World Beyond

Tao - Twelve

Colors blind the eye.
Sounds deafen the ear.
Flavors numb the taste.
Thoughts weaken the mind.
Desires wither the heart.

The Master observes the world
but trusts her inner vision.
She allows things to come and go,
Her heart is open as the sky.

The Power of Love

The power of love. How many times have we heard this phrase? Too many to count and when we do, it's in one ear and out the other, without even making a blip on our conscious mind. That's how I was until recently. Reading the books listed in our "What to Read" section of our blog, the reference section on our original website, and some recent experiences have altered my thinking.

The power of love is as real as the power of electricity. While electricity powers the physical world, love powers the spiritual world. When we tap into love as a power source, we can accomplish things that seem miraculous. Just as someone traveling back in time to the Middle Ages, with an electric motor or a video camera would appear to perform miracles. Over the past two hundred years, science has conquered the physical world. Now it's time to turn inward, and use the power of love to conquer the spiritual world. By balanced use of power in both the physical and the spiritual realms, we can truly change the world.

There are many ways to manifest love. Sharing, kind deeds, a big hug, a caring look, a loving touch, taking the time to listen. When someone you love is far away, think warm loving thoughts about them, and you'll both feel the benefit. Think about what someone did to make you feel loved, and then think of what you can do to show someone you love them. If you take the time, your heart will tell you what to do. Then act on the feeling.

The power of love can lift our spirits, brighten an otherwise dark and dreary day. When we are receptive, love can change us. The power of love can heal the wounds of a soul. Love can smooth out our rough spots, and make us better people. Love can bring a never-ending joy to our lives. Share love, experience love, be healed by love and then look around for others to lift up and help. As more people turn from the material things, focus inward and let love flow through them, the world will be changed. The world will be changed, not by some cataclysmic event, the world will be changed one heart at a time.

More Kazakh Haiku

I've been here before
Wandering these barren steppes
Feels so much like home

White snow blankets ground
Barren landscape beautified
Like life, it can't last

Cool mountain meadows
Sun peeking through patchy sky
Like her, brightens me

Near frozen river
Leaning into cold north wind
My heart burns for her

The Way

No spiritual mind remains within itself; it is always aspiring and going beyond its own strength.  --Montaigne

Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity; even so does inactivity sap the vigor from our minds.  --Leonardo Da Vinci

Nothing in this world is a gift.  Whatever has to be learned must be learned the hard way.  --Carlos Castaneda

There is no completeness without sadness and longing, for without them, there is no sobriety, no kindness.  Wisdom without kindness and knowledge without sobriety are useless.  --Carlos Castaneda

Self-importance is man's greatest enemy.  What weakens him is feeling offended by the deeds and misdeeds of his fellow men.  Self-importance requires that one spend most of one's life offended by something or someone.  --Carlos Castaneda

The greatest flaw of human beings is to remain glued to the inventory of reason.  Reason doesn't deal with man as energy.  Reason deals with instruments that create energy, but it has never seriously occurred to reason that we are better than instruments: we are organisms that create energy.  We are bubbles of energy.  --Carlos Castaneda

Tao - Eleven

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

Another Monday Haiku

If no one reads words I write
Do they still have meaning?  The
Universe decides

100 Words

In a little more than a month from now, my oldest daughter graduates from college and five days later gets married.  She's always been very efficient.  :)  For the past few months I've been trying to come up with something to say at the wedding dinner.  I didn't want it to turn into a rambling, bawling, mess.  In about five minutes last night, (yes there was bawling involved) here's what the universe gave to me:

100 Words

From day one, Rachel, like all my children, taught me about true love.

She's always been a very special person and has shared her love with many others.

Today, she chose Colby as her partner in life and love.  She couldn't have picked a finer young man.

Together, they'll continue to build on their life of love and be an example to those around them.

Someday, they'll learn more than they ever imagined about love through children of their own.

And the cycle will continue.

That's what families are for:  to teach love.

May God bless them on their journey.

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Now if I can only speak these words on May 10th without crying like a little girl myself.

Insight

To see a World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
--William Blake

Overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the greatest mystical achievement.  In mystic experiences, we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness.  --William James

We cannot comprehend spiritual things with ordinary intelligence.  --Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

It is not after we understand the truth that we attain enlightenment.  To realize the truth is to live -- to exist here and now.  --Shunryu Suzuki

Tao -- Ten

Can you coax your mind from its wandering
and keep to the original oneness?
Can you let your body become
supple as a newborn child's?
Can you cleanse your inner vision
until you see nothing but the light?
Can you love people and lead them
without imposing your will?
Can you deal with the most vital matters
by letting events take their course?
Can you step back from your own mind
and thus understand all things?

Giving birth and nourishing,
having without possessing,
acting with no expectations,
leading and not trying to control:
this is the supreme virtue.

Building A Strong Foundation

One summer during High School, I worked at a small concrete company. It was hard, dirty work and most evenings I came home with nostrils full of cement dust. At the time, I thought the only valuable lesson I was learning from this job was, "Go to college!"  Looking back, I see there may have been others.

Concrete is a material not often pondered, but can you imagine a world without it?  Roads, housing foundations, entire skyscrapers, dams, are just a few of the structures built with concrete we take for granted.  Concrete is made from four ingredients: cement, gravel, sand and water.  Skip an ingredient, or add the wrong amount, and your mixture is useless for building.

Our lives too, need something solid like concrete to build upon.  I believe this "spiritual concrete" is also created from four critical ingredients: desire, faith, humility, and love.  Like physical concrete, each of these ingredients is required or our strength will be inadequate and we'll crumble.

One of the best examples of desire is attributed to the one of this world's great philosophers. A young man approached Aristotle and asked to become one of his students. Aristotle led the young man into a nearby lake, and when in the water up to their chests, forced the would-be student's head under the water for what seemed like an eternity, then released him. As the young man came coughing to the surface, struggling for breath, Aristotle replied, "when you desire knowledge as much as you just desired air, then you may become my student."  How badly do we desire further knowledge and spiritual enlightenment?

Faith is another critical ingredient required for building a strong spirit. Faith in God, a supreme being or intelligence, who created and maintains this amazing universe we live in.  Faith that our individual lives have a purpose.  Faith that we can discover that purpose, and that the power lies within us to truly become god-like.

Humility is also required. A healthy understanding of how little we really know. An ability to acknowledge our faults and weaknesses. Not viewing ourselves as being better than other people.  A humble nature will allow us to learn the truly important lessons required for our development.

Finally, love is necessary. Love for all people.  Each day we need to express this love through thoughts, words and deeds.  Love for mankind is one of the central tenets of all religions.  Developing and sharing this love (a concurrent process) is what will transform us as individuals, then our communities, then our nation and ultimately the world.

Keep these four ingredients in mind.  Develop and maintain large stockpiles, use the ingredients liberally as you continue to evolve.  Then, at the end of this life, the wonderful edifice you construct will not be a simple physical monument, destined at some point to be replaced or destroyed by others, but a magnificent soul, eternal in nature, growing ever nearer to God.