LISTEN YOUR WORDS WHEN YOU SPEAK

                                                BEYOND THE WORDS

            I DON'T LIKE THE WORD SIN. IT IMPLIES THAT I AM BEING JUDGED AND FOUND GUILTY.

              I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT. OVER THE CENTURIES, MANY ERRONEOUS VIEWS AND INTERPRETATIONS, HAVE ACCUMULATED AROUND WORDS SUCH AS SIN, DUE TO IGNORANCE, MISUNDERSTANDING, OR A DESIRE TO CONTROL, BUT THEY CONTAIN AN ESSENTIAL CORE OF TRUTH. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO LOOK BEYOND SUCH INTERPRETATIONS AND SO CANNOT RECOGNIZE THE REALITY TO WHICH THE WORD POINTS, THEN DON'T GET STUCK ON THE LEVEL OF WORDS. A WORD IS NO MORE THAN A MEANS TO AN END. IT'S AN ABSTRACTION. NOT UNLIKE A SIGNPOST, IT POINTS BEYOND ITSELF. THE WORD HONEY ISN'T HONEY. YOU CAN STUDY AND TALK ABOUT HONEY FOR AS LONG AS YOU LIKE, BUT YOU WON'T REALLY KNOW IT UNTIL YOU TASTE IT. AFTER YOU HAVE TASTED IT, THE WORD BECOMES LESS IMPORTANT TO YOU. 

          YOU WON'T BE ATTACHED TO IT ANYMORE. SIMILARLY, YOU CAN TALK OR THINK ABOUT GOD CONTINUOUSLY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, BUT DOES THAT MEAN YOU KNOW OR HAVE EVEN GLIMPSED THE REALITY TO WHICH THE WORD POINTS? IT REALLY IS NO MORE AN OBSESSIVE ATTACHMENT TO A SIGNPOST, A MENTAL IDOL.

            THE REVERSE ALSO APPLIES. IF, FOR WHATEVER REASON, YOU DISLIKED THE WORD HONEY, THAT MIGHT PREVENT YOU FROM EVER TASTING IT. IF YOU HAD A STRONG AVERSION TO THE WORD GOD, WHICH IS A NEGATIVE FORM OF ATTACHMENT, YOU MAY BE DENYING NOT JUST THE WORD BUT ALSO THE REALITY TO WHICH IT POINTS. YOU WOULD BE CUTTING YOURSELF OFF FROM THE POSSIBILITY OF EXPERIENCE THAT REALITY. ALL THIS IS, OF COURSE, INTRINSICALLY WITH BEING IDENTIFIED WITH YOUR MIND.

          SO, IF A WORD DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU ANYMORE, THEN DROP IT AND REPLACE IT WITH ONE THAT DOES WORK. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WORD SIN, THEN CALL IT UNCONSCIOUSNESS OR INSANITY. THAT MAY GET YOU CLOSER TO THE TRUTH, THE REALITY BEHIND THE WORD, THAN A LONG - MISUSED WORD LIKE SIN, AND LEAVES LITTLE ROOM FOR GUILT.

        I DONT LIKE THOSE WORDS EITHER. THEY IMPLY THAT THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME. I AM BEING JUDGED.

   OF COURSE THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU - AND YOU ARE NOT BEING JUDGED.

       I DON'T MEAN TO OFFEND YOU PERSONALLY, BUT DO YOU NOT BELONG TO THE HUMAN RACE THAT HAS KILLED OVER 100 MILLION MEMBERS OF THEIR OWN SPECIES IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ALONE?

     YOU MEAN GUILT BY ASSOCIATION?

          IT IS NOT A QUESTION OF GUILT. BUT AS LONG AS YOU 

       IT IS NOT A QUESTION OF GUILT. BUT AS LONG AS YOU ARE RUN BY THE EGOIC MIND, YOU ARE PART OF THE COLLECTIVE INSANITY. PERHAPS YOU HAVEN'T LOOKED VERY DEEPLY INTO THE HUMAN CONDITION IN ITS STATE OF DOMINANCE BY THE EGOIC MIND. OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE THE FEAR, THE DESPAIR, THE GREED, AND THE VIOLENCE THAT ARE ALL - PERVASIVE. SEE THE HEINOUS CRUELTY AND SUFFERING ON AN UNIMAGINABLE SCALE THAT HUMANS HAVE INFLICTED AND CONTINUE TO INFLICT ON EACH OTHER AS WELL AS ON OTHER LIFE FORMS ON THE PLANET. YOU DON'T NEED TO CONDEMN. JUST OBSERVE, THAT IS SIN. THAT IS INSANITY. THAT IS UNCONSCIOUSNESS. ABOVE ALL, DON'T FORGET TO OBSERVE YOUR OWN MIND. SEEK OUT THE ROOT OF THE INSANITY THERE.

       BEAUTY ARISES IN THE STILLNESS OF YOUR PRESENCE

             WHAT YOU HAVE JUST DECRIBED IS SOMETHING THAT I OCCASIONALLY EXPERIENCE FOR BRIEF MOMENTS WHEN I AM ALONE AND SURROUNDED BY NATURE.

            YES. ZEN MASTERS USE THE WORD SATORI TO DESCRIBE A FLASH OF INSIGHT, A MOMENT OF NO - MIND AND TOTAL PRESENCE. ALTHOUGH SATORI IS NOT A LASTING TRANSFORMATION, BE GRATEFUL WHEN IT COMES, FOR IT GIVES YOU A TASTE OF ENLIGHTENMENT. YOU MAY, INDEED, HAVE EXPERIENCED IT MANY TIMES WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT IT IS AND REALIZING ITS IMPORTANCE. PRESENCE IS NEEDED TO BECOME AWARE OF THE BEAUTY, THE MAJESTY, THE SACREDNESS OF NATURE. HAVE YOU EVER GAZED UP INTO THE INFINITY OF SPACE ON A CLEAR NIGHT,  AWESTRUCK BY THE ABSOLUTE STILLNESS AND INCONCIEVABLE VASTNESS OF IT ? HAVE YOU LISTENED, TRULY LISTENED, TO THE SOUND OF A MOUNTAIN STREAM IN THE FOREST?

               OR TO THE SONG OF A BLACKBIRD AT DUSK ON A QUIET SUMMER EVENING? TO BECOME AWARE OF SUCH THINGS, THE MIND NEEDS TO BE STILL. YOU HAVE TO PUT DONW FOR A MOMENT YOUR PERSONAL BAGGAGE OF PROBLEMS, OF PAST AND FUTURE, AS WELL AS ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE, OTHERWISE, YOU WILL SEE BUT NOT SEE, HEAR BUT NOT HEAR. YOUR TOTAL PRESENCE IS REQUIRED.

          BEYOND THE BEAUTY OF THE EXTERNAL FORMS, THERE IS MORE HERE. SOMETHING THAT CANNOT BE NAMED, SOMETHING INEFFABLE, SOME DEEP, INNER, HOLY ESSENCE. WHENEVER AND WHEREVER THERE IS BEAUTY, THIS INNER ESSENCE SHINES THROUGH SOMEHOW. IT ONLY REVEALS ITSELF TO YOU WHEN YOU ARE PRESENT. COULD IT BE THAT THIS NAMELESS ESSENCE AND YOUR PRESENCE ARE ONE AND THE SAME? WOULD IT BE THERE WITHOUT YOUR PRESENCE? GO DEEPLY INTO IT. FIND OUT YOURSELF.