Men are a mixture of yin and yang. Yin is the valley, the feminine principle; yang is the mountain, the masculine principle. Men with an excess of yang lead us to war; men with an excess of yin write poetry no one reads. We’ve been living in a yang nightmare ever since Constantine caught a vision of himself as a warrior Christ. Now, you may have noticed, things have begun to change. It’s getting quiet out there.
We are not in control. Most men don’t understand this. Reason? No credible person sat them down when they were boys and spelled it out.
Knowing I’m not in control, I am a stranger to disappointment and bitterness. I am not what happens; I am to whom it happens.
The responsible man is response-able. He responds to Life. He does not react. Re-action is the forte of the fool. We cannot step into the same river twice.
Perhaps it’s all a dream. (It’s been said so, many times.) And every aspect of the dream, enraptured and animated by a breath still being drawn, has been designed to wake us up.
On their own, thoughts are not a problem. Believing them, taking them seriously, identifying with them—now that’s a problem. The challenge: Don’t believe everything you think. Timesaver: If it’s negative, dismiss it.
There is only one meditation, avowed the coal-eyed chain-smoker—the adamant refusal to harbour thoughts.
