October 22, 2020

03

The most important thing
is to be right about what's important,
and do it
when it needs to be done,
the way it needs to be done,
for as long as it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
with sincerity 
and spontaneity,
without contrivance,
judgment
or opinion,
situation-by-situation,
day-by-day
for as long as we live.

No one could do better than that.

–0–

02

Jesus had no impact upon 
the political realities of his day.
Neither did the Buddha.

Politics is the arena
of "What's in it for me
and my people."
Of "How can I get the most
while giving up the least?"

Jesus and the Buddha were interested
in creating and maintaining
an environment in which 
individuals were enabled/allowed
to incarnate 
their full potential for self-realization
and self-expression,
while assisting and encouraging--
not limiting or restricting--
their neighbors' self-development.

Their approaches were based
upon good faith,
sincerity,
and non-contrivance--
upon people being true to themselves,
aligned with their Original Nature,
and living in accord with the Tao
within the dynamic of opposites
constantly at work in the world.

A fluid state of being
which requires negotiation and compromise
on the part of all concerned--
has no chance of being realized
in a world where power and control
are in command,
where domination rules,
and a shaky status-quo
is the best that can be hoped for.

Disciples of Jesus and the Buddha
and the servants of Tao
are left with walking two paths at the same time--
realizing what's what
and working within the givens
that govern their lives
in living aligned with their Best Self
(The Atman within),
and enabling others to do the same
to the fullest extent possible
over the entire course of their lives.

–0–

01

We have time on our hands.
We are bored,
looking for a good time to pass 
the time with,
and this isn't it.
That is the human condition.

Marianne Moore said,
"The cure for loneliness is solitude."
The very idea is off-putting.
The cure for loneliness is a party!

But until we meet what meets us
in the silence,
we are a broken record
(That's a metaphor that has
outlived its usefulness),
"going nowhere fast."

We don't want to hear it.
Our fingers are in our ears.
We are going "Nah, nah, nah..."

Growing up is the province
of realization and acquiescence.
It is trumped by denial
and anything that will take our mind
off our problems.

Anything that will keep us from meeting
what meets us in the silence. 

And here we are.
Waiting for some shift
in our modus operandi.

Nothing can change
until something changes.
But the silence is always there.