I’ve been writing on here since 2016 so, at this point, it’s also fun to search for topics like love, sex, evolve, addiction, hitler help, jesus, create or… you get the idea.
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quit.
“How do I know when to quit?”
“To stop?”
“Sure . . .”
“Never when it is hard. Never when you should. Never when you must. Never out of fear. Never because someone tells you to. Stop when you are able to stop.”
“When I”m able?”
“When you are able to stop, the end has already begun, in order to make way for whatever new and better thing is on the horizon. You might as well finish the job.”
jealousy.
“Can you help me with my jealousy?”
”No, but I can prevent you from killing,” the teacher answered.
“No, no, my jealousy isn’t that bad—not like that.”
“Hmm . . . so what is it? You believe you would be better rich than poor? You believe you would be better with hair? Living in another city? Born in another country? Better if you had not made that decision? If you had made another choice? Had the one you love not behaved in a way that you did not agree with?”
“Well . . .”
“Each time, you kill the reality that exists in favor of some alternative that does not.”
“Are you saying I can’t change my life? I’m helpless?”
“You did not ask how to change your life. You asked if I can help you with your jealousy. The two are not related.”
virus.
“We are in the middle of a pandemic. You know this, right?”
“We are always in the middle of a pandemic,” he answered.
“But not like this.”
“It is not seen. It evolves. It passes from one person to another even if they do not know it. It does not recognize man or woman, American or Chinese, black or white, or any label that humans have been known to invent to divide our species further. It kills us if we let it.”
“Right?”
“I understand that some are afraid of becoming sick. Maybe I am. But we must not let it distract us from the other diseases we already carry to which the only immunity is love and mystery: primarily fear and a lack of nuance.”
fortune.
“Do you think we determine our future?” I asked.
“I am no fortune teller,” he answered.
“Okay, but do you believe our actions shape our destiny?”
“The one who asks such things is looking for some kind of prediction. Or control. I cannot give you either. But I will say those who try to amass a fortune to protect their fortune will soon find themselves miserable and desperate to guard both from those who want to take them.”
“Money doesn’t buy happiness?” I asked.
“You can not purchase a future.”
gravity.
“It seems like your answers are always meant to keep me confused,” I said to the teacher.
“In the same way that the planets and the stars spin wildly throughout the universe and around each other, and yet we do not float, so should our beliefs be full of wild doubt and questions in order to keep us grounded.”
kings.
“What do you think of politics?”
“The main trouble with kings is that most people want to be one, even though so few actually like them.”
“Kings?”
“You can call the leaders anything you’d like. The trouble with kings is that they continually perpetuate a false hope of control. The trouble with kings is all that we give up trying to attain power like them. That is the true danger.”
spectrum.
"Is the sky blue?” the teacher asked.
“Yes,” I answered hesitantly.
“But not at sunset or sunrise, not during a storm and not at night.”
“But, during the day it is,” I argued, for some reason.
“Is the grass green?”
I didn’t answer.
“Not in the winter, of course.”
“Okay.”
“Are the holy books true?” he asked.
“I think I get it.”
“What color is light? Now that is a question.” He smiled. “Beware of the questions that limit the answers. It will leave you in a very black and white, and dangerous, world.”
no.
“Can I hit you in the head with a stick?” he asked me.
“Why?”
“To teach you.”
“Okay, I guess so.”
So, he slapped me across the head with a thin branch. Hard. It hurt like hell.
“Have you ever wondered how it is that two little letters can be so powerful as to prevent us from drinking every kind of poison? Have you ever wondered how two little letters carry such power over our future? How is it that we refuse to use them more?”
“It’s hard sometimes,” I answered.
“For every yes, there is a no. For every no, there is a yes. There were two men. Each had 10 coins. They both loved peaches. One man bought 100 peaches. He ate them every day for 3 months while the other man salivated at the sweet juice and nourishing flavor. But he had a bought a tree instead. So he watered it and took care of it and waited. For 3 years. After the first man was long out of peaches the other man had so many he did not know what to do with them all.
“They each said yes and they each said no, just to different things. I will say in your culture you much prefer the peaches to the tree. I’m not sure that is always most helpful.”
terra.
“Do you think we will be able to save the planet?” I asked.
“Not without humility.”
“What’s humility then?”
“Humility is not the ability to give up your selfishness,” he answered. “It is the ability to see that you do not exist apart from all other things. It’s the ability to see that your selfishness is dependent on all other things. You do not need to throw away your selfishness. You only need to direct it to all the things that actually determine it.
“We will be able to save the planet only when there is more humility.”
attention.
“I’m here, paying attention,” I said to the teacher.
“I do not care about attention.”
“Really?” I asked.
“The dog will forget whatever he is doing to chase the squirrel. And the squirrel will provide some momentary entertainment. For a while. Attention is too fragile and temporary. It too easily captures us and then lets us go. For this reason, it’s an excellent tool to keep you in control—swallowed by the machines and systems and powers that will do anything for your attention. I will enter no war for attention.”
“Then what?”
“Devotion. The dog is devoted to its master. And the master feeds it, cares for it, provides a relationship. The squirrel provides entertainment and momentary significance, the master provides life. Do not confuse the two.”
“Do you want devotion?”
He laughed. “There are only two things worthy of your devotion: mystery and love. All others are only deeper manifestations of attention. I have no desire to manipulate you and I hope you are able to resist your desire to be manipulated.”
opinion.
“Is there truth? Is it all relative? How can I even know?” I asked.
“Is it true I am not moving, at the moment?”
He was, in fact, very still. “Yes.”
“Then why does the man on the moon tell me I am moving 220 kilometers per second?”
“So you’re saying it’s all relative?”
“Truth is sometimes a prism. Never let that stop you from spinning it or from searching for evidence. It is only those who believe truth to exist in the simplest dualistic ways who stop searching because they believe they have found it.”
right.
“What is freedom?” I asked.
“Something you do not have.”
“Excuse me?”
“A person can taste a gourmet meal and talk of its flavors, and yet never taste its ingredients. A person can sleep with as many people as he or she desires and talk of ecstasy and energy, and yet never fall into the safe abyss of another’s soul. A person can travel over land and sea and talk of different cultures and attraction, and never speak with another in the common tongue of smiles and laughter.
“And so a person can talk all day about rights, and chat about liberty and sing about freedom and yet live in a cage.
“Each knows that whenever one tries to describe these things, there are no words. And so they do not ask what it is, they only enjoy the moments of experiencing it. When you have found such a thing, you will no longer ask, or even talk as much about it.”
water.
“Do you believe in God?” I asked.
“Water is to wet as god is to love. You can stare at an ocean and appreciate its beauty. You can float on its surface and smile at it. You can cross over a roaring river and look down upon it. You can talk of it day after day and write poems and books but you will only get wet if you jump in and you will only taste it if you drink.”
“So, you believe in god?”
“I believe in getting wet.”
darkness.
“There are three kinds of darkness,” the teacher said.
“First, there is the darkness which comes when we refuse to open our eyes. Then, there is the darkness which comes when something or someone turns off the lights. Finally, there is the darkness that comes at night, after the sun has given up its work for the day.
“The only danger of darkness is to believe they are all the same.”
every thing.
”What is good?” I asked.
“Everything,” he answered.
“What is evil?” I asked.
“Everything,” he answered.
“Who can I trust?” I asked.
“Everyone,” he answered.
“Who is my enemy?” I asked.
“Everyone,” he answered.
“Where should I go?” I asked.
“Everywhere,” he answered.
“Where should I stay away from?” I asked.
“Everywhere,” he answered.
“This isn’t helping. Are you trying to be confusing on purpose?”
The teacher laughed. “Your confusion I’m afraid, is your insistence on believing another kind of lesson. I can only tell you that when you understand this one, it changes everything, everyone, and every place you go or find yourself.”
bias.
A man once came to a new country to speak on some of the most controversial topics of the day and to answer questions from the crowds. He was a good man. A nice man. But, a very mis-informed man. As he did not know the native language, he, of course, needed a translator.
The man spoke well. But his translator spoke even better. Much better. In fact, his translator give rousing speech after rousing speech and the crowds laughed and nodded their heads and left believing everything the man said.
When it came time for questions, each question, via the translator, seemed well thought out and beautifully worded - and always attached with compliments on the man’s position and affirmation of his viewpoints. The man always felt good after a speaking tour but after this one, in particular, he felt as though he had been given the moon. He was full of confidence and zeal and energy for thousands more tours.
Upon returning to his home country, when asked about the tour, he said this: “I have never ever received such adoration and acceptance on my views. I realize they are sometimes controversial but I have never ever heard such encouragement and confirmation from the crowds. The world truly is changing. The world truly is beginning to see. I am happy.”
His translator was interviewed the same day, still in his home country: “It was an honor to translate for the best comedian we’ve had in years.”
xianity.
“Sometimes you will hear them complain about the loss of Christ from their religion’s name, never realizing as soon as Christ was in the name, it was no longer a religion worthy of his followers.”
“Why do you care about Christianity?” I asked.
“I don’t. There is only one religion worthy of devotion. It is the one that always begs us to keep searching for the treasure on the map. It is the value that is not yet known. It is the one that worships mystery and adventure and questions and kisses more than answers and rites and rituals and instruction. What would a god require or a christ wish for his followers? X.”
“Is that your religion?” I asked.
“Why do you care about my religion?”
history. (or the past)
“They say that those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. And yet, they say we are supposed to bury the past. Which is it?” I asked the teacher.
“There is no good?” he smiled.
“The good?”
“There is no doom in love. Why would we bury joy?”
“True. What about the bad?” I asked.
He smirked. “To some, studying the past is a film projector. They simply see it repeated. They are entertained and maybe even moved. To some, studying the past is a microscope. They analyze the overlooked details to try and understand. To some, studying the past is a telescope. They look into the universal truths that affect us still.
“To a select few, the past is a mirror. They see themselves. They see their nations, their cultures, their systems, but most importantly their own reflection. They see who they were, who they may still be, and what they are capable of, both good and bad. This the most useful way to look at the past. To better know the person that lives inside of us. To know who we are. Only then can we begin to decide if we want to live with them still.
“It is these who understand how to bury what was done and to still learn what there is to be learned.”