Never again—will I say never again! When I uttered this phrase (quietly to myself) several days ago, it immediately brought to mind the liar’s paradox, in its various iterations: I am lying or Nothing I say is true or This sentence is a lie. The liar’s paradox is a paradox because if the statement is true, then it is false; and if the statement is false, then it is true. Paradox v. …
A Fountain of Light
My home was at Cold Mountain from the start, Rambling among the hills, far from trouble. Gone, and a million things leave no trace Loosed, and it flows through galaxies A fountain of light, into the very mind— Not a thing, and yet it appears before me: Now I know the pearl of the Buddha nature Know its use: a boundless perfect sphere. ~ Hanshan (trans. Gary Snyder) * …
Someone Is Awake
Song for Nobody A yellow flower (Light and spirit) Sings by itself For nobody. A golden spirit (Light and emptiness) Sings without a word By itself. Let no one touch this gentle sun In whose dark eye Someone is awake. (No light, no gold, no name, no color And no thought: O, wide awake!) A golden heaven Sings by itself A song to nobody. ~ Thomas Merton * …
Fundamentalism: Religious & Scientific
In this brief talk, Alan Wallace covers lots of interesting ground, e.g. the relationship between religious and scientific fundamentalism; and the difference between "course mind" (aka conceptual mind) and the nature of mind (aka pure awareness). He ends by offering clear step-by-step guidance in accessing rigpa (awareness of being aware). Minding Mind Please note that the language Mr. Wallace …
Two Sides Of The Water
SIGHT Once a single cell found that it was full of light and for the first time there was seeing when I was a bird I could see where the stars had turned and I set out on my journey high in the head of a mountain goat I could see across a valley under the shining trees something moving deep in the green sea I saw two sides of the water and swam between them I look at …
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Either all of it is me, or none of it is me. This is the voice of pure Awareness, describing its relationship to phenomenal appearances: the kaleidoscopic transformations of body-mind-world. First, we learn to distinguish unchanging Awareness from phenomena which come and go. We clearly perceive that “none of this is me.” Sometime later, we dissolve even this distinction, to clearly …