Realities of Life

  There is nothing in the material world, in the exercising of the psyche, or in the metaphysical realms that we can hold onto for safety or take for granted. Nor is there a "little self' that we need to rise to be in tune with the world. Everything that we see, feel, or experience is just an illusion! So, nobody has to tell us a moral, and what the truth is, because it will be like "sweeping dust under the carpet"…

 The cause of all our suffering and insecurity is a joy-blockage and a constant search for something “better” than we have. With time, it becomes an attachment. Then our emotions feel like the flow of water that we are trying to dam up. They get higher and higher until they overflow or burst the 'dam'. Our suffering or striving to change the future is a clinging to material interactions… The advice from our ancestors' teachings is give up all our desires and stay in the Middle Way.  That means we must be in our self-silence, which is described as existence and nonexistence, between any two opposites. It is also a state of not attempting to give up more desire than we can, so that we can move out of the extreme.

 Some people think that the state of liberation is some kind of "nirvana," which essentially means “blowout” (blowing out the flame of desire). For me, it looks more like "breathing out," which is a principle of life. We can’t hold our breath forever! Same with our physical life, without inhaling and exhaling, we die. What is the point of surviving when life is a drag?  When you let your breath go, it comes back, the same as joy does for our lives!  That is why "nirvana" is not some undifferentiated void; it’s a state of being here and now in this life.

 The last "reality of life" is “mindfulness.”  With everything we do, we know that we do it when we’re self-aware.  We discover that there isn’t any way to be absent-minded—all thoughts are in the present. However, we are often excited to explore new things without stopping. We explore our minds, and then share them with others. The problem is that when our “mindset” starts to grow, as an “acorn” grows into the oak tree, we run back to the original “acorn” so that we can switch it with the new oak fruit, which becomes the seed for another tree. We forget to expand inward and elaborate on what we are already familiar with. We value the written word and speeches, which are purely incidental for us. The Taoist sage, Chuang Tzu, once said, “Just as a dog is not considered a good dog just for being a good barker, a man is not considered a good man just for being a good talker”...

  So, letting go of "control," we are aligning ourselves with the natural order of the Universe. A true "boss" is someone who minimizes their grip on things, allowing harmony to occur without forceful ruling. It is a strong and flexible person who, at the same time, lets "life’s strings" move freely rather than manipulating them tightly.

  Yours faithfully, 

  HAC