Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Fifteen

"To the ordinary being, others often require tolerance.
To the highly evolved being, there is no such thing as
tolerance, because there is no such thing as other.
She has given up all ideas of individuality and
extended her goodwill without prejudice in every 
direction.
Never hating, never resisting, never contesting, she is
simply always learning and being.

Loving, hating, having expectations:
all these are attachments.
Attachment prevents the growth of one's true being.
Therefore the integral being is attached to nothing and
can relate to everyone with an unstructured
attitude.
Because of this, her very existence benefits all things.

You see, that which has form is equal to that which is
without form, and that which is alive is equal to 
that which rests.
This is the subtle truth, not a religious invention,
but only those who are highly evolved will
understand this."

I do my best to consider, learn, and grow. Sometimes love can be dangerous, in that it makes one vulnerable. But tolerance is worse--it hardens the heart, resulting in anything from grudging acceptance to masked hatred. All of that is not just dangerous, but deadly. Vulnerability leads to openness, while a hard heart could very well close and die. 

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Fourteen

"Can you dissolve your ego?
Can you abandon the idea of self and other?
Can you relinquish the notions of male and female,
short and long, life and death?
Can you let go of all these dualities and embrace the
Tao without skepticism or panic?
If so, you can reach the heart of the Integral Oneness.

Along the way, avoid thinking of the Oneness as
unusual, exalted, sublime, transcendental.
Because it is the Oneness, it is beyond all that.
It is simply the direct, essential, and complete truth."

Sometimes the truth is reassuring, and sometimes the truth is devastating. The best thing I can do is be willing to face it, any and every time.

Monday, February 26, 2018

Thirteen

"The tiny particles which form the vast universe are not
tiny at all.
Neither is the vast universe vast.
These are notions of the mind, which is like a knife,
always chipping away at the Tao,
trying to render it graspable and manageable.

But that which is beyond form is ungraspable, and
that which is beyond knowing is unmanageable.
There is, however, this consolation:
She who lets go of the knife will find the Tao at her
fingertips."

One solution is to let go of everything. I have tried to do this, letting back in only those things which come back to me on their own. I've heard it said, "If it's for you, you won't have to chase it." I have finally slowed down enough to know that this is always true. 

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Twelve

"Do you wish to inhabit sacred spaces?
To have the respect and companionship of the highest
spiritual beings?
To be protected by the guardians of the eight powerful
energy rays?
Then cherish the Integral Way.
Regard these teachings with reverence,
practice their truths,
illuminate them to others.

You will receive as many blessings from the universe as
there are grains of sand in the River of
Timelessness."

I always hope that what I'm doing is enough for God, and if who I am is enough for the people around me. I may never know enough to be sure of either. The rest is mystery and magic. May I abuse neither as I continue to explore. 

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Eleven

"Does one scent appeal more than another?
Do your prefer this flavor, or that feeling?
Is your practice sacred and your work profane?
Then your mind is separated:
from itself, from oneness, from the Tao.

Keep your mind free of divisions and distinctions.
When your mind is detached, simple, quiet, then all
things can exist in harmony, and you can begin to
perceive the subtle truth."

Along the path of Tao so far, I see three basic steps: quiet the mind, balance it, and then unify it. I endeavor to unite my mind with the Source of everything, so that my heart will be in Him, too. 

Friday, February 23, 2018

Ten

"The ego is a monkey catapulting through the jungle:
Totally fascinated by the realm of the senses,
it swings from one desire to the next,
one conflict to the next,
one self-centered idea to the next.
If you threaten it, it actually fears for its life.

Let this monkey go.
Let the senses go.
Let desires go.
Let conflicts go.
Let ideas go.
Let the fiction of life and death go.
Just remain in the center, watching.

And then forget that you are there."

I am sure I have less going on right now than I ever have in my life before. I used to fear the lack, filling space with people and things and experiences so I would never falter or want.

Now I am learning to make the space. Maybe someday, at last, I can be the space

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Nine

"He who desires the admiration of the world will do
well to amass a great fortune and then give it away.
The world will respond with admiration in proportion
to the size of his treasure.
Of course, this is meaningless.

Stop striving after admiration.
Place your esteem on the Tao.
Live in accord with it,
share with others the teachings that lead to it,
and you will be immersed in the blessings that flow
from it."

Sometimes, I wonder how much more I will have to give before I can feel those blessings. Other times, I'm grateful I have anything to give at all. Navigating between the two is the biggest challenge. My goal is to increase my equanimity throughout. It's something I have always struggled to maintain, even at the best of times.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Eight

"I confess that there is nothing to teach: no religion, no
science, no body of information which will lead
your mind back to the Tao.
Today I speak in this fashion, tomorrow in another,
but always the Integral Way is beyond words and
beyond mind.

Simply be aware of the oneness of things."

Such oneness is like my life: many parts, many pieces, many languages, even, but all one person. I look back on another relationship, time, or experience, and like to say I'm a different person now--but even in the growth I can see the sameness, the qualities and strength that endure. 

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Seven

"The teachings of the Integral Way will go on as long as
there is a Tao and someone who wishes to embody
it;
What is painted in these scrolls today will appear in
different forms in many generations to come.

These things, however, will never change:
Those who wish to attain oneness must practice
undiscriminating virtue.
They must dissolve all ideas of duality: good and bad,
beautiful and ugly, high and low.
They will be obliged to abandon any mental bias born
of cultural or religious belief.
Indeed, they should hold their minds free of any
thought which interferes with their understanding
of the universe as a harmonious oneness.

The beginning of these practices is the beginning of
liberation."

At the beginning of this year I began to wonder if this is the time I will know true freedom. What I'm discovering is that I no longer have such a daunting sense of striving and struggle. Perhaps this is because I began my freedom journey long ago and I'm finally seeing some of the lessons of my travels, or the fruits of my own growth, or both. I want to share them and I hope they will be acceptable to others, always.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Six

"The Tao gives rise to all forms, yet it has no forms of its
own.
If you attempt to fix a picture of it in your mind, you
will lose it.
This is like pinning a butterfly: The husk is captured,
but the flying is lost.

Why not be content with simply experiencing it?"

When I quit teaching, I felt I committed to letting things unfold. As when I went abroad, this has been an exercise in trust. Being seriously committed to my spiritual disciplines and creative actions has allayed my doubts and fears like never before. Though materially I may be losing, I believe I am winning a spiritual victory. 

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Five

"Do you imagine the universe is agitated?
Go into the desert at night and look out at the stars.
This practice should answer the question.

The superior person settles her mind as the universe
settles the stars in the sky.
By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she
calms it.
Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her
mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the
night sky."

I so seldom allow myself peace. I want it--crave it, even--but I often feel so far from it that to get there hardly seems worth the effort. I struggle with the notion that I'm not worth the effort. This is my daily moment to struggle against that. Someday, I'll change it for good. 

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Four

"Every departure from the Tao contaminates one's
spirit.
Anger is a departure, resistance a departure, self-
absorption a departure.
Over many lifetimes the burden of contaminations can
become great.
There is only one way to cleanse oneself of these
contaminations, and that is to practice virtue.

What is meant by this?
To practice virtue is to selflessly offer assistance to
others, giving without limitation one's time,
abilities, and possessions in service, whenever and
wherever needed, without prejudice concerning the
identity of those in need.

If your willingness to give blessings is limited, so also
is your ability to receive them.
This is the subtle operation of the Tao."

How often are we permitted to depart and then come back again? I fall so short so often. While my willingness to give may never cease, my resources, both outer and inner, seem to ebb even as they flow.

Who knew this ancient wisdom would speak so rightly to my heart? It fuels my quest for balance as I go. 

Friday, February 16, 2018

Three

"Those who wish to embody the Tao should embrace all
things.
To embrace all things means first that one holds no
anger or resistance toward any idea or thing, living
or dead, formed or formless.
Acceptance is the very essence of the Tao.

To embrace all things means also that one rids oneself
of any concept of separation: male and female, self
and other, life and death.
Division is contrary to the nature of the Tao.

Forgoing antagonism and separation, one enters into
the harmonious oneness of all things."

Last year in a sales training, I did a collaging exercise as part of an icebreaker: cutting things out of magazines to represent different aspects of my life and who I am. The most important one I found was the phrase, "The process is the passion." At that point, I wasn't even sure why I was cutting it, but with everything that has transpired since, I'm beginning to understand. It's something of what I feel sent me apart from the dominant culture, most of the time. In life, people love to talk about purpose, and in the past I have become trapped in grandiose ways of thinking about my destiny.

While I do believe that I have one, and that it needs to be fulfilled, I've realized that in the day-to-day it must be superseded by the myriad small steps of living: the process of existence. In fact, if I were to write a book, I might answer this one and call it The Process Driven Life. 

Scientists out there might say, "Well, duh, all life has processes!" But I say that's exactly it. By observing these, I can know peace--the way I once took tremendous pleasure in watching a bartender wash glasses one by one from where I sat, sipping my wine.  At the time, this thrilled me as a poem would. Now I know that if I mind the process, the purpose takes care of itself. 

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Two

Two

"Men and women who wish to be aware of the whole
truth should adopt the practices of the Integral
Way.
These time-honored disciplines calm the mind and
bring one into harmony with all things.

The first practice is the practice of undiscriminating
virtue: take care of those who are deserving; also,
and equally, take care of those who are not.

When you extend your virtue in all directions without
discriminating, your feet are firmly planted on the
path that returns to Tao."

Take care of all, be kind to all, learn from all--this is everything I have ever tried to do. But there is always more. I can still grow. For that, I am so grateful, and in that, so blessed!

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

One

"I teach the Integral way of uniting with the great and
mysterious Tao.
My teachings are simple; if you try to make a religion
or science of them, they will elude you.
Profound yet plain, they contain the entire truth of
the universe.

Those who wish to know the whole truth take joy in
doing the work and service that comes to them.
Having completed it, they take joy in cleansing and
feeding themselves.
Having cared for others and for themselves, they then
turn to the master for instruction.

This simple path leads to peace, virtue, and
abundance."

I am slowly learning that all my work and skills have value. Everything I have been given leads me closer to the One who gave it all.