19 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in Anecdotes, I Am Time

Sometime in late 1988, I found myself on a hundreds long line of people awaiting to ask for a blessing from Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Chabad-Lubavitch spiritual leader. As customary, the Rebbe gifted everyone on line a crisp, new US dollar bill. The gift was a sign of humility; the great Rebbe expressing gratitude to those who ventured to his house. As well, it suggested the bill recipient treat others likewise; that is, on every occasion, treat others with kindness. I imagine all those dollar bills are still around, in wallets and places of safekeeping. They are sacred mementos. My dollar I've kept in my wallet. Now, 36 years later, it has virtually disintegrated. What a loss! It would have been more valuable had I given it to someone soon after receiving it; more valuable to both me and the recipient....

17 Feb

Posted at 11:11h in I Am Time, Koan

"More important than writing is erasing." -- Kotzker Rebbe “To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.” — Lao Tzu   When we've erased or removed everything we think we know, we know nothing; we are as when we were born. Without preconceived notions, we can see from many perspectives. That's the essence of wisdom. With a clear mind, the universe is no longer defined by objects and concepts our consciousness has created. The universe is just an undifferentiated flow, which is what we are....

17 Feb

Posted at 01:00h in I Am Time, Koan

Does a rock have consciousness?   Consciousness generally refers to the state of being aware of one's surroundings, thoughts, feelings, and sensations. It is the subjective experience of being alive and having a sense of self as separate from that which is not one's self. However, what exactly is consciousness has been long debated by philosophers, theologians, linguists, and scientists and no consensus has emerged. While a rock is a rock, what is a rock? Is a rock an independent thing or something given agency by our consciousness? If a rock is an independent thing, it may have consciousness that is beyond our general understanding of consciousness. Alternatively, if a rock is an illusion created by our mind, a rock does not have consciousness. Every thing in the now is interdependent and interconnected. That is, every thing is not a thing, but a facet of one ever-changing thing, the Everything. Things in the now that appear independent, like a rock, are illusions created by the mind. As a rock is an illusion, it does not have consciousness. If we don't recognize our consciousness has created the things in the Everything, we have the consciousness of a rock.  ...

16 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in I Am Time, Koan

Who are you?   I am a mountain range. I am the sea. I am the Everything, but not specifically me. I am everchanging, that's what I be, not who you think you see. I am what I am. There's nothing else to me....

15 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in Haiku, I Am Time

A bell ringing in the empty sky. Sound here, after it's not. Much ringing from times passed. Can't see the sun on a noisy day....

13 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in I Am Time, Wow

Many a thank you is heard in the Rewards Department. Many complaints in the Complaint Department. God runs the Rewards Department and the Devil runs the Complaint Department....

11 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in I Am Time, Wow

Before and after the now, we are the eternal soul. In the now, we are the self; a temporary expression of the soul. The soul simply is, asking for nothing. The self is selfish, demanding all our attention. As the self denies the soul's existence, we lose touch with the soul. Ironically, the self will inevitably no longer exist and we will surely die if we lose our connection to the soul....

07 Feb

Posted at 10:15h in I Am Time, Koan

"What is the sound of one hand clapping?"   Mu! (nothing). Sound, hand and clapping do not exist as independent things; as all things are interdependent; essentially one everchanging thing. Sound, hand and clapping are illusions our consciousness creates. They appear in foveal vision which is what consciousness carves out of the flow that is peripheral vision. The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of one hand clapping. It is what it is whatever it is....