The Way and the Power of Virtue

If we go out to greet it, we cannot see its head;  if we follow behind it, we cannot see its end. Grasping the present Way is the means of navigating what is in the present; It is the means to be able to understand the past and beginnings – this is what is called the guideline of the Way. Continuing with the description of the Way as unlimited , endless and infinite, we cannot get ahead of it or behind it.   It has no beginning or end, no head or tail.   It cannot be preempted and has no conclusion.   It is an endless and infinite network of solutions and options, opportunities and possibilities.   But what is important for us is not how long it has been around or how many people have discovered it.   How someone else found their Way in the past isn’t as important as the fact that they did and because they did we can too.   It’s not the ancient Way that matters.   It’s the Way as it exists right now before us.   It is the first or ...

  Its heights are unbounded – light cannot shine down upon it,  and yet its depths are undarkened.   Coiling and coiling as an endless length of rope, it cannot be labeled. Coming and going, back and forth, over and over again,  it is a homecoming to the myriad things. This is called the form of formlessness, the image of no-thing –  This is called a flash of perspective. The Way is unlimited.   Its heights are so high that light cannot shine down upon it; yet even it’s deepest depths are undimmed by the darkness.   No matter how far down, we may find ourselves, there is no hole too deep, no abyss too dark that it is out of reach.   There is ALWAYS a Way – a Way forward, a Way upward, a Way out, a Way through, from wherever we find ourselves to wherever we want to go! The Way coils and coils, like an endless rope – sometimes seemingly twisted and tangled like an indistinct mass – no limiting labels can constrain or contain it.   The...

  What you look for but cannot see is called obscured; what you listen for but cannot hear is called muffled; what you reach for but cannot grab hold of is called minute. These three cannot be exhaustively articulated, thus they are combined as aspects of Unity. There is always a Way – a Way forward, a Way upward, a Way out, a Way through, or a Way around – from wherever we are right now, to wherever we want to go.  The Way is always there, but we don’t always see it in the midst of our struggles and challenges – particularly in our fast-paced, info-saturated society of endless diversions and distractions.  So often we look for a Way but don’t see it; we strain to hear our inner voice, an intuitive voice that is being drowned out by the shrill cries of self-doubt and criticism.  We try to listen for a voice of inspiration over the cacophony of culture and the screams of society but there is just too much noise, too much static, too much interference.  W...

Therefore, only those who value themselves as part of a larger world can be entrusted with it; Only those who love themselves as if the whole world depended on them can be put in charge of it. This passage is about understanding our place in the broader universe and valuing ourselves accordingly.  We live not just for ourselves – but for the greater world.  Everybody in this world is important – is valuable.  We matter and have our existence, our very being has purpose.  Everyone has something to offer and contribute to the world.  When we learn to see ourselves – our being as part of a greater world and choose to embrace the value that we can add to the world – what we can offer to all those around us – that’s when the world can be entrusted to our care.  In the words of author, spiritual thought leader, and political activist Marianne Williamson : “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It ...

  What do I mean by ‘value great hardship as you do yourself?’ Why do I have great hardship?   Is it not because I have a self? If I didn’t have a ‘self’ what hardship would I have? Instead of just valuing the good times, we also need to equally value the hard times.   We tend to only appreciate the good times but the difficult times can be some of our greatest teachers.   As C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) wrote, “hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny.” Our failures don’t have to define us – they can refine us – if we use them as stepping stones instead of stumbling blocks.   We can use our greatest failures as fuel to motivate us, driving us to greater achievement and development.   Our worst failures can become fertilizer to nourish and nurture greater growth and abundance, which will then empower us to be of greater service to others.   As the Dalai Lama taught, “It is under the greatest adversity that there exists th...