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."