In the beginning… we start off with these sacred words, then delve into the herd of silent elephants that seem to be overflowing every room.
Welcome to the timeline where people were afraid of being replaced by AI, so they went ahead and did the replacing (selling their soul for “comfort”) themselves.
I guess this post is for people who are still actually here, not just floating through the hallway of life as an empty vessel.
In The Beginning:
This is the moment of embarking.
All auspicious signs are in place.
In the beginning, all things are hopeful. We prepare ourselves to start anew. Though we may be intent on the magnificent journey ahead, all things are contained in this first moment: our optimism, our faith, our resolution, our innocence.
In order to start, we must make a decision. This decision is a commitment to daily self-cultivation. We must make a strong connection to our inner selves. Outside matters are superfluous. Alone and naked, we negotiate all of life’s travails. Therefore, we alone must make something of ourselves, transforming ourselves into the instruments for experiencing the deepest spiritual essence of life.
Once we make our decision, all things will come to us. Auspicious signs are not a superstition, but a confirmation. They are a response.
It is said that if one chooses to pray to a rock with enough devotion, even that rock will come alive. In the same way, once we choose to commit ourselves to spiritual practice, even the mountains and valleys will reverberate to the sound of our purpose.
— Deng Ming-Dao
This comes from a passage in a Taoist meditation book a long-time friend mailed to me. She also wrote on the first page of the book,
“A gift from the Ancients to guide our remembering. 2024.”
May all falsehoods burn away, that only what is real remains. Subtle as a sledgehammer, when you call her name, the force of her rage strips everything away— you find yourself on the ground, it’s too late to ask for mercy, so you say:
If you’re going to cut away at everything, show me what is supposed to take its place. Reveal what is meant for me to see.
Be careful what you ask for…
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