Various and Sundries

An egg in the hand



Pick up an egg and place it
in the palm of your hand

If you do not cup your palm
the egg will roll off and shatter.

If you grasp the egg too tight
The egg will be crushed

The key is to hold the egg

Without dropping
Without grasping

With the intension of gently
letting go.

Falsies

The film, All About Eve deals with
Manipulation through a display
of false humility.

We often do this ourselves
in order to get what we want.

But isn’t it better still, to be authentic;
to be truly humble without hubris or vice
and allow our actions to speak for us
rather than our words?

One Man’s kingdom

Last month someone told me that they
wanted to become a king in their next life.

Another person sent him a sadhana
That would assure him an auspicious rebirth
As royalty.

I said that becoming a Buddha was better than being a king
And my words went ignored
as others wallowed in the foolishness
Of avarice and pride.

Woe to this degenerate age
when men, like the lost woodsman
could not see the forest because of the trees.

Woe to those who swim close to the spillway,
unconcerned with the dangers of drowning.

Woe to those who use dharma practice for selfish ends
instead of applying dharma practice to what is most important.

To benefit all beings without exception.
is the ultimate of all goals.

No god can grant this
No kingdom will satisfy this

To use this life for anything else
is as deluded as prospecting for gold
in a mountain of shit.

The Idea

is NOT to turn Westerners into
Asians

The Idea
Is to turn everyone into
Buddhas.

Time

Time is short; impermanence is certain.
The time you spend with your teacher is finite.

One never knows when the last lesson will come.
So it is best to cherish every chance the student gets,

to spend time with their teacher,
to listen to his or her advice,

to bask in their love and wisdom

to apply the teachings, notice the results.

and

Practice as if this is the last day you will spend together.

This is, above all, is most important

Hang out with my teacher at:

Thee images were borrowed from Flickr. All the artists rights are reserved.
egg
sand kingdom

time