Category: Spiritualibus

Polyamorous
monk and nun
along celibacy
multiple lovers
after lifetimes
on both sides
monogamous
or else celibate
let go exclusive
mono and poly
for good nature
to include it all
divine they are
animals of sorts
otter, fox, giraffe
cats and dogs
big elephants
snail and slug
turtle and lizard
as human being
can indeed let go
of all these games
of nuns and monks
masters and slaves
and finally wake up
to the emptiness
of the fullness
of the divine.

“Hear the cries of the world?” — Oṃ maṇi padme hūm̐

Polyamorous monk purged empty and still

“When one enters the monastic life, the first thing one is given to learn is a short verse to be recited every morning, as follows:
Do no evil deed with body, speech, or mind;
Give no trouble to any being in the world.
With right thought, see the emptiness of the realm of desire;
And keep your distance from unhelpful asceticism.“

“All is empty and also that what understands emptiness and the emptiness that is understood are empty as well… All phenomena are understood to be empty.”

“I began with a practice based on the enlightened nature of hearing. First I redirect my hearing inward in order to enter the current of the sages. Then external sounds disappeared. With the direction of my hearing reversed and with sounds stilled, both sounds and silence ceased to arise. So it was that, as I gradually progressed, what I heard and my awareness of what I heard came to an end. Even when that state of mind in which everything had come to an end disappeared, I did not rest. My awareness and the objects of my awareness were emptied, and when that process of emptying my awareness was wholly complete, then even that emptying and what had been emptied vanished. Coming into being and ceasing to be themselves ceased to be. Then the ultimate stillness was revealed.”

“Purge yourself… to the point that you have purged even the act of purging.”

— The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, A New Translation, Buddhist Text Translation Society, p. 211 commentary by Hsūan Hua 宣化, p. 215 Subhūti 须菩提, pp. 234-235 Avalokiteśvara / Guanshiyin 觀世音, p. 266

Polyamorous monks and nuns awakening

May our hearts be purged into empty stillness!

Sound of a flute
can you hear it
when present
or also absent
sound arising
and ceasing
do you hear
dependent on
sound coming
to be or ending
always hearing
independent of
a sound or silence
disengaged free from
perception and objects
from the same source
beyond separation
illusions, outflows
choosing one faculty
perception like hearing
with all attention focused
inward to what’s original
in and with all faculties
break through and enter
the current of realization
radiating spiritual freedom.

— inspired by The Śūraṅgama Sūtra,
Choosing One Faculty in Order to Liberate All Six
and The Example of the Bell’s Sound

“Wondrous suchness of reality” — holy awe

Practice awakening as in sound and silence

“To transform your … awareness into … purity … pull out the root of death and rebirth and rely on that pure and perfect nature that neither comes into being nor ceases to be. Use the purity of your true nature to make disappear the distinction between your original state of enlightenment and the illusory state of what comes into being and ceases to be. The original enlightened understanding, which neither comes into being nor ceases to be, must be the basis of your practice. Then you will attain the awakening that will be the result of your practice.”

“Choose one faculty [eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, cognitive] as a gateway to deep practice. If you take that path until you have left behind all distortion within that one faculty, then all other faculties will be purified as well.”

“Be/become patient with the state of mind in which no mental objects arise.”

— The Śūraṅgama Sūtra, A New Translation, Buddhist Text Translation Society, pp. 173, 179, and 229/232

Subtle layers of perception like sounds of a flute

May we all hear the pure sound and silence of a flute!

Neither same
nor different
can really be
identified so
by faculties
that sense
perceive
objects
to register in
consciousness
maybe pleasant
or unpleasant
neither nor
dependent
on each other
in existence
come to be
not caused
conditioned
nor on their own
what a wondrous
suchness of reality
neither same nor different.

Enlightenment
inherent in one
understanding
falsifies it all
understood
who does it
deluded split
into compatible
and incompatible
with shared karma
union or separation
in emotional love
hunger exists
for each other
to steal and kill
such distortion
perpetuated
by adding any
understanding
to the inherent
enlightenment in all.

Apart from ‘is’
and from ‘is not’
both is and is not
it is and is not
and neither
is nor is not
a confusion
is based only
on confusion
delusion has
no existence
cease arising
and perishing
also left behind
the leaving behind
transcend speculation
cultivate free of outflow
remove worldly torments
of hate and unwholesome love.

— inspired by The Śūraṅgama Sūtra,
The Matrix of the Thus-Come One and
The Coming into Being of the World of Illusion

“Neither same nor different” — it just is

Evviva il clown! — Long live the clown!

“There are six guiding principles in my life. The first is to be a good clown and to keep getting better. The second is that I want to be a good person — and to keep getting better at that, too. The third is that I want to live every day as if it were my last. The fourth is the awareness that everything I do has consequences. Good deeds have good consequences, evil deeds have evil ones… The endless webs… I know that everything I do here not only has an immediate consequence, but also weaves new threads into the webs that extend into the future and shape destinies. That even the smallest deed is recorded in the Book of Life…

“The fifth guiding principle in my life is that hardly a day goes by when I don’t have to think about all the suffering in this world, about the mystery of the enormous injustices that people inflict on one another. And with this, I realize time and again how privileged I am to be able to pursue my calling — one of the most beautiful there is in this world. And the sixth guiding principle is that we are here in this world to learn constantly.”

— Dimitri – Der Clown in mir, Hanspeter Gschwend, p. 223

On top of the planet contemplating giant guardians

May there always be a clown in our life — neither same nor different!

Mandala medicine
turning the wheel
consciously at last
that’s what we think
is flushed, rinsed off
with heart tears of joy
and deepest gratitude
what more is there to say
when thank you says it all
and silent sound is present
embracing everything and all
reverberating from the past
enlightening the present
moment by moment
all the way home.

“Mandala medicine wheel dance” — an invitation

Mandala medicine from Heaven and Earth

Heaven and Earth have endured for a long time. Heaven and Earth can endure for a long time because they do not exist for their own sake. This is why they can endure.

Therefore, the sage (shèng rén 聖人) remains in the background, and yet he stands at the forefront. He sets aside his own self and yet remains steadfast. Is this not because he has no self-interest? Because of this, he is able to realize his true nature.

— Laotse / Laozi, Tao Te Ching / Dào Dé Jīng 道德经, #7, translation group with Elena Camesi Janke

Illumination in the forest — an invitation from Heaven to Earth

May our feet be rooted on Earth and our head in Heaven!