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You don't have to believe in God
but please collapse in wonder
as regularly as you can

try and let your knowledge
be side swiped by awe
and let beauty be so persuasive
you find yourself willing
to lay your opinions at her feet

Darling, you don't have to believe in God
but please pray
for your own sake
great prayers of thanks
for the mountains, the great rivers
the roundness of the moon
just because they're here at all
and that you get to know them
and let prayer bubble up in you
as a natural thing
like song in a bird

You don't have to have
a spiritual path
but do run
the most sensitive
part of your soul
over the soft curves
of this world
with as much tenderness
as you can find in yourself
and let her edgeless ways
inspire you to discover more

just find a way
that makes you want to yield
yourself
that you may be more open
to letting beauty fully
into your arms

and feel some sacred flame
inside of you that yearns toward
learning how to build a bigger
fire of love in your heart

You don't have to believe in God
but get quiet enough to remember
we really don't know a d* thing
about any of it
and if you can, feel a reverence to be part
of This Great Something,
whatever you want to call it,
that is so much bigger
and so far beyond
the rooftops of all
our knowing.

~Chelan Harken

i've been seeking comfort, and finding little
physical comfort is not, at present, for me

@rookie54 said
i've been seeking comfort, and finding little
physical comfort is not, at present, for me

One look at plum blossoms
Opened Reiun's eyes,
Old Tan recites poems,
Is often in his cups.
Want "meaningless" Zen?
Just look—at anything!

- Old Shoju (1642-1721)

An education isn't how much you have committed to memory,
or even how much you know.
It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't.

~ Anatole France
French novelist (1844 - 1924)

sugar in my tea
the other monks are staring
pollen and birdsong

When thoughts no longer arise, the brightness of self-nature manifests itself completely.
At this time you will have fulfilled the necessary conditions for Ch'an practice.
Then, further hard work and sincere practice will enable you to illuminate the mind and see into your true nature.

- Hsu-yun (1840-1959)

For a Sufi, one of the highest paths is to annihilate ones self in love. To get there requires a three step process as outlined by Dr. Nurbankhsh of the Nimatullah Sufi Order. https://www.nimatullahi.org/

It starts with friendship:

“I for myself, you for yourself; we love each other, but we have no expectations of each other.”
-------------------------

The second form of love is based on a deeper level. This form of love includes familial love and involves emotional give and take with lots of expectations.

“I for you, you for me; we love each other, having mutual expectations of each other.”
-------------------------

The third kind of love transcends all conventions based on mutual expectations, being founded on the following principle:

“I am for you, you are for whoever you choose; I accept whatever you want without any expectations whatsoever.”
--------------------------

Loving without restraint is hard, but it’s the highest form of love a person can give. It’s based on nothing but giving — a divine trait not usually expressed by others. It’s considered the closest to the love of God.

sat right in the fridge
to make sure the light went out
a cold dark haiku

Earth, mountains, rivers
hidden in this nothingness.
In this nothingness
earth, mountain, rivers revealed.
Spring flowers, winter snows:
There's no being nor non-being,
Nor denial itself.

- Saisho (d.1506)

The Way cannot be fathomed;
Its source lies in the mind.
Draw on it, draw on it,
Enjoy the water's depths.

- Kodojin (1865-1944)

Each drifting snowflake
falls nowhere but here and now.
Under the settling flowers of ice
the water is flowing bright and clear.
The cold stream splashes out
the Buddha's words
startling the stone tortoise from its sleep.

- Muso Soseki (1275-1351)

there has been a great upheaval in the cosmos
i feel it happening,
i think i may be the only one who does feel this,
even as i know there are others
i cannot tell if this is local, like our solar system, or much wider spread

it's coming closer

Tree-filtered patch
Of moonlight fades with dawn;
Staring at it gives
Loneliness,
Deepened by winds
Soughing through pines on the peaks.

- Saigyo (1118-1190)

Thatch on rafters, I live in the wilds.
Carts and horses that pass here are few.
The grove is quiet, a place birds flock:
The creek is deep, so fish wait there.
There are wild fruits the boy and I can pick,
Hard rocky fields the wife and I will hoe.
And in the house, what else?
Just a single shelf of books.

- Han Shan