A Journey of 1000 miles...

Enlightenment consists not merely in the seeing of luminous shapes and visions, but in making the darkness visible.  The latter procedure is more difficult, and therefore, unpopular.

'Understand this above all. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you expect or hope for. There have never been past warriors, nor will there be future ones. The warrior is *here, now*. Your sorrow, your fear and anger, regret and guilt, your envy and plans and cravings live only in the past, or in the future.' - 'Hold on... I distinctly remember being angry in the present.' 'Not so. What you mean is that you *acted* angry in a present moment. Action always happens in the present, because it is an expression of the body, which can only exist in the here and now. But the mind is like a phantom that lives only in the past or future. Its only power over you is to draw your attention out of the present.'

It's better to make a mistake with the full force of your being than to timidly avoid mistakes with a trembling spirit.  Responsibility means recognizing both pleasure and price, action and consequence, then making a choice.

Only the mind resists change. When you relax mindless into the body, you are happy and content and free, sensing no separation. Immortality is already yours, but not in the way you imagine or hope for. You have been immortal since before you were born and will be long after the body dissolves. The body is Consciousness; never born; never dies; only changes. The mind -- your ego, personal beliefs, history, and identity -- is all that ends at death. And who needs it?

Hell is—possibly—the place where you are stuck in your own personal narrative forever, and Heaven is—possibly—the place where you can ditch it, and take up wisdom instead.

Are you learning as you write [or paint, or sing, or dance]? Are you transforming, moving closer to your inner self? I suspect the key to not getting stuck in old stories, old grief, lies in sculptor Anne Truitt’s words: “The most difficult part of being an artist is the inner imperative to constantly mine the nervelines of one’s most intimate sensitivities.”

Self doubt can be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator of aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we dream of doing, and desire, desire to do it. If you find yourself asking yourself, “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?” chances are you are. The Counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.

The brain can be a tool. It can recall phone numbers, solve math puzzles, or create poetry. In this way, it works for the rest of the body, like a tractor. But when you can't stop thinking of that math problem or phone number, or when troubling thoughts and memories arise without your intent, it's not your brain working, but your mind wandering. Then the mind controls you; then the tractor has run wild. ... 'Mind' is an illusory reflection of cerebral fidgeting. It comprises all the random, uncontrolled thoughts that bubble into awareness from the subconscious. Consciousness is not mind; awareness is not mind; attention is not mind. Mind is an obstruction, an aggravation. It is a kind of evolutionary mistake in the human being, a primal weakness in the human experiment. I have no use for mind.

The world was peopled with minds, whirling faster than any wind, in search of distraction and escape from the predicament of change, the dilemma of life and death -- seeking purpose, security, enjoyment, trying to make sense of the mystery. Everyone everywhere lived a confused, bitter search. Reality never matched their dreams; happiness was just around the corner -- a corner they never turned. And the source of it all was the human mind.

Understanding is the one-dimensional comprehension of the intellect. It leads to knowledge. Realization is three-dimensional -- a simultaneous comprehension of head, heart, and instinct. It only comes from direct experience... Use whatever knowledge you have but see its limitations. Knowledge alone does not suffice; it has no heart. No amount of knowledge will nourish or sustain the spirit; it can never bring you ultimate happiness or peace. Life requires more than knowledge; it requires intense feeling and constant energy. Life demands right action if knowledge is to come alive.

Life is not a private affair. A story and its lessons are only made useful if shared.

Each relationship between two persons is absolutely unique. That is why you cannot love two people the same. It simply is not possible. You love each person differently because of who they are and the uniqueness they draw out of you. And the more you know another, the richer the colors of that relationship.

Art alone makes life possible – this is how radically I should like to formulate it. I would say that without art man is inconceivable in physiological terms… I would say man does not consist only of chemical processes, but also of metaphysical occurrences. The provocateur of the chemical processes is located outside the world. Man is only truly alive when he realizes he is a creative, artistic being…

*The Great Sadness* had draped itself around Mack's shoulders like some invisible but almost tangibly heavy quilt. The weight of its presence dulled his eyes and stooped his shoulders. Even his efforts to shake it off were exhausting, as if his arms were sewn into its bleak folds of despair and he had somehow become part of it. He ate, worked, loved, dreamed, and played in this garment of heaviness, weighed down as if he were wearing a leaden bathrobe -- trudging daily through the murky despondency that sucked the color out of everything.