The essential point in studying the Way is like balancing stones to weigh things: just get them even, that is all - it won’t work if one side is too heavy. Pushing ahead and lagging behind are both the same in being one-sided. When you realize this you can study the Way. (Master Huoan)

Cleary, Thomas, Trans. Zen Lessons: The Art of Leadership. Boston: Shambhala, 1989. (133)

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Darkness encircles the Light

The first time I ever went into the hardest thing within myself, it took me over 30 years to get up the courage. The second time it took less than five years. The third time less than a year.

The first time it was an experience filled with denial and fear. The second time it was an experience full of resentment and envy. The third time it was stubbornness and ego.

The first time I saw that I could survive such an experience and not die. The second time I saw that I was my biggest obstacle. The third time I realized this wasn’t at all easy, and I acknowledged within myself how guilty I felt for putting my teacher through all of this grief.

After a while I started learning what my teacher had said to me many times. “Mark, you need to understand that when you go in to your self, and you hit those spots that tend to cause you to pull back, that you can not only go into them, but you can navigate within them. And… you can go right on through them.”

Right on through them? What the heck did that mean? Well, I eventually found out exactly what he meant. I found out that once you go through a problem (and going through it doesn’t necessarily mean that it has gone away or been removed), that there is something on the other side of the problem.

What is always on the other side of the problem is something better. And, in the case of my deepest problems (and this is where it gets really interesting), heaven starts to be revealed. Because, as Sensei says, this is the barrier that is standing between heaven and earth: a circle of darkness which represents, and is, our deepest problems and deepest denial.

Penetrate your deepest anger, fears, problems and denials and you will find heaven on the other side.

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The only reason we aren’t experiencing a stronger connection to heaven, and living in that experience everyday, is because we put a higher value on the things that stand between us and the deeper experience.

Sensei

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A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

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Sometimes people talk about living at a higher frequency. Here is an insight into this term.

“How do you conduct the Universal Flow? How do you improve your conductivity? The universe has a flow going to it. We and everything else in the universe are in it and a part of it. It’s all flowing, and if we want to conduct the universal flow even more, then we must learn to become more attuned to things on a universal level. If we are wanting to be more conductive, then we have to improve our conduct, relative to something, that allows the universe to flow through us better, or at a higher frequency.

“Higher frequency means more times per second, or more times per minute, or more times in our life. Some people don’t understand what frequency even means. If we increase our frequency it means something is happening more often. So when we conduct the universal flow, and we talk about wanting to increase our frequency, it means we need to conduct it more often.

“The more often you conduct it, the more you are able to do the things that can only be done when you’re applying yourself more continuously. The more continuously you can stay connected and conduct the universal flow, the more you can complete the task that was dependent on your connection to that particular point.”

Sensei. “Introduction to the Art of Giving”. Montvale: Great River Institute, 17 Feb 2000.

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An open mind and open heart are a basic requirement for a genuine seeker of the truth. Being willing to think outside the box is fundamental to this. There are many ways to describe the ‘veil’ that stands between us and Self realization. Here is one way: You have to be willing to penetrate the sides of the box and go beyond it. A box only exists because it is surrounded by something greater than the box.

Naturally this can be an uncomfortable experience. But like anything, with repetitions it becomes easier and easier.

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I recently had a visit from another blog site author. Posting a comment he said, “I’ve also taken a good look around your site. Very nice indeed! We hold many of the same views and many which differ greatly.” It is inspiring to meet people who have open minds and hearts, who are willing to respect, and even be inclusive of, other’s views. Here are two sites I have recently enjoyed. Thanks, Shane.

Shane, dedicated martial artist: http://blog.kyokushinbudokai.org/
Thoughtful Buddhist site: http://luminousemptiness.blogspot.com/

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One evening a Shinto priest, Hideo Izumoto, was surrounded by a group of Great River students who were respectfully asking questions. One student had been quietly but anxiously waiting her turn. After posing her question, Master Hideo nodded softly and after a brief pause gently said, “You need to stop thinking so much.” She smiled quizzically and slowly walked away, thinking about what he had just said.

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I am consistently finding that the more for-giving I am, the closer I feel to heaven in everyday life.

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There is a universal law that says you get what you pay for, and that nothing in life is free. You have to realize this, that nothing in life is free. So, you have to be forgiving - because if you’re forgiving then you’re going to pay: Because you’re for giving. You’re either for giving or your are against giving. Be for giving because then you’re going to be conductive to the universal flow. Isn’t it funny how secrets can be hidden behind the very words that we hold up and we trumpet? Forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness.

What we really should be saying is for-giveness. Being for giveness. Instead of being for-giving we say we’re being forgiven. We sure are quick to jump on being forgiven by someone else, aren’t we? Immediately we want to put it off on someone else.

And, because someone forgave you, you now have this window to an opportunity for everlasting life and heaven, and all the riches and glory of God’s domain, just because somebody forgave you. Why? Because you’re too stupid to do it for yourself. So what you end up needing to do is saying “I accept this person that did this for me, and I accept them so totally and completely that I will be forgiving me too.”

Sensei. “Lecture on Fundamental Principles, Part 1: Conductivity and Attentiveness”. Montvale: Great River Institute, 4 August 1997.

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