Remembering (#2015)
Reflections while wandering the way of the path:
Avoid extremes in the world. Live simply without excess. Be content with less, kind of heart, and humble in practice. Let things be as twia would have them.
Relax into the embrace that is twia. The world through twia brings peace instead of suffering. Hold to twia for peace of heart.
Reside in the center of your being. This is the room within. Let the world be. You cannot force it into compliance with your demands. Learn to accept what is. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, it says, to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. There is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to reap, a time to weep and a time to laugh. The Tao Te Ching adds a time to lead and a time to follow, a time to rest and a time to be active, a time to expand and a time to collapse. These passages from both books are a guide to living in harmony with the natural order. But what we see as choices between this and that do not need to be viewed as opposites. The teachings say, for example, that giving and receiving are the same. Reside in the center of the circle, in the emptiness that is twia, and let all things go their own way around you on the rim. Then there are no opposites; no good or bad, no right or wrong. Now there is oneness. This is the way of the path.
The way is prepared ahead of us by twia. Twia knows we are coming to lay our baggage at its door. Make ready. Leave yourself to peace. Let peace overcome your presence in the world. Hold peace of heart at all times and the way is made smooth.
The world is chaotic when the me of the body loads it with fruitless desires that offer false hope. In twia I am content and at rest. Peace prevails when I let go of desire and expectations. I act, then step back, with no attachments to outcomes.
I no longer seek acceptance from the world. That ended when Darrell’s search for Self found twia. It is clear now that everything lies within. There is nothing that I lack. I am whole, complete, perfect, eternal. Nor do I need to force the world to see things my way out of fear that life is not the way I want it to be. If the message is not being heard, raising the tone does not help. Step into the silence and let it be.
The greatest victories come without fighting. To act in violence is to have lost before you begin. There is no lasting peace in winning. Sorrow comes instead, for we have left the room within to defeat ourselves on the field of battle. When the me of the body declares superiority over others, oneness is lost. Twia is forgotten. Sorrow reigns. If a battle rages, and you do step into the fray, do so from the sorrow of forgotten oneness. Then you will not gloat in victory but find you are the one you beat in battle.
Hold peace of heart in the face of violence. Otherwise all is lost. Battles have winners, but all are losers in victory. Peace is the highest value. All that is true flows from peace of heart. While love in separation is tainted with fear, peace of heart remains pure. It is grounded in twia. The world cannot bring peace to heart. Peace abides in heart by nature. It is twia. But twia can put peace into the world by accepting all things. This is love at its best.