I love this world!

But lately it has seemed to me to be a translucent, dangling mirage!

I see the oak tree, yes.
But I also see the acorn from whence it came-
as it blows across a valley to its new home
here
with me.
And even still!
I see the empty patch of land where the tree used to be.
All of its stems and branches crumbled
into the dirt I stand on.

Things must be viewed in their entirety.
Or else one is looking yet not seeing.

And so this tree
Now
floats in my vision.
And I see it dangling in the impermanent environment we call LIFE
.Just like me.
Coming in to existence just as much as it is leaving.
So
I giggle and climb on up to the top to die with it.






"The difference between soul and Spirit is this: The Spirit is ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new omnipresent Joy; the soul is the individualized reflection of ever-existing, ever-conscious, ever-new Joy, confined within the body of each and every being.

Worldly men do not know what the soul is, or how it comes into the physical body, and then, after a short sojourn, to what destiny it slips away. Trillions of men have mysteriously come on earth and just as mysteriously departed. That is why people in general cannot but wonder if the soul undergoes extinction along with the destruction of the body.
The following analogy gives an illustration of the nature and immortality of the soul. (No analogies are perfect in expressing absolute verities, but they do help the mind to image abstract concepts.) The moon is reflected in a cup containing water; the cup is broken and the water runs out; where does the reflection of the moon go? The reflection of the moon may be said to have returned to its inseverable identity in the moon itself. If another cup of water is placed under the moon, another reflection of the moon would be reincarnated!"

-Paramahansa Yogananda

'Enquiring within Who is the seer? I saw the seer disappear leaving That alone which stands forever. No thought arose to say I saw. How then could the thought arise to say I did not see?'.

-Sri Ramana Maharshi on his awakening

Some glad morning
when this life is over
I'll fly away
To that Home
on God's celestial shore
I'll fly away

I'll fly away
Oh Glory!
I'll fly away
in the morning

When I die,
Hallelujah by and by!
I'll fly away!

Whenever I catch sight of others,
By thinking, "It is through them,
That I will reach awakening,"
I'll look with sincerity and love.

- Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva

"The soul is bound to the body by a chain of desires,
temptations, troubles, and worries, and it is trying
to free itself.
If you keep tugging at that chain
which is holding you to mortal consciousness,
someday an invisible Divine Hand will intervene
and snap it apart,
and you will be free."
-Paramahansa Yogananda

Two days ago,
I was in a bad mood
at work
and
my boss quoted Shakespeare:
'There is nothing either good or bad, but only thinking makes it so.'

Minutes later he was so angry
that as he pounded the soap dispenser
with the bottom of his palm
it fell off of the wall
into the sink
and bubbles flew everywhere.

But Id like to remember the quote.

Essentially,
that quote
is saying that
.there is nothing.

and only
thinking
makes it so (apparent).

And the part of me that wants to be apparent
wants to exist
hates the idea
that I too am nothing.

But I know that it is the truth
I know
that
the Infinite
is one of those
somethings out of nothings;
never began and wont enders.


We are the deciders
We are the creators
We get to take nothing and make it something!
and then cry over it
or get elated about it
say its good or bad.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

The only trouble is
often
we forget we are
in possession
of that sacred choice
and become victims of our own doing.


but that wont last forever, I dont think!


"Man has falsely identified himself with the pseudo-soul. When he transfers his sense of identity to his true being, the immortal soul, he discovers that all pain is unreal. He no longer can even imagine the state of suffering."

-Paramahansa Yogananda