Different Roads Home

Walk one road and
end up at one place.

Walk a different road and
end up at a different place.

And yet, do we not arrive
back home in the end?

Illusion

What is inside us
and what is outside us
do not seem to be the same.

Another illusion.

Intersections

Peace and war intersect
at the crossing of difficulty and ease.

Ignorance and wisdom intersect
at the crossing of blindness and sight.

Joy and suffering intersect
at the crossing of heaven and earth.

Seven Gifts

Amity amid conflict.
Grace amid strife.
Patience amid loss.
Serenity amid chaos.
Insight amid suffering.
Generosity amid poverty.
Compassion amid fear.

Storm

Lightning splits the sky in two
like a yardstick striking a desk.

Thunder tumbles across the city
like children sent out to play.

Runoff courses through gutters
like rumors across a schoolyard.

Child's play in the hands of the Divine.

Out of Lack

Gratitude grows out of lack
and flowers in abundance.

Hunger Makes Me Grateful

Hunger makes me grateful
for the food on my plate.

Thirst makes me grateful
for the drink in my cup.

Illness makes me grateful
for every breath I take.

Loneliness makes me grateful
for every friend I meet.

The Nature of Patience

Patience is like water.
It flows past frustrations
like a river around stones.

True patience has no end.
It can level a mountain
of pain and disappointment.

It wells up from the spring
that nourishes us all and
keeps us steady in this moment.

You Can Keep Him

Why would a loving God
bring us into this life
without our permission
and expect us to be perfect,
then cast us into eternal hell
after we die if we fail
to live up to His demands?

Doesn't sound very loving to me.

Saturated

A branch floats along a river.
Water soaks into the fibers,
and the wood sinks to the bottom.

Does the branch become the river
because it's saturated with water?

Does the water become a branch
because it saturates the wood?

Does Tao stop being Tao
just because it saturates us?

Answers and Questions

Which matters more?
The answer to a question,
or the question itself?

Which lasts longer?
The satisfaction of an answer,
or the fascination of a question?

Which rings truer?
The clearest answer,
or the simplest question?

Seek and Find

When I seek, I find.

What I find is not
always what I seek.

What I seek
is not important.

What I find
is not important.

What matters
is the seeking.