*
the contradiction about spirituality is that 1) we are always a force in training (the perfecting goes on forever) and 2) we are already That which we seek (already perfect). it's an endless process of getting the outside to line up with the inside. but the more we realize that there is nothing we can do to become more God (That which we already are) the more smoothly and blissfully the "process" goes.
Maher Baba is famous for the mantra "Don't worry; be happy". if followed, those are the only words we ever need (basically a synthesis of Jesus' sermon on the mountain).
life is good - no matter what traumas it brings us - it wants to be lived and enjoyed.
*

*
One needn't become more present, one only need be present to the presence that already always is.
*

* one of the most notable things i've learned from the past—and am reminded of continually—is that the mind cannot be trusted. my memories, my opinions, even my present perceptions are all always entirely suspect. i am continually being proved wrong. i remember things in my past that everyone else agrees are entirely false or inaccurate. and my opinions are continually a source of embarrassment for me. so the sum of past experience teaches me that nothing is fixed, nothing is solid, everything is transient, volatile, and entirely subjective. the mind may have its place, but not in the world of truth or absolutes. the mind is of value, but it is highly overrated. *

* Humankind is by nature fundamentalist; few men will give up their cherished world view easily. Few men are willing to step into the void, much less live moment-by-moment from those unmarked shores; even the die-hard libertine has his book of rules. I abhor religion, I adore God; I loathe religiosity, I love God. *

* The quest for wellness is very much like, if not entirely like, the quest for enlightenment. Everyone says they want to get well, to heal, to live into their hundreds, but only a very few are willing to do what it takes to be healthy. Not only are our vices and addictions holy to us, but the truth of the matter is that most people live for and through their illnesses. It is a rare soul that is willing and ready to make the necessary changes to be well, to be happy, to accept Peace. *

* It begins with a Kiss— this is Grace; a small amount of resistance is normal—it’s your life after all; too much resistance and the Lover will leave you alone— for a time; but to those who submit, who wilt and surrender— Ahhhh! Kiss turns to Bliss. *

* The source of the Mississippi, the source of the Amazon, the source of the Nile, the source of the Ganges and of the Yangtze are all the same: it is the heavens which supply us with rain. *

* You may well be envious of my world— and right you would be to be so—for everything in it is perfect: the sound of the rain dripping from eaves onto the gingers and ape leaves, three exquisite kittens who want my undivided attention at all times; the constant cups of genmaicha and barley coffee, the feel of my testicles through flannel pajamas, books I write almost daily that will never be published; a wooden begging bowl from my first Guru which always contains nothing, apples and goat cheese, Scottish shortbread with chewy pieces of ginger inside, green papaya which, when steamed, tastes like the inside of broccoli stalks; incense sticks which burn away to smell like the ashes of forgotten lovers, a leak in the roof as predictable as religion, buffalo horn earrings that have ceased to cause my earlobes to bleed; geckoes in the corners that sound like Chinese merchants, that I am no longer afraid to use the word God—that I can see God in all the minutiae of creation and fabrication; that I can touch anything now—eat, breathe, urinate—and know that it is sacred. *

* Joy is simply the state of no fear. * * * * * As Spirit dictates, life will follow— or so it is to those that feel. * * * * * It is in the listening —and not in the words— that the poem becomes clear. * * * * * Ecstasy is merely spiritual excitement and will pass upon further reflection. * * * * * When the flood is upon you building dams is pointless. * * * * * There is only Spirit and Sky and the sky is merely a reflection of Spirit —there is only Spirit. *

* A heart is no place for words. * * * * * If jeer and scorn do not rout out the devil, then certainly to consciously ignore him will do the trick— for every evil needs an audience. * * * * * Hope alone can reconfigure atoms. * * * * * The genius is in the ink— the author must be forgiven. * * * * * Hatred can not stand up to Love in either intensity or duration. * * * * * To trust in God is the beginning and end of Wisdom. * * * * * Philosophy is always arguable, and therefor a mere indulgence. * * * * * True Love is loving a person—God—more than one’s love of one’s love for same. * * * * * Reason has seldom predicted my outcome, nor been entirely left in the dust. * * * * * Emotionality, like rationality, is a fuddle to the divine art of intuitiveness. * * * * * One does not learn to be enlightened. *