coming empty handed

How does one come into contact with what is True? Is it merely just another creation of the brain, a physiological process, or is there something deeper than that? Can one come into it with all their attachments, narrow perceptions, ambition, striving, greed, and so on? You strive for it because you seek continuity in a world of impermanence, a foundation to grasp. This belief is held so tightly within interwoven bundles of conditioning that approaching it requires great courage, and brings about immense fear if one draws near. It results from the separation we have been taught from an early age. What happens if we rid ourselves of all beliefs, traditions, and webs of thought instantly? To completely die to our memory, which is time? One asks why we would do this in the first place- not to die physically, but to liberate oneself from the past without cause. The question presupposes life and death are opposites, and therefore invokes separation. To come to life empty-handed, completely non-identified, with no motive, is the beginning of compassion. Only until your actions cease to come from a center can there be love. Love that asks for nothing because giving and receiving are seen as one. Love that is beyond the mind, intellect, emotion, and anything else man has created. Love that gives life to all.

-S.L.

Art by Deb Anderson