Chapter 198 - The Stillness Before Time (Compendium)

CXCVIII Life is so much simpler in childhood. To regain that state is not for the meek. * * * * Absurdity hath no bounds. * * * * Greed works all too well. * * * * All your friends, your loves, your enemies Are really you in disguise. * * * * How magnificent the potential of this dream, And what a travesty we have made it. It is not idealistic to believe We could do better. * * * * Does your mask-costume shape you, or you it? Perhaps a bit of both, and perhaps neither. * * * * Why should anything that happens in your life surprise you? * * * * When you have done your time in the desert, Upon the mountain, beneath the tree, or in the closet, You will know the field and its temporal duration. * * * * Win-lose games are played By those who believe they will succeed. Winners abound in the splendors the board offers. Losers tumble into the street and whatever moment it allows. * * * * Discern the non-existence of existence. * * * * Nothing is just but what is made just. * * * * Despite all your vanity to the contrary, The big picture is not about you. * * * * Who is it who makes One moment preferred, And another not? * * * * About as useful as pissing and farting in the wind. * * * * For those who are discerning, The ever-unfurling experiencing of existence Brings about a larger and larger view. Incomplete visions fall away And the day to day Becomes merely a dream. * * * * Some aphorisms transcribe camera-ready, While others need a smidgen of whittling With the magic of the digital screen. * * * * No matter how ethereal your quest, With enticing, unwavering arms. Maya will always welcome you back. * * * * The sun wags your tale. * * * * Life’s many cycles can take anyone Up or down with severe rabidity. Fate is a strange bedfellow. * * * * How arduous is it to just be when the pulses of the mind Ever kick start into one imaginary reverie or another. * * * * Is there anything that cannot be justified in one mind or another? * * * * Into excessive equality, dogma often creeps. Democracy can be the stepping-stone to tyranny. * * * * Science is only as real as the eye with which it measures. * * * * At your death, the universe will not even for a moment blink, Nor shudder, nor catch its breath, nor even belch. The eternal wheel will roll on unabated, Undisturbed, unabashed, Untamed. * * * * It really may be Only important to you. So giving it a rest Is an option. * * * * A pedestal tends to crack and crumble As you get closer to the person You’ve placed upon it. * * * * Every moment carves your fate. * * * * Your death will come and go As has every moment Since time’s eternal birth. * * * * Hold it still with disciplined awareness. * * * * All the knowledge humanity has ever fabricated Can never come close to trumping your true nature. * * * * What has convinced you That your were born, And must someday die? * * * * Desire and fear fuel and fan the drama. * * * * How reassuring it must be to be so sure. * * * * You are god’s portal. * * * * To be free is as simple as erasing all the fear, And the desire in which it is embedded. * * * * What most call love Seems to often become More trouble than it’s worth. * * * * The things we’ll do to avoid feeling lonely. * * * * Get born, Breathe and think, Play out the serendipity, Occasionally add a dash of irony, And, voila, destiny. * * * * Exhilarating and exhausting the AC/DC of existence. * * * * Vanquish the fear of suffering. * * * * How many personalities do you have? * * * * Become aware of the grace That fills your every moment. * * * * Give it no name, for it is nameless. Give it no form, for it is formless. Give it no time, for it is timeless. Give it no point, for it is pointless. Give it no thought, for it is thoughtless. Give it no meaning, for it is meaningless. * * * * Practice what you preach, Or cap the sermon. * * * * Act now. The will be eternity enough for resting. * * * * Resistance only fuels the suffering. * * * * Life is too short to worry about dying. * * * * Would that you had the passion For more than zen bones. * * * * It is far bigger than any god ever imagined. * * * * Pass it on freely. No middlemen allowed. * * * * Avoid the game of differences. Ascertain the common denominator As often as your monkey mind will allow. * * * * We still have so much to learn, And so little time. * * * * The world is only a little larger than Easter Island. * * * * To be as a child is to have no concern about the future. * * * * How can ignorance ever accept What it does not know or understand? The vision of those who born to see Is but madness to the dull mind. * * * * Why waste your time doing something If you aren’t going to do it well? * * * * Are you worthy of your own love? * * * * The irony of profound vulgarity Again raises its bushy mane. * * * * The synergistic beast ravages its birthing ground. * * * * Before the dawn, The wee hours Must slowly pass. * * * * Love is infatuation Until the first betrayal’s Inevitable dealing. * * * * Dark and light are the same. Reality is neither. * * * * Connect with your source and you will be free Of the ceaseless fatiguing limitations Which bind you to time. * * * * If you must preach, Preach reality, Not fantasy. * * * * Heaven and hell are intertwined In every part and particle. One is not without the other. * * * * No need to worry about things you cannot change. * * * * If you want something To which you can securely cling, Truth is not for you. * * * * Some of us are redeemable. * * * * Integration with the infinity of eternal reality Is the uninhibited blending of heart and mind. * * * * Even a momentary glimpse is redeeming. * * * * What good is a mind without a heart? Or a heart without a mind? * * * * Why would anyone muddle through all this? Yet still you plod on in this Sisyphean task. * * * * Step out of your given pattern just once, And you will never be quite the same. The question is, will there be a point At which to give in to a conclusion? * * * * All conclusions are not. * * * * An accident is often fate’s way Of taking an inexplicable turn. * * * * What eyes see, ears hear, Nostrils smell, tongue tastes, and flesh feels Is the peculiar invention of the mind In time’s delusionary web. * * * * We are all encased in our own bubbles of imagination. * * * * Do you really get anything out of anything? * * * * There have been many mystical uprisings, But none have managed to evade The dogmatic assertions of ignorance. * * * * Belief motivates so much inanity. * * * * So many hooks pull you back into ignorance again and again. When you wander into the foggy bog, purgatory ascends, And you must again seek and discern what is real. * * * * Of course there is a god, And it includes you, is you, Has never not been you. * * * * Silly boys and girls. * * * * What if our entire universe Was just an electron In an atom of a universe? And what if that that universe…? * * * * Get past yourself. * * * * So much space out there. So much space in there. * * * * All but impossible in the day to day To remember what you really are. No wonder some just go into the jungle, Or get a group of followers to play their game. * * * * Transcend the space-time frame. * * * * Remarkable how little control One has over any given life. * * * * Awake or asleep, it is all essentially the same. * * * * Differentiation is the absurdity of limitation. * * * * Beauty is a mating strategy To which time has no loyalty. * * * * One messiah was enough, thank you. * * * * Ponder reality. * * * * It is still infinity, No matter how you form it. * * * * Go deeply within, And you cannot help But see it true. * * * * Unutterably pointless. * * * * The primary goal Of organized religions Seems to be about trumping All the other organized religions. * * * * What a meaningless waste of time. * * * * Essentially, the infinite sleeps with one eye open. * * * * Stardust expressing itself one seed at a time. * * * * When language imagines so many opposites, How can the grip of illusion be easily unraveled? * * * * The big bang, Once a snowball Upon mountain high. * * * * Running out of blather, yet? * * * * What dreams may come. * * * * So many masks. The snowflakes of eternity. * * * * There is not one part or particle Within the entire realm of essential nature With which you are not fully connected. It is all much closer than you think. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Stillness Before Time (Compendium) © Michael J. Holshouser 2009 World Rights Reserved