What we call “self” is a tiny aware part of an unimaginably complex universe, consisting of trillions of independent organisms, bacteria outnumbering our cells by an order of magnitude, and an electrochemical net of trillions of connections, with everchanging ordered patterns forming us. Parallel universes are right here. They are you and me.
Reflected sky is less distinct, but more.
Enriched by overlay of varied patterns
and unified by palette – still and somber.
Uneasy sky interpreted by water
contains a wealth of novel information,
conceals a deeper joy,
a longer journey.
I will shut up
and open up
and look.
There is the way of the rail,
the dao.
Not the big important one, with the capital “D”,
but the little “d” that doesn’t last.
It does not constitute something profound.
If it changes you – the change is cumulative,
almost imperceptible.
It can, if you let it,
take you over –
just for a bit of your journey,
just for a change.
The rhythm of motion
overrides habits and hopes,
dreams and desires,
oaths and obligations,
wishes and wants.
They all depend on localisation in time
and impermanence in space
dislodges you in time –
just enough to allow for some space
to move out of time.
The waves of
space
wash over you,
time
becomes elastic,
stretching
and shrinking,
rising
and sinking.
The way of the wave:
tidal,
rhythmic,
joyuous,
altering you for a second or forever –
who knows?
who cares?
Pragmatic acceptance of the facts is the only way to deal with evil. Hatred is the admission of ultimate defeat, allowing your foe to preoccupy and control you.
Insanity is not a sign of a broken mind – it is a side effect of normal brain function in combination with collective cultural delusions. Our brains normally function by fitting reality into the framework of our predictions. Our cultures constitute a collective framework of assumptions underlying those predictions. If our predictions override reality in a way that differs from everyone else’s, it constitutes madness.
The only way to achieve the impossible is to start doing it. You may not achieve it that way, but there is no other way to achieve it.
Arrow slits have to be narrow to protect the defenders of the castle.
Any wider and they will be exposed to dangers from outside.
Being narrow is what they are for.
I am a person who…
I see the world through the arrow slit of my self-definition.
Relevant images and metaphors draw my eye.
A living wood turns into Golgotha
with dead trees supporting crucifixions.
The fewer the parameters – the more important they become.
If all I know about myself is that I am a Christian,
I would be willing to die for it.
Or kill for it.
After all,
arrow slits are
for shooting out of.
