Seeking to Control

Honor isn't high.
Dishonor isn't low.

Each carries the seed
of the other within.

Both are ways we seek
to control each other.

Only the Seeking

I can look and look
and not see.

I can listen and listen
and not hear.

Seeing doesn't depend
on the eyes.

Hearing doesn't depend
on the ears.

In the end, only the seeking
truly matters.

Eye Level

The horizon is
always at eye level.

Every boundary is
a matter of perspective.

Deeper Reflection

There is what you see.
There is what I see.
There is what is unseen.

The unseen leads
to deeper reflection.

Separately Whole

Separately whole,
we are islands of
a common ground.

The ocean between us
covers over this
and teaches us fear.

Killers

No food or drink.
No spiritual journey.
No pious life.

The first kills the body.
The second kills the soul.
The third kills the ego.

My Whole World

When I listen only to myself,
when I look only at myself,
when I care only about myself,
my world shrinks until
I'm the only one in it.

On the other hand,
I'm a member of
a communal species.
I can't survive without others.

When I discover this,
I start listening to others,
I start looking at others,
I start caring about others,
and my world becomes whole again.

The Last War

We are no longer
warring over territory.
We are no longer
battling over possessions.

Our new wars are fought
over hearts and minds.

They should be fought with
compassion instead of killing,
but the only war we know
how to fight is the last one.

Harder Lesson

Every hand reaches for something.
Our desires are without end.

To reach is not the problem.
Our desires teach us who we are.

To fear what we want also teaches us.
But it is a harder lesson to learn.

Three Weapons

Disappointment.
Displeasure.
Disapproval.

Three of the
sharpest weapons
we use against ourselves.

Overcome them within,
and they cannot pierce
from without.

What Should Matter

No color is perfect.
No pigment is pure.

What flows from within
is what should matter.

Playing with Tao

Competition
focuses my mind,
but not my attention.

Awareness
sharpens my attention,
but not my compassion.

Service
hones my compassion,
but not my joy.

Only playing
with Tao can do that.

No Travel

There is no road
to inner peace.

The journey
requires no travel.

Ten Thousand Homes

Darkness within darkness.
Light within light.

Tao needs no dwelling place.
Ten thousand homes are enough.

The Powerless

You may
have the power
to threaten us
and intimidate us
and terrorize us
and kill and maim us,
but you are powerless
to stop us from forgiving you.
You are powerless
to keep us from asking
our God to heal your fear.
You are powerless
to end our compassion for you.

Powerless against powerless.
Guess which one will win in the end.

Carrying a Mystery

The body is a shell
that carries a mystery.

Unravel the mystery,
and the body
becomes a body again.

It Takes Two

It takes two
to start a community.
It takes only one
to disrupt it.

More weapons
aren't the answer.
It takes community
to save us.

The Innocent

Violence scatters the innocent
and draws into itself more violence.

Violence may grow and grow,
but innocence cannot be destroyed.

Without Strings

When we stoop
to help those in need,
how often is it because
we want to serve them,
and how often is it because
we want to control them?

Help without strings
is true service.

Easy to admire.
Hard to do.

No Survivors

When two support one,
the work is easy.

When ten support one,
the work gets harder.

When 100 support one,
the work is almost impossible.

When billions support one,
no one survives.

The Bounty Between

Light dispels darkness.
Darkness surrounds light.

The bounty is between.

No Reason

The battle is always
fear against fear.

Compassion has
no reason to fight.

Three Trees

The first is for shade
when the sun beats down.

The second is for shelter
when the rains beat down.

The third is for sanctuary
when the gods beat down.

Even Less

The less one has,
the more one knows
how important it is
to help those who
have even less.

Wild Garden

What a wild garden
we humans have become.

Half want security.
Half want freedom.

Freedom without security
is fragile and easily scattered.

Security without freedom
poisons itself over time.

Sharpened

God is in the cloud.
Allah is in the mist.
Tao is in the fog.

When I can't see the Divine,
my other senses sharpen.

Nameless

Before every tree
there was another tree.

Before every child
there was another child.

Before every name
there was only the nameless.

Good Luck

If you won't
let yourself see
yourself as worthy
to contain God,
then you're trying
to limit the Divine.

Good luck with that.

Making Ourselves

We make ourselves angels
so we won't feel guilty
about the pain we cause.

We make ourselves demons
so we won't feel responsible
for the pain we cause.

The Death of Heaven and Hell

Heaven and hell are
two ends of a staircase.

We want to blame God for them,
but we're their creators, not God.

We make hell out of our fear.
We make heaven out of our desire.

Fear and desire end at the grave.
Heaven and hell die when we do.