The Source Of All Our Suffering ~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

The Source Of All Our Suffering 

~ Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

"Our instinctive, emotional attachment or clinging to a vague notion of self is the source of all our suffering. From the idea of 'self' comes that of 'other'. It is from the interaction of 'self and 'other' that desire, hatred and delusion arise. There are many kinds of desire including greed, envy and miserliness. Hatred can take the form of jealousy, anger and resentment. Delusion includes mental dullness, stupidity and confusion. From these unhealthy mental states arise actions motivated by them, and their results. The results take the form of all kinds of sufferings, which one cannot escape as long as one identifies with the 'self' who is suffering.

"Thus the only way to remove one's suffering is to realize not-self. The wisdom mind that realizes not-self is like light removing darkness. Just as darkness cannot exist in the light, so suffering cannot exist in the light of the wisdom mind."

– Khenpo Tsultrim Rinpoche

From the book "Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness" translated by Shenpen Hookham

𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍!

Listen deeply to the screaming mothers

and the whirring of the drones.

Listen deeply to the news man’s lies

and the crashing of the bulldozers.

Listen deeply to the tanks and missiles

as they are rolled into position.

Listen deeply to the dying fish

and the fruit bats dropping out of trees from the heat.

Listen deeply to the gasping biosphere

and the reverberating cries of the long-dead indigenous.

Listen deeply to the vibrations all around you

and to the vibrations deep within yourself.

This is a holy place.

This is a holy moment.

It demands your reverence,

even amid the smell of exhaust fumes and landfill

and of rotting whales washing up on the shore

and of rotting human corpses in Gaza.

Even amid the blaring screens and the smirking lies

of podium pontiffs and Pentagon propagandists.

Even amid the dead-eyed dystopioids

marching through life sedated by smartphones

and sitcoms and sports and snacks and synthetics.

So listen.

Listen deeply.

There are messages here.

Buried in the code.

Hidden in the metadata.

Whisperings of something big.

Something lurking just behind the chatter.

Something ancient,

yet entirely unanticipated.

Listen deeply, kind friend,

because mark my words:

even within our oceans choked with plastic,

even within our minds choked with media,

even within our hearts choked with capitalism,

even within our souls choked with fraudulence,

there are still leviathans.

𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑵!

Then he [Padmasambhava] sang this vajra song to Mandarava: 

“E ma ho! Amazing young maiden whose body blazes with light! Your beautiful form is graceful, supple, and utterly sublime. Lovely one of radiant smiles, unstained by any fault, your vajra body resembles a lovely lotus. As I gaze upon you, young maiden with all the perfect marks, so luminous is your relaxed, youthful form that you captivate my mind with your incredible beauty.

“This flower Mandarava is youthful only once. Listen to me closely, O princess of noble qualities. In this limitless ocean of suffering existence, the obsession with samsara that occurred before can only bring more pointless obsession. Now the time has come to prepare for a meaningful future. Accomplish the sacred Dharma, youthful princess! Worldly activity is endless. The meaningless bustle of activity from the past is all that can be expected in the future. Now it is time to free yourself from activity. 

"Youthful princess, watch your own mind! When one is overpowered by anger, the enemy is mistakenly held to be external. This has caused self and others to fail in the past, and it is all that can be expected in the future. The time has come to tame your own mental delusions.

"Youthful princess, take charge of yourself! Overpowered by delusions, unashamed of the causes of samsara and unable to distinguish them, what else can you expect in the future? The time has come to realize the fallacy of all this and to proceed on the path of Dharma without further distraction.

“Youthful princess, arouse your wisdom! Being overpowered by pride, holding to the ways of a queen, and giving orders to others, you will always remain the same. The time has come to examine yourself and give orders to yourself.

"Youthful maiden, recognize your shortcomings! When you are overpowered by jealousy, you disparage and belittle others. The competition for position and power will always be just as it has been. The time has come to follow the way of the victorious ones.

“Youthful princess, train in pure perception! In this swirling ocean of negative karmic accumulations, unwholesome rebirths will always be just as they have been. The time has come to meditate upon the empty, radiant form of the deity.

"Youthful princess, be diligent on the path of the generation stage! Engaging in confusion-based conversations is the cause for increased delusions. The endless idle words of the past will only be the same in the future. The time has come to recite the essence of empty sound.

“Youthful princess, generate the deity! Youthful princess, meditate on the generation and completion stages, the profound path of method, which is the secret path of the pure awareness holders. I wonder if you have the good fortune to enter upon this path. The time has come to meditate upon impartial, pure perception.

"Youthful princess, develop single-pointed faith!”

The Lives and Liberation of Princess Mandarava: 

The Indian Consort of Padmasambhava

by Samten Lingpa,

Lama Chonam (Translation),

Sangye Khandro (Translator)

Wisdom Publications

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢

The Forty Verses On Reality 

by Sri Ramana Maharshi 

(Translated by Arthur Osborne) 

1. From our perception of the world there follows acceptance of a unique First Principle possessing various powers. Pictures of name and form, the person who sees, the screen on which he sees, and the light by which he sees: he himself is all of these. 

2. All religions postulate the three fundamentals, the world, the soul, and God, but it is only the one Reality that manifests Itself as these three. One can say, 'The three are really three' only so long as the ego lasts. Therefore, to inhere in one's own Being, where the 'I', or ego, is dead, is the perfect State. 

3. 'The world is real.' 'No, it, is a mere illusory appearance.' 'The world is conscious.' 'No.' 'The world is happiness.' 'No.' What use is it to argue thus? That State is agreeable to all, wherein, having given up the objective outlook, one knows one's Self and loses all notions either of unity or duality, of oneself and the ego. 

4. If one has form oneself, the world and God also will appear to have form, but if one is formless, who is it that sees those forms, and how? Without the eye can any object be seen? The seeing Self is the Eye, and that Eye is the Eye of Infinity. 

5. The body is a form composed of the five-fold sheath; therefore, all the five sheaths are implied in the term, body. Apart from the body does the world exist? Has anyone seen the world without the body? 

6. The world is nothing more than an embodiment of the objects perceived by the five sense-organs. Since, through these five sense-organs, a single mind perceives the world, the world is nothing but the mind. Apart from the mind can there be a world? 

7. Although the world and knowledge thereof rise and set together it is by knowledge alone that the world is made apparent. That Perfection wherein the world and knowledge thereof rise and set, and which shines without rising and setting, is alone the Reality. 

8. Under whatever name and form one may worship the Absolute Reality, it is only a means for realizing It without name and form. That alone is true realization, wherein one knows oneself in relation to that Reality, attains peace and realizes one's identity with it. 

9. The duality of subject and object and trinity of seer, sight, and seen can exist only if supported by the One. If one turns inward in search of that One Reality they fall away. Those who see this are those who see Wisdom. They are never in doubt. 

10. Ordinary knowledge is always accompanied by ignorance, and ignorance by knowledge; the only true Knowledge is that by which one knows the Self through enquiring whose is the knowledge and ignorance. 

11. Is it not, rather, ignorance to know all else without knowing oneself, the knower? As soon as one knows the Self, which is the substratum of knowledge and ignorance, knowledge and ignorance perish. 

12. That alone is true Knowledge which is neither knowledge nor ignorance. What is known is not true Knowledge. Since the Self shines with nothing else to know or to make known, It alone is Knowledge. It is not a void. 

13. The Self, which is Knowledge, is the only Reality. Knowledge of multiplicity is false knowledge. This false knowledge, which is really ignorance, cannot exist apart from the Self, which is Knowledge-Reality. The variety of gold ornaments is unreal, since none of them can exist without the gold of which they are all made. 

14. If the first person, I, exists, then the second and third persons, you and he, will also exist. By enquiring into the nature of the I, the I perishes. With it 'you' and 'he' also perish. The resultant state, which shines as Absolute Being, is one's own natural state, the Self. 

15. Only with reference to the present can the past and the future exist. They too, while current, are the present. To try to determine the nature of the past and the future while ignoring the present is like trying to count without the unit. 

16. Apart, from us where is time and where is space? If we are bodies, we are involved in time and space, but are we? We are one and identical now, then, and forever, here, and everywhere. Therefore we, timeless, and spaceless Being, alone are. 

17. To those who have not realized the Self, as well as to those who have, the word 'I' refers to the body, but with this difference, that for those who have not realized, the 'I' is confined to the body whereas for those who have realized the Self within the body the 'I' shines as the limitless Self. 

18. To those who have not realized (the Self) as well as to those who have the world is real. But to those who have not realized, Truth is adapted to the measure of the world, whereas to those that have, Truth shines as the Formless Perfection, and as the Substratum of the world. This is all the difference between them. 

19. Only those who have no knowledge of the Source of destiny and free-will dispute as to which of them prevails. They that know the Self as the one Source of destiny and freewill are free from both. Will they again get entangled in them? 

20. He who sees God without seeing the Self sees only a mental image. They say that he who sees the Self sees God. He who, having completely lost the ego, sees the Self, has found God, because the Self does not exist apart from God. 

21. What is the Truth of the scriptures which declare that if one sees the Self one sees God? How can one see one's Self? If, since one is a single being, one cannot see one's Self, how can one see God? Only by becoming a prey to Him. 

22. The Divine gives light to the mind and shines within it. Except by turning the mind inward and fixing it in the Divine, there is no other way to know Him through the mind. 

23. The body does not say 'I'. No one will argue that even in deep sleep the 'I' ceases to exist. Once the 'I' emerges, all else emerges. With a keen mind enquire whence this 'I' emerges. 

24. This inert body does not say 'I'. Reality-Consciousness does not emerge. Between the two, and limited to the measure of the body, something emerges as 'I'. It is this that is known as Chit-jada-granthi (the knot between the Conscious and the inert), and also as bondage, soul, subtle-body, ego, samsara, mind, and so forth. 

25. It. comes into being equipped with a form, and as long as it retains a form it endures. Having a form, it feeds and grows big. But if you investigate it this evil spirit, which has no form of its own, relinquishes its grip on form and takes to flight. 

26. If the ego is, everything else also is. If the ego is not, nothing else is. Indeed, the ego is all. Therefore the enquiry as to what this ego is, is the only way of giving up everything. 

27. The State of non-emergence of 'I' is the state of being THAT. Without questing for that State of the non-emergence of 'I' and attaining It, how can one accomplish one's own extinction, from which the 'I' does not revive? Without that attainment how is it possible to abide in one's true State, where one is THAT? 

28. Just as a man would dive in order to get something that had fallen into the water, so one should dive into oneself, with a keen one-pointed mind, controlling speech and breath, and find the place whence the 'I' originates. 

29. The only enquiry leading to Self-realization is seeking the Source of the 'I' with inturned mind and without uttering the word 'I'. Meditation on 'I am not this; I am That' may be an aid to the enquiry but it cannot be the enquiry. 

30. If one enquires 'Who am I?' within the mind, the individual 'I' falls down abashed as soon as one reaches the Heart and immediately Reality manifests itself spontaneously as 'I-I'. Although it reveals itself as 'I', it is not the ego but the Perfect Being, the Absolute Self. 

31. For Him who is immersed in the bliss of the Self, arising from the extinction of the ego, what remains to be accomplished? He is not aware of anything (as) other than the Self. Who can apprehend his State? 

32. Although the scriptures proclaim 'Thou art That', it is only a sign of weakness of mind to meditate 'I am That, not this', because you are eternally That. What has to be done is to investigate what one really is and remain That. 

33. It is ridiculous to say either 'I have not realized the Self' or 'I have realized the Self'; are there two selves, for one to be the object of the other's realization? It is a truth within the experience of everyone that there is only one Self. 

34. It is due to illusion born of ignorance that men fail to recognise That which is always and for everybody the inherent Reality dwelling in its natural Heart-centre and to abide in it, and that instead they argue that it exists or does not exist, that it has form or has not form, or is non-dual or dual. 

35. To seek and abide in the Reality that is always attained, is the only Attainment. All other attainments (siddhis) are such as are acquired in dreams. Can they appear real to someone who has woken up from sleep? Can they that are established in the Reality and are free from maya, be deluded by them? 

36. Only if the thought 'I am the body' occurs will the meditation 'I am not this, I am That', help one to abide as That. Why should we for ever be thinking, 'I am That'? Is it necessary for man to go on thinking 'I am a man'? Are we not always That? 

37. The contention, 'Dualism during practice, non-dualism on Attainment', is also false. While one is anxiously searching, as well as when one has found one's Self, who else is one but the tenth man? 

38. As long as a man is the doer, he also reaps the fruit of his deeds, but, as soon as he realizes the Self through enquiry as to who is the doer his sense of being the doer falls away and the triple karma is ended. This is the state of eternal Liberation. 

39. Only so long as one considers oneself bound, do thoughts of bondage and Liberation continue. When one enquires who is bound the Self is realized, eternally attained, and eternally free. When thought of bondage comes to an end, can thought of Liberation survive? 

40. If it is said, that Liberation is of three kinds, with form or without form or with and without form, then let me tell you that the extinction of three forms of Liberation is the only true Liberation.

𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬

NAMKHAI NORBU RINPOCHE

Some people are disturbed when they hear noises made by other people walking, talking and so on, and they become irritated by this, or else becoming distracted by things external to themselves, they give birth to many illusions. This is the mistaken path known as 'the dangerous passageway in which external vision appears to one as an enemy'.

What this means is that, even though one knows how to continue in the knowledge of the condition of both the state of calm and the wave of thought, one has not yet succeeded in integrating this state with one's external vision. If this should be the case, while still always maintaining present awareness, if one sees something, one should not be distracted, but, without judging what one sees as pleasant, one should relax and continue in the presence. If a thought arises judging experience as pleasant and unpleasant, one should just acknowledge it with bare attention and continue in present awareness without forgetting it.

If one finds oneself in an annoying circumstance, such as surrounded by a terrible row, one should just acknowledge this disagreeable circumstance and continue in present awareness, without forgetting it.

If one does not know how to integrate the presence of awareness with all one's daily actions, such as eating, walking, sleeping, sitting, and so on, then it is not possible to make the state of contemplation last beyond the limited duration of a session of sitting meditation.

If this is so, not having been able to establish true present awareness, one creates a separation between one's sessions of sitting practice and one's daily life. So it is very important to continue in present awareness without distraction, integrating it with all the actions of one's daily life. 

The Buddha, in the Prajñápáramitá Sutra (This text is commonly called "The Heart Sutra.") said: 'Subhuti, in what way does a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva; being aware that he has a body, practice perfect conduct? Subhuti, a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, when walking, is fully mindful that he is walking; when he stands up is fully mindful of standing up; when sitting is fully mindful of sitting; when sleeping is fully mindful of sleeping; and if his body is well or ill, he is fully mindful of either condition!' That's just how it is!

From: Advice on Presence and Awareness.

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐙𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐠

Final Words — Teachings of Zen Master Mangong

I have been teaching Zen students on this mountain for almost forty years. Many people come to visit me thinking they are visiting a Zen Master but they only see my form body, the house where my true nature lives. They don’t see my true nature. That is not a problem but it means that they have not seen their true nature.

Because they haven’t seen their true nature, they cannot see their parents, siblings, wife, and children, or anybody. They wander through life in vain, like a crazy person. We have to say that this is truly a world of darkness. Students who receive my teaching must do it with sincerity and dedication, not forgetting the methods I used. Ultimately, being sincere and dedicated is paying back your Dharma obligation, so you will not waste your practice or suffer a mental loss.

You should always retain three things: a place of practice, a teacher and Dharma friends.

 
(Three thousand years after Sakyamuni Buddha, three bodhisattvas of the highest level will appear on Dok Seung mountain. Seven people of great wisdom and numberless practitioners who have attained the Way will also appear.)

You should know that I am an eternal being, not dependent on a form body.
Even when my Dharma speech is not heard anymore, you should still be able to see my true face because it never disappears.

"𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞" 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐚

File this under "I was there, and now I'm here". Or, quoting an early formative teacher, Werner Erhard, "I used to be different, now I'm the same".

Imagine you unexpectedly finding yourself to be that "stranger in a strange land". A fish out of water. That necessary, oh-so delicious slice of pickle that fell out the sandwich. That double scoop of ice cream what plopped to the sidewalk. 

[Go on, make up your own. You got one, I know. We've all been there.]

Or, maybe like that super capable international mystery man operative dropped off naked and penniless in the middle of some unkown darkest and remote jungle only to arrive a few days later in a Rolls attired in the finest bespoke tailoring at the swankest hotel in Monte Carlo; well known to the management, credit unlimited, all the ladies' heads turning, exciting plans for the evening?

Not me. Not even close.

Quite the opposite. Though I have run a few operations in my day. Just sayin'.

But yet, not unlike our movie hero, I once did find myself untied from all the familiar moorings. In my case, however, pretty much ill-equipped. At first glance, anyway. Not knowing how I got there, or what to do. Next steps? Huh? Being there with too many logs in the fireplace it was quite enough in itself to keep the fire alight. Let alone, having much of any view to the future.

Thanks for the compound essence of time to allow for healing.

Stripped of that years-long carefully curated personalized wardrobe of assumed labels and roles. Possessions. Alone, and lonely. Clueless. Witless too ... unsure of everything assumed to be usual and true. Is that even a part of your life experience? I'm not talking like about being lost on the road to Akron. I'm talking about being lost on the road of Life. With not much more certainty than the feel of my feet on the hard sidewalks of the Big Apple. Yet, thankfully, with a handle on the plain unassailable fact of my own existence. With a whole lot of burdensome baggage keeping me weighed down and stuck. Seemingly. 

There's something written by Jagadguru Swami Muktananda Paramahansa, Getting Rid Of What You Haven't Got. That kind of cherished false psychic baggage. The title alone gives the clue.

That was my reality at the time. How about them Apples? And, there in the Big Apple! Out of my personal depth, but not without some deep help.

Oh, not so drastic as to not know which way to turn the faucet, or that you don't cross on a red light, or how to hold a slice of Pizza, or which shoe goes on which foot. But more in the societal sense. Without any idea of my fit in the world.* With a plate full of the Perennial questions, and clearly needing to search for the answers. Who am I? Where am I? How'd I get here?  And, what the fuck is this? Where am I going?

That's me at the Hotel Chelsea. When I got off the bench of the scripted life, and the game of the inner life of self awareness was on. Full on. "In the thick of it" says a friend. In a world clearly in need of repair. 

[How does it go? The world is as you see it. Or, as my little lovely Daughters taught me: What you say goes back to you. Translate: When you point a finger, three more are pointing back at you. Some Apples, indeed!]

PHOTO: Claudio Edinger

In that photo I look like I'm living into my middle name, Daniel. In the Lion's den, keeping cool. Well, sure, it's the Chelsea Hotel, but that "Red Bitch" of a place on 23rd Street could be anything you wanted her to be. Not the safest place for someone unaware that the outer world is a projection of the inner. Your demons could easily jump out of the shadows in that mysterious, magical place. In the literal flesh. And there were plenty of shadows.

PHOTO: Claudio Edinger

And, above, here I am in most most brokenhearted pose. Stoic as usual, but hurting deep down.

So it goes ...

It's 1980 and things changed for me. Radically, and irrevocably. 

My marriage ended in divorce. Painful, yet understandable. No surprise. But, shocking nonetheless. Not the least for leaving the familial scene with my two darling Daughters no longer at arms length. I didn't at the time understand anything about anything to explain away for those kids the hurt they too were feeling now that Daddy wasn't their picture of "Daddy" no more. Daddy needed some understanding on that too. 

My career in advertising vanished. No surprise there either. One day slogging what felt like an uphill climb to the office and passing the ice rink at Rockefeller Center I had a crytallene moment of self honesty. I simply admitted to myself that I did not want to do that any more. And so it went. No more Can't Miss World Class International Top 10 Mad Ave Ad Biggie. Out. And, for good.

So-called friends turned their backs, hid in the bushes. Work colleagues, they were never friends in the first place. Origin family, all miles away in Detroit; and pretty much out of touch. Parents, still there though. But, mea culpa, neglected and underappreciated. I still weep over that. You miss a large part of your heart for not loving your parents. Regardless of the particulars of the story. [Please hear that, "to whom it may concern".]

It's now 2024, and identity is all the rage. I won't get into that thicket any more than to say that what I learned coming out of the Chelsea Hotel is that identity don't have anything to do with any of the inferences that have been tacked on to your persona starting with from breath-one. Those labels, roles, looks, and ways.

Short lesson: You are not your body ... you are not your mind. [Sid Vicious must've realized that very soon after he went to town on Nancy. Pray for them both.]

Looking back at that two-roads-diverged-in-a-yellow-wood moment in my life I am still amazed at the hand of Grace underneath and throughout it all. Essentially, I had it wrong. I was there, but not really there. Playing a role. Like how you must yourself have lived through an experience but missed it for being mentally preoccupied. Or, being a certain way because the social pressure demanded. I was chafing at having been mostly constructed around living into others' expectations, and my assumptions about meeting others' expectations. Not knowing myself. Not being true to myself. I believe the grace was partly that I didn't acquiesce. That burr under my saddle compelled me to take off the saddle. 

Please, don't get me wrong — I think there may be more than a few who've got me wrong [but that none of my bidness] — nothing wrong with saddles. Marriage, family, job, home, car, neighbors, preferences, proclivities, penchants ... you know, all the conventional stuffs what go into our life story. Just now that we know better, let's be sure that things are in perspective. Keeping it real. You driving the horse, not the horse taking you. 

What's real, you ask? I can't say. Don't mean I don't know. Maybe a clue there. Those who know, don't say. But, those who don't say, don't mean they know either. You're on your own. But, like me in my "journey", not really. The Holy Spirit got you. Time for faith and trust. Pray. Repent. Forgive. 

Meditate. There's the world outside, sure. There's the inside too. Create a balance. Build and beautify that castle. There's the interior castle too.

Look, I'm not gonna lay out how to know yourself, and be true to yourself. That is all very well enough laid out in the teachings of the Knowing Ones. Easy enough to get your hands on. Which, thankfully, I did. Like when the student is ready, the Teacher appears sort of thing.

I know, by now you may be thinking there should be more about the Chelsea Hotel. If you want a snootful of that, read this. 

Net, net, the Chelsea Hotel is where this one sailed out from, too. And, amazingly, still with a good wind. [Please, no comments on my style. This is Wronski's Wramblings after all. You've been forewarned.]

* "Fit in the world." Interesting how that resolved itself. Like I said, I got flushed from my career as a Can't Miss High Level International Top 10 Mad Ave Ad Biggie. Obvously, what to do in plain simple terms to make a buck was on the to-do list. 

Along with, and underpinning it all, that tectonic shift in my life. There was a change of heart. I knew I wasn't up any longer for crafting interesting and clever ways to get folks to part with their cash. I wanted a path with a heart. Remember, I said my Rolfer also lived at the Chelsea. Rolf Structural Integration was a WOW!. An education that literally enabled me to find a down-in-the-bones sense of place; my fit in the world. Becoming a practioner of that craft was — and still is — my ticket to ride. What's it about? Short version: "Balancing the Body with the Gravitational field of the Earth." Because, wherever you go, there you are. Understand? Understanding is merely 10 toes in front of two feet. Kapische? 

PS Interesting also, my good friend the Rolfer took me to see the brilliant movie Being There when it was playing in theaters in Manhattan. Being there. Just that. The simplicity of that. Like when it was new to me to live like that. Not knowing. Looking afresh. Open to the creative possibility. Hearing and seeing what, if anything, is to do ... or say. Same as it ever was. 

Creativity. Large topic. Just a few thoughts.

The Chelsea Hotel was known as a stop for creative souls. What is creativity? The Wise Ones assert that "not knowing" is the essence of it. Living empty handed. But not without resources. The empty hand has the most options to choose the right brush, the right color. Versus just working from a preselected set bag of tricks. Of course, you do have to have the confidence born of faith and trust that knows how to be responsible ... that you're able to respond.  Well and appropriately. Knowing you have the palette of colors to accurately and creatively paint the picture of the scene facing you. It's all in Who's got your back. Who's got the lead. Who's in charge. True creativity — in Life — demands trust and faith. And, an untroubled heart. And, a clear head. Relinquishing doership.

I'm working on it. 

You may be wondering if I'm on the right track. Here's a clue. In answer to his question about what to do about the mendacity of the world, my answer to R. D. Laing was this: "I'm going to purify my heart." His response: "That's the most anyone can do."

Here's a link to recollections from my stay at the Hotel Chelsea. 

 

 

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ... 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬/𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬?

Recently the former President Donald J. Trump was convicted by a New York State Court on 34 counts in a trial over hush money payments. 

Good News! Bad News! Which? You choose. Or, do you? Maybe your choice was given to you. Just sayin'.

To my reading of this highly complex case, there are many issues which will come back to be reexamined on appeal. Some reliable legal experts — Alan Dershowitz, John Turley — have expressed serious concerns over claimed prosecutorial and judicial improprieties on many aspects of the case. Not the least being the whole deal is a political hit job.

Let's let the experts sort that out.

But ... I can't help but notice that with this and all the other cases filed against 45, it's not too much of a stretch to say "they're ganging up on him".

Whatever. But the justification seems to be that he's such a goddam danger to democracy and the survival of the world itself that we need to get him by any means necessary; by hook or by crook.

Problem with that, if it's true — and it sure seems like it might be — folks sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States may have subverted democracy in the name of protecting it. Prove me wrong.

What's more, that huge swaths of the electorate could be so propagandized on all things Trump that they either don't notice the possible mendacity at play, or are willing to overlook it on account of that he's such a dastardly dastard. 

Let's not even go into how the toxic political environment with such doomsday projections should either side of the aisle come to power in 2025 how it could inspire some crazy motherfucker to take matters into their own hands. Or, some crazy motherfucking deep state entity to do the same. 

Interesting times, huh?