We experience reality only via our senses but we rarely do.

Being best is best, but good enough is better.

We can be certain we don’t know what we are looking at when we are certain we know what we are looking at.

All beings are illusions based on the illusion of the self as a being.

You cannot love every thing, unless you are the Everything.

The now is full of descriptions, yet all descriptions are empty.

What’s odd is funny when it makes things that are not odd funny.

When we are present, we miss nothing until we have it again.

As we always have more money than time, why do we spend much of our time to make more money?

If we die this moment, we will have had more money than we needed.

It’s extremely rare to run out of money, but inevitably we run out of time.

The now begins with M = E/C² and ends with E = MC².

M = Mass

E = Energy

C = Speed of Light

Before the now, all there is is Energy.

When Energy is slowed down by the speed of light squared, energy becomes Mass.

Mass is the manifestation of Energy in the now.

When Mass accelerates to the speed of light squared, it reverts into Energy.

The process of Energy to Mass and back happens in an instant; again and again and again.

It happens so quickly, we don’t sense it happening.

The mind creates an illusion of continuity and stability.

Every thing is not as it seems, as it is constantly changing.

Only the mind makes it seem otherwise.

Life is a play. It’s purpose is to play.

To play with your self’s various emotions in whatever your roles.

To play is to have fun in the process.

The brilliant reflect the sun’s light.

The wise emanate light to guide the way through the night.

While we are naturally eccentric, it’s difficult to be eccentric.

Awakening is always the same, and all ways different.

No body is getting out of here alive, but those emitting unconditional love.

Unconditional love comes only from the soul. The eternal universe is the manifestation of the soul.

Who I am is many things.

What I am is one thing.

The soul is selfish, yet has no self.

“I don’t mind what happens.” —  J. Krishnamurti

The “eternal what” is every thing before and after the now.

The “what happens” is a temporary expression of the “eternal what”.

The “what happens” is a mirror of the “eternal what”.

The “eternal what” loves seeing itself in the mirror.

This love is divine love, peace beyond understanding.

The mind, the self’s emotions and memories, precludes us from seeing “what happens”.

Through the mind we see only illusions.

When we don’t mind, we accept “what happens” and the illusions disappear.

Then we realize we are the “eternal what”.

The universe has an infinite number of centers, yet the universe has no center.

Each thing our eyes focus on is a center.

Each of us is a center.

With no beginning and no end, the universe has no center.

“He who speaks does not know, he who knows does not speak.” — Lao Tzu

Words emanate light. Sentences reflect light and cast shadows.

He who speaks reflects light and casts shadows, but does not know the light.

He who knows does not speak as speaking separates him from the light.

He who speaks does not know what’s said is rarely what’s heard.

He who knows does not speak, for speaking is futile.

He who speaks describes what he sees and hears, not what he smells.

Yet, the nose knows.

He who knows does not speak as smells defy clear description.

He who speaks is an actor in the play of life.

He who know is the audience.

For actors, the play is a tragedy; as every actor inevitably is scripted out of the play and dies.

For the audience, the play is a comedy. The audience is the Gods. The Gods are forever laughing at the actors taking their selves seriously. The actors often forget they too are Gods.

He who laughs cannot speak. The Gods do not speak, they can only laugh.

He who speaks is in the now. He cannot grasp the now, as a hand cannot grasp itself.

He who knows does not speak as the now can only be known by observing.

He who speaks describes that which his mind creates; what his foveal vision carves out of peripheral vision.

He who knows does not speak, as peripheral vision defies specific description.

He who speaks creates a photo of the now.

He who knows does not speak, for the now is an eternal motion picture.

He who speaks does not know, as descriptions are empty; the now that’s described is now no longer. What’s described are illusions.

He who knows the now does not speak, as the essence of the now is nothing.

He who speaks describes things that were and are now no longer.

He who knows does not speak as there are no things. All there is is an everchanging flow.

He who speaks is a dot in a painting.

He who knows does not speak, for a painting is an infinite number of interdependent dots.

He who speaks does not know as attempting to describe the now supplants the now.

He who knows does not speak as descriptions are distractions from the now.

A speaker’s words are like the finite and precise space inside a square.

The endless and everchanging now is like the imprecise space inside a circle.

He who knows does not speak, for a circle cannot be squared.

Very few things affect us. What we think things are affects us.

How do you know whether you are seeing something through your eyes or mind?

The book with blank pages is only empty if that’s what we see.

Without a different perspective we have no perspective.

God is everywhere the self is not.

The Way to awakening is not to take your self seriously.

The way to begin the Way is not to take me seriously.

Life is a play; a tragedy for the actors and a comedy for the audience.

A tragedy as every actor eventually is scripted out of the play and dies.

A comedy as the actors take their selves seriously.

People are the actors and the gods are the audience.

We can always choose who we are, actors or gods.

Nothing, but nothing, is certain.

Those who are enlightened enlight others. Yet, everyone enlights the enlightened.

God is in plain sight, just hidden behind the self.

When we are present in the now, we are absent-minded of being in the now.

All things are constantly changing, yet there is nothing new under the sun.

“There are no facts, just interpretations.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

Every thing is temporarily unique and forever the same.

Something we see and can’t identify is fascinating.

Once we identify it, it becomes a noun and we relegate it to our peripheral vision.

Life is a game of hide and seek. We win by finding the soul before the soul finds us.

All we see in the now are reflections of light. When the now disappears, all that remains is light.

Time cannot be saved or spent.

We have freedom of speech as long as no one is listening.

However fast a river runs, it’s always in the same place.

When we are one with the universe, we miss nothing until we see it.

When one experience seems like another, we have experienced neither.

Whatever we are certain about is an illusion.

When we don’t forget from where we came we know where we are going.

Those who can’t distinguish between someone loving themselves and selfishness are selfish.

What you see outside your self looks different when you are outside your self.

How can the soul appear to transition into an infinite number of things?

If life is a test, those with more answers than questions are sure to fail.

When seeing something not unique, we are seeing it with our mind.

When the past is real, the present is an illusion.

We can’t open our eyes if we don’t know they are closed.

When we are the person we once were, we are nothing.

Until we know we know nothing, we know nothing.

What was once and is no longer, never was.

No thing is perfect but nothing is perfect.

Loving certain people, but not all people, is sentimental. Loving all people is practical.

Enlightenment is simple: one is one with the light. But it’s complicated by the unenlightened who can’t agree on what it is.

Those who love you, help keep you alive. Those you love are the reason you are alive.

As everyone describes the same thing differently, how can you understand anything unless you understand everyone?

What happens when we die?

What happens when we die!

When we die we transition from “Who” we are when we are in the now to “What” we are in the time before and after the now.

The “Who” is the self, our identity in the now.

The “What” is transcendental. The “What” is God.

In the Bible, God self-describes: “I am what I am.”

In several religious traditions, God is nameless; for if God is this, then God is not that. God is nameless because God is what it is whatever it is.

As every thing in the now is a manifestation of God, the “Who” is an expression of the “What”.

As the “Who” exists only in the now, the “Who” is finite.

Those who view themselves as solely a “Who” die when they are no longer in the now.

Those realizing they are the “What” are eternal beings, constantly transitioning from “What” to “Who” and to “What”.

Sleeping is a state of consciousness based on the illusion of knowledge.

Awakening is the realization we don’t know anything.

Enlightenment is knowing nothing.

When we understand all is One, is 1 + 1 = 1?

The mind can grasp enlightenment as easily as a hand can grasp itself.

How can the now be eternally unchanged, yet the now that’s now is different than the now before now and the now after the now?

As each of us describes the same thing differently, is the same thing the same thing?

Are the brightest those who reflect the brightest light or those who emit light which reflects from everything around them?

When the mind lights the road ahead, day turns into night.

The foundation of wisdom is knowing you know nothing.

“Some things are too important to be taken seriously.” — Oscar Wilde

You find the soul when you lose your self.

When the self is absent, we are present.

Once you know nothing, there is nothing else you need to know.

We transform the now into words, the words become the now.

The senses connect us to reality and the mind disconnects us from reality.

Every thing, but the Everything, creates duality.

An enlightened man loves every thing equally; though, in selfish moments, some things he likes and some things he doesn’t.

The sound of laughter indicates the truth is near.

There is no time, just space. Every thing that was, is and will be happens at the same time but in different spaces.

The memories we hold onto are real, until we open our hand and see there is nothing there.

A wise man may appear foolish being uncertain of every thing, but only a fool is certain of any thing.

The only thing certain is that we can never be certain of anything.

When we see something familiar, we are seeing it with our mind not our eyes.

To the curious mind, awareness of its ignorance is bliss.

Life is a test to which we are given the answer before taking the test. We always have a choice: we can remember the answer or take the test seriously.

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” — Heraclitus

You are in harmony with the world when you know who you are.

You are harmony when you know what you are.

“Enlightenment is like everyday consciousness, but two inches above the ground.” — D.T. Suzuki

Enlightenment is proverbially described as “being one with everything.” It is a state associated with the dissolution of the illusory self, transcending duality and realizing our oneness with the Everything.

Consciousness is consciousness. The consciousness of enlightenment is not different from the self’s consciousness in the now.

Describing enlightenment as being two inches above the ground seems the antithesis of enlightenment, as it implies separation/duality. No! Two inches above the ground implies enlightenment is transcendental, beyond our conventional understanding of the material world with forces like gravity.

The “ground” represents the now. When we are on the ground, we are in the now. Through the consciousness of the self, we experience the now as a duality: the self and all that is not the self.

The consciousness of enlightenment is observing the now which can be doing through meditation.

The now is breathing. We can observe the now when we are in the space between exhale and inhale.

In this silent space we realize we create the now and, once created, we are the now.

What do we see everywhere but rarely notice?

Light.

Things we see are not things, just light reflecting off things.

What we don’t see, the essence of all things, is also light. All things are energy slowed by the speed of light squared (E = MC²). Reformulated, mass is energy divided by the spend of light squared (M = E/C²).)

All things, outside and inside, are light.

Perceiving things otherwise, as solid or distinct from other things, is an illusion.

As all things are light, all things are enlightening.

When you see things as things are, what are you?

At the moment our senses awaken us, the mind puts us to sleep.

What separates people is not space but time.

When we categorize others, we don’t know what they or we are.

To the eyes, every thing is unique because the eyes have no memory.

When you love everyone, it feels like everyone loves you.

Certainty makes us comfortable with reality because it’s not reality.

As enlightenment is so simple and obvious, it’s funny (as in odd) that some people don’t get it.

It’s actually funny when someone tries to explain it; like pointing their finger at the sun, yet the listener keeps looking at their finger.

Awakened, we don’t recognize any thing we see. Enlightened, there are no things, just light.

To the eyes, every thing is beautiful. To the mind, few things are beautiful.

Awakening is the realization that our memories are just dreams.

We move forward by walking backward, experiencing things only after they’ve passed.

Our eyes see things horizontally, but our mind sees things vertically.

As the hand cannot grasp itself, how can the mind grasp itself?

Once you know what you are is not your self, what else do you need to know?

“Love is the absence of judgement.” — Dali Lama XIV

“Where does a thought go when it’s forgotten?” — Sigmund Freud

“The most dangerous thing of all is habit.” — Kotzker Rebbe

Habits don’t kill you, but keep you from being alive.

Can you be enlightened if you are not enlightening?

“More important than writing is erasing.” — Kotzker Rebbe

“To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.” — Lao Tzu

“Now that I no longer desire all, I have it all without desire.”– St. John of the Cross

Eureka! All There Is Is Is.

Eureka means “I have found it.” Yet, there is nothing to be found as all there is is being and becoming; the Everything that is eternal and everchanging.

Acronym: EATIII (pronounced as “80”)

“8” is the symbol of infinity (∞) drawn vertically, reflecting the human form. Graphically, an endless knot constantly twisting and turning in different directions.

“8” is consciousness; infinite in time and everchanging as it is manifesting in the now.

“0” is a hole with two separate sides, inside and outside. However, their separateness is an illusion as they are interdependent; one cannot exist without the other. Together they are a whole, not a hole.

“0” is our experience of the now: an illusion of separate things that are actually one thing.

Both “8”and “0” are continuous, a flow with no beginning and no end.

Eureka! All there is is the flow of eternal consciousness; everchanging as it creates the now.

“Water is the face of fire.” — Kanako Iiyama

The appearance of things is unlike their true nature.

Water, like most things, slowly changes its form. Yet, beneath the surface, all things are rapidly and constantly changing, like fire.

Water is transparent and reflective. When we don’t see the fire within water, what we see is a reflection of our self.

We perceive the world as discrete things, like water and fire. However, all things are aspects of the same interconnected thing, the Everything.

This koan is Kanako’s family motto: how the family presents itself to others:

We are like water: calm, nourishing and practical. Yet, like fire, we can cause great destruction.

Time is like water, drink it or it evaporates.

Before and after the now, there is no time.

The now comes and goes in an instant, yet the now is eternal.

What is time?

The light we see disappears in an instant. The light itself is forever.

When you know what you are, you always appreciate who you are.

Everything is in the now. When you feel something is missing, the thing that’s missing is you.

You are what you are forever. Who you are is subject to change.

What is your Way:

Earth, fire, air or water?

Earth is physical.

Fire is emotional.

Air is conceptual.

Water is practical.

Rock, paper, or scissors?

Rock is nature.

Paper is civilization

Scissors is technology.

Red, yellow or blue?

Red is emotional.

Yellow is intuitive..

Blue is conceptual.

Knife, fork, spoon or chopsticks?

The soul and the self are complimentary. The soul emits energy. The self absorbs energy. What then happens with the energy?

The self that thinks it knows, only knows illusions.

“Speech and silence are one and the same.” — Fuketsu Ensho

It’s easy to equally divide a pie without knowing math, but impossible when you know the math of pi.

Those who seek will not find for what they are seeking is seeking.

The it is an illusion, but not when the it is what it is whatever it is. What is it?

“Whoever gets angry, it is as if he worshipped idols” — Zohar 1:27b

Getting angry at some one or thing presumes it has an independent existence, like an idol. That denies the existence of God which is the interconnected oneness of every thing.

Love your self to escape from your self.

The devil is in the details.

Without details, all things are one thing: God.

We see “its” everywhere and rarely notice “is”, though all there is is is.

There are two types of vision, foveal and peripheral.

Foveal vision is when our eyes focus and we mentally create static images of seemingly independent things (“its”).

Peripheral vision is unfocused, where all things are one undifferentiable flow; the “is”. The “is” is reality; an ambiguous flow of interdependent and everchanging things beyond description, other than that it is what it is whatever it is.

While 99% of our visual field is peripheral vision, we think the illusions we create through foveal vision are reality.

The mind easily convinces us of the illusion that we can square a circle.

It’s impossible to construct a square with the same area as a given circle.

The space inside a circle is the product of multiplying the squared radius of the circle and π (pi)

π is a transcendental number; an infinite, non-repeating decimal expansion. That means the knowable space inside a circle is imprecise.

The space inside a square is precise.

As an imprecise space cannot precisely fill a precise space, a circle cannot be squared.

Transcendental numbers arise naturally in exponential growth and decay processes. They are used extensively in calculus, probability, and mathematical analysis.

Transcendental is also the nature of the universe; infinite expansion and everchanging.

The mind is a square and the universe is a circle.

The mind convinces us of the illusion that we know the universe. Yet, the universe is transcendental. It cannot be precisely known.

How were my parents and I born at the same time?

When I was born on Earth, my parents were born somewhere 25 light years from Earth.

I am time.

An “enlightened master” with many students is a powerful illusion.

Enlightenment is realization every thing is essentially light.

What is calmer, the sea or me?

When we can’t identify what we are seeing, we are experiencing reality.

How can the now be infinitesimally small, yet contain an infinite number of things?

Is that so?

The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life.

A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. One day, her parents discovered she was pregnant.

This angered her parents, especially as she refused to tell them who got her pregnant. Eventually, she told them Hakuin was the father.

Furious, the parents told everyone in the community what Hakuin had done and confronted the master.

“Is that so?” was all he said.

After the child was born, the parents gave it to Hakuin. By then, he had lost his reputation as a righteous man, but that did not trouble him. He accepted the child and took very good care of it as if it was his.

A year later, the baby’s mother could no longer hold back the truth. She told her parents the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fish market.

The girl’s parents immediately went to Hakuin. They asked for forgiveness and to have the child back.

Hakuin willingly gave them the child and all he said was: “Is that so?”

“Is that so?” encourages self-reflection and the questioning of assumptions we hold without doubts.

“Is that so?” Hakuin asks the girl’s parents to question their initial certainty that Hakuin fathered their daughter’s baby and their later certainty that he did not. Ultimately, no one knows who fathered the baby; even the mother might not know.

“Is that so?” simply suggests we consider things from many perspectives. This is the essence of wisdom.

Wisdom is knowing that perceived truths change (like the girl’s claim as to who fathered her baby) and that, ultimately, no thing is truly knowable.

The girl’s parents lack wisdom.

They also lack compassion as they carelessly ruin Hakuin’s reputation.

Hakuin, a man of wisdom and compassion, knows what he is and is unfazed by who others think he is.

Embodying  wisdom and compassion, we gracefully accept what comes our way and make the best of it.

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

The Pope: “It depends on the size of the pin.”

The Zen master: “What’s a pin?”

“Does a dog have Buddha nature?”

This is the first and perhaps most famous of 48 Zen koans compiled in the early 13th century in “The Gateless Gate.”

To the question, the Zen Master Zhaozhou responded: “Mu.”

Mu means “nothing.”

A dog is a dog. Buddha nature, the innate potential for enlightenment, is a concept. Two seemingly independent things in the now.

Yet, all things before and after the now are one thing: nothing, mu.

What is it now?*

One day, a Zen master with a clay pot on a wooden table before him asked several students: “What is this?”

Some said it was a clay pot. Another said that it was an artifact. Another said it was an assemblage of clay and wood. Soon there were other perspectives as well. A lively debate ensued, while the Zen master shook his head and laughed.

One student approached the table and threw the pot to the ground, shattering it into many pieces. An audible silence enveloped the room, until the student asked: “What is it now?”

Silence again filled the room. Some students were shocked and others embarrassed by the aggressive arrogance of the student who shattered their master’s clay pot. Then the silence was shattered by laughter from the Zen master and the student.

The Zen master and student laughed as they recognized the other students were like the blind men in the “Ten Men and the Elephant” parable. Each certain of a their individual identification of the pot and the collective view that breaking the pot was disrespectful.

A pot is a pot, temporarily. All things are ever-changing. The pot cannot be described, as it is different now than it was in the now upon which the description is based. Those who know it can only say that it is what it is whatever it is.

*Courtesy of Bill Wisher.

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.

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.

Now is forever. Everything else is out of time.

“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.

“The child is father of the man.” — William Wordsworth

Both those who think they are rich or poor are poor.

In the past and future are an infinite number of things. The now is only one thing.

The way forward is clear when looking backward from the end of days.

“Growing old, man’s sight worsens, but this allow him to see more.” Jewish proverb

The now is always the same, always new.

“Man plans, God laughs.” — Jewish proverb

“If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” — Linji Yixuan

In the now, there is only one thing: the Everything.

The Everything is manifested as an infinite number of seemingly independent things.

Yet, as all things are interdependent, essentially all things are one thing.

Thinking of things (like the Buddha) as independent is an illusion.

Illusionary things create duality, the thing and all that is not the thing.

On the road to enlightenment, we need to vanquish all illusions to realize the oneness of the Everything.

“There is only one mind to which we are all connected. But that mind has its own mind.” — Simon Stark

“You already are what you want to become.” —  Thich Nhat Hahn

Love is selfless. But when the self expresses love, that’s selfish.

As all here is is is, what is is?

I am nothing and here and now. What am I?

As God is the Everything, why is God rarely noticed in every thing?

As the now moves at incomprehensible speeds, how can our senses inform us of the now?”

The Earth is rotating at 1,037 miles/hour and revolving around the sun at 66,616 miles/hour. Our solar system is revolving around the center of the Milky Way galaxy on average at 514,000 miles/hour. The Milky Way is moving towards the Andromeda Galaxy at 1,339,200 miles/hour.

At these speeds, our senses cannot inform us of the now, yet the now seems stable and continuous.

Our mind slows everything down, creating the illusion of the now.

The mind is like a hand, only open when it lets go of whatever it holds tight.

The mind is an addicting medicine. It’s good for solving problems, but in doing so it creates other problems.

“The Universe is the everchanging expression of the Ever-Changeless Is.” — Joe Bruno

When a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Mu (nothing). There is no tree, forest or sound, as they are all manifestations of our consciousness.

The universe is not an infinite number of things; only one thing: the universe. Consciousness creates an infinite number of things out of the universe.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.” — Shunryu Suzuki

Experts think of possibilities based on their experience. The inexperienced are not likewise constrained.

The universe is made up of matter. Our world is made up of stories.

“Having no destination, I am never lost.” — Ikkyu

Every thing is fascinating, but the mind can make it boring.

A good death defines a good life.

“When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing to lose.” — Bob Dylan

When we have something we think we can lose, the something has us and to it we have lost our freedom.

“The way to live eternal life is in a state of perpetual orgasm.” — Karen Uppal

Orgasm is like the Big Bang, the moment when nothing transitioned into an infinite number of things; when we are one with the Everything.

Few words are every said at the moment of orgasm, other than: “Oh my God.”

“[I]t is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth.” — Matthew 15:10-20

When the inside becomes the outside, we are the creator. When there is no outside or inside, we are creation.

“Anyone who thinks they’re stupid is not as stupid as they think.” — Lee Moncho

As all things are everchanging, no thing is perfect but nothing is perfect.

Judging someone reveals less about who they are than who we are.

“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” — Lao Tzu

“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”

*Misattributed to Mark Twain but not inconsistent with Twain’s insights generally.

When we closely hold tight to who we think we are, we cannot be open to what we are.

“We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.” — Anais Nin

We don’t see things as they are, we only see light reflecting off things. Light is 0.0035% of the electromagnetic spectrum. Things look quite different when viewed from other parts of the spectrum (e.g., X-Rays).

Our eyes see the reflections. Our mind reflects on the reflections. Our mind’s reflections are a function of definitions and stories we’ve created about what we see.

Your life is a fascinating story. Perhaps you could imagine a better one, but then you would miss out on your life.

“Life goes on within you and without you.” — George Harrison

Why can’t a self-identifying vegetarian become enlightened?

“He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.” — Michel de Montaigne