Heart of Pine

The heart of the pine is solid, the joints of bamboo are hard; therefore they do not wither in the cold of winter, but continue to flourish even through snow and frost.

What I realize as I observe this is the Tao of establishing life through cultivation and discipline. If people can avoid what is shameful, be sincere, and impartial, then their hearts will be solid. When the heart is solid, one cannot be corrupted by wealth or status, one cannot be moved by poverty or lowliness, one cannot be suppressed by authority or force.

Dealing with events fearlessly, undisturbed by difficulty, the fortunes or misfortunes one may encounter are up to others, while the creation of life is up to oneself.

Liu I-ming (1737-1826)

Cheekless in Hollywood

It's valentines day, and I don't have an official "valentine" - but I do have lots of love in my life from friends, family and cats! One question: concerning LOVE. Jesus said when someone does evil to you, turn the other cheek. What happens when you run out of cheeks?

Greetings from God

Having just been through a horrible experience, where I lost a friend and a business (both were connected), I am convinced more than ever that the old adage “things happen for a reason” blows chunks.  As we move through life, there is signage.  The universe speaks to us, and we must be aware of these messages, respond to them.  I didn’t read that in a book, it’s something I have directly experienced.   So why don’t we see the bad things coming?  Probably we trust other people too much, we expect them to be better than they’re capable of being.

But this notion that God has a plan for each of us, that God controls everything which happens in our lives, is bull crock.  God gives little kids cancer?  God causes people to crash into each other on I-595?  God causes tsunamis and earthquakes that kill tens of thousands of innocents?  God must really be a bastard!  No, to me God is the universe, and we are one with God.  There is no separation, so everything we are, everything that happens, manifests itself from our own thoughts and actions.  We can’t control other peoples’ actions, neither can God.  It’s our individual sparks, those constant, miniscule decisions, which define our world.  In other words, we are God’s agents.  But most of us float through life oblivious, unaware, assuming that God’s got our backs, that God is playing our lives like a puppet show.  I say no, God is us.  Stop making excuses, stop whining that you don’t know what you did to deserve this (if you look inside yourself honestly, you’ll know precisely what you did), stop blaming Him for your treachery, stop taking credit for His grace.  You are, quite simply, blessed to be alive, so be humble and thankful, be kind.  This realization is the source of love.

From the moment our cells gel together and we slide screaming and slimy from that animal vagina, we possess the possibility of transformation.  No better time to begin that process than NOW. 

BITE ME!

So I just got home from my bi-annual dental cleaning, and feeling kind of giddy.  No, I didn't receive any gas or vicodin or drink heavily before I went there.  Paula, my hygienist, is just the BEST.   She told me today something that no dental professional has ever said to me in my entire life, and this is really saying something, she said 'you are my poster child for cleanings.'  In other words, I'm the patient who is so good and uncomplaining and compliant in the chair, she actually enjoys her work.  Stunning comment for me, a patient who breaks out in a cold sweat just entering the building, and who famously bit Dr. Snow the last time he worked on me, hard, even though I was unaware I even did it, it was just an involuntary instinct.  The sound of that drill transforms me into the 8 year old child I once was, when an evil dentist insisted on drilling my huge cavity-pocked molar without anesthesia, and my mom helped them hold me down.  With Paula's flawless technique and calming demeanor, I really don't mind the cleanings at all anymore, in fact one time she did a deep cleaning where she scraped way down under the gums, and I didn't flinch.  So I think sometimes ordinary people "just doing their jobs" can make a big difference in someone's life.  I appreciate you, Paula, but to Dr. Snow I can only say - barbiturates, bite block, headphones blaring Radiohead, let's just do whatever it takes, because 50 years is apparently not long enough to outgrow certain horrors.  I don't wanna leave a trail of blood from Emerald Hills.

Attraction and aversion are two feelings that keep people within the bondage of ignorant repetitive behavior. Those who seek only what pleases them and try to avoid what displeases them are acting in this way because they do not realize the nature of the world.

For those who know the nature of the world, lack of complete satisfaction or fulfillment in things of the world is in itself advice to cultivate detachment. If people do not crave to be pleased, they will not be displeased. What causes mental suffering is not the environment itself but the mind itself.

--Muso Kosushi (1275-1351)

To study the Way is to study the self.  To study the self is to forget the self.  To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.

Dogen Zengi (1200-1253)

DANGEROUS IDEAS

We were having a discussion about ideologies recently, on someone else’s page – and it got me thinking. I am a total individualist, do not subscribe to anybody’s ideology of politics or religion, I don’t belong to any group of any kind, and I reserve the right to change my views and actions as the world unfolds around me. The good thing about thinking as a group is – sometimes like-minded people can get things done in the world (good or evil). The worst thing is being so rigid in your beliefs that you have zero ability to compromise, even in the smallest details, be open to learning new things, or listen to others’ opinions. Which is more dangerous to society?