The Question - Is Of Meaning

so the question then, is of meaning - what's brought to the world by our sense of measure and purpose? Is there a point to any of this beyond our own state of being? That's the inquiry, our own self examined through the lens curiosity. My own examination has lead me to this - that by virtue of being, this life alone and all that fits within, is enough without needing to be compared or to even offer anything more than what it holds right now. To be alive has no meaning other than the joy of pure existence. We are here, and by countless odds there was no promise that we would ever be - yet we are. Do we need more than this? 

Perhaps.

Yet that too is the great promise - without the sake of added meaning we are free to roam the world in the pleasure of simply being. Each moment is now offered without compare, fresh, a never before presentation of  - Now. What's more is that we find ourselves in a dual world without any sense of duality - meaning is assigned by our own standard and without the weight of the worlds beliefs. We can see beauty and know that it's fleeting, no need to be capture even by memory. We can strive to achieve without the purpose of achievement, allowing the effort to be enough. Or nothing - there is no reason to force a single thing. 

We can just be. 

So the question then is still of meaning - and I have no answer other than my own. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

An Instant Meditation

it's an instant meditation - already we look, whatever object held within our view, it's this that brings us to devotion of the moment. To find anything in sight is a trade of spacious capacity for it's content in this aware knowing - a flower is given a shared moment of perfection, simply held in original understanding, no object, no seer, only the bloom of singularity. 

It's no different for the trade of each other - my own spaciousness is meant for you to be, as well the openness you have offered for the sake of my existence. 

Finding you - and it's the instant 

meditation of one

presence. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

The Only Apparent Choice

it's a personal surrender - and as such it is the deep attachment to the idea of a self apart from others and the world that is given over to a deeper view of one existence. Yes, I do find a distinct self that holds the qualities gathered in a lifetime. There are quirks and traits that belong to only me - and yet in my own examination, I can't really find a permanent point in which these qualities gain purchase. They are ghost wandering in a spacious event that's been claimed as my own. The reality I experience is one of life cherished for it's uniqueness, and a greater expansion that allows it all to be, as if a beautiful note played in a much grander, endless symphony. I allow myself the paradox of both - or rather the paradox allows a sense of me. 

So the surrender is a present moment recognition of this - that whatever is happening right now is of my own belonging. There are no outside events separate from the participation of the whole, and this includes breath, life, and even a sense of self that seems intent to prove it's own existence. It's all one thing. Once this is seen - the only apparent choice is to surrender. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

This Is What's Been Given (for today)

writing this - and even with will and 

by intention, 

no one claims to be the

author

~

it's a paradox - at once writing thoughts as they are given, and yet with no idea where they emerge from, their origin, and where they rest once disappeared. It seems clear that I am nowhere found in this equation, inspiration being in sudden in it's appearance, and my own participation as much of a hindrance as possible aid. It's when I am removed from the process that a flow from source to typing fingers becomes a steady line of creating. So than - where is the author found? 

My own insight points to a void of authorship and ownership of both words and inspiration - an emptiness that gives rise to thought and is constant in it's creative out pour of information. It's a silent source, yet lends itself to voice. Through it all I find no point of separation from words appearing in the form of thought, and the emptiness of their emerging, no break from the end creation of these words and the silence they became from. As well, there is no middle ground to hold an author, only what comes to the page, a pause that holds a promise for more, and then again there is writing. It seems I am not needed through the process. 

So with no author found here - this is what's been given. 

Peace,

Eric 

The Same Present Moment

that which is - and all

that's found,

is only now

~

perhaps there's more, maybe heaven waits and there are realms as yet unexplored - if there is it's all a guess beyond my present moment of awareness. My own seeking brought me full circle to unknown regions, and yet along the way the desire to become something other than exactly what I am, in this moment, has dropped completely from the scene. It's a comfort to just be, and even if the search for something more, or other than what belongs right now begins again, it will be with a knowing smile and lighter heart - I know that I will find the unknown and the same present moment where the journey ends. 

Peace,

Eric 

Ease of Complications

it's not complicated - even the most intricate designs of man and nature, our most complex thoughts and range of emotions, belong within the simplicity of just being. My observations show me the appearance of things, and a deeper inquiry leads me to note my awareness of it all, as well as no lines of separation between observed and objects held in this awareness. I come to a spacious understanding. It's here that I relax, a great allowing takes place with no need for interference  - especially from me. Yet I draw no conclusions from this, no final awakening to an underlying reality. I know only right now, of this insight, and my own sense that I too belong within this moment - so with this ease of complications, it's enough to simply be. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

A Non-Origin Story

no origin of wind apart from 

itself as 

air 

only motion given to the

sky found present 

and now brushed against my cheek....

~

Peace,

Eric 

Just Resting

just resting, and the world continues as it is - held in

this awareness,

through no effort of my own. 

~

it's not finding myself removed from an active world, but a sudden, subtle, realization that it all appears effortlessly and this too includes my participation. As I write this there seems to be an implied sense of separation, an active world and myself as witness - yet in observation, direct inquiry into this moment, there is just an ebb and flow of activity, words/silence. motion/stillness, without any means of one being apart from the other. 

It's all one thing. 

Peace,

Eric 

Ever, Even Had to Be

so here I find myself - aware, and 

writing of this

only,

to note the words given to

this moment.

~

sometimes it's just to note the words, no deeper meaning than a moment at the keyboards, a pause before an empty screen, and then to see what's given. Right now, it's this, and even these few words have the feel of being gifted - something appearing from the absolute of nothing, and to know that none of this, words, keyboards, and author, ever even had to be. 

But it did. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Of Author, Choice, and Words

it's not even waiting - these words exist already, not in time, but in some greater primordial void from which they will appear. My role is to simply arrange, an artful placement in hope of meaning. So to write, to begin, is to match myself to the emptiness presented by the page, a shared understanding of the spacious origin of it all. To wait is a subtle implication of divide - that words are somehow other than my own voice, or more so that there is a claim to any voice at all, and not just the creative stream of everything given appearance of author, choice, and words. There is no waiting, only writing, only not writing, and both belonging to the whole. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Tenderness of Air

it's the tenderness of air - from each blade of grass, to trees and every leaf from bloom to fall, a space so intimate to be full in it's embrace, and yet transparent in all that it allows. We too are loved through this openness, without boundaries of our own expression - we are touched by the tenderness given to the world, one air touching all...

~

Peace,

Eric 

Empty of Any Possible Explanation

it's just mystery, all of it, and in fact that alone is the most that I may ever know for certain - and yet it's enough, and more, it's this acceptance of uncertainty that allows me to be answer-less in an infinite world of questions. To ask the fundamental question of "who am I?" is not to seek a definitive answer but to explore the question itself. I am not brought to a conclusion, indeed I am left empty of any possible explanation other than - I am, too, this mystery, all of it. 

And it's enough to simply know this. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

On The Edge Of Certain Failure

there's a certain failure to words - my description of clarity, this awareness of being aware, takes me just to the edge of an openness that can't be told, words themselves are the jumping point into a silent understanding. Yet words fit, they belong, they are an occurrence of story within awareness, adding beauty in their attempt to capture for an instant that which is never truly not in motion. So each day I find myself on the edge of certain failure - writing of the joys of not really really knowing what to say. 

~
Peace,

Eric 

What We Offer Is The Listening

there's intimacy in listening - each note to rise from silence, held in it's desired length of stay, and released once more to merge back into the void. At no point do we find a space apart between sound and the quietness offered for it's existence. In this sense, meditation is not a silent mind but the acceptance of sound within it's natural state, simply a receiving, and then giving more of it's own quiet nature in return. So we find ourselves mindful, intimate with a birdsong, a nights breeze played against a window pane, and even traffic rushing through a city street - what we offer is a backdrop for meaning to occur, a space for vibrations to be heard, what we offer is the listening...

~

Peace,

Eric 

simplicity Of Air, Breath, And Being

as for air - there is nowhere found apart from

wing or breath,

it's all one thing touched upon itself as the

grace flight and expression of 

life.

to a bird - there is no effort of faith to find itself in flight, and so too do we 

draw air in the simplicity of breath, and being. 

~

Peace, 

Eric 

To Rain

aside from it's fall - there is no

agenda to rain,

and yet the world is nourished by the

grace of it's surrender. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Until The Dawn Of Something New

this too will change, whatever cherished notion within the moment, whatever truth I hold dear - nothing stays in fixed certainty. It's in this light that I allow myself the gift of not having to be true to an ideal, or place a belief to high in my esteem. If I am awake in this moment, than surely I am open to every coming dawn and what each new day will bring. There is no point to emphasize a static thought that belonged only to my sense of yesterday. Right now, I am aware of keyboards to my fingers, a silent pause to gather words, and the continuation of this writing - it's the only truth I care to know and enough to last until the dawn of something new. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Nothing Definite

here, for me - nothing is declared definite, any insight holds meaning only for the moment that it's given and lasting no more than is needed. Each instant is clear in what it offers, it's a guidance system for my own understanding, an inquiry meant only for the benefit of seeing what I am in the moment of my looking. 

So my words may provide little meaning outside of this consideration - however, perhaps they'll serve for someone too in their own search for understanding. In this light - may every answer be your own in the moment of your asking. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Seamless Sutra

it's a seamless heart sutra - now seen as inclusion of it all, myself in selfless expansion, spaciousness becoming as the details of the world, and awareness no different than the objects that it holds. This was my awakening from the sleepwalk of seeking experiences to confirm my sense of non-dual reality, to the simplicity of allowing things to be exactly as they are. It's enough to just be within each moment fully human, and as well to find myself completely given to the whole - what's more is that it's all happening on it's own, no effort required to be more, and nothing subtracted in order to know myself as the open capacity that holds it all. It's seamless. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Given The Means

is there anything to do? 

Air is given for breath, exhaled with no effort of our own, our heart is in it's own rhythm, seeing and hearing occur without a sense of trying. Every function of the body is met by a wisdom of design. These things simply happen. Existence happens on it's own.

To be - takes no effort at all. 

Everything else, details - and we are

given the means to 

answer every

one. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Am I?

aware - and nothing more

apart from 

this

~

 and this is my inquiry, a simple questioning of my own aware understanding from moment to each passing moment and all that it may contain. The question is "am I aware?" - and then a quiet reflection in the line-less reality that seems to always follow. I make no assumptions from this, right now I am aware, I find no division from object or thought to my attention, and it's here I find a certain peace that holds it all. 

it's enough. 

Peace,

Eric 

Another Coming Season

not to relinquish - but as surrender to

nothing other than the 

moment at 

hand 

there's no need to give up anything, to fight against our present conditions and circumstance, everything is settled already as motion, shifting again to another moment's presentation. Just as a season is not distinct in it's own surrender - but an accumulation of days giving less of what was once it's strength and now grows more into what soon will be. We too simply surrender to the grace of another coming season. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

It's Always Like This

it's always just like this - and even a story believed otherwise belongs exactly as it is in the moment that it's told. Nothing can be true in description, yet every word is held in the truthfulness of a silent backdrop. This is our understanding, our own sense of presence to all that may follow - words, thoughts, and every action appear in contrast, but not apart, from the backdrop of our being. It's always like this...

Presence simply waiting to be noticed. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Into This Is My Surrender

it's my surrender, continuous by nature, and no more my control than breath or heartbeat - every moment is simply given as is and comes to grace by means of acceptance. Here, right now, the world and all it offers belong within this grace. 

Nothing is excluded. 

...and into this is my

surrender 

~

Peace,

Eric 

With Nothing More To Do

looking - yet no longer really as a seeker, it's an endless inquiry into presence and present moment that holds my fascination. What comes to this awareness? This is where seeking ends and exploration begins - there is nothing outside this moment to be sought, and everything arises right now to be noted as my own living reality. It could be called a practice, but there is no drive to it, no compulsion for spiritual meaning, no self to be improved upon, just the simple observation of an aware emptiness that seems to claim me as it's own without negation of my world. Here, I find that it all belongs and it all unfolds in it's own possible way. Everything. So even my inquiry is without journey, the world is here, my inner story is told right now without advancement of agenda, to even say I'm looking is a subtle implication of a search - in truth, it's simply Being. 

With nothing more to do. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

A Returning Look

a returning look - vision traced back to the assumption of

appearance, yet nothing found but the aware

space that holds the origin of the

view

this is my source

it's where the world touches the awareness that I myself am aware of - there is no claim of ultimate beginnings or that the world extends from here. There are no claims at all, just my own true belonging, right here, marked as now, and the only source that I may know. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

My Own Understanding

just my own understanding - dismissed of any knowledge that does not belong to my own sense of what each moment holds. In this way, my heart speaks, a true language of intuitive communing of myself as presence. It's just a deeper way of knowing, a listening independent of given words and free from the weight of a listener. 

~

knowledge is the story of 

every breeze,

right now -  I understand just the

wind against me. 

Peace,

Eric 

Everything Belongs - Yet Not Forever

it's the belief that somehow, this, isn't it -  that we are removed from the whole by conditions or circumstance. There is a tendency to separate things by opinion, or the expectation of our emotional response. Our preferences and demands come to play in confrontation to what a particular moment holds, and our wish for things to be other than the experience at hand become an imagined line of division. Yet every response is holy, fitting to what we have to give right now - and even arguments of otherwise belong within the moment. Everything belongs. We don't have to like, enjoy, or even accept outer circumstances or our internal reply to any situation - but by virtue of appearance it all belongs. The truth is - this is it, all of it. Everything. This is our awakening, right now, and all that's called for is to simply be - allowing it all, the turmoil of debate over condition and response, our desire for a peaceful solution, every argument for things (and ourselves) to be other than they are. Again, it all belongs. Yet not forever - in the calm of this allowing there is also our not that nothing stays the same, that this too will pass to something else again. In this calm we find that there is only belonging, and we are powerless to exclude. 

This alone is peace of mind. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

In Nearness There Comes Beauty

it's terms we use, words, and concepts - yet life itself is expressed without story and our descriptions always fail to capture the reality of the moment. But still we try, and in nearness there comes beauty in artful arrangements of words and images. Our every conversation is an art form in service to the ineffable. There are those who take it further, giving themselves fully to the effort of being near, a close account to the magic of occurrence. 

There are great artist among us. 

Not all hold a pen, brush, or camera. 

Some tell this story with only a smile. 

Other's converse in such a manner that silence it told as much as every word. 

Yet every artist seeks to convey reality in a 

way only they can show, 

In this light - I thank you all for the beauty that you share. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Perfect Acceptance Of What Is

the perfect acceptance of what is - is, and 

always has been,

the very moment that's

occurring

and no effort, nothing is required, it's 

simply happening

on it's own

we don't even need to recognize it, or 

give it any meaning

just relax in the knowing - that it is

~

Peace,

Eric 

Just Rain

just rain - and yet clouds know 

every drop in their 

surrender

while earth holds grace for the

fall of their devotion

every storm has a story of it's own 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Winter's Touch

just the bite of cold against my cheek - and the 

moment comes to winter, a full 

season told in a brief

sensation 

everything past this will only be another story told, a winter's tale of shortened days and dim light, details of storms and bitter winds. 

but right now, in winter's touch - I am present for the

season, and all that it may offer. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

My Continuing Practice

there's still a practice - yet without need for definite conclusions, nor effort for achievement. Simply now there is a continuous exploration of what each moment holds, from beauty to the grief of letting go and all that falls between the two, it's a method that has no meaning beyond the measure of my presence. My practice is simple - if it appears, than this too belongs. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

I Have No Idea

no idea - and this is where I often start, as empty as the page before me, free of any agenda but to share and be shared in singular fashion of this moment. I too am no less an expression of this same moment, an instrument uniquely suited to give voice to details noted in this aware/empty capacity from which I started. It's simply a matter of returning to the backdrop that allows these details to be - the quiet mind given to drifting thoughts, the same internal silence for sounds to pass, and the openness of being that holds all that's viewed. Through all this there is no need for me to wish for even one idea - everything waits for my attention. 

I only have to write. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

My Own Sadness, Simply Allowed

it's just a continuous allowing - nothing of 

my humanness is or can be 

excluded 

in the space of this receiving - I am

~

and in this I come to relax in freedom, liberated from the concerns of spiritual acceptance, there is no need to pursue, nor maintain, a state of being or train of thought for a particular outcome. For in truth, as I see it it now, there is no real outcome in a constant shift of living - it's all motion, not a single thing set in the permanence of a moments belief. 

Everything changes. 

So I find myself in grief for the loss of my dog, I mourn his company, and there is no need for there to be anything other than this - my own sadness, simply allowed. 

Peace,

Eric 

My Waving Hand And An Inquiry Into Now

I've often wondered why so many forms of inquiry are ones of negation alone, dismissing this and that which is clearly alive and present.I can't wave my hand before me and say "not this" and dismiss it as not my own, yes it can be lost, or transplanted, but right now, this moment, it's an alive form and function connected to a body that is alive, form, and function  and very much a cherished part of "me" In this sense my inquiry might be "why not this too?" My waving hand is part of this moment, this existence, and fits pretty neatly in awareness. So do my thoughts. At the same time none of this is exclusively me, but where is the line of separation drawn? Are there degrees of ownership within existence, especially as pertain to body and mind? My own inquiry always leads me directly to the experience of this moment, not removed from waving hand, nor from passing thoughts - just this moment and whatever seems to be appearing. The very next moment may prove to be an entirely different matter, and a truth held now simply let go to continue in it's passing. So perhaps the inquiry is this - what, right now, is separate from this moment? 

~

Peace,

Eric 

*I don't know if gaining freedom means losing anything other than an attachment to what we believe freedom might be. I'm just thinking aloud here and risking a whack from Robert Saltzman's Zen Whisk of Wisdom...

Common Ache

it's my loss, personal, and alone - yet it still belongs to you as well, to the world at large, for this sorrow is shared by our common ache of letting go. We have all been broken, and now bonded in a single space that holds the pieces of our former lives. In this sense, our truest belonging - no loss, no pain however slight or large, can be said to be one's own. 

Every tear we shed together. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

* my deepest love to my pup pup Toby who never let me down through the countless times I may have failed him. To all my friends who have shared my sorrow - thank you, thank you, thank. You each have my love. 

In The Beauty Of Art

we are the pallet for life to be

displayed against - 

and too we are life in constant 

giving to the pallet. 

in the beauty of art - it's all one thing. 

~

it's all art - life arranged in a display of grace that holds only creation itself  as meaning. We ourselves are not the original artist, although this lifespan is our medium of sorts. More, so it seems to me, is that we are a participant of the highest artistic integrity, an aspect of creative source, instrument, as well as full display of all things given to a masterworks. 

Peace,

Eric 

Things Just Don't Have To Be One Way

and so I find myself in the full/emptiness of my own heart sutra - complications of a practice and even understanding drop to the simplicity of seeing, and then the natural surrender to the awake presence that holds the view. Here, there are no lines to divide seer from scenery, everything belongs, and there is no need for this to be otherwise. Of course I come to find myself once more lost within what seems a solid world, and thoughts play through their subtle stories still - yet I never really, truly, believe them anymore. Things just don't have to be one way, form isn't always solid, emptiness not exclusive as a void, and presence fully able to be expressed in the infinite guises of the world. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

That I Am

that I am - and too that we

appear through one

existence,

grateful

~

as far as I can tell - there is no cause or reason for our appearance in the world. But we find ourselves here, together, sharing space and time. Of this I can only say - thank you. These words are just a simple prayer of recognition. To know of infinite possibilities, that the odds of this moment bring us directly to each other - leaves me in a space full of wonder. 

Peace,

Eric 

Nothing Done To Make It So

we come to see now that it's all just a welcoming - life a continuous embrace of what is, what will next arrive, and grace to welcome the eventual letting go. This is not of our doing, effortless, it's simply presence in it's natural form.

everything belongs - but 

nothing stays 

forever. 

our struggle is not that this is so - for even our denial falls in this acceptance, our plight is in knowing that this is true, and yet fighting it's reality. 

calmly, breathe, look around - and know that everything is 

exactly as it is, but only for this 

single moment. 

already the world is changing...

with nothing done to

make it so. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

As My Reminder

to just let it all arrive - my own 

agenda is right 

now

and from this point it's all spontaneous, words appearing in their own order, the page giving emptiness in a trade of meaning, and my own clear reception to whatever might come through to reach my fingers. 

the message itself (for me) is always wonder - and 

words only serve as my 

reminder 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Attending

to this we attend - even briefly to note the spaciousness between thoughts, words, and every object. It's here we explore, inquiring, seeing how one thing simply gives way to formlessness and only then lends itself to the appearance of something other. Yet always there remains just one thing. There is no break from sky to ground, we breathe the same air that's touched upon clouds - nowhere will we find a line to offer division between objects and the space between. This is the openness of nature, one thing allowing itself to the form of earth, while still retaining it's formless air. It's all happening here, this moment, and we are not excluded from this play of nothing in it's sudden becoming of things - our truth is as much emptiness as object, capacity as what's held, and view as well as seer. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

It's Almost Like This

it's almost like this - yet however detailed in my 

description, and still I find that it's

not like this at 

all

words bring us just past the experience of each moment - almost, but never quite capturing our encounter with what's given. Only the experience itself, wind to the flesh, flowers reaching with their scent, or the view and the beauty that it offers - can be known in the instant that it happens. My words will always tell a story - no matter how true they once belonged. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Without The Weight Of Meaning

everything belongs without the weight of meaning - until the moment that it's given. Ours is a clear space of allowing, an openness that begs for one more thing to be added to it's nature, and always we're obliged to bring more by thought and view. Yet nothing comes to us with a meaning if it's own, nameless until assigned, and clear of all agenda - we add words to beauty, and ideas to the formless, giving qualities to a world already made complete. It's not that this is wrong, for even labels fit within this welcoming. But there is another way to see, the first way, natural, and it happening now even as we view the world. It's always just before - our seeing, and only in an instant later does it come to us to add a single thought or label. So we return, our original view, noted in clarity and then allowed to simply be before a thing is added. It's here we rest. For just a moment - and even as the weight of meaning begins to add itself to what we view, we abide in our restful nature. It all happens on it's own. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Weather Doesn't Lie

the weather doesn't lie - there is 

always the immediate 

truth of this

moment 

and rain to skin, or a breeze in it's final

reach against us

here, we find ourselves not removed from life in all of it's offered conditions, but fully a participant to what's given, and our preference not even brief in consideration. It's always and only life in constant happening - ourselves included too. 

in this regard we find ourselves as every storm, and each drop of rain continued to clouds and sky, we are starlight and further on the infinite source that starts it all. 

it's found here, this moment, right 

within whatever's 

happening.

~

Peace,

Eric 

First Snow

it's the fresh laid snow, first of the season, and always heavy with the promise of more  - there is a weight to this season for me that no other one offers, a despair that falls as silent as each snow. Yet the season, and every storm, brings too the beauty of change, an opportunity to not turn away from cold, nor wish for days of warmth, but to allow the grace of what is to open me to my own shifting seasons - for I have clung to some beliefs as surely as the last autumn leaf, and now the bareness of winter comes for what is due.

Letting go, there is this, and 

all is welcomed to my

world. 

It's fresh laid snow, first of the season, and always 

heavy with the promise of it's

moment. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

A Continuous Welcome

it's a continuous welcome - and 

nowhere is this not

so. 

~

as if the sky - no wing is denied it's flight, no tree refused in it's expansion. Our very nature is open in the same expanse as the sky itself. Nothing is refused. Even our argument that things should be other than presently found is accepted without note. 

Everything is welcomed.

Without fail.

Our only role is to know this - and even that is not really needed. It's automatic, a free flow of what comes, lingers, and leaves all by it's own accord. 

To see this is just a bonus.

~

Peace,

Eric 

Into This

it's seeing, just before a coming thought and added label, the 

simplicity of each given moment and 

nothing more - 

and into this is our

surrender.

~

surrendering is not an actual act, we don't give a thing over, nor relinquish our claim to self - it's simply the acceptance of everything just as is, without need for things is be other than they are just now. It all belongs. Even before this seeing or acceptance everything belongs by virtue of appearance. We have no role in any of this, no effort or action required, and no prayers to arrange a better world. Perhaps the best we can do is offer our attention, each occurrence and object once more recognized as a momentary belonging, folding gently back into the whole. It's not a strained mindfulness but a mere observation of emptiness in full capacity to hold the world. 

It's seeing our own nature. 

Peace,

Eric 

The Nature Of (My) Suffering

outside of thought - there is no suffering. Yes, certainly there belongs pain, grief, and even anguish expressed for some circumstances. Yet, aside from our thought that things should be otherwise, there is no cause that leads us to a continuation of suffering. This doesn't imply that suffering is imaginary, a made up conditioned of gathered thoughts around a subject or event - indeed, I'm writing this based upon my own moments I've suffered as well as a relief found in the spacious surrounding my thoughts on the matter. Suffering exist as we think about the issue at hand, as our thoughts dwell and add weight to painful conditions we suffer in their presence. This doesn't mean that suffering is optional, there is no choice to be free of sorrow, at least not one to my knowledge. What there is - is exploration into the nature of our thoughts, to inquire into the very heart of sorrow and find what's within and through to the other side. Perhaps we'll find freedom, or a lightness of being that helps us cope with the weight of suffering. To even look will invite a spaciousness around the subject, enough room to simply breathe and assure our own space of healing. Here's the thing - I don't know what you'll find. What I've written above is only my discovery. I wish you all peace and love in what you'll  find with yours. 

Please feel free to share what you do discover. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

In A Real But Subtle Sense

it's subtle - from a personal world to a my own absence, a glance traced back to source and nothing vanished but my own belief of solidness and point of separation. This is seeing, for me, not dropping from a sense of self, yet finding clarity in how it all belongs. As this I am both capacity, as well as all that's held - I am seer and the world that's seen. There are no lines to divide me from the emptiness of source and no thoughts that lead me to believe I am only form. 

In a real, but subtle sense - it's all 

one thing. 

~

Peace,

Eric

So Here I Meet Myself

meeting myself - first within the page, emptiness in full promise, and then words to come through a motion of their own. My only role is openness, the patience to simply be, and the grace that allows me to receive. I find myself through the whole process, not removed from the start without words, and still engaged as each word appears, dropping to the page on it's own accord. Truly, I am not the author but merely the reception. So here I meet myself, first as the empty capacity holding promise, and then whatever meaning may appear. 

I am grateful for it all. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Just One More Thing

capacity is the expansion of true self  to include just one more thing - and then another, until we find the world held in this unseen embrace. In this sense the term self refers not to the limited beliefs and thoughts that have gathered to give the impression of a lasting personality - but to the self that is all inclusive by nature and design, empty, yet full in it's embrace. It's really all one thing, capacity meeting itself in the guise of form, and every object empty of an inherent boundary that isolates it from anything else. 

This is the secret of the view - tracing any one object directly back to source and finding nothing more than openness to greet us. Once seen, even the concept of a viewer gives way to the empty/full capacity of being. It's simply seeing, unimpeded by the concept of a seer. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Meeting Grace

it's the times I've been most vulnerable, near broken, and most in need - and there it's been grace given, through no hope of my own, nor by a personal demand. Grace has it's own designs. There is no practice to receive it. It seems that we are made ready for it's appearance, life played hard and brought to it's edge - yet just the same grace is unknown in it's agenda. We have but one role to play in all this and that's to simply be ready, open, and grateful to the moment at hand - grace meets us exactly where we are. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Given To The Wind

every breeze blows as much

within as against the

senses 

it's the grace of emptiness to 

hold a world so full of

wonder

and so right now - I find myself 

given to the wind....

~
Peace,
Eric 

Because (so yeah, you're non-dual - go out and vote anyway)

because I find myself not removed - but of and

as the whole, and the lease aspect is

still my own 

becoming

there is only life

and at no point do I give way for the 

rest of the world to be. 

it's all one thing.

~

Peace,

Eric 

Given Words

this moment - given

words,

and then left against the page

~

it's all I do, no deeper wisdom offered, nothing special-  just listening, writing, one moment open to receive. At best I am removed from the equation, it becomes a meditation of allowing and then a creative process of arranging what appears. On some occasions I find myself to involved within the process, striving for words that belong only to another moment - not the one that I've been given. Mostly I can tell the difference and am quick to take a step away. Yet even this becomes a gift of letting go and soon another moment comes while giving words. 

Peace,

Eric 

It's My Only Prayer

it's my only prayer - this

moment,

fully attended

and then allowed to

simply be.

~

it's not that I am without desire, or needs, or wish my life to sometimes be other than what the present moment holds. Yet I have seen my own wisdom at play in the world and now know that there is indeed a better way. This isn't a mindful approach, attention drawn to breath or sensation - although it certainly may apply. 

It's being aware. 

Attentive to just this - everything

belonging

exactly 

now

and then a letting go....

I will forget a thousand times - and grateful for the

single moment that's remembered. 

Peace,

Eric 

Sermon on the Mount, Non Duality, Politics, And Another Way

These are the words of Jesus, my own commentary no more than a gentle nudge to return to the original teaching. This is not a complete text of the Sermon, and the politics that are spoken are inherent to the principle of the words. For those who read this who are truly Christian, there is little to argue. Most of us (if not all) have failed to live up to the potential these words would have asked of us. In full disclosure, I myself am not a Christian - however I feel that these truly powerful words speak across all religious divide to the one spirit we all share. My goal here is simple: I ask we do the right thing, to the best we're able, and live according to these wise words that Jesus offered. 

Let's begin:

Coming to the mountain, wild land once more providing silence for insight to stir, Jesus spoke to those that gathered.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

"Blessed are the they that mourn:for they shall be comforted"

"Blessed are the meek" for they shall inherit the earth" 

"Blessed are the merciful" for they shall obtain mercy"

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for thy shall see God" 

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God" 

~

"Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not though away"

"But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"

"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

~

And so here we find ourselves - given wise, loving instructions. These very same words could have been spoken by Buddha, Mohammed, and prophets of every time and land. Indeed they were said in similar fashion - compassion, ethics, simplicity, and love for another as we love ourselves is common language of spirit. 

But now I'm going to enter into the realm of non-duality, where words belong equally to the silence they emerge from, where , as Christian mystic Meister Eckhart said: 

“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”

Our inquiry is this - having read the words of Jesus, are they not now the words we share through one heart, one mind, one common spirit? Are we untouched by the reach of Christ? Even a non-Christian is called to order for the well being of another. So then could a Christian be called to anything less? Do our politics reflect these humble words?

Do our leaders? 

Are borders mentioned as a breaking point of love? 

These are not surface questions - but the depth of our heart searching for the means to live and thrive in today's world. 

Jesus has the answer.

Buddha has the answer.

Mohammed has the answer.

Most important, and with most meaning: we ourselves have the answer and it has echoed through the ages to find our own heart, our very own lips, and it's time to speak these truths again. Our politics won't save us. But our shared love will save politics. 

The modern spiritual text, A Course In Miracles began by a simple statement one professor offered to another during a particular contentious time: "There has to be another way" to which her colleague replied "You're right - I'll help you find it" From this a complete manual on love and forgiveness has touched the world. 

The Sermon on the Mount offers us another way. 

Let's help each other find it. 

Peace,

Eric 

For It's Own Wonder

it's the exploration of what is, a natural curiosity of not just what the moment holds but of the very nature of what's presented. We are gifted with keen awareness for the details of the world, nothing escapes it's notice - even as our own attention may be drawn to personal concerns. This awareness is our own innate belonging, our capacity to attend in intimate allowance the things that pass through our lives. It's who we are. Aware. So everything presents itself for our own understanding, held in awareness, one essence, it's simply one thing in constant giving. Aware of being aware - life unfolds for it's own wonder. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

It's All A Bonus

here's our purpose - to 

draw breath, 

and then let go

until another breath

arrives 

~

life is it's own purpose and there is no point where this excludes us - we too are seasonal, motion, and an exchange of primary functions. Our breath is a gift in both receiving and it's return, we are vital in our play of nature. 

Nothing needs to be added to this. 

Yet in consideration - there is always more we think we need to do. 

Relax

Breathe

Beyond this it's all a bonus. 

Peace,

Eric 

Certainty of Uncertainty

without certainty - we have been made no promises beyond this moment, that we are alive, and that the present breath is all that's given. This is our own fragile beauty, the reason we cling, and the key to our eventual surrender. Indeed, it's this same uncertainty to which we do surrender. It's natural to wish for something stable, firm ground upon which we make our stand. Yet it's this need, along with the false certainty on which we stake our claim, that leads to a quiet anxiety that undercuts through life. We're afraid to be afraid, and worse we fear the only thing we may ever truly know - it's all a mystery. Everything. Once this is certain - that we simply can't know a thing beyond right now, we gain the freedom to relax and allow the world to unfold in it's own fashion (as it would anyway) If more is to be understood - it will arrive exactly in it's moment. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

*obviously I am not certain of any of this

Exactly Here

it's finding existence - our initial encounter with emptiness seems to be annihilation of self, or at least a personal self we've come to know as who we are. Yet speaking for myself, there was a brief seeing of my empty nature, followed by a seamless extension of world, and then again my reappearance of a personal self. At no point was one separate from another, and each equal in insight and treasure. This meant that nothing could be discarded, the problems and the joys of life, everything, were as cherished in their belonging as the very spaciousness that allowed them to be at all. It was one existence. There was no loss of anything, but certainly there came an ease of being, knowing that this empty capacity to hold no less than the world itself, was constant in the space it offered, and there was nowhere else for me to find it - but exactly here. 

And all I had to do was see. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Mystery's Whim

and then the Heart Sutra - finally it's 

seen as formlessness in the

guise of every

form

there is not a choice of one to another, emptiness giving way so an

object can now be. 

it's one thing in constant shift,

mystery's 

whim 

and we just play along.

~

Peace,

Eric 

Not Free Of

we are not free of - but

simply free

everything belongs

and freedom is known in

this acceptance

~

there's no escape, it's not a spiritual path that leads to a destination of freedom, there is no liberation from life. There is only living. However there is a clear seeing that we are not removed from all that happens in life, indeed, there is a calm acceptance that we are the capacity for it all to be. In this - I find myself free. 

Peace,

Eric 

Not Really

it's not a path, not really - there is no way to spiritual existence. There is simply life and the varied form of it's appearance. It's here that we surrender, done seeking, there is just the moment and our awake acceptance of all that comes. The practice now is to not practice but only be, to get lost again in the details of the world and smile at suddenness of remembering, to live in accordance with life's unfolding. 

It's nothing special. 

Yet always full of wonder. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Purpose Of Life

I don't know the purpose of life - other than simply being, alive to the joy and sorrows of each unfolding moment. My guess is that this is enough, and that even awakening to a sense of deeper intimacy, a true belonging, only serves the moment itself. In years of study, meditation, seeking, and longing to know the way - I have been brought right here, now, and fully at peace with what the moment holds for me. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Moment's Notice

our gift is mystery - that each moment unfolds in it's own unique fashion and there is no grand design save for life in full and various expressions of itself. We are given possibilities. This is the wonder of the coming day, how we too will be expressed in ways totally unknown right now. In this light we see that there is only mystery and that every revelation is held only for a moments notice. 

~

Peace,

Eric

Review - The Ten Thousand Things By Robert Saltzman

Discernment - that, for me, is the true gift of The Ten Thousand Things. All beliefs now become a question, yet not in an aggressive, answer seeking way but more so an open ended inquiry without need of final answers. It's simply see the openness that surrounds any perceived truth. The Ten Thousand Things systematically (for me through repeated readings) installs a "spiritual BS detector" that rings a silent alarm whenever one is confronted with the certainty of a guru, master or teacher. That's discernment. Robert is not a guru and he won't lead one to awakening - but he might, verbally and visually, shove one (usually gently and always kindly) in the right direction through his words and stunning photographs. Yet only if we're lucky. The Ten Thousand Things has been a significant book for me, more so than many "spiritual classics" due the language that meets the reader right where they now find themselves. There is nothing to decipher, nothing to take for granted, and nothing argued as a final truth. It's an invitation for the reader to find their own truth - with every given moment. There is freedom from (and even within) seeking and The Ten Thousand Things points the way.

 Peace,

Eric 

https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B00ENKQ0J8?_encoding=UTF8&node=283155&offset=0&pageSize=12&sort=author-pages-popularity-rank&page=1#formatSelectorHeader

Perhaps - A Tree

perhaps - I could have just as easily been a tree, the mystery of existence extends to all possible outcomes, and a tree is no less holy than my appearance now. Beyond this moment I am privy to no more knowledge than what's drawn to my attention. Yet the moment itself is an endless wonder, a continuous unfolding of the miraculous - that I am at all, and aware, and even thankful for all that's granted is enough for me to know. The mystery goes on, formlessness will manifest itself to a new appearance and perhaps I will again find myself aware in different form. I would not be at all surprised. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Presence

to be here, fully present to another - and 

this alone the gift of 

presence

~

and in this sense we find that our only role is one of capacity, wide open for the appearance of another, for the world and further still for the sky and every star. It all comes to rest here, in the spaciousness we have to offer. We are emptiness as a blessing, a gift to form in it's arising - and it's not an effort to give, it's our own constant presence, allowing, accepting what comes to view as our own natural wonder. 

It's presence. 

Peace,

Eric 

That's Why Forgiveness

that's why forgiveness - and it's the simple recognition of innocence within and only of the present moment. Our freedom, liberation, is found now or not at all. There is no process of forgiveness, it's not a time bound ideal - it's seeing from capacity, that within this one great holding there can be nothing considered as a sin without our own inclusion. To forgive is to declare our own innocence, yet not in the sense that perhaps harm has not occurred, but that we have relinquished the need to prove our own righteousness or condemn another. Forgiveness is our freedom from the past, as well as to open to the present. 

It's not granted. 

Nor earned. 

It is the acceptance, again, and once again, of each occurrence in the world. 

It's love - without the concept. 

Happening by the grace of

simply living. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Complete And Wholly Well Lived

it's not without effort, or struggle, or suffering - it's a life fully lived and allowed to be exact in it's unfolding. It's also about seeing. In this full participation there is equal regard to the spaciousness of allowing, here is where we find ourselves as capacity for life to be and play through us in complete engagement of space to form. So we come to find that with effort, there is only action, struggling is simply a call to let things happen on their own, and suffering a cause to hold the world in spacious arms. Seeing - and nothing is denied, and yet too, there is a grace to this surrender, an acceptance of things as they are and in this grace comes a life complete and wholly well lived. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

At Alone

at alone - and nothing but aspects of

this single 

self

arising

falling

ceaseless in it's mystery of

existence

~

Peace,

Eric 

Only Light

it's a clear light - and only that. Yet somehow, objects arise in and of this illumination. I have no idea how, or even why. But they do - and so we have the world. Of this, all I know is my own single flame is an illusion believed to me shining on it's own. 

There is only light.

Everything shines as one. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Details

it's the content, the details of world and every object that's presented - that's the aspect of life that's gained and held attention. Yet it all belongs within the open space of our awareness, this great allowing of life to unfold exactly as it will. 

There is no line between the two. 

We are aware of our own unfolding - we are the details, as well as that which gives it structure. It's a beautiful, mysterious play of one thing in duality to itself. 

But it's always, only, one thing. 

Ever. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

No Alone

it's seeing this small, fragile self in proper light and wonder - there is no isolation, no alone in even infinite expansion. We are held. Even more, we are the unseen embrace that comes to reach our own wounded self. It's all one thing - and to know that this life of ours is but a brief appearance within the larger play of Life itself, and that at no point have we broken from the whole, then we see in the clarity of this knowing that indeed we are our own healer, our own light, and never, ever, can we truly be alone. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Occasion Of Gratitude

it's an occasion of gratitude - that I am here at all, aware of just this moment, and an aspect of something so much larger than my own concerns. I find myself now in two worlds of one existence - an appearance with a full life and given meaning, as well as the presence that permeates and holds it all. It's a seamless reality, with a full belonging of each detail to the world. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Divinity In Exhalation

it's not just the breath - we have drawn air that's touched upon stars and further still an infinite reach. We share life in it's release, our own divinity in exhalation, and this too is carried on. There is no separate action, no single breath that doesn't include the whole - it's all one thing in holy order, a mystery in it's agenda. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Conspiracy Of Beliefs

it's a conspiracy of beliefs - a point reached where we are living as the accumulated thoughts inherited through a lifetime of being told who we are. It's a well meaning prison with the best intent of keeping us exactly in place. We will continue in the lie of ages, always striving for more, something better on a far horizon, yet always slightly out of reach. In this way life goes on without the need to explore the freedom we are without beliefs. We are (sometimes) granted a brief time to question the beliefs that we've been given (from parents, and their parents before, teachers, books, media, clergy) and then to quickly, quietly settle into a conformity of being. None of this is meant to harm, again it's just the continuation of social constraints that have been deemed necessary for our betterment and survival. It may even be true and for the best - but not for everyone. And it maybe completely false as well. That's the troublesome nature of beliefs - we grow to serve them and not a higher truth that may well set us free. 

So what's true? 

What beliefs serve us best? 

I have no idea. 

I have my own beliefs on this matter and I hold them very lightly. From my own observations and inquiry it seems that freedom, indeed liberation, is only a question away - or perhaps better stated is only the space between a question and conceivable answer away. This is the room of not knowing, the spacious quality that allows answers to be a possible conclusion and more likely a mystery we may never know. In this space beliefs roam without certainty. It's in this space where they may serve us well. 

But here's the things - find out if this is true.

Explore.

Ask.

Don't be afraid of not knowing. 

In the end, it may always be a

mystery. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Capacity

let's use the word capacity - yet even this has a subtle suggestion that we hold within a certain limit and boundary not to be exceeded. Perhaps the term boundless capacity is best suited for our description. Every word and phrase will eventually fail us - there is no real map for this territory and only our own exploration will do. 

So let's explore. 

Each moment is given to what can be held, limitless, without borders, there is no end to this allowance for things to be. Of course we may not enjoy what appears, we may object and rail against what the moment brings. 

But it all belongs. 

So we are capacity - but more, we are the seamless blend of what's held and this unseen embrace that is cause for an ever greater expansion of true self. 

~

In the end - they're just words. 

Explore.

Peace,

Eric

It All Takes Care Of Itself

perhaps there is no real letting go, no deeper surrender save the

natural moment - expanding to allow 

whatever next comes to

view

it all takes care of itself - everything

our role is to live, relaxing in the 

faith that everything

changes

and nothing lasts beyond the time that it is given

~

Peace,

Eric 

In View Of Light And Sun

for just a moment - to know myself as light again and 

disappeared in view of sky and sun. 

only this

and nothing else but

simply seeing.

~

from the source, it really is simply seeing the world without the filter of self being a constant, heavy presence against the view. It's not the denial of self, but the inclusion of form, thoughts, and traits of personality into seeing of the whole, one reality, existence. It all belongs, it's all light in condensed waves, slowed just enough to seem beyond us. 

But really, it's all one thing, 

~

Peace,

Eric 

In The Mind Of God

in the mind of God - perhaps I'm no more than a imagined figure, a dreamed life that wakes in certain understanding to the fiction of it's days. Truthfully it's a bigger concept than I care to know, my own inquiry always leads me exactly here, to this moment, and I find it undivided from the whole. Perhaps this too is my awakening - and everything else just details of the dream. 

In the mind of God - I am.

And this is all that I can say. 

~

I take poetic licence here with the term God and could just have easily (and maybe more fittingly) used existence. I like both terms. Today I used the word God. No reason other than it sounded pleasing to me. Please don't take these words as any sort of truth at all, it was simply a moment of exploration to see where words might lead me - and this is what I found. 

Peace,

Eric 

Forgetting

sometimes a forgetting - and 

even this folds 

seamless

in the continuous moment of

awakening. 

~

there's no need to be vigilant, a constant watch on thoughts or breath - we will (often) forget our aware capacity, lost in the details of the world - yet at no point is the source itself forgotten. It's all one thing, a continuous flow of self encountering self, and in this our attention wanders, becoming enchanted by our own disguise. In due course we will remember - and smile at the grace and mystery of it all. 

Peace,

Eric