May 14, 2022

01

The transformation is internal.
We shift in relation to the world.
The world remains exactly what 
it has always been,
but we see it with grace
and acceptance,
knowing it to be the birthplace
of seeing/hearing/knowing/understanding/
enlightenment/realization/satori/awakening...

The world is Nazareth
and the stable in Bethlehem
to our conception and birth
as Christ-consciousness/Buddha-mind.

It is the abode of Bodhisattvas--
Bodhi: Awakened, Sattva: Being--
which is a designation recognized
as being true of someone,
not one claimed or bestowed.

The world is made holy 
by the holy people--
the people who are seen to be holy
by others--
who call it home.

As we live "transparent to transcendence"
(Joseph Campbell),
we exude/exhibit holiness/
awakened-ness/goodness/truth/
beauty/godliness/etc.
and wherever we are becomes
a blessed place to be--
not because we sought to be holy,
but because we simply see what's what
and what is called for in response to that,
and we do what needs to be done,
when, where, and how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises,
and that is seen to be holiness in action.

Holiness/Bodhisattva-hood is not a function
of belief,
but of seeing/doing in spontaneous, thoughtless,
response to the need of the moment,
like saying "Bless you!" when someone sneezes.
not by looking for chances to say, "Bless you,"
but because it is the right thing to say in
certain times and places.

The trick is knowing when it is the right time and place,
without thinking about it.
Just knowing.
Just doing.
And being right about it.

It takes being alive and open to,
and present in,
the moment 
to do this,
and that is a spiritual practice
lived out over time 
in the world just as it is.

–0–

02

You know how Ted Lasso 
can always be counted on 
to say the right thing
at the right time in the right place
in the right way--
and do the right thing as well?

That is a Bodhisattva for you.
Ted Lasso is a Bodhisattva--
not because he says he is,
but because we see that it is so,
we know it is so,
and no one has to tell us it is so.
It is there to be seen
by everyone who has eyes to see.

Now, I just told you it is so,
but you already knew it is so,
because I did not have to argue you
into agreeing that I am right.
You knew that I am right before I said anything.

The truth does not have to be announced.
It cannot be preached into being.
It can only be recognized to be so
because it is so.

Bodhisattva's are people so awakened
and so right with what they say and do,
that they are qualified to go straight
into the blissful light,
skipping all the rounds of rebirth,
and merging with the joyous light 
in unending glory,
and they pass it up,
preferring to stay here/now
as a gracious, ministering, presence
among the raucous side-shows
of the classless, tasteless, circus
the world-as-it-is has become.

Offering a little peace,
a little kindness,
a little wisp of mercy and good will
to the masses and hordes
looking for a way out 
on the streets of Calcutta, 
and Hong Kong,
and New York,
and Los Angeles...

Because that is who Bodisattvas are.
That is what they do.
And nothing could be better to them
than that.

There is no better place to be for them
than here/now.

If it is good enough for them,
it is good enough for us.
And we have Ted Lasso to encourage us
all along the way!

–0–