20th Century Psalms: The Impersonal (November 2015)

From the out-of-print book, 20th Century Psalms, excerpted and reprinted with permission from Good Karma Publishing.

Only the Sage understands the Impersonal.

My poem “Only the Human Heart Hears the Falling Snow” is meant to reveal that this Cosmos is nothing but the Human Heart.

The experience of naked Reality is shattering. In an aware state of no-thought it comes on one, though it has always been there.

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It is my feeling that Karma can be worked out in dreams.

People sometimes mistake the emotional for the Spiritual. They are two different things.

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There must be a subject and an object or there is no consciousness.

Time, without which the duality of thought could not exist, is the screen blocking the apprehension of Reality.

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When you’re early, all the lights seem to be green.

Any number of people will tell you that you should have checked your tires. How many will help you change a flat?

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Paul Reps says he feels the equal of every blade of grass. Oh, to be a snowflake, each one completely unique.

Want to know what is really happening? All are singing the Glory of Creation!

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Man’s greed usually exceeds his kindness. He is willing to let others suffer so he may have his gain (and he can usually rationalize to justify it). However, the truth is that Compassion and Wisdom are one.

Except for egotism, why should you imagine that man is the most highly-developed of all possible creatures? Is there anything in his cruelty and greed that makes him seem to be an ultimate and not merely an immature development?

To hunt animals for “sport” is to shoot at God. To cage animals in a zoo and mistreat them in rodeos is to flagellate God.

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How can there be “Zen or Yoga for the West”? Does Reality know of East or West?

Many say they are “into Zen or Yoga” – meaning they have read something. How many are sincere enough to really free themselves?

I stopped playing Chess when I realized I no longer felt competitive and didn’t care whether I won or lost. Chess is cerebral and enjoyable, but the action is that of War.

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Tell people the “spiritual” message they want to hear and you’ll make a fortune. Tell them “truth” and nobody will come to hear you.

Of what use is money if we do not spend it or give it away? To endlessly accumulate it is to see paper as the greatest value.

Everyone knows he can’t take it with him; yet he accumulates eagerly until his death. One man told me he retired 30 years ago with one million dollars and still has the million. “How much good have you done with that money?” I asked.