I read your blog as I always do. Then I got my coffee and turned on the news. And in NY a man was tortured and killed by 5 guys because he was gay. Immediately the thought came into my head. “That’s why I don’t believe in a higher power.” Then the next thought was. “Well I do believe in evolution so perhaps some are just more evolved than others.” By
this time Nothing had been out voted. I felt almost that I had to think of the young man. I had to recognize his awful suffering. How do you deal with Nothing really matters, which I get intellectually, and evil? A sentence or do will suffice, when you have time. Xoxo
This was my reply:
Dear Jan,
Always good questions from Greenville! The 'Nothing' in my post is not about 'Nothing really matters.' It is meant to point to the spaciousness of aware presence, of who and what we really, really are beyond the illusion of self-image.
This from the Tao Te Ching:
'In the pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Way,
everyday something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.
True mastery is gained by letting things go their own way.
It can't be gained by interfering.'
-Lao Tzu (Chinese approx 600-530BC)
I have found, over many years of inquiry, that the art of being with what is without manipulation is truly our 'higher power.' It ain't easy, that's for sure, but, no matter what you are feeling; anger, aggravation, depression,(my specialty), fear, or whatever, to simply allow it to be without touching the story of oneself (that's the hard part), allows for a natural occurring spaciousness to take its rightful place in the front row of consciousness. As this happens, by degrees, it becomes clear that our suffering has no footing in presence. This is the art of 'not knowing', of non-action, when nothing is done and nothing is left undone.
As for our feelings for the person tortured and killed, or anything else on the endless menu of human cruelty, there is no greater medicine for the world than learning to abide in the emptiness of a silent mind. It's true. When we discover, not conceptually but empirically, that the world is in us, not us in the world, we discover our secret power to be a portal of indestructible light and love.
I received this from a friend in my email today:
I read your blog as I always do. Then I got my coffee and turned on the news. And in NY a man was tortured and killed by 5 guys because he was gay. Immediately the thought came into my head. “That’s why I don’t believe in a higher power.” Then the next thought was. “Well I do believe in evolution so perhaps some are just more evolved than others.” By
this time Nothing had been out voted. I felt almost that I had to think of the young man. I had to recognize his awful suffering. How do you deal with Nothing really matters, which I get intellectually, and evil? A sentence or do will suffice, when you have time. Xoxo
This was my reply:
Dear Jan,
Always good questions from Greenville! The 'Nothing' in my post is not about 'Nothing really matters.' It is meant to point to the spaciousness of aware presence, of who and what we really, really are beyond the illusion of self-image.
This from the Tao Te Ching:
'In the pursuit of knowledge,
every day something is added.
In the practice of the Way,
everyday something is dropped.
Less and less do you need to force things,
until finally you arrive at non-action.
When nothing is done,
nothing is left undone.
True mastery is gained by letting things go their own way.
It can't be gained by interfering.'
-Lao Tzu (Chinese approx 600-530BC)
I have found, over many years of inquiry, that the art of being with what is without manipulation is truly our 'higher power.' It ain't easy, that's for sure, but, no matter what you are feeling; anger, aggravation, depression,(my specialty), fear, or whatever, to simply allow it to be without touching the story of oneself (that's the hard part), allows for a natural occurring spaciousness to take its rightful place in the front row of consciousness. As this happens, by degrees, it becomes clear that our suffering has no footing in presence. This is the art of 'not knowing', of non-action, when nothing is done and nothing is left undone.
As for our feelings for the person tortured and killed, or anything else on the endless menu of human cruelty, there is no greater medicine for the world than learning to abide in the emptiness of a silent mind. It's true. When we discover, not conceptually but empirically, that the world is in us, not us in the world, we discover our secret power to be a portal of indestructible light and love.
“And by the way, if you really want to end war, start by ending the war in yourself.” Especially timely suggestion, Mike….