Rebellion

"The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion."--Albert Camus

Fear

Fear is the enemy.

We are born with it. The system exacerbates it. Exploits it. Intensifies it.

If you want to escape fear, you must find a way to realize that you are part of something that is infinitely meaningful and that your destiny cannot be undertaken by anyone but you.

It is self-realization that opens the door to a life that is free from fear.

Do not wait. Seek the truth for the answer lies within you.

Ignorance

The devil has us by the balls of ignorance.

(Ladies, you get the point.)

The Way of Tea

The Japanese tea ceremony developed as a "transformative practice", and began to evolve its own aesthetic, in particular that of "wabi-sabi".

"Wabi" represents the inner, or spiritual, experiences of human lives. Its original meaning indicated quiet or sober refinement, or subdued taste "characterized by humility, restraint, simplicity, naturalism, profundity, imperfection, and asymmetry, emphasizing simple, unadorned objects and architectural space, and celebrating the mellow beauty that time and care impart to materials."

"Sabi," on the other hand, represents the outer, or material side of life. Originally, it meant "worn," "weathered," or "decayed." Particularly among the nobility, understanding emptiness was considered the most effective means to spiritual awakening, while embracing imperfection was honored as a healthy reminder to cherish our unpolished selves, here and now, just as we are - the first step to "satori" or enlightenment.--Source: Wikipedia

The Japanese tea ceremony reminds me of two important spiritual truths concerning Zen practice:

1. It takes time to realize that no time is required. As we strive to realize our true being in practice, time imparts a beautiful patina to our lives (Wabi) that we express on each moment.

2. Emptiness is always present in our lives. Because we accept ourselves as we are in this moment, we discover reality in our very imperfections (Sabi).

Poets

Where are our poets? Where is the next Whitman who knows how to beat a drum on behalf of humanity?

Animals

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and

         self-contain'd,

I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,

Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of

         owning things,

Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of

         years ago,

Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

So they show their relations to me and I accept them,

They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their

         possession.

I wonder where they get those tokens,

Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

                                                 --Walt Whitman, Song of Myself

Zorba the Greek

To live passionately without being ruled by your passions is a fundamental law of radical Christianity.

Saint Paul knew this truth:

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.--Philippians 4:11-12

Christ was the original Zorba the Greek. He did not fear Reality so He alone knew the fullness of life.

The religious leaders of His time wore long faces and acted out a pious charade. They inspired no one and were kith and kin of the fundamentalist leaders of today.