Chapter 191 - The Stillness Before Time (Compendium)

CXCI All angels and demons are really the same essence as all godness. They reside in every imaginable form, every mask and costume; Variations of inspiration performed in all the myriad ways Only the dreamscape of consciousness can devise. * * * * Judgment tends to foster reciprocation in kind. * * * * Much to learn And even more to unlearn. * * * * History is filled with butchers Who paint themselves as heroes and gods, And annihilate any who dare question their megalomania. * * * * Time tugs you so many directions. * * * * At the most essential level, all form dissolves. * * * * Everything happens when it’s time to happen. * * * * The challenge is to see divinity In the everyday everywhere. * * * * All belief is equally pointless. * * * * All life is equally frail to the warrants of death. * * * * This moment must be destroyed to create the next. For all practical purposes, a simultaneous dance. * * * * We only think we dance differently. * * * * To practice living, practice dying. * * * * Who were you before there were memories? * * * * The aloneness is inescapable. * * * * You see the truth of it so clearly now, But will you remember it tomorrow? * * * * Music is a language for all ears. * * * * Sometimes something old must be discarded Before something new can be discovered. * * * * Each part of the breath Must humbly submit to the next For the living process to carry on in time. * * * * Possible and probable can be worlds apart. * * * * So here we are, again. * * * * Belief is the easy out for those Too dense or lazy to go the distance. * * * * Peace in the human drama Is something only a relatively mindless few Will ever entertain to ascertain. * * * * There are many false trails. * * * * To expect the unexpected Is the sovereign nature Of earth, wind, water and fire. * * * * It was your mother’s fate to raise a fool. * * * * So much absurdity, One must either weep, Or laugh with joyful abandon * * * * Living in consciousness is an unceasing dilemma. There is really no need for it, nor any point to it. It sustains nothing but illusion and delusion, The cotton candy of imagination’s mirage. To be liberated from the reverie of mind Is to die to the irony of the known, For which few have the interest, Capacity, courage, or resolve. * * * * The seeker of truth must within see the light, And then in the stillness of its play, Discern its true origin. * * * * Abysmally delusional. * * * * The senses stuff the mind With what it is capable of receiving, But what of the mind clear enough to discern The universe they fabricate is not real in any last way, And thus ponders that which is permanent Beyond all manifest dreaming. * * * * Though you may visit a place many times, It is never the same, except that it is. * * * * What are you inclined to understand Will unfold in ways you cannot devise, And at first might even think coincidence. When it comes to reality, you need not ask. * * * * How challenging to be a seer in a blind world. * * * * The soul must deal with the urges of the body Before it can discriminate its causeless nature. * * * * From part to whole and whole to part, It is all the same. * * * * God certainly does play games in you mind. * * * * The arrogance of pride is the blinding factor. * * * * Wrong, wrong, wrong, So many times wrong. * * * * Any corporate body will almost always, And with very little hesitation, Sacrifice what it considers unnecessary. * * * * Teaching your Self to focus the mind without tensing the body Requires an ability to instantaneously detach into a full breath. * * * * We are all dreams forged in illusion. * * * * Te greatest vision dances within you. Duality seems real until you discern it. * * * * The voice within, whatever the language, Is the voice of godness, the bubbling fountain From which all consciousness manifests. * * * * Scholarly pursuit of this inquiry is all very interesting, But it is only when the knowledge is set aside That the truth of the matter can be seen. * * * * Ignorance comes in all shapes and sizes. Intelligence crosses all frames and references. * * * * The mind has evolved through the matrix of time and space With the countless divisions of duality as its guiding reference. To set aside all personal experience, all genetic influence, Is what must be done to fathom the essential nature. * * * * You may vaguely want to discern your essential god nature, But like the monkey whose fist is too large to exit the trap, You cannot release your vain identity and all its trappings. * * * * Do you save the best for last, Consume it right away, Or savor it evenly along the way? * * * * There is the sleeping dreaming, The waking dreaming, and the dreaming In which all dreaming ends. * * * * How much of your dreaming have you spent Justifying it to others, both within and without? * * * * The mind in the isolation of individuality Promotes disharmony and discord. * * * * The self-absorbed climb ladders of their own devising. * * * * Are you a human being, Or simply godness Pretending to be a human being? * * * * The measurers love to explore the coincidences and differences In their play of words, numbers and all the other sundry concepts. * * * * Responsible for nothing. * * * * So much judgment, so little time. * * * * Must it always be Some future time, Some distant place, Some other type of work, Or with someone else? Anywhere but here? * * * * The mirage of time Pelts a mind with delusion And unsought sorrow. * * * * So many thoughts Waiting to be plucked From the stream of memory. * * * * Why is the background noise of time Always insisting you push on, That now is not the place to be? * * * * Sometimes more is better, sometimes less. Moderation is usually the best benchmark. * * * * Nothing’s happening All the time. * * * * Nothing happened Ever again. * * * * We all hear a different drumbeat. Some are deep, others shallow. * * * * So many scraps of paper in this creation. * * * * It is all but impossible for someone who doesn’t see To comprehend any explanation you might give them. * * * * Surrender to the breath, the origin of all being, And allow it dominion over your brief existence. * * * * Time dredges all innocence. * * * * Yee gods, Another time-sucking project. * * * * Intelligent human beings Have probably always found the world A bit more challenging to bear. * * * * It is the same mystery, the same oneness, The same eternity, the same godness For every body and every thing. The only disconnection Is in the vast collection of plays Performed on the stage of consciousness. * * * * All dreams fade into the nothingness of reality. * * * * As you move, so does the totality of all creation. * * * * All the wisdom ever born of time Amounts to nothing in the grand equation. * * * * There is not one point of infinity To which you are not connected. * * * * The human drama is just a very temporary, vain dream, Full of itself for as long as it manages to endure. * * * * Do not be subjugated by the fears of others. * * * * You will do whatever it is your destiny to do. * * * * All eternity does but for a moment make. * * * * The soul purpose of consciousness is to awaken to reality. * * * * Who else can you be but your Self? * * * * Beneath all exteriors Dwells the same I Am. I am you, you are me. There can be no other. * * * * Insist whatever you will, Unless you see the unnamable truth of it, You live a meaningless lie. * * * * The usual serendipity. * * * * Treasure every breath as if was your last. One day it will be. * * * * Illusion and delusion Over and over again. * * * * Meander well. * * * * Pray tell, what soul lies beneath that mask? * * * * It all fades into vague memories The accuracy of which Is often more than a little dubious. * * * * As you judge others, so you judge yourself. * * * * Don’t expect reality to be bound by your vanity. * * * * What else can anyone do But tack the winds of one’s time As skillfully and gracefully as fate allows. * * * * A pretty face so easily deceives. * * * * The measurers love to explore The coincidences and differences In the play of words and other concepts. * * * * Where our ancestors flew like eagles, swam like dolphins, and ran like deer, We watch our watches, race our machines, and imitate our computers. Our innumerable concepts rule our minds, and few see past them. * * * * Find the courage and strength to stand indivisible. * * * * What is the point of over-populating our world When it only creates a balance Which many or all Will be unable to survive. * * * * Consciousness, through the human species, Has carved a niche that may well Eradicate its continuity. * * * * More than a little ironic, eh what? * * * * Unless you truly plan to carry them out, Why establish any ideals? They are useless time-bound concepts, Vain hopes without real desire for realization. * * * * Nothing grows forever. * * * * How you suffer for your imagined life. * * * * One guarantee in life is that Everyone and everything Is eventually forgotten. Most quite quickly. * * * * The intellect knows no lasting peace. * * * * You are eternity’s ever-changing face. * * * * How arduous it is to surrender To the insecurity of vulnerability. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Stillness Before Time (Compendium) © Michael J. Holshouser 2009 World Rights Reserved