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Posted by Butcho
on 10/18/2009, 11:36 pm, in reply to "Re: The Rat Hole"
71.30.136.X
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: rat,
:
: I am glad to hear your book is becoming a
: reality. I know you have poured a lot of
: yourself into it. I feel your words will
: reveal to the open minded a benevolent heart
: rooted in the natural rhythms of existence.
: Over the past few years I have come to think
: of you as a midwife to the highest good of
: each pregnant moment. I am confident that
: you will add something of note to the
: literature where the shift from dualistic
: thinking to non-dual awareness is concerned.
: Bravo!
:
: Butcho
:
:
:
: You are too kind Butcho.
:
: �When the mind is transparent and pure as
: if reflected on the mirror-like surface of
: the water, there is nothing in the world
: that you would dislike. When it is serene
: as the light breeze in the sunshine, there
: will be no one whom you would like to
: forget.�
:
: Pa-ta Shan-jen 17th century painter
: Translated by Chang Chung-yuan in his book
: �Creativity and Taoism, A Study of Chinese
: Philosophy, Art, and Poetry.
:
:
:
: rat,
:
: If I have told you once I have told you a
: thousand times, I am not too kind. I am one
: of a kind.
:
: .... Sounds to me like Pa-ta had Wa-ta on
: the brain. And yet he was an airhead. Go
: figure.
:
: Jus' kiddin'.
:
: Sorry, I have been in this mood lately.
: Every time someone other than me gets
: serious it seems I have to choose between a
: heart attachment and a humidor and since the
: ladder has a rung missing I naturally jump
: around quite a bite for such a small dog.
:
: Wayne Long. will translate for the kitty's.
:
: Maybe now that you are nearly done trying to
: please the Parabola crowd you can hang out
: here a little more. Snobs anyway. The water
: really is quite fine here. Except of course
: when it storms. Such is the ebb and flow of
: existence.
:
: I hope your book sells a million copies.
:
: Butcho
:
: Thanks Butcho. I think anyone who
: understands apophatic mysticism would not
: write a book about it.
: love,
: rat
:
rat,
All writings about the ultimate nature of existence are contaminated. All of the most sacred of books, the vedas, the bibles, the korans, all of them, the I Ching, the Blue Cliff Record, the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, are all contaminated for it is the nature of words that the moment we speak a truth it becomes a lie. As soon as we say the existential is this way then it is also that way. Such is the dualistic nature of words. Words create contradictions when they are allowed to play by their own rules. So don't let them.
Existential truth cannot be found in words until it is found within first. Truth is discovered within the deep silence within each of us. Whatever it is, we are the Tao. And it is us. Such things cannot be discovered in any book. Until a man or a woman becomes an opened scripture unto themselves all the words of mystical insight that have ever been written are just so many words. So why write?
Because among other things words can be used to show the shortcomings of words. Words can be used to point at the moon. To point at that which is beyond words. Like a sign on a road. So do not be disheartened or feign dis-ingenuousness my friend, your effort to write a book from Chuang Tzu's perspective as best you know how is not in vain. It has helped you if no one else. And I believe it already has and will continue to help others as well. Others that are genuine in their pursuit of truth.
As Rilke pointed out in "Letter To A Young Poet" the solitude of writing is both a burden and a gift. Solitude is the foundation for all genuine work. There is no substitute for the creativity and love that pour out from within in the loneliness of writing from the heart. I expect your book will be more than scholarly. Anyone can write about the times, the eternities are a horse of a different color. You are not anyone. You are more than one.
The more you have gone into yourself the more of yourself will come out in your writings about mysticism in general, apophatic mysticism in particular. If your words are rejected or not appreciated by some or many do not let such things detract from the contentment you have found within. Let the chips fall where they may. You can't please everyone.
The natural man is like a clear river flowing to the sea. The unnatural man is like a stagnant pond. All of our boundaries are arbitrary. Let no one, including yourself, fence you in. The Tao is an open book.
Butcho
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"The Tao is basically utterly open. Utter openeness has no substance. It ends in endlessness, begins in beginninglessnes".
-Li Daoqun
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