Acceptance

On an infinite path, there is no ‘ahead’ or ‘behind’, no success or failure. All sentient and non-sentient beings are equally valued. All are exactly as they need to be. No mistake is ever made, no effort ever wasted. 

We are the ones who place judgment. We place ourselves above or below others. We create expectations and ‘shoulds’. The degree to which we step beyond these limitations is the degree to which we experience freedom in God. True freedom is pure acceptance of the choices made by all other beings, including ourselves, and the opportunity to set the intentions that guide each step of our path.

When moving forward feels like retreat

Anxiety, pressure, and confusion arise when we attempt to move more quickly than Divine timing. When we are out of step with Flow, peace eludes no matter how fervently we seek it. In fact, the more we ‘seek’ from this state, the more what we really need eludes us. Conscious decisions cannot be made - partly because we are not aligned, but also because the time to make them has not yet arrived. We cannot remain aware of our own path if we spend all our time trying to reach a mirage destination. Better to live from the precise moment: Now. And now. And now.

To get back in step with Flow, simply stop - stop trying, stop seeking, stop holding on. Address only what is immediately in front of you, and allow that image to reshape again and again. Accept what Is, as deeply as you are able. It may feel like retreat, like giving up. It may feel too simple to be right. But simple does not mean easy, and if this is challenging, direct your efforts into sinking into this way of living.


When we are in step with the Divine, work does not feel like work. Movement arises from stillness. We experience life from the heart, not the intellect. Daily life is perfectly timed to meet external demands while fulfilling our deep internal needs.

At the right time, the right opportunities will open. The choices that are truly ours bring a sense of peace, anticipation, and potential. As these are taking shape beneath the surface, turn your focus from seeking to softening, and allow God to mold you in Its own way.

We interpret unpleasant feelings as “bad”, but this is our judgment. It is not Truth. Unpleasant feelings are part of being human, and they require energy to manage. Over time, the constant managing of these fluctuations can wear us down. The more readily we embrace them - breathe into, acknowledge, and allow them to come and go as needed - the sooner they dissolve. Welcoming the uglier feelings does not mean wallowing in them, or sinking into a deep pit until the best option becomes denial or medication! It means seeing them as a part of being human, separate from the eternal aspect of us. We merely acknowledge our shadow side until the more beautiful Truth takes its place and we return to an equilibrium encompassing freedom and joy.

The question next arises: what happens if we take the same approach to the “good” feelings?

To stop seeking change is change enough.
Learn to live softly, now. Take the quiet approach.
If you do this, everything will change.

God knows us more intimately than we know ourselves, and loves us like the most indulgent lover. As we learn how to choose for our greatest good, She sometimes course-corrects, saying, I think you will ultimately be happiest in this direction...and sends us down a new path. Indulgent. Lasting happiness (joy). Profound, comforting love beyond comprehension. Only appearing irrational because we have a short-term view. This is God. 

God does not discriminate:

The more we attempt to interpret and understand what is given, the more we limit our receptivity to God.

Excerpt: “Awakening of the Heart”

Abstract ideas can be beautiful, but if they have nothing to do with our lives, of what use are they? So please ask, “Do the words have anything to do with eating a meal, drinking tea, cutting wood, or carrying water?”

-Thich Nhat Hanh, Awakening of the Heart

“What really transformed me were bodhichitta and meditating on emptiness.”

-Dalai Lama, Avalokiteshvara empowerment May 2020

The qualities you see in another person, those which you admire or despise: these speak nothing about how that person lives. Rather, they serve to show you what is already within yourself. If you can perceive and understand it in your heart, it is already a seedling that needs only to be nurtured.

Excerpt: Zen and the Birds of Appetite

“We in the West, living in a tradition of stubborn ego-centric practicality and geared entirely for the use and manipulation of everything, always pass from one thing to another, from cause to effect, from the first to the next and to the last and then back to the first. Everything always points to something else, and hence we never stop anywhere because we cannot…. Nothing is allowed to just be and mean itself: everything has to mysteriously signify something else….

“Both Buddhism and Christianity…show that suffering remains inexplicable most of all for the man who attempts to explain it in order to evade it, or who thinks explanation itself is an escape….the only thing to do about [suffering] is to plunge right into the middle of contradiction and confusion in order to be transformed by what Zen calls the “Great Death” and Christianity calls “dying and rising in Christ.

“…the whole context of Buddhist “mindfulness” or awareness, which in its most elementary form consists in that “bare attention” which simply sees what is right there and does not add any comment, any interpretation, any judgment, any conclusion. It just sees.

“If one reaches the point where understanding fails, this is not a tragedy: it is simply a reminder to stop thinking and start looking. Perhaps there is nothing to figure out after all: perhaps we only need to wake up.”

-Thomas Merton, Zen and the Birds of Appetite

God, transform me into what You envision.
May You live through me fully, without barrier or limit.
May Love be the very core of my being.
May my soul be be wild and free.
May I live breath in breath, step in step, with You.

When a [person] has anything to loan and when he feels anxious to have it returned, he is not yet poor, he is not yet perfectly empty. -DT Suzuki

The pursuit of emptiness cannot involve a pulling or pushing away of things, thoughts, or desires. Such attempts also push away the very Being we seek by emptying.

Right emptiness is an easy allowing of coming and going, with appreciation and enjoyment, but no holding. Approached this way, emptiness is a continually expanding opening to God/Being, allowing new forms to enter. The absence of self, of desire, of holding on are characteristics of this emptiness.

Quote from "Into Great Silence"

“The closer one brings oneself to God, the happier one is…. The past, the present, these are human. In God there is no past. Solely the present prevails. And when God sees us, It always sees our entire life. And because It is an infinitely good being…It eternally seeks our well-being. Therefore, there is no cause for worry in any of the things which happen to us…. I often thank God that It let me be blinded. I am sure It let this happen for the good of my soul. It is a pity that the world has lost all sense of God. They have no reason to live anymore. When you abolish the thought of God, why should you go on living anymore? One must always part from the principle that God is infinitely good, and that all of Its actions are in our best interest. Because of this, a [person] should always be happy, never unhappy. Because everything that happens is God’s Will, and it only happens for the well-being of the soul. Well, this is the most important. God is infinitely good, almighty, and helps us. This is all one must do, and then one is happy.”

-Monk, Into Great Silence

Building trust

Blind trust leads to misdirection and harm.

True trust in God is a grace, a seed blessing planted within that we must water and nurture, allowing it to build through courage and faith.

A sense of safety and peace may be granted to us, but without our participation it is a foundation of sand and erodes easily, sometimes within a moment. Trust in God becomes a stone foundation only over time, as we build it within ourselves. Slowly coming to a place where we live each moment not knowing what the next will bring, but trusting this moment is given for our highest good. By acting from the sense of what is lightest and inspired now, we allow surprise.

In this way, each moment is new, an opportunity to deepen trust, and a small step toward knowing God.

Mirage

When sated, food is unimportant.
When thirsty, every thought is of water.
The mirage is alluring.
Chasing mirages leads us no closer to water.
Turning attention to what is, rather than what is not,
allows the illusion to fade soon enough.