Haiku

(Between Friday & Sunday)

Holy Saturday:

Nothing is happening here --

Mist soaks still mountain

(23april2011)

Potter's Field took in strangers. A final resting place for the poor, indigent, and friendless.

When divine egolessness is at play, even questionable transactions find beneficial outcomes.

Be at rest with peace, Judas.

Christ is sleeping and will wake in the concretion of the Spirit.

Through this dark time.

Communion. Building together. One with.

It is Thursday of Remembrance.

Having realized true entrusting
Majestic and boundless
By the working of
Unhindered Light,
The ice of blind passion
Melts without fail
To instantly become
The water of enlightenment.
- Shinran

Passover meal, obedience, bread, wine.

Because he has given freedom to the destitute who called to him,
to the poor, whom no-one will hear.
He will spare the poor and the needy,
he will keep their lives safe.
He will rescue their lives from oppression and violence,
their blood will be precious in his sight.
(--from Psalm 71)

Send me away.

Empty.

Waco, Oklahoma City, New York, D.C., Baghdad, Kandahar.

The wagers of war carve distinct niches.

Buddhas know beings' minds,
Their natures each different;
According to what they need to be freed,
Thus do the Buddhas teach.
To the stingy they praise giving,
To the immoral they praise ethics;
To the angry they praise tolerance,
To the lazy they praise effort.
- Avatamsaka Sutra

Reading a Libertarian view. Here's a hard opening paragraph:

"The Davidian cult in Waco was dealt with by armored vehicles," remarked Muammar Gaddafi in February, defending his own crackdowns in light of the U.S. government’s. April 19 marks eighteen years since the end of the Waco siege and exactly one month since Obama began bombing Libya. Now that the federal government is again shedding blood in the name of humanitarianism, we might reflect on how it obtains legitimacy for its most brazen acts of violence.
(from, From Waco to Libya: 18 Years of Humanitarian Mass Murder, by Anthony Gregory)
http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory210.html

That and "Why the Left Won't Stop the Wars" make upsetting reading. http://www.lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory209.html

The hobo at his campfire focuses on one thing.

To the lovers of war the Buddhas speak about hot dogs and universal love.

We create the world in our image.

War this Holy Week is between those embodying Christ Mind and those who think Jesus is a mercenary returning to convert or kill the Jews, Muslims, Pagans, Women, and Catholics. It's a nasty business, a simple-minded religious zealotry masquerading as Civil Servant Representatives. It is a war. Jesus is fodder.

As for no-mind, how could it require that the mind be darkened and put to no use? Instead, no-mind resembles a bright mirror that reflects things: does it have a mind? You should know that all living creatures first had no-mind. Their mind and body were originally still. Being still, they were in constant use. Being in constant use, they remained still. They reflected and distinguished whatever situation they encountered, and what they reflected was always the true nature. It is not that one must have a mind before one can be of use. But most living things do not understand that their mind is first still, and foolishly they scheme to have a mind…
- Taisho Tripitaka

I'm staying close to earth this year.

The pageantry doesn't attract.

I'm staying with water, fire, air, and soil.

I'm betting my soul on care and compassion.

I'll leave the grandiose politics of divine and satanic forces to those with no imagination for decency and simplicity.

Surely some treachery is afoot!

Someone asked: Just why did they make such a fuss when Jesus entered Jerusalem?

Maybe it was because they’d not seen someone without ego before.

But then they realized it was them that needed to be free from ego, that it wasn’t enough to delight in someone else's liberation.

For the future life,
"Namu Amida Butsu" is sufficient;
Beyond this you need have no concern.
Shingon monks follow the practice of incantation;
Dew, bestowed upon the grasses
Of the autumn fields,
Gradually soaks in the reflection of the moon.
Zen monks are captivated by the autumn moon
And springtime blossoms;
But when satori comes,
There's no need for spring or fall.
- Gocho (1749-1835)

Ego drives this country & this world these days. ‘My’ needs, ‘my’ wants, ‘my’ accomplishments. There’s no room for anyone else in the crowded space of ego-self.

The soul loves to meditate, for in contact with the Spirit lies its greatest joy. If, then you experience mental resistance during meditation, remember that reluctance to meditate comes from the ego; it doesn't belong to the soul.
(--Paramahansa Yogananda)

Soul, mind, consciousness -- let’s find them.

Holy Week isn’t a memorial of a time gone by. No mausoleum of memory.

No, it is the step forward into now where everything is again and again up for grabs.

I’ll go for the donkey man.

Riding in without ego.

A taste of freedom.