The voice of success and profit

May stir the minds of worldly people,

But not this place.

In the rounds of the day,

You wear threadbare clothing

And eat simple fare.

When the mountain snow deepens,

Your thoughts

Are far from those of people.

Occasionally,

Immortals pass your door

And knock.

 

Kuan-hsiu (832-912)

 

We are all subject to the split in experiences, labeling them good or bad, successful or failure. Simplicity is actually very complicated because it transcends the positive and negative thoughts to one of integration. To be able to know what an accomplishment is and what is a disappointment as two aspects of one’s lived experience is to appreciate the simple fare and thread bare clothes as the snow deepens. The voices of success and profit become the competing desires of our intuitive capacity to be true to ourselves. The Immortals that pass by our door and knock are the people who matter to us. Their positive regard is unconditional and we respond with compassion. The journey through life is complex and uncertain. The complex simplicity of an integrated self allows us to continue to learn and love with open hearts and minds. 

Mountain sounds carry a chill wisdom


An upwelling spring whispers subtle tales


Pine breezes stir the fire beneath my tea


Bamboo shadows soak deep into my robe

I grind my ink: clouds scraping across the crags


Copy out a verse: birds settling on branches


As the world rolls right on by


Its every turn tracing out non-action

 

 -Shih-shu (17th c)

 

Our everyday experiences often pass by unnoticed. We are preoccupied with what needs to be done next or we are ruminating on something that happened in the past. Our thoughts are mountain sounds and upwelling springs. To be aware of the pine breeze or the clouds as they pass by brings us back to the moments that matter. In psychoanalysis we think about the chill wisdom and subtle tales. We work together to connect to the state of free flowing and effortless non action of the present moment. Preoccupations and ruminations become birds settling on branches. We find the space for going on being as the world rolls on by.

The moon’s appearance, a river of stars,
snow-clad pines, clouds hovering on mountain peaks.
In darkness, they glow with brightness.
In shadows, they shine with a splendid light.
Like the dreaming of a crane flying in empty space,
like the clear, still water of an autumn pool,
endless eons dissolve into nothingness,
each indistinguishable from the other.
In this illumination all striving is forgotten.

—Hung Chih Cheng Chueh (1091-1157)

The new year is recognized as a time to make resolutions, to set goals and improve the quality of our lives in some way. There is a devotion to them as well as a rejection of the tradition. Many of us set goals and begin the year in earnest desire and commitment to fulfilling them. At some point the novelty wears off and a day of forgetting turns into a week and so on. While we are striving for these new standards of living the moon appears and reveals the beauty that has always been there in a splendid light. These moments are the light within ourselves. A luminous presence of compassion and mindfulness. As we step into this new year I hope all who read this blog will have those moments of illumination.