Just Before

we are always just before - every appearance, from smallest detail of our view to slightest thought and sound falls within  a capacity of allowing. It's a seamless occurrence, and at no point are we removed from the emptiness that allows and that which comes forth. 

It's all one thing. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Look For The Seer

seeing - and now there comes a clarity to this, my view uncomplicated by the rush of labels to what's seen and an almost instant recognition to my own self as the world. There is no practice to receive this, we see at once and then give this knowing away to opinions that we hold - yet there is the simplicity of bringing attention back to the source that holds the view, our empty beginning that allows it all to be. 

Look for the seer - and the

world is gained. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

This Great Welcoming

everything changes - and we are this great welcoming, an allowing ground for all that occurs, unaffected by that which passes. By nature we are open, porous to the means of our own determinations - as such we are free of judgment, of our own and others, each moment expressed in compassionate wonder to what is, willing to hold every thought and action given. This all takes place without effort, even unrecognized, and there is no need for mindful observation. It's what we are - and now seen, aware, we simply carry on. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Artfully In The Grace Of Each Moment

it's what's given - and our only role is presence, a template for the grace of each moment in its acceptance. We are not willful, for even our demands fall within the confines of what is, and in this release we see that life isn't a goal to overcome and shape to the contours and colors of a self defined image, but to allow a full display of possibilities within existence. We are artist in the arrangement of response  - aware  in seeing that things could not be otherwise than they are right now, yet creative in our acceptance,  a playful gratitude to be part of this life at all. 

And so we live - artfully in the 

grace of each moment. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Nowhere Is There A Self That Needs Improvement

for a long time and often still, I fall into the myth of self improvement, searching for the next book, technique, or activity to help me in the fine art of becoming. Certainly there are steps to take that will help physically, refining diet, and there is an importance in maintaining and aiding emotional and mental health. Yet the quest I have often found myself on is less about health of body and mind and more to the pointlessness of addressing a self that simply doesn't exist. I will not become a better, different version of this self - although, perhaps, it might appear so. What I have discovered is that seeing through the illusion of a solid, fixed entity called self, comes with a natural, spacious allowing for spontaneous change. Things get better. Things get worse. But the roller coaster of personal demands for either is diminished. It's in the aware, open space of selflessness that allows for the world to change, including the world I know as an apparent self. To this point there can be no improvement - everything is as it is, it's own perfection of broken parts and incompleteness within a seamless, whole, completion. 

In spaciousness - there's nothing to fix. 

In my personal world there's a responsibility to care for myself and others.

But nowhere is there a self that needs improvement. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Of It's Own

of it's own - nothing noted, breath and thoughts left to wander on their own accord. We see the world in seamless detail, a tree found in the same view that holds earth and sky as well. This is life, a meditation of each moment - with this ease we find we are aware. 

And nothing else is needed to 

awaken. 

Peace,

Eric 

Struggle Is Real - Sort Of

the struggle isn't from the effort we put forth - on any matter. Our only sense of struggle comes from outside the present moment, when discomfort is offered a comparison against past or future experiences. Effort itself is free of associations, a mindfulness of thought and body - a natural expression of being. To struggle is to take the purity of effort given, no matter how great or hard, and add the psychological element of projection - a wish for other times and ease of pain. Understandable. Yet this moment is what we have. While struggling may belong within the moment, simply by virtue of its presence, it's greatly reduced or even eliminated by the recognition that right now, here - our effort, awareness, and acceptance of all that happens, is the heart of what matters. We struggle until we love the moment that is given.

And love is always 

present. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Adrift In Knowing Yet Far From Certain

and only as I let go of my own assumed spiritual authority do I find a truth expressed not as an ultimate answer, but a never ceasing curiosity of belonging. In my every view, and each sound and thought, I find that here too is my place of self, nothing dismissed as separate in form or distinction that is not an aspect of my very own being. What I once believed was a truth, was owned only in that particular moment, and it was guarded well by strong assumptions. I find myself now fairly un-moored of past and even future beliefs - I am adrift in the knowing of only what the present moment holds and even this is far from certain. 

Still I find that it's enough. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

That's Everything

let's not complicate this, 

it's a beautiful day - and fully, always, we

are in the heart of all that 

matters

and that's everything.

~

Simply notice - at no point does air part from the sky to be drawn as breath, our gaze doesn't draw lines between a branch and it's reach above. Life is undivided. 

We are alive. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

In Truth - We've Never Left The Garden

from what I can say, my own seeing, it seems there is really only one grave sin - and even this is forgiven to a moments recognition. The original sin is one of imagined departure from the garden, a separation of mind from spirit, and flesh from soul. We removed ourselves from nature - if only by thought alone. Yet there is forgiveness, a grace of life recognizing its own expression in our unique form. In this grace there is no sin, never was, and impossible to be removed from life itself. In truth - we've never left the garden. 

Remembering who we are, this 

moment,

there is no sin. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Even As The World Keeps Shifting

because right now, things simply can't be other than they are - and yet the world is shifting, giving motion to the very moment of our despair, our longing, and yes, even our contentment. There is never anything solid for us to hold to, and our innate desire is not to cling but to give ourselves to the spaciousness of our salvation. It's our belief in the permanence of the moment that prevents our letting go - even as the world keeps shifting. 

Our faith is not of the solid - but in the 

void that allows all things to

be. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

My Own Cosmology

my own cosmology - in two ways I have begun, from nothing to form, and then a later recognition again of formless nature that's never left at all. At any point I find a spaciousness that allows for the sudden appearance of body, a field of view that opens to an inclusive world, and a silent template for thoughts and sounds to pass or linger. There is a constant birth of galaxies that come to distinction as trees, and birds, and rocks - all the details of the world. I can find my own origin, disappearance, and resurrection at one, in a glance, and abide in the paradox of being as a body, a person, and nothing solid as well. 

I am in creation. 

A cosmology of One. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

It's Enough To Know

our best science does not know of existence, that we are here, aware, and the mechanics of this appearance is the grand puzzle of all great minds alike. Religion too is only of belief, having no more information than hearsay of others who inherited thoughts on these matters as well. In Zen it's the "don't know" mind that abides in peace. It's the questions that hold importance and answers themselves prove temporary at best. The mystical bent through the ages have asked "who, or what am I?" And again the answer is not found by words believed, but in the silence that soon follow the asking. Silence itself isn't the answer, it's the template that allows the question to be - and in this light I can't find a single thing of lasting value on it's own. I don't know who, or what I am, there is no reason that I know of for my existence. Moment to moment I know I am aware - questions giving way to silence with no dividing line between them, all occurring in light of this awareness. I could say that I'm aware - yet why bother? 

It's not really an answer.

I'm not sure I need one. 

It's enough to know 

I am. 

Right now. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Of Openness And Motion

of openness - it's our own capacity of allowing, without effort or cause, but the constant stream of life in it's happening. To consider ourselves a witness to occurrence is an illusory wall built of our own imagined importance - we are not vital to the source, but the source itself extended as the view. Everything seen is an aspect of one thing in various form, openness is simply the give and mobility of all the changes of appearance, an awareness of it's own shifting self. So we come to find that we ourselves are not open by nature, but the very openness of existence - and as such there is nothing that occurs that isn't welcomed, even our displeasure of what the moment perhaps now holds. It all belongs. And it's all in motion. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Loneliness and Alone

from loneliness - and 

then alone. 

a subtle difference of wording, and yet the implications are immense. Our loneliness is a belief as seen through the lens of separation. To believe that we are apart from the world keeps us within the borders of an imaginary self. To be here - and always see an outer view, disconnected from the whole, and no source for our belonging, is indeed a lonely place to be. 

Yet alone - just one thing, seeing from the source to source again, a view seen complete in our belonging, we come to know an alone that provides itself a world of exploration of it's own mystery. We are alone as the appearance of others - a gift of and for ourselves. Our loneliness is exchanged for the alone of what we are. 

Always, only, just 

one thing. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Divinely Powerless

lived - it's not my life at all but a 

given expression of the

whole,

shown as my distinction.

~

in this way I find myself divinely powerless, life in constant fashion holding sway to my direction. I am expressed as surely as a leaf is given from a tree, or blade of grass emerges from and yet always remains an expression of earth. There is no purpose of my own other than this life, a fullness of Being displayed in very own appearance. 

It's all a mystery. 

Perhaps even to itself - and so I find myself 

astounded by every moment 

that's given. 

The true and only miracle is to find ourselves aware of this at all. 

Peace,

Eric 

Seamless World

and always it's just this, one moment, and yet the infinite claimed by surrendering to our view - it's not an action of release, not even a real surrender, but one of simply seeing the line-less spread of reality. There is no point of departure from what is seen to the holder of the view, nor is silence found separate from the note of sound. 

It's a seamless world. 

And this is our belonging. 

~

Peace,

Eric

In The Pureness of Each Moment

it's an imagined world - real to the subjective terms of the senses, and yet existence itself is an openness beyond the means of interpretation and description. Everything simply is, no story, empty of all meaning in our relations until the moment we assign one. Our stories give definition to what arises, a tree is distinct but is equal to ground and sky - only our label of thoughts concerning the tree give it a degree of separation. So too for all we see, our every thought, it's all free of our intent and fiction. This is life in the pureness (suchness) of each moment, just before we reach for stories - and even after the story's told. 

Pureness still remains. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Somehow

we are lived as motion - a constant swirl of particles broken down smaller still to whatever unknown wind it is that sweeps us to existence. To be this - and to find ourselves aware is our surprise and delight in living. It is our true realization and a miracle of note. None of this has to be and there is no cause (for us to know) for our awareness. 

Yet everything is - and we are. 

Somehow. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Even As These Words Appear

from where I now find myself, and whatever words appear - there is seldom a plan to what I'm writing, no outline, or even an end goal to summarize a position. There is a spontaneous expression, a moment given to record, a pause to see what else may follow - and nothing more. My role in this is quite small and simple really. I'm not the (real) author of a single thing. Words come and find the page through me. 

It's all a mystery. 

Even as these words appear...

~

Peace,

Eric 

Inspiration Is The Product of Patience

it will come - inspiration is the product of patience, for even a sudden flash is preceded by the life that came before it. Nothing is in a vacuum, isolated from any other thought or action - each belonging to the constant flow of living. I have no idea where these words are coming from, no faith that they will find a desired meaning. 

But I knew that they will arrive - in their order and time.

With their own measured meaning. 

And I would write. 

Inspired. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Life Found Ordinary

it's re-enchantment - life found ordinary in the mystery's of it's doing and no sense of my involvement in all that seems to happen. I am as much of an appearance as every bird or blade of grass, there is no account for any of this, myself included, beyond the delight of simply being. There is nothing special in any of this, life unfolding in it's everyday occurrence - yet none of this has to be, there could just as well be nothing, an absolute void to all that is. But I'm here, present, aware and re-enchanted by the flow of life that's given. 

All of it. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

And So My Life

not a single word chosen - yet still 

they mark the 

page

and so my life is written too

~

Peace,

Eric 

Constant Fiction

it's already passing - even as we settle to a sense of anything lasting, a permanence to a personal world, it's all in motion. 

Everything. 

So too our own belief in a solid self that stays for the duration of life. 

We are a constant fiction of thought, memories and stories told. To find any truth is to look beyond ourselves, to include an emptiness that allows for motion, an awareness that is at once passive in it's agenda and intimate in it's acceptance of what is held and then let go. 

~

My sense is of a lasting self, as well as a spaciousness that allows for it to be, and the motion of it's impermanence. I accept the paradox that I'm all of this at once - and too that it's just a story told. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

In The Moment of My Writing

I find myself with less concern beyond this moment - and yet this too is all inclusive to the details of memory, or a path towards the future. Being present is not a closed door to the rush of thoughts that may occur. It's simply, plainly, being open to what is, allowing without the wish for things to be other foremost in my mind. 

It's right now.

And all that it contains. 

I am present.

Awake. 

This is what's happening in the moment of my writing. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

So It's Freedom (or We Could Say Love)

so it's freedom, or perhaps liberation, although that seems to imply (to me) that we could possibly be granted a space apart from that which binds. So I prefer the term freedom - as I am not separated from any affair be it seen worldly, felt deeply, or experienced in some form. Nor am I bound in anyway to that which occurs in world or mind. 

By my very nature - I am free. 

I can be immersed in political debate, given over to anger, lost in passion, and indifferent to it all. Yet still I'm free. It's unconditional. 

Never lost.

But sometimes forgotten. 

And that's just life - once seen, there's deep gratitude, a surrender to what only can be claimed as an impersonal grace that carries all the world. 

I like the word love too. 

Because nothing is excluded. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

Of Death

of death - I have few beliefs, some speculations, and zero faith in what's been told. I simply don't know anything that falls beyond this moment. I suspect that no one living really does and that those who have passed will never share. Of course I discount nothing, there may well be the Pure Land Of Buddha, continuing awareness, renewal in nature, or a thousand more lives to come. Heaven may indeed be waiting. 

I love that there are possibilities. 

But with certainty - I only know that right now, I am alive, that this very moment is the Pure Land, containing the awareness of existence, I know that I am revived by nature, and this life alone is all I have to call my own. 

I believe that heaven can only be found right now. 

This certainty is all I have. 

For the moment - it's 

enough. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

A Planet of Sudden Becoming

there's really no connections - only the play of

one thing giving of itself. 

air doesn't part to find us, there's no search for breath, no point where it becomes anything other than original sky. We breathe the touch of galaxies. In this light, what can be measured? How are we simply not an aspect of sky, a planet of sudden becoming from the very stuff that holds the stars? I see no clear lines of division, no connections to imply that anything has broken from another to form another world. 

it's all one thing. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

It's Not Even Allowing

it's not even allowing - things are, and even resistance is held in common acceptance of the moment. Nothing is excluded, indeed by virtue of occurrence it all belongs. There is magic in this acceptance, our struggles surrendered to a greater flow, our only role now is to simply live. 

Life is happening. 

Everything belongs.

(at least for the moment of it's appearance)

Nothing is excluded. 

~

Peace,

Eric 

The Path Itself is Non-Existent

it's the way things are - and in this moment it's all that can be. Our realization is not that we have chosen a path that has led us to this point, but that we have never strayed from this present point at all. The path itself is non-existent. And every choice was simply the only occurrence that could happen, indeed our power is not found in self-reflection but in the grace of acceptance to what's unfolding now. It's here that we find an authentic presence, creative, and spontaneous in response to each given situation. It's the Tao of effortless Being. Or not arguing with reality. Perhaps better still - it's giving ourselves the benefit of doubt, knowing we did the best we could in every situation, even if right now we find ourselves in question. 

What it is - is loving ourselves 

beyond the questions. 

And knowing there are no answers as to why...

~

Peace,

Eric 

We'll Always Be Broken

we'll always be broken - no identity is fixed in time or position, nothing is to last beyond the moment it's been given. Yet our reality is so much more than the pieces assembled to be called a life, we come to be broken for the benefit of exploring the self that resides as space, finding our empty nature amidst the shards of what was once held dear and permanent. In this light, the illusion is that we are only one set thing, that which breaks is somehow apart from the space of it's caress, we now see ourselves not as aspects separate from the whole, but complete in pieces and the capacity that serves to hold it all. 

~

Peace,

Eric