The Dog Zen Koans

Countin' Signs

2008-01-29T16:34:00.000-08:00

Running on the 14 Line
Gonna see the morning light real soon
The bus is cutting fog
I can see the sunlight dim the moon

Many a day
I’ve been paddling down this creek.
I'll find my way
I’ve been traveling now for weeks.
Ask me where I’m going and why,
I’ll just say, “Well, that’s up to me”
Cause when I’m traveling the roads and countin' signs
It’s the time when I feel free.

Gonna get my license back
Gonna get a rig with a nice smooth ride
Gonna take a nice long cruise
Gonna have my baby by my side

What I had, what I got and what will be
Just crusing along on another highway dream
Tell me your problems
And you’ll probably think I’m mean
Cause it’s all flowing, it’s coming and going
It was never quite what it seemed

Fall is coming fast
Ducks landing in a glistening roadside pond
Earth, water, sun and sky.
If I see much more it might be God

When I arise I rub my eyes and drink a pot of coffee,
That's the medicine for me.
Taking off with the wind in my face,
Feelin' fine as I can be.
If they want to to know where I went,
I’m out looking for Bobbie McGee,
Cause when I’m traveling the roads and countin' signs
It’s the time when I feel free.

Countin' Signs lyric and song, © 2008, S. T. Triane

We're Gonna Do It Right This Time

2007-12-29T15:36:00.002-08:00

Yeah, he was a loser
You thought your love would overwhelm him
So you stayed there in confusion
And you stayed there for the kids

Now the skeptics are in the clover,
Can you really start over?
Can you shake it with the wild ones
Or have you lost your fizz?

(chorus)
A rainbow surprised my clouds today
This time it's right and I'm feeling fine
We'll start from our spot near the county line
Then we're gonna do it right this time

The old game is over, the jig is on up
Sometimes it takes more than time to heal
So send all those pills back on that doctor deal
Mr. Spock, you'd better drop those shields

A rainbow suprised my clouds today
This time it's right and I'm feeling fine
Let's meet at our spot by the county line
Then we're going to do it right this time

Some people say you should love em then you move em
But they never set a groove in and they're never satisfied
But for me there's got to be a lady that's right for me
That one who'd show affection, this I cannot hide

An angel broke up my clouds today
This time it's right and I'm feeling fine
Yeah I'll swing on down to the city, that's fine
Then we're gonna do it...

A rainbow surprised my clouds today
This time it's right and I'm feeling fine
We'll start from our spot near the county line
Then we're gonna do it
We're gonna do it
We're gonna do it right this time

Lyric and Song © 2008 Sol Ta Triane

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

2007-12-21T18:11:00.000-08:00

The yuletide parents primp and procure
All to see the magic they once lost
Reappearing in the eyes of their little ones

That you there, shy of Kringle's magic bag
Where you can pull out whatever you need?
As the sack brims endless joys and toys
You may make the most feared of choices; fulfillment

Endlessly batted like a kitten's plaything
Wanting to step out of the helplessness
Procure the compass which points to goodness long dismissed
Grasp something quick from that barn-kid of yours
Lose trust in your alliance, let faith be your science

Be touched today
Let go the flatulence of doubt
For an unborn and dynamic spontaneousness,
The source and the joy of man's desiring

Who knew the lion and the lamb were destined to be buds?
An impossibility for Bill is but a certainty to Edith,
Individually, they choose their fate on the fat man's lap
Go now to a small child if you want this clarified:
Santa's bag holds endless gifts.

The Three Committments

2007-08-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

The teacher needs no apple
You can catch hold of one walking toward the sun
Make your connection with awakeness, sources and an attitude!

Sincerity is expensive
Willingly burning what should have been done long ago
Hold your commitment to awakeness, sources with the attitude!

The board has been covered with all your writings
It's hard to decipher, result's not too good
Set your root in the awakeness and the sources with an attitude!

The chalk makes that scraping sound and you feel intelligent
Inside yourself you can find the eraser
Take refuge in awakeness, sources and the attitude!

There is a serious problem, we know it's not possible
Except where everything is possible
So consider refuge in awakeness, sources with an attitude!

It's impossible to ask and not receive,
Impossible for the lineage not to appear.
Make haste toward the awakeness and the sources with the attitude.

Ecstasy So Kind

2006-11-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

The excitement of this lady, it is almost too much,
Muscles ache, now come the tears.
It’s so damn perfect to be so high,
After the wait, after all these years.
It seems that I’ve put away my fears.

In fortune I’ve learned from the masters of masters
Now I take in the dakini’s touch.
As we embrace, O let us sigh,
And encourage the bliss that we crave so much,
Unlacing event in the nature of such.

Some, they say that we’re human, aye?
We’re more, of this I have no doubt!
How can our ecstasy be so kind?
Have you considered to ask about, why her
Scent and her lust I won’t live without?

Take what you want, I’ve got something better!
Insane, I take shoulder, her waist and her thighs.
While you reap fame, more money, convention,
An untamable fire erupts in her eyes. Take your
Things, thanks, and leave me here, with her affection.

On Why You Beat the Bushes

2006-10-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

On Sep 29, 2006, at 10:11 AM, Anonymous wrote:
"please elucidate on meaning of the word pure in the tantic (sic) sense...."

It's a great question, so here is a tiny bit to maybe whet your interest in the subject. Maybe you will be inspired, take it more seriously and things can go further. That is my wish.

Now to the mind, whatever that is, it's for sure that it's naturally wide open. This kind of openness is uncreated and free of misunderstanding exactly what creativity is. We use words to communicate and the words "primordial purity" are the particular Mahamudra linguistics meaning the "ultimate position," of tantrayana, of zen, and it's also Buddha's, the Christ's and Tao Way's final position: This you should know or you may be hindered somewhat.

In the moment of recognizing your nature, (which would entail that you would see that mind is originally PURE and that there was a deep fall into erroneous views), THAT... IS.... recognizing primordial purity.

But we aren't there, we haven't recognized that ultimate purity, but this isn't the end of the story either.

It's probably best to accept that there is some trouble here in River City. Lazy, modern pseudo-Buddhists like ourselves seem to be happy with an IDEA that we are primordially pure. But ideas in themselves are never ever ultimately pure, so, get back to work, you dirtballs! Not kidding!

If you were to meet a real chan teacher, they would be able to show you the distortion of your mind (as well as the nature of it). You would see and feel all the sickness and pain your mistakes caused and you would want help and want to help. Depending on various factors you would be able to trasform/transfigure these thoughtforms, very slowly, somewhat slowly, slowly, moderately, somewhat fast, quickly, very quickly or instantly or timelessly. When you see thoughts timelessly poof, then let me know...we can have a nice talk about how you have transcended the need for the purity idea.....

In general we tend to be egotistical and would rather not deal with the lostness and the suffering. But go ahead and admit it and you may be on the way to, uh, er, purity! You might be able to enter the path of esoteric tantra...but that is rare...it's not my choice but the level of the student.
Not only will the first be last, but the last will be first.

So can you tell me, how can lying and feigning enlightenment be tantric purity? Modern Kali-rushing and selfishness means we get to skip and just be done with it, why? Because we want to. Waaah!! Good time for a hissy fit!

The point is, we don't do the right things AND we don't try hard enough:

"Dog Zen is easy
But you still have to do it.
Your way is hard
But you still have to stop it.

After you begin the beating of the bushes
Rip out roots to make sure.
Still, you'll have to use the chemicals,
Even still, you won't be close to pure."

We should kick ass on our path and follow the teachings and the lineage and commit to plumb the depths of the great issue of life, all instead of holding on to a fools enlightenment, which is no enlightenment at all. Don't argue with Lao Tsu, he's in a bad mood, and those students of the sangha, bless their hearts, are a little flakey and all need to get down into the mud of truth and get really stinky ripe so that they can be pure.

This idea that there is no purity and that there is no morality is generally accepted by neo-pagans, anarchists, and some new agers. It's much easier to blame, to maintain opposite thinking to that horrifying possibility that you might have to work hard on yourself and even give up things. And that your parent's religion might have more than a grain of truth to it, too. Boo.

The fact is that there are in skillful means and karmic purification functioning as an important part of our point on the spiritual path. See the teachings of Buddha, of Christ and of the ancient Taoists for yourself. Asking for a book list might get you interested in something besides the Samsaric Daily News. Ideas of trendy libertine tantra are just the corruption of these profound teachings and are not the basis of esoteric tantra at all but I'm in minority here, and you may need to activate more brain cells to find out.

Now that you've decided to make your actions pure as powder, if you are going to practice atiyoga at some point you should know what the cardinal sin of Dzogchen is:

It's to corrupt the understanding of the Dzogchen view with concepts of a Dzogchen view. (Memorize this please for the future.)

Ok, so there's no such thing as sin, aye? No such thing as evil, no need for purity.....oh my Lordy, help us all please! Everybody back to the coal mines!

In order to correct this problem, one who is even recognizing the basic aspect of empowerment will need to start over constantly, even throughout the day. One who hasn't must strive for truth (which is the modern replacement for the preliminary practices). (Memorize this too). One continues to one's ideas of what is until the time of actual (not exoteric) empowerment. Some people think that Mr. Rogers or perhaps "science" is the perfection, you know, so ideas are iffy things...

May all beings prepare, enter and follow the path as so to finally recognize the four extremes (reality, unreality, both, neither) arising as the creativity of the actual great perfection!

Super Great Good Fortune Y'all!!

Lao Tzu Kicked Out of the City

2006-08-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

Chalking his hand
Looking toward that 300 score
Lao Tzu had a hissy fit:
They ran out of Budweiser.

Dog Zen is easy
But you still have to do it.
Your way is hard
But you still have to stop it.

After you begin the beating of the bushes
Rip out roots to make sure.
Still, you'll have to use the chemicals,
Even still, you won't be close to pure.

Dead roots point a shine toward infinity
Looking from the back, clockwise becomes counter:
You can't fool me again, no friend would hold lies
No mixing is allowed without the chan master's affinity.

While this wild plant, it silently grows
The fraud primps and arranges the styles that he chose,
Further and further back from his chance:
He never entered into the source of romance.

If there's one lick of passion in your blood
You'll take to roaming with the dharma thugs
Where you'll learn the chod that cuts the bone:
Then again, the odds are you'll stay home.

Gold, a bad choice,
Steel is better.
How you 'spect to get around
Up there on that ladder?

Glory to God our Father in Heaven
Yes, just the way that it already is!
Our meal ends in a toast, better than ever
Ain't no complaints in this line of biz.

Schmoogley's Risk

2006-06-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Reaching out to make others feel good
Doesn't end their continuation as morons.
Reaching to help yet another, the first falls back:
How are you going to explain that to your real Mom?
How can you say that God is good?

The girl danced and danced: I trust her truth
She forgot how she was supposed to be
Forgetting to help, she takes the great risk
So to spin the world off its trajectory
Exposing old heroes as ordinary spooks.

The cat got chased without a dog zen thought.
The redneck doesn't care much for Superman's tights.
As Schmoogley boy would like a bone today,
Mr. Whitman boldly declares his delights,
And too, the dancer shakes, caring not what she ought.

While all must love, the chosen let it go,
Knowing the difference between leaves and the wood,
One is pecked off, the other stays.
The vow is the remnant of the magic good
The pith, not the fluff, the wise do know.

A Bodhisattva Vow

2006-06-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not that concerned about environmental warming:
A cool sun hides within storms of human childishness.
The tides of seeming knowledge, reason's loss
Generate the winds and the global patterns we miss,
Next, idealism. Next, a suicide warning.

People, listen to me for once!
You can't sew without a needle's sharpness.
Your attack holds nobility, righteousness and furvor,
But to spasm against an opponent like that
The center is ever missed as you flail and punch.

Don't attack kindness in the name of goodness,
Don't criticize unless you know for sure.
If you don't know, just leave it be.
There's no vision without stillness,
No success apart from silent clarity.

Sixty billion ancestors scream, ignoring the mystic Tao
A hellish din, unheard by the dense incarnate hordes.
This show ran too long, at least for my taste,
So I choose to stay in the beauty of the wildwood place.
Enjoying it's splendor, I have plenty now.

Whatever happens, come what may,
I pray you join my wish today
To stay in protection of the abiding ones
As Kali's burn has just begun
To stay until the job is done.

Google Shores Up Regime, Mumbles Something

2006-06-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

Hight tech big shot Google is much more dangerous than Enron ever was. The corporate thieves at Enron stole thousands of peoples money. But Google has been helping the Chinese government to keep their billion people uninformed and controlled. Hey, I guess Google really needs the money.......arf, arf.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060606/ap_on_hi_te/google_censorship

One of the important conditions needed for the Dharma to flourish is that one lives in a nation that allows freedoms such as free speech! I find it amazing that most people don't understand that the largest country in the world is a freedom free zone when it comes to speech, philosophy and religion, not just politics and economics. I also see that most folks don't appreciate the exceptional nature of living in America or nation which doesn't politicize and manipulate its religions. If we allow this kind of Chinese oppression to happen without a concern, in the same way, some day, we will lose what we have.

"Religion" in China is government controlled and most sects are just absurd materialism and idealism cults with government planted leaders. They don't have access to the secrets of the Buddha Dharma, Christ or the original Tao. But China is the home of great philosophy and religion, right? In short, they lost most of what they once had. Their bizarre forms of Buddhism is very superstitious and culty, Taoism has degraded superstition, ghost removal and materialistic feng shui is common. Lacking rich and fulfilling undercurrents, people seek out cults like Falun Gong and magic. We have to remember, politically incorrect though it is, that they are communists bent on destroying religion in this most insidious of ways. Millions have been persecuted, jailed, tortured or killed.

The media in China is an anti freedom propaganda machine. Every article, every TV report, every magazine or newspaper about the USA or free nations is spun against freedom. Statistics and stories are freely invented under government supervision to make America and it's freedoms look bad.

Here we have a giant of a story that is largely ignored. But it won't go away because it's affecting the psychology of a billion people, therefore it will affect us all.

If you want to help, try get a hold of somebody at China-enablers at Google to bitch. Let me know if you get a phone number or a corporate email so I can post it.

Here's my plan for what those Google billionaires can do instead of mumbling with their hands in their pockets.

1) Give the blood money back to China.
2) Undo all censorship based work.
3) Apologize to the people of China for helping their government to oppress them.

The Life of a Seed

2006-05-18T12:11:00.000-07:00

One time there was a poppy seed who liked to do some thinking from deep within its mother-flower.

The seed was in a melancholy mood and was considering his days to come. "Now why is it that I'm so put off with the idea of falling to the earth and becoming a duplicate flower?" he thought, as always, to himself. "I'm uncomfortable with the whole idea. I wish to be something special, something unique. I refuse to follow the pattern of my ancestors. I must be free to choose. I must have my own life!"

Suddenly a robin brushed against the mother poppy causing many seeds spill from the flower and out into the open air. Our seed friend went flying, as did many of his brothers and sisters, over and down to the earth below.

After a brief journey of about five human hand lengths, he bounced to and fro quicker than most eyes could see and ended up being seated comfortably in in a small grey indentation there in his mother's meadow. He thought, "Well that wasn't too bad of a journey. I thought that the descent would be a little different. But, anyway, now I suppose I am supposed to grow in the traditional manner. Hummph!"

Although he actually felt good his concerns didn't allow him to appreciate it. He busied himself in self torment regarding what he considered a forced and regimented destiny. "Is it possible to change that destiny? No, no, no!" he thought, and pressed the pity upon himself.

Again and again he thought through the process of a typical poppy seed life such as his own, and it all seemed, to him, unsatisfactory, unsatisfying, perhaps humiliating. He was well aware that in the first stage of post descent, he would wait for a rain shower or for a sprinkler to be turned on, then he would be softening his own surface and sending out two sprouts; the end of a stem and the end of a root. As I said, the thought was quite bothersome, and bothersome for the reason briefly mentioned.

He even grumbled that "Even after millions of years of my own species existence, here I lie, held to the same boring order without the least allowance for how I feel about it. I'm not naive, I know I'm being difficult about this, but I must finally take a stand and object to unquestioned tradition. I'm not going to fall into lock step simply because every other seed isn't willing to think for themselves. There is something I have to take on myself to do: I've gotta be me. I need to express my own uniqueness."

The speech thus complete, he remained frustrated, knowing that it was a unlikely that his wishes could be fulfilled. Queerly, though, for those of us unfamiliar with certain causal principles, the seed's wish had already been answered.

You see, the robin was really a magic bird, and when it brushed the mother-plant, the seeds were given the power of the knowledge tree. It was remembered that, shortly after the time that our little seed fell to earth and made known its harsh wishes, it had received a vision that showed that his mind had a power and could change his destiny. It occurred to him, possibly correctly, that he could do whatever he wanted. He was so excited, he didn't even think about telling his brothers and sisters, laying dispersed through the surrounding locale.

The realization brought excitement, which in turn brought a rush of thought, and then, "Of being a plant, I have always loved the flower most of all," was heard out loud, although seeds tend to speak rather quietly.
"Now that I can make a wish, why should I have to grow a stem first, then the leaves and then finally a flower? I shall be the first poppy to begin in the way that I want! And that is to be a flower right now instead of having to entertain that long, ordinary and dull process of growing stem, a root-web and leaves first!"

So the seed, just as he intended for himself, went to flower. Unfortunately, the flower petals, being underground, became damp and began to rot. Not bees nor human could see it's luster, nor could petal, pistol or stamen mature without proper sunlight.

Thereby, it could not be avoided that the seed-flower came to a premature end, incapable of a progeny. And this ends our story, except for one small thing:

Just aftter the next process, the dissolving of the elements, and just before ascending into the Fifth Plant Spectrum, he went to receive what would be his official commiseration note (including his next and what would be now a more dubious routing, complete with a hopeful litany of preparation instructions) by securing his pass at the Second Kingdom Palace ticket counter of their local seemingness system (as opposed to our nearby human one) and then proceeded through the Third Committee's Directional Adjudication Lectern. Firmly facing his his next journey, his next destiny, it was at this very point that the plant had what humans beings might call their "last thought as a summation of a lifetime." It was,
"I'm not going to make that mistake again!"

It's Relaxing

2006-03-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

Walking around thinking about dharma, what a waste.
Here's what I recommend:
Sitting down and relaxing partially,
Let your mind take its normal course.
Watch it, don't judge it.

Relax a little more:
If you're not introduced to mind's nature, get that.
See the thoughts without more thinking
And their appearance will be seen to include a seemingness.

Relax a little more.
Thoughts don't mean anything.
Even so, everything's just fine!

Relax.
Thoughts like, "I'm meditating" or " Am I doing it?"
Are just leaves growing on the tree of creative habit, so...

Relax.
Things seem to be more and less important now,
But they aren't.

From clarity,
Finding mind's nature and its creativeness;
It's relaxing.

Peace, Peace, Where's the Dang Peace?

2006-01-25T02:24:00.000-08:00

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Patrick Henry

Eight Hangups

2006-01-19T01:09:00.000-08:00

There's a classic teaching that is brought up from time to time known as the Eight Worldly Concerns or the Seven Ray Opposites. It took me years but I'm starting to see something really deep in them, much more than what first met my eye.

In short, you can go as far as you want if you are willing to let go of eight hangups. Your energy will be reappropriated to the way of life.

By the way, the hangups come in four diads. Here they are:

Hangups about financial and material losses and gains
Hangups about needing pleasure and avoiding pain.
Hangups about wanting to be liked and appreciated, and being blamed.
Hangups about popularity and disgrace.......

Heres to the hope that someone will get it.

This Excellent Age

2005-11-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

And the Thing Called “Attaining Enlightenment”

Now that signs are here to show that Kali Yuga is here, you might think of this as a particularly bad time to "be here." This is a hard time for most people, but it’s also a golden age for others. There are a few that are nonetheless working on a project that will eventually lead everybody into spiritual awakening. For those initiated and focused into what is Kali’s fast path, the effect of Kali Yuga is a boon. For aspirants who are unable to enter the essency lineages, at best it’s a mixed bag.

A general understanding of Kali Yuga is that the beings incarnated at that time are incurring, creating and burning karma at faster and faster rates. There is growing suffering, and overall this direction will increase. A complete acceleration through disintegration will happen at the end of the Kali age, this over tens of thousands of years, certainly not in the next years like some new agers and a few Christians are proposing.

Now about the fast path: the road less followed. An awakening initiate’s mentality is ever recognizing the profound difference between what creates samsara and what is actual freedom (see rushen practice within traditional Dzogchen tradition as an excellent example). Within that ever perfecting awareness, the future master’s potential arises, a sword pulling out from its sheath.

A common belief is that the dysfunctional state of mankind and individualization is negative and to be overcome. This is the best way for people to see things, that is until they reach the line of protected force that is the masters' illuminating path. I am not repeating something I have heard, but testifying to my own experience. The door of this path is in the mentality of a humble and well-wishing person. Opening that door, one finds out about one’s self and the universe simultaneously.

Many people are interested in the spiritual path these days. If that sounds like you, you might want to look into what your actual motivation is, what you are seeking. Churches and neo-spiritual groups today are commercializing and bypassing what was taught by the Masters: Lord Christ, Buddha, Lao Tsu, or St. Francis/KH. There are even new liberal churches that don’t expect you to believe in anything greater than ordinary materialistic life. Do you agree that this is corruption, that the lineage is broken?

This corruption is a sign of the time, Black Mom Kali’s Time. (If you don’t know, she is seen often as black and very wild). But Kali herself isn’t corrupt at all. We are. She is here to wake up some and at least burn up some karma for everybody. Therein is good news. The few on this Fast Path are spiritual heroes and hold much of the potential unfoldment and correction of the “earth problem” in their daily-learning hands.

The heroism depicted in literature and movies reflects what is actually happening to those initiated to awakening in this age. A good example is Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The Terminator is another. The authors intuit places and situations, then share their vision in characters that you would never suspect, where the person must awaken to their aliveness of spirit.

This human spirit is beautiful, and how it is unfolding is far beyond the comprehension of nihilistic or eternalist values, Kali Yuga’s two popular ways of thinking. A nihilist thinks this is all grandiose talk; the eternalist can’t keep focused on the real meaning of the story, which is too bad. But, pay attention, y’all: these stories are calling us to wake up.

That voice of awakening isn't fooled by materialistic pessimism. Those dark minds in our media unknowingly report the darkening of their own minds, seeing only the blindness and disorder in our roughening Kali Yuga. They are that blindness. The tendency in this age is a growing narcissism and to follow narcissistic solutions, which generally means that you blame everyone but yourself for your unhappiness.

How can an initiate of Christ, Buddha-Tao use this Kali-negativity? This in only to be discussed and used in the proper time. Many amateur groups and individuals are trying to teach spiritual sexuality, consciousness raising, creativity training, or psychism, but that is just causing confusion for those involved and frustrating many who could be growing in this life. The true tantric path or Fast Path involves the protection and empowerment of a true lineage, otherwise Kali Yuga will chew you up and...well, you know. It is a good to admit what works and what doesn't in the Kali field. To crack the Kali code, that truth seeking needs to be your ongoing approach to life. Nothing else will break through the materialism and overcome its tricky sister, spiritual materialism.

The good news is that Kali Yuga has the stuff that initiates need in order to become useful (masters), and it has more of that stuff than any other cycle in history can provide. Think of all the excuses an individual may have to really putting everything into the spiritual path. Think of how everything around you is saying not to do it. The pressure to fail in learning true meditation and facing up to your magicness is like a nonstop 24/7/365 attack: brainwashing from friends, the media, culture, and of course, ourselves. BUT. If you have even the slightest sense of transcendental compassion in all of this mess, even for a moment, that would be the equivalent of ten lifetimes of a pure Sattva Yuga meditation without even stopping for a break. Think about this special time and the opportunity that you have.

Please know that we spiritual practitioners (yes, we are constantly doing practices) are not just helping ourselves. We never separate from others, even in retreat or renunciation. We have a particular learning, a particular help and responsibility.

We work for the world. Dear environmentalist: we can help you because we are the true environmentalists. To the liberal or anarchist, our lineage represents the true freedom that you have been seeking so desperately. To the conservative or religious person, we are the awaking to the accomplishment of what you have wished. Do you get it?

The mystic people, unknown to the public, dance the buttons that underlie secrets, meanings and sciences. All along, though, we can not stop you from being small. You must choose or your karma will for you. These are hard things to understand at first, but you can get it eventually.

Have a good one,

The Labyrinth

2005-09-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

A spiritual seeker went to a teacher to ask questions. She said to him,

"How is it that I can enter the Way?"

He said "Sit and look into your mind and let me know what's there."

She took him up on it and went ahead and looked right into her own mind.

It took a while but after months of looking what she seemed to see was, you could say, a little of everything. She experienced agony, ecstasy and everything in between. Small things, big, the universe, dust on the floor, happiness, situations, families, together, separate, confusion, anger, joy. Looking, she noticed bits of pretty much anything and everything, cycling in and going out.

She went back to the teacher and reported this to him. She told him that she knew that it was her karma and that it appeared in and as her mental-emotional configurations or habits. She said that she knew that everything was in her mind.

He said "Ok. Look into your mind," as if he had never said it before. The student's mind flipped a little.

She took him up on it and looked with accuracy into her mind. She worked dilligently. One day, while she did her practice of looking into her mind, she suddenly felt a shift, like she was a camera zooming in on something, and there appearing, as the vision crystalized, was what seemed to her to be a great labyrinth.

This strange and complex display felt to be pushing electrically toward her as it became visually intense and precise in structure. A twist of mazes came into view, and it's obviousness, it's strangeness, triggered, in her, a whole line of ideas as to it's purpose, it's reason for being, it's entryway, it's pathways and it's mystical central goal. Disciplined, she continued her looking as she was supposed to, though.

Soon the insight came that the many of the turns and tunnels were really ideas and impulses of the many teachings about what she felt she was supposed to be. She could see that some of these path-ideas came from books or friends, and that others were collected from esteemed teachers, more from other searching people she had known, some others yet from parents and family members, still others from lamas, clergy, new age experts, self help books, and not surprisingly, even Oprah Winfrey. She suddenly remembered she had met people purported to be saints and realized that some of the pathways in the maze seemed very pure and were directly related to those teacher's suggestions.

The structure of the labyrinth was complex. Having heard a lot about "unity" she noticed that all these teachings and philosophies seemed to agree on some points. "All religions and paths ultimately agree," she thought. "I really might be on to something. That one thing they all put their attention to was exactly how to enter and how to navigate a spiritual or life path. This could be it, or at least something essential in terms of what I am seeing." And she felt sparks of hope.

Then another thought. She began to consider taking a more discriminating approach to the puzzle. She was smart and knew right away that some of those teachings would work better that others. Looking again at the jumbled maze, she felt herself confused and thought, "It would be hard to separate out the best teachings and figure out which came from whom."

A memory came in a flash. Once someone known as a holy woman had blessed her and gave her an amulet. She thought that if she held it, that might help her make her way through the the web of confusing turns.

Our spiritual seeker also remembered, (though she had never mentioned it to her friends,) that years ago, she had learned a method of getting in touch with psychic powers. She considered that this might be a good time to use those skills in order to see or feel the right directions through the maze. Or maybe to control the maze and any negative forces. "The goal must be attained," she reaffirmed, thinking to herself, "I'll do whatever it takes."

It also occurred to her that maybe if she could just trust in God: that He would show the way. This and many other ideas of how to make her way through the complex tangle made her feel both elated and, to be truthful, uncomfortable.

Being a trooper and a seeker of truth, she boldly entered the maze's gate and began trudging through a few of the channels that were beyond the outer clay walls. She decided to apply her skills, training and spiritual power. How could she lose? The years of paths had brought her a broad spectrum of holistic knowledge, and she, if anyone, would be able to traverse the labyrinth and attain its mystery. "Now, which system to use" she thought? "I may even need to use multiple ones."

Suddenly she once again remembered that simple line from the man, directing her to look into her mind. Setting aside the simple looking, she brought her focus to the question of how to best navigate the maze. But as she automatically strove forward with her quite educated and skillful approach, a feeling of futility arose in her.

She returned to the teacher and he said to her that "All people have a latent knowing that there is something more in this life than meets the eye. If they are positive thinking people, they try to find it a little, and then they try to share what little they know about how to get to that goal. That is what all optimists of this world do."

"Well then, what should I do?" was her reply. "I saw the gateway of the labyrinth. I do want to know the true path and thereby enter into that mystic center. Please tell me the moves through the labyrinth. Can you help me? Can you help me to get through it?"

She took a breath, concentrated with great concern and sincerity, and continued, "I have practiced many paths so if you simply tell me the best one, or the best combination, I promise to focus my efforts and accomplish the task."

He responded by saying,

"You don't need to get to the center. Listen for the last time.

The gate, the paths and the center of the labyrinth are all your own creation, just as you said before yet don't yet comprehend. All of your so-called spiritual paths and ideas are the channels of the maze itself. From the awareness of the essence of your own mind, the center never separated from the maze or the gates. So lighten up.

The pathways of the labyrinth are an appearance of frozen teaching ideas. All those other teachings were only meant to get things going, to begin to kick loose some searching and seeking. That's it, no more. Now is different. You need to look into your mind and recognize the culmination of the gate, the pathways and the center."

Hearing that suggestion, trooper that she was, she looked again and saw that the labyrinth was her own creation, a display of her own ideas, hopes, dreams and pathos.

And then she knew for certain that, in the state of misinterpreting it as some important truth, she was able to be honest and see that the process of navigating the labyrinth was nothing but her own creative imagination's unfullfilling activity; a mazed circling driven by a seemingly endless sense of needing.

In that exact moment, the entire labyrinth appeared more ethereal, like a shimmering dream of a beautiful place. She was taken aback. There was a kind of dissolving, like when sunlight dissolves mist or when a sandcastle is struck by a sea wave.

From that point on, she understood the instantness of special knowledge, and she dedicated her life to stabilizing the kind of honestness that she so fortunately touched on that day. She was convinced that that was enough.

Boycott Yahoo! and Microsoft

2005-09-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

Freedom to the Chinese People!!

Yahoo and Microsoft are assisting the heavy handed Communist Chinese government in modernizing its legacy of citizen abuse and misinformation.

Be sure to inform yourself here:
Reporters Without Borders For years Yahoo ! has allowed the Chinese version of its search engine to be censored. In 2002, Yahoo ! voluntarily signed the "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the China Internet Industry", agreeing to abide by PRC censorship regulations. Searches deemed sensitive by the Chinese authorities such as “Taiwan independence” in Chinese into the Yahoo ! China search engine, retrieve only a limited and approved set of results.

A US-based multinational, Yahoo ! Appears to be willing to go to any lengths to gain shares of the Chinese market and it is investing heavily in local companies.

and
Roger Simon

Join the boycott by switching from Yahoo and Microsoft to other products and services. Be sure to let them know why you did.

Please inform us if you can think of other ways to change this situation.

Discrimination

2005-09-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

another interview, a seemingly typical 'cajun girl' now at the astrodome, when asked about the accomidations said "I can't thank the people of texas enough, clean cots, hot food, showers, clean towels, they have been so nice, so polite, caring, I don't know how to thank them.."
When asked if she would return to New Orleans, she said "I might go back to maybee get my funiture, but I don't want to live there anymore, some of these people acted like.. well.. animals. I don't want to live next to them no mo [more].."

Now that's better.

A Dog Zen Simpleton's Instructions

2005-09-03T14:52:00.000-07:00

The Actual Practice of Dzogchen
( a reprint from January, 2005)

If you want to learn the meaning of Dzogchen and get its benefits
You will have to overcome your twisting of the dharma, spirituality and everything else.
You should understand
That It’s going to take an organized and ongoing effort
Until the dam of artificiality breaks free.
Here goes:

When you hear about looking into your mind, no matter where it comes from,
Just go ahead and do it.
At first glance, whatever mind is, for sure you see thoughts and feelings.
You don’t know what you are doing, it's ok.
There are thoughts and feelings.
Just for now, forget about the word “mind” and just look at those thoughts and feelings that you see when you tryed to find the mind.
Focus on “what thoughts are.”

Look in your mind for the answer, don’t look at me or your memory.
You must focus, look directly and observe the thinking.
This looking at thoughts and wondering what they are must continue
Until you are fully confident that thinking
Is utterly and completely unlimited in its potential seeming situations and formulations.

This process of getting used to knowing this takes a length of time to incorporate.
My suggestion is to forget about goofy meditating and just do this!
If you do what I say and keep going, at some point
An unquestionable confidence in how thoughts and emotions exist will arise:
Every thought, limited and impermanent,
And its rising knowledge will change you in a big way.

You will know that you could be thinking anything, anywhere, anytime! Wowie!
There are ultimately no governors that control what you can think or feel.

Now, looking again, do something different:
Whether you see angels or demons, family or enemy,
Recognize that you cling to a thought-emotion experience only.
That's all.

Consistently, there’s a thought of a "you" and at that "you" seems to be relating to "other." Baugh! That really is a good one!
Consider our Tower of Babel called “higher learning",
school and university,
Whose sophistry is deified but should be put in its place...
Of all the extensive activity of these organizations...
Of their underlying belief system as it spreads over and influences the mediathink and our children...
Of the sums of even the trillions of waves of thoughts...
Within and including humanity's great libraries of theories and scientism, not science,
Of even every system and technology, of every wise man or woman that ever lived,
And all their mental activity, all their knowledge, all thoughts, all ideas
Set forth for all to see....
All hopes and fears set out,
At this I looked and looked.

Yet, in all this ocean of complexity,
In wonder it struck me....
Oh my God
What is wrong with us??
And I saw that never has there been even one thought that touches the way that things actually are.
Not one!!

Doen't anybody see this?
The root of this blindness in every case
Is the inability to recoil and say
“Hey! There seems to be a ‘me’ within my theories, but I'm dreaming it up!

Hey! Every new idea grows along with a made-up me-ness versus a not-me-ness!
Unfathomable creativity seems real or unreal as my own folly intends!
Wow...Amazing!”

Further, on this awakening to the not knowing of sages...
If you don’t get the correction and make it change your life,
At least focus your life on helping others and your family.
But try to get the real correction if you can.

Get help from the professional dogs.
You can have it if you want to...
Go back, do it again and again....look into your mind.
Since now thoughts are only your creative imagination,
Things are different, they look not so “real” and certainly a lot more fun.

Try it again,
Gander deeply to where thought, which seems to be "things happening" comes from:
A proud Buddhist looked into his mind,
But unable to find anything but thoughts, will he give up?
Don't stop here..this is the good stuff!

From habits you will be seeing what seems to be endless thoughts:
“I’ll find the mind, dammit.”
“Ahh, this is the mind.”
“I'm in a meditation state.”
“Maybe I’m enlightened.”
If you don’t know these are just thoughts you truly are an idiot.

So keep going, dedicate your life to traverse where few dare,
And don't stop!
This is the practice of Dzogchen unshakeled,
But you will need to knuckle down and do it.

“Oops, hey, just more and more thoughts and feelings!
What is the mind anyway?...Whoh, there’s no way to define things in the old way!”
Now that's a little better.

Get comfortable that actual real Mind-God-Dharamakaya, a simple clarity,
The very nature of all things and thoughts
Which can't be known by intellectual jockeying.

By following this Dog Zen way
You can be absolutely certain that you can‘t find anything but that which is made up.
There's no real thinking in thought,
There's no thought in primordialness, take that verbatum when it becomes obvious.

A salute goes to you, the few and the sincere,
You will climb the greatest mountain at your own home!
You will see the cause of suffering and its release!
Go, modern yogi, go!

Join in the beneficient franchise of direct awareness breakers!
Watch and receive through the five mysteries
That melt the ice of this old, old mistake.

Why not do it again. Look.
Thoughts are the creativity of the mind, whatever that is.
Now that question, what the mind is, becomes so new, so different!
Thinking doesn't think, so mind primordially can't be thinking at all.
If it’s not thinking, then what is it??
C'mon, get real.

This is not a puzzle, sober up, try much harder and longer, and let me know what you get.
What is this thing we have all along assumed to be the "mind?"
If I try to explain it then it won't be yours.
Whatever you accomplish from here depends on your assurance from experience
That the nature of mind is not your thoughts, ideas or feelings
And that misunderstanding and taking them as a serious reality
Bogged you down in foolishness since who knows when.

All this time, your view has been thought-centered! Wow! WOW!!
You can go a long way if you get this, you won’t if you don’t.
Not just Buddha, but Christ and the Tao masters knew this perfectly.
No one can change the way things are.

Revel and prepare the torma-expression in the light of the not-knowing
Since unknowability is the fortress of Urel’s newest thread.
Doesn’t that make perfect sense: Kali-moderns are addicted to think-knowing!

While the weak can’t depend on the Full Perfection’s not-knowing.
A dog bounces happily on a trampoline and becomes a rainbow man.
The dog zen simpleton engages the full feast of mind's beingness
And henceforward partakes the indescribable blisses.

Sages throughout time have spoken of satisfaction, happiness and its appearance.
Instantly not-knowing, you can dig out what you have been storing for countless seasons.
Dear man and woman:
The glory of this can't be explained
By me for certain
But I know your soul is sweet
So I hold my crazy wish
That you get it's full force today.

Media Coverage

2005-09-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

Survivor being helped at the Superdome:

She said "I haven't had a hot meal since Saturday. Those ready to eat things (MRE's)... they are horrible, you can't eat those, you can't survive on those."

Then she was asked if she had anything to drink, to which she responded "No, nothing at all. All they keep offering us is water, water, water."

[Camera cut's away quickly.]

"Times are changin, now the poor get fat,
But the fever's gonna catch ya when the bitch gets back."

(Elton John and Bernie Taupin)

Hurricane Relief

2005-09-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

Mercy Corps:

http://www.mercycorps.org

Lord and Teacher, Won't You be with Me Everyday?

2005-08-06T14:04:00.000-07:00

"The First Annual Saint Francis Festival will take place in ..., September 25 through October 4. This 10-day celebration will mirror a sister event being held simutaneously in Ixtlan de los Hervores, Mexico."

The Second Man

2005-06-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Two men walk into a diner. Before they can order, two bowls are placed in front of them. Upon tasting the food, the first man spits it out and shouts spontaneously towards the kitchen, "This is disgusting," then angrily towards the waitress, "You brought me a bowl of grease!"

The waitress comes back over and tells them, "that's to remind you that samsara is suffering."

The second man is also revolted and was trying to get the grease out of his mouth with his repeated spits. The men walk out, the first man alternating between cursing loudly and mumbling under his breath, the second in confusion and silence.

They try another restaraunt. Without even ordering, the chef comes out and places two steaming bowls in front of the men with a smile. "The first man obliges with a sip of the broth, but it shot back out as fast as it went in. "This is salt water! Now, why would you bring us salt water?"

And the chef said to them that it was merely to clarify the point that samsara is unfulfilling.

By this time, the men are feeling off their game, so after a brief discussion they decide to try their luck doing something different. They need to pick up a hammer and some nails, anyway, so they stop by a hardware store that happens to be on the way home.

Navigating the well stocked isles of the hardware store, they observe that the hammers have no heads and that the nails are made out of rubber. Seeing the angry face of the first, and the perplexed face of the second man, the stock boy announces,

"Oh, we have those items especially to remind people that samsara doesn't work."

And so it was at this juncture that the first man made a silent decision to retreat to the solace of his own abode. And that he did without hesitation, soon to partake of some dinner and, he thought, maybe some television.

Now, the second man reacted quite differently. Those odd encounters had awakened his curiousity, or maybe it was wonder. And as he was ravenously hungry, the thought crossed his mind to give another restaraunt a try.

He went into the very first joint he could find, which happened to be directly across the street from the hardware store. Reaching for the door, it opened for him. He saw that he was being greeted by a sparkling and polite woman, who he assumed must be the matire-D. She took his arm and gently escorted him through the plain building and into a stunning and lush backyard garden, in the center of which was a large shapely wooden table with one large chair holding some multi-patterned cushions.

"Would this place be to your liking sir?" The man heard himself say, "Oh yes," as he could immediately see it truly was a marvelous spot.

His senses began to open in that sun-speckled yard. Flowers and greenery of every hue and geometric shape surrounded him, amusing the eye. The air was warm and the flowers were gently pushed into undulations by a caressing breeze. Bees buzzed happily, circling from flower to flower.

As he thought to sit, the maitre-D nodded, then she nimbly removed his shoes and took his jacket. Turning away and opening her wide gaze, she seemed like a conductor raising her baton at the beginning of a symphony. As she began to do whatever it was she was doing, she turned back for just a moment to address the man, saying, "By the way, this is all on the house."

Before he could even sit down on that voluptuously soft and supportive chair, which would make him like a king on a throne, a most entrancing music began to fill the garden. The sounds of lyres, tambora, and then gentle tablas began so softly, then layering back and forth, quite like the bees. He could see the musicians had been waiting behind a hedge of blueberry bushes. The bushes, he noticed, had quite a crop of the ripe blue-reddish orbs.

Out of nowhere, a heartbreakingly attractive girl was leaning over his table and asking him if he would like some of those blueberries, which, she now held before him in a festively flowered bowl. They were the most delicious berries he ever ate. She asked him if he would like his feet and shoulders massaged, and he said gratefully, and with very little hesitation, "Sure!" It wasn't long before he reached a state of immense relaxation and pleasure.

But that was only the beginning. Beautiful dancing girls silently appeared, smiling, coy and playful, moving through the garden, disturbing nothing and harmonizing everything, and a full and healthy joy arose in his mind. One after another, the waiters and waitresses brought fresh squeezes and cuts of exotic fruits, steamed vegetable and meats with many sauces he had never seen. Some came in stars cups, moons bowls and long curved pink tureens. Small presentations of the most delicate and vitalizing hot and cold appetizers were brought out, each on a different painted bowl or plate, a 1942 Krug Sparkling Nectar of a supremely refreshing taste was popped, and it was refreshing, perhaps a nourishment of the soul; its effervescence danced on his tongue, and wine flowed soft and pleasing to refresh him deeper with each taste.

Another equally unabashed lady of radiant beauty appeared. She giggled and sat down at the table along side the man. She introduced herself with some funny puns which lightened things up, then told the man stories that were just the type that he would be interested in. They had harmonius discussions about religion, spirituality, books, love, art, politics, music and much more. The man noticed that she was purely humble, but at the same time seemed to understand all those topics well. The laughed together and talked for hours, entering together deeply into that soft summer evening.

During this time the train of exquisite treats continued its course. The crescendo of foods, colors, and the many distinct and merging fragrances only supported those conversations, maybe the best conversations of his life. His new friend was such a fine conversationalist and humorist, not to mention being so endearing, that he simply lost himself in her beauty and the scene at hand.

How it worked was that, in a pure and undulating synchronicity this all came to be; the maitre-D or a waiter or waitress would appear with another delicious fruit, an appetizer, a beverage, maybe a tasty and warming filling main course. The extasy which calmly grew the entire time had by now done the work of calming his views, ideas and needs, which all seems to set along with an orange sun. It came to mind in that moment that he had greatly underestimated his life.

The bees and butterflys seemed to move like a painter's brushstokes. Whatever the man experienced in taste, sound or vision, it built even more on to the previous joy. That bliss was building and staying consistent, this stability, was something he never touched yet seemed like a distant memory.

And as that wondrous feast continued, light and vitalizing, perhaps, through his own charm, right then, his own purity opened. And he became as one in that glorius banquet that had been presented him, like entering a most beautiful picture.

In that way he thus forgot his problems and joy opened firmly in him, like the white lotus right there in the garden.

And he held the hand of his lovely conversation companion as they chatted, played and ate together. He thought he could see waves emanting between himself and the woman...certainly, he could feel them. In fact, they were emanating between all the people. It was as if the spirit of atmosphere had stepped forward and taken over and it would all be like a downstream flow of a great river from here on in.

Fully satisfied and in the finest of spirits, the man then knew that it was time to go home. But he experienced no regret, only happiness and, too, he was grateful. Turning to bid adieu and give thanks, he did however, for just a moment, hesitate.

"Why did you do all of this for me?"

The matrie-D looked into his eyes and the man saw something in her that he recognized, a wisdom and inner world he had once sensed but had not been able to stabilize. She was like a mirror showing him himself. The entire assembly of waiters stood aside, arms in front, palm over palm. The musicians and dancers gently stopped and came over to join the group, all with kindness, attending to the man. They said,

"We did it because we want you to have a sense of your capability."

June Fourth Remembrance in China

2005-06-04T16:22:00.000-07:00

Remember there is no freedom in the world's largest country.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,158606,00.html

Directions to the Magic Fair

2005-06-01T10:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a rough day,
My back is sore from polishing my gods.
Mr. Haney's back
And shit, he's not leaving till we buy it all.

Dharma is easy,
Our way is hard.
Like a Freud or a Marx,
Engaging with that popular, ever winding and confident sophistry,
You are never going to figure it out.
Now as your lifeforce fades along with your diplomas,
It's as good a time as ever to consider bypassing this school of minnows.
Maybe try using a bigger bat.

Instantness, the axe of pure sacrifice,
Insures that the choice is wondrously gone, or does it?
Upon ending your season ticket committment to the squirrel races,
Titans crumple like paper cups after a hearty swig.

Maybe this is all:
Stop tweaking your illusions....

Stopping, yet gather them in a sphere.
Suddenly you hear...

"Ladies and Gentlemen,
May I have your attention!
Bring your ball to the Magic Fair!
Delights untold await one and all there!"

What has he slurred,
Did you hear what I heard?
Can you believe it?
That putz of a nerd.

"Come one and all,
Bring with you your ball!
Quite rare, directions to the fair!
Past the all those psychics, religion, naive scientism, too,
No new-agers or goddesses may attend with their glomping-on goo.
When you see paraphenomena, still not there, up the stair,
Turn left, then go right, then up and down, too!

Take the opportunity, O friends, the show unequivicable awaits,
Man, you'll need to give it a good knock on those gates!
Lady, you won't get through that thicket,
Our turnstile will stop you without a ticket!
Those of you without your ball
You won't be to allowed an entrance at all!"

Blessings to those same old beings
Playing the pretty, soft-note kindness of the shimmering expanse.
Now joy is here, to the all-beings display, I say hurray!
(Although with these lagging ones, it's been told that they
Present the seemingness of unfamiliarity of the source of the array.)