My parents gave me life. God is that life.

Do the math and it doesn't add up.

Take everything away and that which remains is what is whole.

one's not half two. It's two are halves of one:
which halves reintegrating,shall occur
no death and any quantity;but than
all numerable mosts the actual more

minds ignorant of stern miraculous
this every truth-beware of heartless them
(given the scalpel,they dissect a kiss;
or,sold the reason,they undream a dream)

one is the song which fiends and angels sing:
all murdering lies by mortals told make two.
Let liars wilt,repaying life they're loaned;
we(by a gift called dying born)must grow

deep in dark least ourselves remembering
love only rides his year.
All lose,whole find
(Poem by e e cummings)

It is a rare joy.

To be.

Here.

First Dean. Then Paul. Followed by Jay. And John.

Friday morning spontaneous conversation with coffee and muffins. As education is closed this and next Friday in prison, we are recipients of unplanned lovely morning group at the hermitage.

Welcoming each.

As.

Christ is.

Welcome.

I might give up world affairs.

This could be the end of my interest in what happens in politics, governments, corporations, interest groups, spokespeople for any organization, preachers, reformers, the saved, the anxious to be enlightened, the guardians of public safety, the proponents of change, the protectors of the status quo, the righteous, the rebels, the polite, and the trouble-makers.

Overnight At a Mountain Monastery

Massed peaks pierce
The sky’s cold colors;
Here, the trail junctions
With the temple path.
Shooting stars pass
Into sparse-branched trees;
The moon travels one way,
Clouds the other.
Few people come
To this mountaintop;
Cranes do not flock
In the tall pines.
One Buddhist monk,
Eighty years old,
Has never heard
Of the world’s affairs.
- Chia Tao (779-843)

All of it. Finished.

Well then. There you are. Now then. Let's get started.

Don't Despair...

Joseph to his father in Canaan shall return, don't despair walk on;
and Jacob's hut will brighten with flowers, don't despair walk on.

Aching hearts heal in time, vanished hopes reappear,
the disparate mind will be pacified, don't despair walk on.

As the spring of life grows the newly green meadow,
roses will crown the sweet nightingale's song, don't despair walk on

If the world does not turn to your whims these few days,
cosmic cycles are preparing to change, don't despair walk on.

If desperation whispers you'll never know God,
it's the talk of hidden games in the veil, don't despair walk on.

O heart, when the vast flood slashes life to its roots,
Captain Noah waits to steer you ashore, don't despair walk on.

If you trek as a pilgrim through sands to Kaabeh
with thorns lodged deep in your soul shouting why, don't despair walk on

Though oases hide dangers and your destiny's far,
there's no pathway that goes on forever, don't despair walk on.

My trials and enemies face me on their own,
but mystery always backs up my stand, don't despair walk on.

Hafez, weakened by poverty, alone in the dark,
this night is your pathway into the light, don't despair walk on.

(From: 'The Spiritual Wisdom of Hafez', Haleh Pourafzal and Roger Montgomery)

Night as pathway; darkness as route.

I despair of the ways of the world. Both the arrogant and the altruistic drink of the same brew.

As the lyrics of the Tom Rush song say, "Tomorrow I'll be in some other sunrise" -- I expect to be gone from the illusions of self and other.

I'll be right here, of course.

Nothing will change.

Just don't ask my opinion of anything.

I'll have none.

Now is the Time

Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.

Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.

Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child's training wheels
To be laid aside
When you finally live
With veracity
And love.

Hafiz is a divine envoy
Whom the Beloved
Has written a holy message upon.

My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?

What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?

Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.

This is the time for you to compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.

Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.
(--from 'The Gift - Poems by Hafiz the Great Sufi Master', translations by Daniel Ladinsky)

Oh to disappear into what is completely apparent!

Visiting with Alden in Belfast this morning after church. We traverse the footbridge together.

A lovely summer's day!

Song of the Diamond Heart

The pine tree’s voice is always whispering,
Yet how many pause to listen?
For when the churning mind is still,
The Diamond Heart within
Reflects even the falling dusk that
Shrouds every eye and branch,
And hears, but listens not.

Walking, then, with Courage and Kindness,
Never ceasing to walk in Wonder,
We follow our ancient path.
For the Way of the sword is folded two;
Like the rose we have thorns,
And like the rose, we unfold.
- Jo Aoi Isshi

A single candle burns in the night.

For the many faces of Christ.

For the many lives taken in Hiroshima.

Only my condemnation injures me
Only my own forgiveness sets me free

Do not forget today that there can be no form of suffering that fails to hide an unforgiving thought. Nor can there be a form of pain forgiveness cannot heal.
Accept the one illusion which proclaims there is no condemnation in God's Son, and Heaven is remembered instantly; the world forgotten, all its weird beliefs forgotten with it, as the face of Christ appears unveiled at last in this one dream. This is the gift the Holy Spirit holds for you from God your Father. Let today be celebrated both on earth and in your holy home as well. Be kind to both, as you forgive the trespasses you thought them guilty of, and see your innocence shining upon you from the face of Christ.

Now is there silence all around the world Now is there stillness where before there was a frantic rush of thoughts that made no sense. Now is there tranquil light across the face of earth, made quiet in a dreamless sleep. And now the Word of God alone remains upon it. Only that can be perceived an instant longer. Then are symbols done, and everything you ever thought you made completely vanished from the mind that God forever knows to be His only Son.
(-- from Lesson 198, Only my condemnation injures me, ACIM)

When the dream ends and the river is crossed, illusions will only be illusions -- no longer deceiving us, but merely taken by truth to be seen as they are.

That day.

Will.

Awaken.

See through Jesus. To the other side. Of which there is none.

The sky is filled with ultimate truth;
Other and self are both forgotten.
Having a mind like iron,
Why care that my hair’s grey as frost?
A clear spring follows the valley far,
An old cottage lies deep in the clouds.
This is where I’m at peace,
Blissful delight without end.
- Wen-siang (1210-1280)

I find I like sacred spaces. No matter what the religion or what the belief, it is the open profound space that engages me.

It is indeed good to be here, as you have said, Peter. It is good to be with Jesus and to remain here for ever. What greater happiness or higher honour could we have than to be with God, to be made like him and to live in his light?
(From a sermon on the transfiguration of the Lord by Anastasius of Sinai, bishop, Office of Readings)

I've heard the explanations. The reasons why the bomb had to be released on Hiroshima. They do not satisfy.

Don't tell me about God.

Instead show compassion.

Disuse the bombs.

God is defusing.

God is diffuse.

Moon nearly full.

Dew moist.

Excessive thinking
Weakens the will.
The more you know,
The more your mind
Is confused.
A confused mind gives
Rise to vexation.
The weakened will obstructs the Tao.
- Shih Wang Ming (6th century)

There is no self.

There, now you know.

Nothing to do but forget what you are not.

Day ends.

We are still.

Awake.

The Mountains in the Dawn

The moon is already hidden
Behind the western peak.
The sun is rising above the summit.
The frosty sky awaits
Dawn in cold silence.
One thousand mountains
Afar and ten thousand rocks near.
All enter into one eye.
- Jakushitsu (1290–1368)

Blink.

Now.

Open.

At Sunday Evening Practice there's talk about how to work with youth, adults, and families.

Here's a new approach: Practicing Now Treatment -- or, PNTx.

Mountain Dwelling

Things of the past are already gone
And things to be, Distant beyond imagining.
The Tao is just this moment,
These words:
Plum blossoms fallen,
Gardenia just opening.
- Ch'ing Kung (d. 1352)

Send me a request for Continuation Education Credits or In-Service Training, and we'll schedule a sit-down.

It is the practice of the ordinary, here and now, with simplicity and truth.

Any takers?

More than that is this.

Any givers?