from
the things around us.
We think we invent it,
but it's really a gift.

This is another reason
listening is important.

No Distance

The distance between
heaven and earth
is no distance at all.

Only our fear keeps us
from seeing this.

Terrible Student

Religion taught me about God,
but it was a very small God.

Faith taught me about God,
but it was an invisible God.

Experience taught me about God,
but it was a personal God.

I finally figured out that only God
can teach me about God.

Like Nothing

Happiness is like weather.
It comes and goes.

Joy is like the ocean.
It takes into itself all it receives.

Tao is like nothing.
It never arrives nor departs.