All words fall short of the empathy inspired here.

Beautiful tears.

Awe shucks, ya'll..

'Twern't nothin'

My thanks for your appreciation

I think I know this guy hellikin...

Great analogy!

Remarked false stability
With missing cornucopia
Common sense prowls streets witless
Slays bright panaceas

Stone disturbed pool
Dreams litter concrete crimson
Never devoured
Only mortally wounded unspitefully
Indifferently

Change breeze blowing
Fanning just and unjust
Until swellng hurricanes
Herd apathy toward darkness

Agenda touted lack
Forever fading
Realization enabled generousity
Gently murders Hunger tearless

Do you mind me asking what you got from my write?


Yeah, someone who sees that the consequences of their actions have become intolerable, horrific, monsterous. Then uselessly attempting to escape their karma.

Most insightful.

The road can become unbearable.

Sometimes it's good to abandon the familiar path and carve a new one--your own!

The Greeks always believed that suffering brings wisdom.

Thus pain sweetens the penstroke.

Honey to the ears.

Thank you

Nothing like attempting romance with the apathetic, eh?


Well put!

Another interesting point of view on utube from the Ronny James Dio days of Black Sabbath

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUJH7y1yK_E

There was actually an old "Twilight Zone" (the original series from the 1960's) episode on that very topic. John Astin (yes the old "Gomez Addams) plays a long haired hippie guy who crashes his car off a cliff and winds up in Hell.

He is locked in a room with 4 other people who, quite contentedly, are watching 100,000 slides from their vacation trip to Mexico...over and over and over.

Astin's character screams for the devil and demands an explanation of why he isn't somewhere where there are flames and demons and chains and tortured souls.

The devil shows up and explains Heaven and Hell are actually the same place. For Astin's character, the room he was in was Hell, for the other four people there, it was Heaven.

The episode ends with Astin's character, laying face down on the floor and pounding it with his fist, shouting "BUMMER BUMMER BUMMER"

"He that hath an ear...."

I see your point Chris, it would have been better (more koan-ish) if the "master" had let it go at spilling the tea.

But after all, it was the rich man's first lesson. He had to have something for comparison.

If it were a student of even just a little attainment, he would have not have had to say anything at all after spilling the tea.

A monk to Zen master Joshu: "When I travel the countryside, what Dharma (truth) shall I say Joshu teaches?"

Joshu: "Rice is cheap. Salt is expensive"

(800 years ago salt was expensive, often used as currency)

A rich man came to a Zen Master and asked to be taught Zen.

The rich man was invited the into the master's humble quarters and tea was served.

The master began pouring tea into the rich man's cup, but when the cup was full he kept on pouring.

As the tea spilled and began to cover the table on which the cup sat, the rich man shouted, "STOP! STOP! Can't you see the cup is full?'

"Indeed," replied the master, "And like this cup, your mind is full of your own beliefs and ideas. How will ever learn Zen if you do not first rid yourself of the clutter in your mind."

Traditional Zen Koan
Printed in "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones"
By Nyogen Senzaki

"There is no need for any Hell or any Devil. Man alone is capable of every wickedness"

I can't remember where I heard that...Shakespeare? Kipling? Spielberg? Kubrick?

A good starting sourcebook for Zen is "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" by Nyogen Senzaki

Essentially you are correct, sir. I am no Zen master, but I have familiarized myself somewhat with the philosophy.

There is a famous Koan where one monk asks another, "Does a dog have a Buddha nature?" The other monk responds by saying "Mu" which translated literally means, "Un-ask the question." One master described the Koan as "Answer Yes or No and you will lose your own Buddha nature.

However, this is not the case with all Koans

The purpose of the Koan, as I understand it at least, is actually to focus the students mind. It's words act like an "optical illusion" for the brain--like looking at certain drawings which can be transcribed to paper, but cannot exist in physical reality.

The Koan can be answered, but any answer ascribed to the problem inevitably leads to deeper question.

And often, there is more than one initial answer

Or, you could cast a spell on yourself to make you either less attractive to that person or even possibly a spell that makes you seem entirely too powerful to mess with.

Bindings and retaliatory do often tend to backfire. Karma Karma

A big stick by your front door works pretty well too.

No, my dear, your words are not silent Long these shall echo in the chambers of my heart!

And other eyes were gifted with a view into your door...

Yes, Christian religions used the images of Hell
to control their congregations through fear. Well documented.

Yes there is a Hell created by our own thoughts and beliefs.

And yes, there is a Heaven created by our own thoughts and beleifs.

There is also a third choice, but to get there you have to lose all your thoughts
and beliefs.

Just Be!

Worn? or Wise? Well put