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After all that was said and done
Marching home to our Soul’s waiting embrace
We are all but travelers.
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Tag Archives: zen
The Man And The Beast
I decided that God is testing men, to show them that they are no better than animals. After all, the same fate awaits men and animals alike. One dies just like the other. They are the same kind of creature. A man is no better off than an animal, because life has no meaning for either. They are both going to the same place – the dust. They both came from it; they will both go back to it. How can anyone be sure that a man’s spirit goes upward, while an animal’s spirit goes down into the ground? – Ecclesiastes 3:18-21*
In the evolutionary ladder, humans are said to be the “peak” of creation. This idea has taken a very deep root in the minds of – guess who – humans, of course. Humans take so much pride in being called God’s magnum opus. On the other hand, the animal and plant species couldn’t care less if we think of them as lower life forms.
Who occupies the top of the evolutionary ladder is decided on the basis of an organism’s ‘intelligence’. But who is clever enough to measure and rank each species intelligence? And using whose standard of measurement?
It is the Homo sapiens with his advanced tool – the yardstick.
Both the godly (religious) and the reasonable (scientific) have often been inclined to support the notion that humans are the fairest of them all. We are the top creatures – God’s masterpiece. After all, it was stated in the holy book that God created Man in His own image.
To so-called thinking humans, it does appear very rational that we must logically be the pinnacle of evolution. We have intricate scripts and languages which set us apart from other species. We could create and use complicated tools to build cities and civilizations. The advancement of our technology was not due to the genius of the apes. Humans have stepped on the moon; plans to colonize other planets are on the way. The argument, or evidence, supporting the theory that humans are the apex of evolution, could go on and on.
There is no doubt about humans’ brilliance and unending ingenuity. But what if the measure of evolution is happiness rather than intelligence?
Who could say for sure that a man is happier than a cat, dog, or fish?
The cat, in all its self-contained feline glory, lounges luxuriously all day – an enviable state of existence, I must say. A dog has no bills to pay and yet every day is a vacation. The fish does not stress worrying about the future, even if in the next moment it is caught and thrown into a sizzling frying pan. For letting itself get caught and preyed upon, who could say that the fish is dumb or less evolved?
In this ephemeral existence we all share, the beasts seem to only care about enjoying their moments. Measured against the human yardstick, their simplicity, their being-in-the-moment-attitude, and their lack of prudence attest to their lower-ranking status. But what if these simple beastly attributes are what they are here for to show the intelligent (sapiens) human (homo)? To take life easy, to enjoy the moment, to act only when urged (or inspired), and to let God/Universe take care of us?
In the end, after all is said and done – humans, animals, plants – we all die. In our short lives, perhaps caring about feeling good (like the animals do) is the most intelligent choice to make after all.
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Post Enlightenment
The question is: what does one do after Awakening from the great dream?
It depends on the awakened one. There are unlimited things one can choose to do depending on what makes one tick. Following one’s passion, excitement, or bliss is usually what one does. Following one’s bliss is the most coherent conclusion an awakened one can arrive at.
It is because someone who has Awakened has penetrated through the thousand veils and has seen what stuff ‘reality’ and the world is made of.
The awakened one has come to know that Waking Reality is just another dream.
And thus, knowing that it is just another dream, one no longer acts like as if what one sees around her is solid and absolutely real. One no longer takes anything too seriously. One no longer clings to anything.
There is a fear that after Awakening, life becomes bland or empty as one loses attachments, desires, visions, dreams.
Quite the opposite. After Awakening, life becomes filled to the brim. One encounters boundless potential.
One would desire, and dream, and continue to have visions that are pleasing. One knows that this is how reality comes into being.
One plays.
While fully living in matter, one plays.
While deeply immersed in the dream, one plays.
One plays in full awareness. One is a lucid dreamer.
. . . No one realizes that One is merely playing.
Five Guaranteed Ways to Become More Lovable
Become like a cat or a puppy, cute and adorable without trying.
Become like a flower, confident in its beauty, whether it’s a rose or a sunflower.
Become like a tree, lofty yet grounded.
Become like the sun, warm and generous.
Become like the breeze, cool and refreshing.
. . . meow . . .
The Drunken Zen Master
Hui-k’o, the Second Patriarch of Zen passed on the bowl and robe to his successor, the Third Patriarch, Seng-ts’an, signifying the transmission of the Dharma.
Hui-k’o, who had received the seal of approval from Bodhidharma himself, then went everywhere drinking and carousing around like a wild man and partaking in the offerings of the brothel districts. When people asked how he could do such a thing, being a Patriarch of the Zen school and all, he would respond with:
“What business is it of yours?”
🙂
The Stream of Peace
There is a continuous stream of peace running in the background,
quietly, it runs, in the background,
drowned by the noise in the foreground.
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It is a clear, peaceful stream flowing,
unobstructed, unconditioned, pure,
unaffected by the turbulence around it.
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Peacefully and joyously constant, it remains
oblivious of anything else – aware only of itself and its purity,
quietly, it flows . . .
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Within this peace is joy, within this joy is love,
peace, joy and love – all in one – untouched, uncontaminated,
innocent: knows no regrets, no blame, no sin, no karma.
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A steady stream . . .
a source of strength, a fall back, a respite from it’s opposite –
the ever-shifting, tumultuous, raging river of the manifest world.
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It is certainty where there is uncertainty.
It is order where there is disorder.
It is the light where there is darkness.
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This is where we want to be.
It is heaven – undisturbed peace, true love, lasting happiness.
It is God – constant, cannot be taken away, never abandons, never fails.
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It is ever present . . .
It is enlightenment.
And it lies in wait to be uncovered.
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A steady stream running in the background
drowned by the noise in the foreground.
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Wu Wei
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There is nothing needed to be done.
The world moves by itself in the way it does.
No need to control.
No interfering with the Unfolding.
There is nothing to prove.
And nothing to disprove.
There is no reason to live.
Yet there is also no reason not to live.
– Allu
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Allu Kuy: The Storyteller 