C T

You mean like this page has to be *full* of *emptiness*, uncorrupted in other words, before it can be filled with some *thing*, or substantiated? Logicians often cannot see things this way. Their argument is empty = empty. Full = full. Things have to very black and white, or they find it quite hard to function otherwise. Many logicians struggle with obsessive needs for every aspect of their lives to be organized and plain to the eye, or else they can fall apart. Remember that movie with Russell Crowe in the lead - whats it called, oh yeah, A Beautiful Mind - thats a classic example! I think there is a word for this, and its called 'fixated view' which ties in with 'wrong view' in Buddhism. But most people, i figure, have issues with the application of the word 'wrong', so i prefer 'fixated'. Does this tie in with your patient explanation of the concept of *emptiness/fullness*? Bee good V!

Hey V! How are you today? "The more you see emptiness, the freer your will". I like this very much!

Hey TM! Its all in good fun eh? I fully agree with your view btw. Haikus in English can be a bit off. Its like archery with a broken bow thats been taped over. Or a cracked chopstick mended with superglue! But we do our best nonetheless yes? Bee good my friend. petals fall, float on in timeless fashion seasons appear - like pillars...only stronger

Top of the morning to you sir! You WOULD love to stand naked in front of your baker wont you? Hahaha.... Well, a gorgeous baker is anytime more tempting than maker Humor aside, very well put M. Your wisdom is shining again, after a couple of days of 'swimming in choppy waters' I love solitude. I love pretty bakers too! Bee good my friend..

The road each of us take in this life can only be taken by us alone. No one can walk this road on our behalf. There is a weakness, a tendency, where we may project and impose this expectation on others, like our family, gods, teachers, country, therapists, partners, society, spiritual master of this and that etc. - to deflect this immense responsibility, if only for a while, so that we can shift a bit of the burden or to lay out a safety net in case we fall miserably on this journey - but at some point, we have to acknowledge and embrace this quest for personal freedom. Isnt this the essence of solitude? Bee good all!

This is the second time you have made me feel welcomed here T. Much appreciated. How about a contribution from you sir? You do not post much, so how about giving us an opportunity to appreciate your fine words? Thank you. Have a good day!

Even Stig does not stig to this 5 7 5 structure so.... Basho, the eminent Haiku poet and ex-samurai, does not conform strictly to this 5 7 5 either. An example: "Winter rain falls on the cow-shed; a cock crows. But if you insist, and there is consensus, 5 7 5 it shall be! I have no prob with this.

Yes TJL...a pint or two of beer first - suffering can wait! Wonderful!

This is for Taoists with a sense of humor: "One needs a good taoster to make good tao(i)sts!" Sorry guys, dont take this in the wrong way okay? hehehe I'd be happy to take one back...

This assumption that Tib Buddhists and many others (Buddhists?) eat meat and justify it.... is a vague observation, made with not very good motives i think. It appears you are trying to portray Buddhists in a negative light, and it does not achieve any purpose, yes? I am not being defensive here, Songs. It does reflect your judgement in a way IMO.

Perhaps its not that *WE* drive you nutz, rather you have allowed yourself to be agitated in a nutty way! Sounds a bit like nit-picking to me, in a relative sense. From a different perspective, one from a Buddhist world-view so to speak, your agitation does present opportunities for furthering the practice of compassion. So its all good i guess... If i would be crass, i'd say you are merely attempting to pick up brownie points. But i am not, so i wont say this.

imagination friend or foe? Alas, the autumn wind blows..

The Whole of Life has to be allowed. One has to give absolute permission for this. Otherwise life becomes a series of up-stream manoeuvres, or stagnating moments, or both. This tendency to impose one's insignificant will on Life often leads to all kinds of conflict and neurotic outcomes, and is the root cause of discontentment. (The Chinese have a saying that if Man can ever learn to be content, then even the snake can swallow an elephant.) This is humanity's folly - a lack of understanding of the humane aspects of freewill. It is, as you say, TJL, without sincerity, and to it could be added 'without obligatory moral responsibilities and integrity'. But ultimately Life lives itself. It cannot be dammed. It always seeks its own expression, and regardless of all our puny self-serving pursuits, and all the exploitations we impose on life, i guess Life gets the last laugh. It is fruitless to attempt spitting up at the heavens, as the saying goes. Only when there is total acceptance of this great movement of Life can we truly proclaim, "I belong here, therefore I am". Regards, my friend.

Yes M, all the conflicts of this world can be resolved if every single person learn to be totally mindful of the art of making tea, and how it can translate to all other areas of living life to the fullest! Excellent! Bee well!

"Its the simple and serene things in life that is invisible to one who is not mindful. For example, drinking tea with mindfulness unfolds the beauty of this simple act, so joy and contentment becomes visible in this way. How often this is ignored, and before we know it, another day, another life, is gone. This is how ignorance perpetuates, in the overlooking of simple things". It does not really have to be that deep, V.

Very well observed, TJL. Salutations! The Buddha said, "This is the path. Use your own life experience and do what I have done, and you too will find the way to liberation". Thank you.

Peace brother!

Hello M! Blowing off a bit of steam eh? hehehe Abit of hardness to complement the serenity and *softness* of Tao - is this not the way its taught - harmony? Embracing dark and light leads to contentment, and finding the balance is the key. Perhaps V, at this point of his evolvement, is more *light* than *dark* and thus may have come across as full of confusion, but i dont think he is. Sometimes we have a tendency to misjudge others based on this imbalance, and form all kinds of conclusions based on our own degree or shade of dark/light. I am not implying that you have done that here M, if anything it is more a critique directed at V, which i hope he can take on board. As we practice and go about our daily business we can observe how the shaky balance can tilt and sway, and thus effect our thoughts and actions. Some days there is more light, somedays dark. But thats okay i believe, as long as we are able to embrace this flow (isnt this a Taoist concept?). Conflict/suffering arises when we lose sight of this, yes? Those who are dark-influenced try to will light, while others, light-influenced, try to will dark. I think the concept is also common in Buddhism, although they call it clinging and aversion, the root cause of buddhist suffering. So in a sense, its not that there are no allusions in Taoism to suffering, it may just be understood in differing ways and means. I am sure in Taoism there are all kinds of training to lead one towards a stability in balance, something which also applies to Buddhism. In a way, we are like high-wire trick cyclists dont you think so? Some of us have very long balancing poles(is that what they are called?), derived from years of maturing practice and patience, while some have pretty short ones. The great thing about nature is that those with the short poles dont have to *perform* too high up (if you know what i mean here!) - i guess this is how life looks after itself. Please correct me if i am mistaken here M. I am still learning, and may have concluded incorrectly, so peace okay? (I was going to delete this post actually, since its really none of my business. But i got bold, so here it is hehehe...) Bee well my friend.

Angel wings, at most? Some say buffalo wings on toast is first past the post!

kosher meal chosen, loin cloth woven yet to view heaven

Truth is a blank canvas. It was our birthday gift from the Nondescript. On this canvas we paint out our life - our perceptions, our principles and beliefs, interactions and projections, our highest joys to our deepest sorrows, all our life-experiences. And then we show this canvas off to the world, and say, "looky here everyone, this is MY truth!". In our contemplations about who we are, and what the essence of Truth is, we often only have this canvas as a backdrop for reflection, because whatever that can be contemplated has to exist (to have been known, and therefore already past) on this canvas. It is not possible to contemplate anything other than what has been painted there. If a new thought or insight occur, it is immediately grafted onto this canvas. And so we carry this heavy 'yoke' with us wherever we *go*, and proudly proclaim it to be our Truth, not realizing that all this huffing and puffing is much ado about nothing, since everything we proclaim henceforth belongs in the Known, which is past. So that which has already been known cannot belong to the present, and what belongs to the present, which is a sequence of now, now, now x infinity moments, cannot necessarily be known. In a sense, truth is that aspect in us which is always knowing and perceiving, hence the ultimate reality is that each moment in this life ought to remain a blank canvas... spotless, untainted, and beyond conditions, and if we are able to maintain this purity till the day the body gives up itself, then we shall once again reunite with the Nondescript, blank canvas in hand. Thank you for the opportunity to express my thoughts here on *Truth*, and thank you also for reading. Bee good

Yes i can see where you are coming from, M, and very much concur with your reasoning. I find there is much to learn from all the great traditions, as well as from the little ones. Often we learn more from those who remain in the background - wisdom abounds here, overlooked by those with all their lofty idealism and spiritual pride. In the Tao, it is said that water seeks the lowliest places. Such a wonderful unfolding of reality in this. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I for one have utmost regard for the philosophy of the ancients. Maybe because i am biased by my upbringing. Who knows...who cares! Still as empty as ever! Bee good M!

Hello there M how are you today dear friend? There seem to be a slight misunderstanding here, so please forgive me for highlighting it. Yes the Buddha was poisoned, but the general view among Buddhists, which may or may not be right, is that he was not intentionally poisoned. So to say he was killed, i think, may not be totally accurate. Some say he ingested poisonous mushrooms which was the primary cause, while others say that that was a secondary cause, meaning that the same mushrooms would not have killed a younger person with a healthier digestive system. Assuming he was killed, from what you believe, does it in any degree negate the validity of his teachings? I would think not. Perhaps you may have a different angle. Please share if you do. I have been following all your recent postings, and have been appreciating their sensible and insightful contents. Just thought i'd let you know. Bee good!

Hi all! A friend asked me this question not so long ago - "What does profound, unobstructed liberation mean?" Spontaneously, my reply was, "Its the moment when one arrives at the one-pointed state of absolute recognition of the empty, yet substantial nature of the arising, and waning, of all thought formations and perceptions. In that state, all self-grasping and aversion subsides, and mind-stories give way to an awakened state of pure, pristine clarity where the * I * falls away together with all concepts and notions of the dualistic separation of self and other, subject and object, where words and descriptions and labels no longer hold any relevance. At that moment of the uncontrived, unobstructed collapse of all projections (of mind), where one remains in spacious, non-fabricated, primordial awareness, one IS the liberation, or the divine union with the Self. The sense of re-tuning in, and returning to, one's true nature, to the Mother Womb, will have been complete". If anyone care enough to share their thoughts and personal experiences here it would definitely make for interesting reading! (Please note that the above observation was made shortly after completing a nine-year celibacy stint. Its not part of any tradition, nor instructions given by any guru or lineage-holder. It was a personal choice, one that was made with much fear and hope.)