life in prose

know yourself

2012-03-26T03:21:00.001-07:00

Know yourself…this is an ancient injunction…Know yourself…and at some time in our lives we set out to do that – to know oneself…but if we look at it, as one sets out to know oneself, to understand oneself, one gets caught in traps that others set for one…one is invariably provided a Book – and one is told all the answers are in there…to understand oneself all one has to do is to read that Book…how easy, how convenient…one rather have answers given to one, you see – in our sheer laziness to inquire and to truly understand, we rather have a Book, an organization and ‘Divine Revelation’…this lazy, careless one has answers from the Book, from the ‘Divine Voice’ in it - and where this ‘Divine Voice’ fails and it fails always, one is happy to allow its appointed representatives on earth to interpret and to tell one what to think and believe…and presto! One has true understanding of oneself! In this manner are the lazy made foolish and ignorant…one starts with the injunction: Know yourself – and one ends with ignorance and foolishness…laziness delivers one into the hands of those who would manipulate others…so Know yourself, and Know your manipulators…

self-knowledge

2012-03-26T03:19:00.002-07:00

Know yourself…can self-knowledge – please think about this, yourself – ever be given to you? It is really important that one thinks about this deeply. Can self-knowledge be given to you in a Book? Please do not be in a hurry to answer yes or no…One has to think about this carefully…can self-knowledge be given to you all clearly outlined in a Book? Is that possible? Is the description really the actuality? Can that be? – that a description is the real thing? Can language – any language, even when they say this is God’s language! - truly capture for you the knowledge of oneself? Can your priests and bishops and religious authorities and scientists too – can they all expound and reveal to us knowledge of oneself through their books and discourses and Holy Books and preaching and sermons and Revelations and treatises? Can one understand oneself through this? Or does one understand oneself through one’s own inquiry and deep seeing into oneself?

Know yourself - don't deceive yourself

2012-03-26T03:17:00.001-07:00

There are so many traditions and religions and systems that will offer one self-knowledge…There are so many priests, and High Priests, and Holy Books and Divine Pronouncements that offer one self-knowledge…but if we think about it carefully, are these not merely descriptions? Is the description the real thing? Consider this revelation by others for oneself – is this not merely a lazy person’s dream come true? One pretends one is earnest in one’s inquiry into self-knowledge but one falls for ready-made answers…ready-made answers offered by the deceitful; and one is deceitful too in seeking such ready-made answers for one is truly seeking a quick lazy answer so one can pretend that one knows, and one can then continue with one’s life as one wishes it, shallow and deceitful…one is given answers by the dishonest and one seeks and accepts answers as one too is deceitful to start with…Throw out traditions and Books and authority – and inquire deep within to see for oneself what one truly is…

white ibis lands

2012-03-26T03:11:00.002-07:00

the white ibis are perched on the bins...and another is swooping down...it will land soon to make a body corporate of four members...

white ibis and brush turkey

2012-03-26T03:10:00.000-07:00

the rubbish have been collected and the bins left open, and the white ibis seem to dominate the area...this morning they seem to have chased away the brush turkey, which stays at a safe distance above, against the wooden wall...

this dawn

2012-03-26T03:08:00.000-07:00

this dawn, this sun, this light, this warmth - this has embraced countless individuals, innumerable creatures, all of life in all of earth’s time; and one is here now, part of this rhythm, this flow: the one who sees, and the seen, all in one timeless existence

bottle tree

2012-03-26T03:04:00.000-07:00

a unique bottle tree, unique to Queensland...and we cannot come to it in its own...we must see it adorn a street, a curiosity...a thing to remark on, a thing to ignore mostly...something that fills a corner, that takes up space...that is what we do, that is what meaning we give to nature....

a lovely morning

2012-03-26T03:00:00.001-07:00

one just sees it...the morning...the sun, the clouds...things unfold before one and so things are as they are...but to allow the mind to twist and turn the unfolding morning, to interpret it as such and such with one's preconceptions is to distort what is before one...that is distortion...

bush turkey and ibis

2012-03-26T02:59:00.001-07:00

this is the bin area...early morning...see how the bush turkey and white ibis seem to be sizing each other up...they seem to be living on the edge of a decision...who's going to jump in? or jump away?

being with nature, with no objectives

2012-03-26T02:53:00.001-07:00

...one must lose one's objectives when one is with nature - otherwise one is never with nature, one is simply with one's desires and wishes and thoughts and conditioning...some come in order to breathe in the fresh air; some come in and talk ceaselessly about the 'peace' and 'quiet' they have when being with the trees and with nature...some talk about the benefits, about the exercise they are getting - and even time their walk...all this is to come to nature with one's objectives and while such a thing has its place within one's needs, truly being with nature is different...one drops all objectives and one actually sees what is there...one actually observes and one listens...one is with nature with all of one's faculties and being...that is being with nature...and then one sees too, this 'being' is also there even with the little plant one may have in one's home; indeed this 'being' is in oneself too...

coming to nature

2012-03-26T02:51:00.001-07:00

you see, when you approach nature, or trees, you usually approach it with an attitude...one must observe it in oneself...how does one communicate with nature? does one bring in all of one's thoughts and feelings to a group of trees? Does one approach a lake because one has been told it is beautiful? All this is approaching nature with one's inner noise...it is not coming to nature in order to communicate but to affirm one's attitudes and convictions...one must drop all of one's thoughts and ideas and one must approach nature with no expectations...then the communication, the seeing, the insight is truly there...one is truly with nature...

speaking to trees

2012-03-26T02:50:00.000-07:00

...we seem to have lost the art of being with nature, of being with the lakes and with the rivers and the clouds...and the trees...the moment the modern mind sees trees or a stretch of woods, it wants to clear the place and to invite the developers...but that need, that urge to be with nature is there...always lurks within...and one has to discover this art for oneself - this art of being with nature, of listening to the clouds, and the lakes and the trees....one must actually see and listen - without bringing in all of one's convictions and beliefs to nature...one has simply to be there...

freedom (1 of 3)

2012-03-26T02:48:00.001-07:00

…freedom is a relative term…in our dealings with the external world, in the society we live in and the environment we negotiate everyday, freedom is relative…even a person like Socrates found that…he enjoyed freedom to question many things in daily life in Athens but he had to pay a heavy price when the powers that be decided it had to find a way to end the freedom he enjoyed…even in today’s ‘democracies’ one finds that freedom is relative – it only goes so far, and not beyond…you will find even the bravest and vocal of critics silent, evasive or tactful on certain issues...they have to be because even freedom in our world has boundaries and rules…perhaps true freedom, complete freedom is to be found within oneself…so one lives with the relative freedom in society and one is free completely within…

freedom (2 of 3)

2012-03-26T02:45:00.004-07:00

But perhaps the internet and cyberspace, with their mobility and anonymity, will bring absolute freedom…events at the moment (May 2011) seem to point that way, though there is always the tension between those who will have their freedom and those who want to control the amount of freedom individuals demand…it’s a cat and mouse game at the moment…but perhaps the cloud-nature of the cyberspace may prove too much for those who would control the freedom of others…it remains to be seen…

freedom (3 of 3)

2012-03-26T02:45:00.000-07:00

…there again, absolute freedom comes or is within oneself…it is the clarity of one’s unconditioned state and in one’s very being that is true freedom, and it is action that springs from this that is complete freedom…Socrates, perhaps knew this - for even though the system got to him in the end, he remained – by all accounts, fearless and free within himself…he did not accept a plan for escape; he accepted the death sentence with composure…it would seem his actions sprung from a being and mind that was truly free…and what is this freedom, this inner freedom? It is the seeing of one’s conditioning, the insight into one’s many levels of conditioning and seeing it, to be free of it…and so all of one’s actions then are marked by this freedom, this absolute freedom within oneself…

to see what is before one

2012-03-26T02:42:00.001-07:00

we do not seem to want to meet nature; we do not seem to want to come out and meet nature on its own terms…no, we want to come out to nature to enjoy it as one might want to enjoy a pleasant experience…and so one comes out to nature with an expectation and one looks for what one considers ‘beauty’ and what one considers ‘pleasant’ and what one considers a ‘magnificent sight’ …and so one comes out and in one’s walk one compares the present with memories of one’s excursions and trips to what was dramatic, what was beautiful…one recalls other sites and attractions and there are comparisons and if one has a companion, there is narration and there is exchange of information and there is much of the past and of the future…one does not meet nature, but one meets memory and expectation…one does not meet what is before one…so let us come in to nature, to what is before one and let what is before one speak to one…let us listen, let us see what is before us…

not making a memory

2012-03-26T02:40:00.002-07:00

…one walks with no expectation, one walks in silence…one meets what comes before one, with no interpretation but seeing what is before one…one does not relate what is before one to remembered experiences, and one does not seek to make a memory of what is before one…and so one observes what is before one and one does not bring in the past, nor a future in which to hold this in memory…one is there with what is….in that there is peace and there is beauty…

how is one captured?

2012-03-26T02:38:00.000-07:00

how is one captured? how is one held captive by religious organizations and teachers and by books? ...one comes into a need to see beyond - and one acts on it...but one never seeks completeness...one is used to having answers given to one - one is trained to seek an authority and that Authority has all the answers..and so one comes to a Book or a Teacher...and one is so well-trained to obey and one simply accepts the answers given...one is happy because the answer is given...one rather that the answer is given because that is the way one has been trained...and it is easier, convenient this way... but one must consider that when it comes to self-knowledge, the truth is not given...it is there and one sees it and that is all that there is to it...there is no need for an organization, for a Book, for Revelation...one sees when one drops everything...and see this completely - and drop everything...completely...

be free

2012-03-26T02:37:00.000-07:00

Be free...be free of tradition and authority...be free of Books, especially Holy Books and religious teachers and priests and religious organizations...be free of anyone or any system that proposes to teach you knowledge of yourself - for no one but oneself can see this self......No one can show you your self...be free of all this and you are free...seeing oneself, one is free...

the expanse of the mind

2012-03-26T02:35:00.001-07:00

we confine our minds...we narrow our minds...see it for yourself, please...do
we not do that? do we not take that mind that is one's - that mind that is as wide as the skies, as expansive as space - and do we not constrict it? We tie up our mind - we narrow it into a specific existence; we tell our mind: I am of this color; I am of this nationality; I am of this name; I am of this origin; I am of this religion; I am of this belief...Does one see this narrowness in one's mind?

coming in to nature

2012-03-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

one comes with a lot of noise to nature...one might as well stay at home...one needs to come to nature to meet nature - to meet the trees and the breeze and the sky...just to meet...and so one comes with silence and one sees, and one listens...that is meeting nature - not coming to nature and talking, and projecting one's thoughts and feelings and beliefs on to nature...just listen and see - and don't verbalize that insight...for that very expression itself is noise...just see what is before you...

projections

2012-03-26T02:32:00.000-07:00

...the clouds are what are they, but we make of them to be different things at different stages in our lives...as children we might fancy them to be horses, dragons and so on...poets might portray them in various ways and images too...but let us not laugh at them for very dignified adults too make out clouds to be the face of their Savior or Saints or as a symbol of the pervading presence of their God....they make myths of the sky and the clouds as Saints; and Saviors and Prophets ascend and disappear into these skies...very sombre adults make voices come out of these skies and to make imagery and metaphors out of the sky, the clouds and the sun and light...they see things that are not there; they see according to belief...it is wise - but will they? - that one sees what is there, to see the sky and clouds and the light for what they are...

discrete clouds

2012-03-26T02:30:00.000-07:00

There are discrete clouds here in the sky where the gentle sun sinks; and beside the tree on this hill the inflorescence sways in the breeze.

It is this silence and quiet that is peace past one’s achievements
and one’s visions and affiliations and loyalties and past the words we utter and past the identity and comforts and security we crave; it is this inward gentleness in which the thoughts of the self cease…this is the precious pearl to which nothing else is equal…

the peace that radiates

2012-03-26T02:27:00.000-07:00

That inner peace radiates in the stars and in the trees and in the grass; that inner peace radiates in the creatures of the earth and in all living things and in the very air…That inner peace pervades all beings, all life and all existence.

zone

2012-03-26T02:26:00.000-07:00

There are no confined zones in true love: love knows no boundaries and love knows no borders – the wide universe is the very home of love.