Strength of Purpose

Power corrupts the few while weakness corrupts the many.--Eric Hoffer

The cure for personal weakness is to accept full responsibility for working out the purpose of our lives. This is our avocation. For when we discover the true meaning of our lives, we become very strong.

A Shock to the System

Enlightenment is the shocking realization that you actually exist.

Philosopher's Stone

What we require is an unshakeable conviction that life has an ultimate meaning. In the alchemy of the soul, such an awareness acts like the fabled Philosopher's Stone and transforms our base desires into noble aspirations.

Castaway

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.--Mark Twain

Life is an adventure. Do not let Death catch you still moored to the dock or grounded in shallow waters.

Consult with those who have successfully navigated within and returned to tell the tale. Listen to their sage advice and avoid being shipwrecked or marooned on a desert island:

"Here be dragons. There the Sirens sing that have lured many a sailor to utter ruin."

Wake Up Call

The fraud committed on us is so close to home that it is difficult to realize when we are headed in the wrong direction. When we are involved in egoistic ideas we can easily lose our way. Our intuition is mute and the truth is obscured by the noise and confusion of our daily lives.

What we need at such times is a good tonic to restore mental clarity and a sense of purpose.

The books of Eric Hoffer are just what the doctor ordered. His aphorisms and insights into human nature are refreshing. In addition, his pungent criticism of society acts as a clarion call that forewarns the spiritual sojourner of the pitfalls that lie in wait for those who are sleepwalking.

Let Me Quote

“I quote others only to better express myself.”― Michel de Montaigne

Black Root

From the barren ground of an individual existence arises the black desire for fame.

Task Master

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the “universe,” a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few people near us.

"Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." — Albert Einstein

Do You Hear What I Hear?

For most people, the call for justice is in truth a cloaked desire for vengeance.

Role Playing

A manager was recently asked to describe her role in the company. She responded that it was her responsibility to spread the spirit of worth by creating a sense of purpose in her employees.

If a manager could master that responsibility, her employees would work as if they were at play.

Forget About It

There is a certain kind of amnesia that lulls us into a false sense of security.

This forgetfulness is not the result of a poor memory. Rather, it is the result of our inability to conjure up an experience of the past in the present moment. When we recall an event, it is only a limited description and not the actual experience itself.

Hence, we have difficulty recalling the emotional impact of even the most painful experiences. After trials and tribulations, we rest easy and often forget that fate can be pitiless.

The best way to prepare for an unknown future is not to slumber in the present moment, but to awaken our faith and courage.

A Guide in the Wilderness

It is very difficult to practice Zen without a true teacher. Unfortunately, we are not likely to bump into a sage as we go about our daily activity.

That leaves books as our next best option. But it is difficult to recognize a true teacher by his written words because the false prophet sounds exactly the same in speaking and in writing.

Long ago, Christ gave the ultimate litmus test so that we could tell the difference between the charlatan and the enlightened individual: A wise man would never advocate hatred and violence.

By this test, Hitler was not a wise man despite his many followers and a book to his credit.

Nor is wisdom gender-specific. A woman can be as wise or foolish as a man.

No one wants to be lead by a fool. Again, since both the fool and the sage speak the same language, we need another test to tell the two apart.

The second test that we can apply in determining whether we should accept a spiritual teacher as our guide is also straightforward: A wise man or woman always leads you back to yourself. This is because a fool thinks he knows while a wise man knows that he does not know. He also knows that the truth is within each of us.

In addition, a true teacher will encourage you to find your own way under the current circumstances of your life. He or she will point out the wrong way so that you can discover the true way for yourself. With a true teacher, you will always be safe from wrong practice.

Once you have found your teacher, study to know the reality that flows between his words.

The volatile truth of our words should continually betray the inadequacy of the residual statement. Their truth is instantly translated; its literal monument alone remains. The words which express our faith and piety are not definite; yet they are significant and fragrant like frankincense to superior natures.--Henry David Thoreau

Merciful Angel

It is a sad truth that the Angel of Death is often more merciful than most of humanity. For death puts an end to human misery while humanity often increases it.

Call Me Crazy

An egoist is a deranged animal.

A Humbling Experience

The greatest gift a man can receive is the gift of humility.

The Last One

I believe in humanity down to the last man.

Lost and Found

True religion is found somewhere between fundamentalism and new age magical thinking.

Just Detention

If the essence of Christianity is mercy, then America is Christian in name only. Our legal system represents the institutionalization of vengeance. Our laws are draconian. Our punishments, cruel and inhumane.

Although we cannot tolerate anarchy or violence, and we must expose fraud, our goal should be to discourage criminal mischief by revealing the opportunity to live a full and meaningful life.

Should an individual run afoul of the law, then our sentencing guidelines should point to the possibility of living a hopeful and purposeful existence even while behind bars.

By suspending judgment of the person and by recognizing the worth of each individual, we can devise a system that demonstrates the sincerity of our efforts to rehabilitate lost souls. Only this approach will ultimately ensure the safety of law-abiding citizens.

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.--Luke 15:7

Paradise Regained

Though a man perform the meritorious deed of zazen but once, he annihilates forever the countless offenses he has piled up.—Zen saying

Piety

When the eye wakes up to see, it suddenly stops taking anything for granted. The thing I draw, be it leaf, rosebush, woman, or child, is no longer a thing, no longer my "object."...By drawing it, I dignify it. I declare it worthy of total attention, as worthy of attention as I am myself, for sheer existence is the awesome mystery and miracle we share.--Frederick Franck

Pieta by Frederick Franck

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.--Matthew 6:22

How Do You Plead?

If I were to die and found myself at the bar before the Supreme Judge who threatened me with eternal damnation unless I could mount an effective defense for my past actions, I might be tempted to have Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly entered into the record.

I would then state that the defense rests secure in the knowledge that a verdict of innocent was a foregone conclusion.

"I was benevolent and good; misery made me a fiend.

Make me happy, and I shall again be virtuous."

Vanishing Point

Salvation can only be found by entering through the door of our own insignificance.

For he who is least among you all--he is the greatest.--Luke 9:48

Hopeless

Reality trumps hope. So play the cards life deals you with faith and courage.

What Does It Matter?

What we do is insignificant. Who we are is ultimately all that matters.

Wrong Way

To study Buddhism is to study the wrong way.

If you did not know your destination and if you were only told the wrong way to get there, you would eventually give up and find that the starting point is your destination.

This practice is invaluable!

New Year's Preparations

There is a certain kind of amnesia that lulls us into a false sense of security.

Since thought does not have the power to conjure up reality out of "airy nothing," we have difficulty remembering even unpleasant experiences as real-time events that occupied the whole of our consciousness.

We are inclined to forget the lessons of the past. We assume that the future will be pleasant and secure. We rely on hope.

This is not wise.

"Do as a wise man should and prepare for ill and not for good."