Balancing a Friendship

How do you balance a friendship
that has never been in balance?

Balance achieved through the work
of only one side is never true balance.
True balance requires the work of both.

Without that, there is not balance.
There is only compensation.

What appears as balance
is simply a shift of the fulcrum
away from the center.

To Be Perfect

To be perfect means to be in perfect balance.
How does perfection balance pain and joy?

To be perfect means to be in perfect form.
How does perfection take on any form?

To be perfect means to be in perfect harmony.
How does perfection harmonize fear and love?

Peel an Onion

Peel an onion.
When do you know
when to stop?

Slice an apple.
How do you find
the edges of the core?

Crack open a nut.
Where do you see
the tree inside?

Split your mind.
What do you think
each half knows?

Another Mystery of Being

Ground rests solid as granite,
hard and unmoving, yet
filled with empty space.

Planets spin around stars
spinning in galaxies spinning
in space like invisible dancers.

Dancing waves of energy burst
into being and then into matter
and then into nothingness again.

What is here is not here.
What is now is not now.
Another mystery of being.

Talents and Skills

If I have a talent for something,
where does that talent lie --
in me or in the Tao from which I arise?

If I am skilled in certain tasks,
am I the source of these abilities,
or do they flow from the Divine?

When I claim what is not mine,
I become responsible
for the calamities that follow.

When I let go of what is not mine,
I become the bearer of gifts
I could never afford on my own.

Happiness Is Fleeting

Happiness is fleeting,
as it should be.

Its ebb and flow
is like a tide that marks
time for us and lets us know
we are still alive.

To hold onto it too long
is like sleeping on only one side.

Listening Beyond My Shadow

When I want to be heard, how often is it because I have something to say worth hearing, and how often is it because I've stopped listening to anything but the sound of my own voice?

If I want to be heard, my first task is to listen beyond my own shadow.

Holding On

When trees flourish
on a mountainside,

their roots help keep
the mountain intact,

even as time and gravity
work to pull them both

down.

What Tears Carry

Tears carry
the salt of sadness,
sorrow, and pain.

The savor
of passion, joy,
laughter, and awe.

The brine
of boredom, terror,
sickness, and fear.

They are the rivers
of emotion that keep us
healthy and sane.

Face to Face

The safest way forward
is not always the truest path.

The bitterest fruit
is not always the worst meal.

The calmest lake
is not always the smoothest sailing.

Look below the surface
and come face to face with the Divine.

Letting Go of Results

Letting go of the results of my work after my work is done is also my work. When I trust the workings of the Tao, that last task is easy. When I don't, the results are seldom enough.

Take as Much as You Need

Take as much
as you need,
and leave the rest.

Why carry more
than you can handle?