The White Crane

The Mountain extends to Heaven,

Where the Wind flows like Water…

The Thunder sparks the Fire,

That fills the Valley and renews the Earth.

(then all things are One)

 

 

Copyright Cory Williams 2018

Reincarnation

I must accept as true only that which is freed from my subjective prejudices… Pierre Hadot

It’s not for me, and Buddha never thought so too! There is nothing real about re-incarnation. Why do so many perpetuate this myth? I think Buddha would be embarrassed by this sort of irrational thinking. Ancient metaphorical language and thought, from orally expressed discourses, passed down through 2500 years, translated through countless different languages, interpreted by different systems of logic, often misrepresented, and frequently altered for nefarious reasons, cannot be trusted as truth.

It’s like watching so much of the fake news today, this has always happened since the days of antiquity and it will continue.  We should learn to think for ourselves. If someone sold your body to another, you would be outraged, yet we give our minds away without a second thought.

Siddhartha Buddha died before 400 BC, where is he now? Only in the hearts and minds of his followers. His use of the term “rebirth” has perhaps, been corrupted by some into “re-incarnation” with a desire and attachment to live forever and maybe to use these false promises to win converts or to pass judgment on those they dislike. I think he would not be impressed.

Chan Buddhism was founded in China during the 6th century CE. According to D.T. Suzuki, as a “natural evolution of Buddhism under Taoist conditions.” The word “Chan” means meditation. Zen, a product of 13th century Japan, was derived from Chan. The basic idea was to achieve “Buddha Nature” without the need for the written teachings and did not adhere to the scriptural dharma. Tibetan Buddhism, a sect that didn’t exist until the 10th century AD, that is 1400 years after Buddha’s death, differs very much from Chan/Zen and it is highly steeped in scriptures and dogma. Buddhism and Taoism like Christianity has taken many forms since the ancient times. Even the Taoists, some of them, deified Lao Tzu, in an attempt to compete with religions of their time.

They honor me with their words, yet their hearts are far from me… Jesus of Nazareth.

Optimists hope, pessimists complain, realists adapt. Hope is for losers, complaining is for whiners, adapting is what winners do, this is the greatest teaching of all. People the world over have survived war, natural disasters and coping with death mostly through pragmatic realism. The fact is, these trials make us all stronger. Unfortunately our modern culture has made us soft and weak. Proper meditation leads to clarity and objectivity and freedom from delusion.

The unexamined life is not worth living…Socrates

Promising afterlives, trying to explore past lives, contemplating the future, always comes at the expense of the here and now. With the exception of certain mindfulness spiritual exercises, dwelling on the past and future are worse than a waste of time. Even psychotherapists get into the act. Trying to analyze the past and encouraging their patients to re-live it, is just pain dumb, dangerous actually. As much as I love and respect the many good things and benefits to mankind brought about through religion; the worst thing to have happened in all of this was for once great philosophies to be reduced to religions, where metaphorical language has been altered into dogma or worse, attempts to control and manipulate the free thinking minds of people.

I was born at the same time as Heaven and Earth… Zhuang Tzu

I have been reborn a few times in my life, it is happening now, but the thought that I will be born again into another body is ludicrous. This in NOT a teaching of Buddha! Taoists and Zen Buddhists are more clear on this than others, believe what you want to, but don’t waste your time contemplating such things. How can anyone be free when they are attached to duality and dreams of the past and future? They are not, they are in fact slaves. Maybe you have been miss-led by the many misguided schools of thought that have emerged since the time of Siddhartha and others?

Buddha said: “Worship nothing” and when he died… they worshiped him.

The real teachings of the great sages are often not what we as a society have been led to believe. I will certainly not tell anyone what to believe, but why do people believe in myths that discredit the ancient sages with irrational beliefs? The early Christians totally threw out the Gnostic scriptures and defiled translations of Plato by changing Socrates name to Saint Paul! The corruption of the sages was a common method to gain power and control over peoples minds, how sad is it that their words have been twisted by knaves to be used against the freedom of the individual. It is ironic because Buddha, Jesus, Socrates, Ramana Maharshi, and many others fought so hard to teach truth.

I have never been born and I will never die… Nisargadatta Maharaj

Often the great teachers of antiquity knew that they had to express their thoughts in a way that their listeners could understand, based on the prevailing rules of the day and based on cultural norms. Therefore they would even say things they knew were not exactly true, but would be perceived as truth to the listener in order to convey the basic ideas to them.

In the ancient world the word “God” is often a simple metaphor for “Nature”. People, especially philosophers would be killed as heretics if they didn’t use such language. Socrates lost his life for corrupting the minds of youths, and now he is renown as the father of philosophy. “Karma” is simply cause and effect, “afterlife” means how you are remembered when you leave this earth, by your character, “rebirth” means wake up and smell the coffee and change your life now!

Instead of hoping for secret meanings in corrupted translations of metaphorical teachings, I would suggest, stop complaining about how the wind is blowing and simply adjust your sails.

 

Copyright Cory Williams 2017

• For more in-depth information about this topic try reading this interesting article I found after writing this one:

Reincarnation and Buddhism: Here We Go Again

• Great book… Philosophy as a Way of Life  by Pierre Hadot
• Another great book… Classics of Buddhism and Zen   Volume One of Five  by Thomas Cleary

 

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Nature is Reason

Why complain… nobody cares

The path to happiness is simple, stop caring about things you have no control over. In these times, as throughout history, the path remains the same, yet as Lao Tzu tells us, “My way is simple, yet no one can follow it”.

What do I want to happen today?… Whatever is supposed to happen.

To Taoists, and many other groups of enlightened thinkers, all of Nature is God, meaning all of reality is God. Whatever is happening is to be enjoyed and or endured with equal aplomb. In fact, not accepting reality would be considered the greatest of all mistakes, an evil of sorts, as that attitude will lead to unhappiness or worse.

Denying Nature would then be the greatest transgression humans seemed doomed to repeat.

Climate change…so what? Who cares? It is part of Nature and out of control, the planet was much warmer in Roman days. Wars? Oh well!… So what? Politics…get over it! Oh what, you don’t like something someones says, or does?…Big deal! Grow up already! Try being grateful for the diversity of thought.

There is nothing you can do about any of these things anyway; or do you deny human nature? People are a part of Nature as much as anything else. Stop trying to control and manipulate, stop judging others, stop complaining about things, or you are out of harmony with Nature, God, and you will suffer.

This advice is lost on the emotionally immature. Lacking the ability to reason is the greatest problem with emotional people. You will never be happy without gaining emotional intelligence.

Forget struggling with all your perceived problems. Reading books about Tao and Zen and Stoicism is all a waste of time if you don’t apply these principles to your daily life with constancy. Judgment is guilt, discernment is innocence. The path to happiness, for many, is to avoid or ignore all the things that most people think is important. To them the only really important thing is to be mindful of our own judgments, and to be discerning, free thinking, self motivated individuals.

Free yourself from the pathetic angry mob of emotionally weak and insecure fools that believe any lie they wish to agree with because it makes them feel good. Being self-righteous and sanctimonious will lead to personal ruin. Becoming addicted to your emotions can actually kill you.

When will you start to take responsibility for your life? Be happy now! Stop caring! There is only one worthy goal, master yourself, and it starts with your judgements and aversions that lead to emotional excess. You get upset because you allow other people and things to control you, there is no person that is free, if they care about things they cannot control.

So what are you waiting for? Today is the Olympic games, you must perform, and you are naked! It is no longer training or a superficial attempt to become a Taoist or a Zenist, while you whine about reality. Reality, that is in fact the only thing that is true; learn from it or suffer the consequences. Trying to force your will is a complete waste of your life. Hundreds of millions of people have wasted their whole lives fighting reality; they have, and are still, living in an emotionally based prison of their own making.

Therefore be glad when the universe gives you a challenge, how else can you become brave and adapt and overcome? If you don’t like something, just walk away and never look back. If it were not for hardships how could we learn? If you accept lies, abuse and insults you will only get more of them. Who’s abusing you now? Separate yourself from the mob of group think and self abuse.

Stop wandering aimlessly, having no guide, and following the noise and discordant cries of those that call us in different directions, or your life will be consumed in making mistakes, and then it will be over; and you will discover then that you have never lived it.

Copyright Cory Williams 2017

Just breathe

I just inhale… and exhale…

why so much emotion…. let it all go I say,
There is too much living to be done today

There is no thought that is not from intention….
there is no intention without thought

Just breathe… there is no thought, no intention

One in… one out… nothing retained…
I breathe in all the joy and the suffering around me
and dissolve it in the emptiness that is me…
I exhale… only air comes out… pure and fresh

Only take what you can use from life…. leave the rest for others
Dissolve everything into emptiness and purify your world
There is nothing negative…. it is only thinking that makes it so.

I inhale everything… I exhale only love.

 

 

Copyright Cory Williams 2016

Faith

Faith is when your spirit is engaged in each now moment

One the many befits of proper meditation practice, is to become more objective about yourself, this should lead to being non-judgmental. When we see and learn about our many faults, we need to also learn to forgive ourselves as we have seen the many benefits of what we have discerned from our lives. Consequently we can forgive others. Better still, we will come to see, that not judging is an even better way to relate then having judgments and then “rescinding” them with forgiveness. All this judging and forgiveness is upsetting and unnecessary. Learning the right lessons in life, for some, means how quickly can we move from emotion to calm. When we learn our lessons, we see that remaining calm is the key to keeping your objectivity.

Calmness is the abode of the spirit

When we trust our spirits to run the show, will be discerning, intuitively non-judgmental. We can learn to forgive immediately, right on the spot. Coming from this place, we can remain calm, see even deeper, free from the need to react. This requires confidence in our sense and response to each now moment. Coming from faith, means that we trust our spirit to guide us.

Resist the tendency to doubt

It is not possible to just have faith in things, we need to have faith in our understanding of things…. Moreover, that we develop confidence that we have this understanding. Therefore, we will have few doubts. The fewer doubts we have is the equivalent of our level of faith. If we resist the tendency to doubt we are trusting, having faith in our spirit.

You can have faith in anything and it will yield similar results.
If you have faith in your health, faith in God, faith in country, political ideology, faith in your partner, faith in nature, whatever, you will be fulfilled according to your beliefs.

The more understanding we acquire, the more confidence we gain and the more faith we have; the more pleasant our lives become.

Enter Doubt…. The destroyer of faith

Healthy doubt is a powerful ally, but I’m not talking about that here. A healthy mind already knows from experience what is right and wrong for us; we don’t need doubt too much. When we mess up, we learn and change our way of thinking or our way of doing something and this is essential. The problem comes when we over analyze things. Our brain is looking for faults and ways to improve, this is an adaptation to stress. Over-using this system causes us dismay as we then doubt ourselves and we gather insecurities that lead to suffering. You might say, when we get stressed out, we doubt, then we lose faith.

The spontaneous flow of life’s energy needs to flow unimpeded to and from our spirits. When we get involved filtering and analyzing and doubting we lose faith in our ability to be natural. The simple fact is we cannot be “natural” if we do not follow our faith. By natural here I mean that originally there was no desire, we learned in an non-prejudicial way. Cravings and desires lead us to try and know “why” this inevitably leads to doubt,  after all, we may never know “why”. Doubt erodes our faith; taken to the extreme we can lose confidence, and ultimately we will suffer.

…. the only thing a human ever needs to do, is to respond correctly to each now moment…

Letting go of the need to know “Why” gives us the freedom to listen to our intuition, to use faith. Especially important in our dealing with other people is our ability to be confident that we are acting appropriately in the now moment. Lets face it, the only thing a human ever needs to do, is to respond correctly to each now moment. Doubting interrupts this natural inclination and impedes communion with the spirit.

Doubt destroys spontaneity. We have trained our spirit during our whole life, it knows what is right and good. Enter doubt and we conflict with our spirit, as if, everything we know in our heart is maybe wrong? This is destructive to the spirit and can lead a would-be meditator into hell. Without faith, doubt is going to interfere with our sense and our response.

Chronic doubters, and people that over analyze things, are usually over reacting to those things because their lack of faith leaves them defenseless in the now moment. They often appear needy and insecure to others and that exacerbates their doubt until they have serious reasons to doubt!  Often people of this persuasion develop physical and mental illnesses, many of which are lethal.

Trust that the Universe is completely out of control

Have Faith. Trust everything and everybody! It is a simple Taoist method to always be coming from faith. For example, Trust that the Universe is completely out of control. Trust that everyone will usually act in their own best interest. Trust good people to be good, trust bad people to be bad. Trust the climate to change, and change again. Trust that there will always be conflict and wars. Trust that you may get a broken heart from time to time but the wisdom gained and enjoyment of love was worth it.

Have faith in the way things are
Trust your ability to adapt and overcome all obstacles

Have faith in human nature
Trust your ability to discern the best people for you

Have faith in healing
Trust that you will learn to have faith

Have faith in yourself
Trust that you can always be fully in the now moment without doubting

“It is not possible to invent faith, but it is possible to resist the tendency to doubt!

Have patience, stop doubting that which you know in your heart to be true, and faith will do its perfect work.”

Copyright Cory Williams 2014

The mind is a terrible thing…

“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so”

We drive ourselves insane with knowledge, thinking we are gaining superiority in the world, but all that is useless in the greater scheme. It is like the proverbial life raft upon which we try to stay afloat above the sea of suffering. We cling to knowledge hoping we find dry land, a verdant island perhaps, where we can let go of all the past traumas. Once safely ashore we can release our fears and anxieties about the suffering we endured.

When you have had your fill of knowledge, you will tire of its uselessness. There is no need for continued stress you will discover; you don’t need a raft of knowledge to float upon an endless sea of suffering. Knowledge carried too far is like dragging a boat over land.

Like pulling weeds, one by one, we remove the thoughts and memories, being careful not to drop any seeds back into our garden. With proper meditation practice, post-mortem cleansing (pulling weeds) should leave you with only the essential.

Over time, all things are assimilated into our spirit. From our knowledge, and our experience, through our layers of body/mind/emotion it distills into the elixir of “knowing” which leads to clarity and ultimately to understanding. If we avoid coloring and flavoring what we think we know, we can truly “understand”. You might say, “knowing what is essential, is understanding.” Armed with the essential understanding you can discard the raft. In time you will learn to understand without the need to know. This is the gateway to enlightenment.

We can learn to fly above all things, joining with the One source of all life.

“He who knows does not say, he who says does not know”

What seems harmonious can be a ticking time bomb…. Sometimes we think we “know” all we need to. Sometimes that is true enough, sometimes you do know all you need to, in that knowledge only goes so far. The experience combined with the knowledge will lead you to the empirical truth but only if you are objective.

Do your meditations, pull the weeds from your psyche, don’t fear the truth, don’t be resentful for the past. Learn to see and discern the essence of all things, and then you can choose to forget the knowledge part  forever! The things that happend were not the important things in our lives, it is our perception and what we take away from it that builds our character. Learn the right lessons and the suffering will stop!

It is easy to be lead astray from the truth, we want to believe what we want to believe. If we believe it, it might just be so…and thinking it can make it seem like it is so!

We all know we actually can make somethings happen by just thinking them, often with disastrous results. We can become psychotic real quick when we open up that possibility! Don’t lie to yourself, be objective! Eventually you will be at peace within, and you will learn to always come from your spirit. You don’t need to believe in anything else, you will always be divine!

Don’t believe me,
Don’t believe anyone else,
Don’t believe Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu,
and
Don’t especially believe yourself!
Believe in yourself!

Knowledge can be good but it can be prejudice and limiting, it is only a tool on the path to wisdom. . .

The wise have little need for knowledge.

Wisdom transcends knowledge
Wisdom is without prejudice…and remembering the lessons!
Wisdom cannot be taught, it can only be learned

Copyright Cory Williams 2014

Nothing Really Matters!

Being and non-being
or not being and not non-being

Either way, there either “is” or there “isn’t”
And what about the transformations?
Can something be part “is” and part “isn’t”
And when do non-things become things?

is it a percentage???? 51 %
is it something you can see and measure?
is it something you can feel?
or a vague “knowing”?
or a “belief”?
maybe wishful thinking,

hope,

or delusion?

To stand in the doorway between “is” and “isn’t”,

That is the mysterious path of ultimate reality!

There is no distinction, “nothing” swallows everything like a black hole,
Breath in, the spirit recreates you,
Breath out, exhale into nothing.

As if everything that “is”…was…and yet,
had never been…

Things that never were, are…
Things that always were, are not…

Forget the past and the future,
Forget the now, as it too is already gone,
All that matters is each breath.

I live at the gate between both realities.
Being now, or never to have been,
are both the same to me.

Copyright Cory Williams 2013

Too much Love?

When is too much, more than enough?

When is enough, enough?

When is too little, not enough?

Or maybe “just right” is just plain “boring”

Is there a sliding scale that we subconsciously use?

Sure there is, but there is also the need for balance here.

We decide if it needs to be 50/50 or 60/40 or some other point.

Taiji is always changing. White to black… always holding to the Center

Harmonizing absolutes,

Finding and hearing that little voice within that brings balance.

Seeing and feeling the swinging energies moving to and fro.

Keeping your lives from swinging too far.

Being at one with the flow allows one to find the truth.

Testing our commitment and resolve as the wind and tides buffet us

Each time returning to a calm center,

That place where we feel loved.

If the energy is not in harmony then troubles will arise.

Swinging too far towards absolutes and can stress someone,

Not adapting to the stress can break the structure.

Adapt and overcome and return to oneness, stronger then before.

consider this:

love too much… get hurt…

love to little… get hurt…

This used to concern me, but now I have seen the light!

I figure, you either love someone or you don’t.

If you love someone, you appreciate them, giving and accepting love and friendship.

If you enjoy each others company you can talk for hours about anything or nothing at all.

If you love someone, you believe in your heart that they would never hurt you.

If two people are in love, it stirs their inner passions and inspires them to be better individuals.

If you love someone, you care deeply about things they are going through and either help or get out of the way.

If you are in love with someone you would move Heaven and Earth for them.

Loving someone means, being patient when things are not going exactly as you want, working together to be there for each other.

And so…  where are the degrees of separation emotionally?

You either appreciate someone, or you don’t

You either enjoy someone’s company, or you don’t

You either trust someone, or you don’t

You feel an inner passion inspiring you, or you don’t

You’re either patient with someone, or you’re not

You either work through things with someone, or you don’t

Either you will be there to move Heaven and Earth, or you will not.

You either love someone………………………… or you do not.

Copyright Cory Williams 2013

What is a Taoist ?

One that sees the simple in the complex, and the complex in the simple.

Taoists know better than to try to know the unknowable, and that somethings can be understood yet not seen.

Someone that lives in harmony with the natural order of the universe; adapting to change when possible and accepting the unavoidable.

A person that respects that the world is not something to be improved upon but we are.

One that follows a path to the mysteries of the universe. Where did we come from? Where do we end up? Why are we here? How do we make sense of it? What are we to do?…All these questions are meaningless, nothing really matters more than something. Merge with nothing and there are no more questions!

A Taoist appears like an ignoramus to those that are unenlightened, and they enjoy the anonymity of it all.

Taoists let nature take its course and get out of the way if they need too. They believe in life, and live it as each moment opens up before them.

A person that is driven to become real, yet sets things up so it can happen with minimal effort. They know when they have enough, and trust that the universe will provide if they are conscious of it’s workings.

Taoists find inner strength in their ability to gather energy and apply it to their lives. They are introspective, and balanced and nurture a deep awareness, connection and respect to Heaven and Earth and everything that lives there.

A Taoist is a person that wishes all sentient beings can master the skills to live in harmony with each other, and helps them to the best of their ability.

Taoism is the religion of no religion, you can believe whatever you want to and still be Taoist. We don’t argue over faith, we respect it. Taoists have serious faith, faith in truth and love and we live simple, patient and compassionate lives. We don’t bother other people with things or argue about things that can’t be grasped with the mind anyway.

To be Taoist… is to live free in an unfree world.

Copyright Cory Williams 2013

Human Life

Human life is the ultimate, and yet it often doesn’t feel like it! Our time here is a challenge to find the meaning of life. To Taoists, it is what it is, and to become a “real human” means to open up to that truth and to have nothing to be ashamed of before Heaven and Earth. We are their offspring after all, and eventually we will merge with them both. For now, as humans, living a human life, we have only the opportunity to emulate our eternal parents. Originally there was no desire within us, there was a pureness to our beings, return to that self and you will become a real human.

We are all given one body with which to make our journey back to our celestial parents, within that body there is a “real human” somewhere. The real human within us communes with Heaven and Earth and the clarity and calm therein is free from the accumulations foisted upon us. It exists now as it always has, a beautiful and delightful entity. Like a poor man winning the lottery, if you could just realize this fact, you would be rich beyond your wildest dreams.

The great Confucian sage, Mencius once said, “The difference between animals and humans is slight; common people obliterate it, superior people maintain it. Those that maintain it become sages; those that obliterate it become beasts.” They become beasts in this life.

Humans would be well advised to harmonize with the five elements of nature: metal, water, wood, fire and earth. In our bodies, these elements are manifest in the five yin organs, the lungs, kidneys, liver, heart and spleen. These are the main organs that support our life in this realm, if these become damaged, our body cannot sustain life. Taking care of our bodies is essential to provide for that spiritual embryo we all carry within.

Other influences include: the relationship between the government and the people, between parents and children, between husband and wife, between younger and older siblings and between friends. These “five norms” lay out a path of success for people. We need to be in harmony with our relationships as well, to be “real humans.” Sometimes we need to let go of certain relationships to be in harmony with them!

Finding harmony within our bodies and our relationships with others is part of following the Way. Taking away the causes of physical and emotional turmoil in our lives or finding the ability to adapt to them allows us to live long enough so that we may someday unlock the “real human” within. The only thing we have of any value is the real human within, don’t destroy it before you reach realization. Our physical life just here in our bodies is not the end all; the real human is our ultimate attainment. Live as though you are pregnant, and nurture your spiritual embryo.

Copyright Cory Williams 2013

What Love Isn’t

Photo Copyright Stephen Leshin

I may not know exactly what love is, but I do know a few things about what love isn’t. I know, for many people, love can be illusive, but I know for a fact that love is not an illusion.

As I look up at the sky, into the depths of all that is holy, there is love… Heaven creates everything, and gives it all away for free and never asks for anything in return. There is no blame, no frustration, disappointment or resentment there; no anger or malice, no guilt, no feelings of inadequacy or loneliness in Heaven, there are only infinite possibilities.

Emotions are a human thing, they are not meant to torment us, but to be our loving guide. There is no “should” or “should not” pertaining to our feelings, we have to learn from our emotions and in so doing respect that they are loving reminders, helping us to grow. Following enlightened reason we can feel our way to self love.

We learn strength when we can harmonize with our feelings. Each of us has to deal with these things by ourselves; part of loving someone means we foster their independence by being patient with them as they grow. The only thing we need to do is to be kind to ourselves and others as we all evolve.

It may take a lifetime to discover the truth about ourselves, but everything we have comes from the infinite. We see love in the brief little moments that twinkle like the stars shining for eternity. Moments like forgiveness, compassion, respect and gratitude. One kind deed can last an eternity. We fail at love when we forget these things.

Like star dust, love can be illusive, but out of the emptiness of the dark energy of the universe, all things are born.

Copyright Cory Williams 2013

Stop Wasting Your Time

“To attain Tao you must first be egoless” 

No one can grasp Tao with their intellect, and yet there are many that try this approach. I say it is impossible. Since Tao is ungraspable with the mind it really is a waste of time and they will fail. What a shame to work so hard and be so desiring of something only to find that all your hard work and desire has lead you in the opposite direction!

All the Taoist scriptures are clear on this point, they all talk about non-striving and non contrivance, just actually read the Tao Te Ching, or the Chuang Tzu and it is as plain as the nose on your face.

So why then do so many approach Qigong and meditation training from such an intellectual perspective? Healthy ignorance drives curiosity that brings enlightenment.  Overdoing the knowledge part and block true learning. Perhaps, some have bought into the theory that you can attain Tao by learning all these forms… or knowing all this stuff about the internal workings of your energy system or by purchasing some devices, or traveling to some exotic location.  Well now, that is all fine and good, but if you cling to your intellect, you are ego driven and you will never rise above a self imposed limit. Learning Tao, requires one to move far beyond knowledge.

Forget intellectual learning… Real understanding is beyond knowledge

Intellectual learning can be worse than a waste of time, it can be actually harmful.  Real understanding is beyond knowledge. Christian scripture says, “Seek first the kingdom of Heaven and all things will be given unto you.” This is the dirty little secret about health, happiness, and spiritual success. If you value intellectual learning over spirit, you will fail. There is no real need for knowledge, or people, places or things.

A real Taoist knows this; that is why you will never meet a true master that is arrogant, pride-full, profit seeking, egotistical or anything but humble and loving. I have never met a master that had an ego… you might say, to be a true master, you must be egoless.

To attain the Tao is a spiritual thing. That is really all that matters, I don’t follow teachers with huge egos. I don’t believe what some supposed “masters” write in their over-priced books and workshops or purchase products that promise enlightenment from them; many are charlatans. I don’t believe myself either, in that I do not listen to my intellect; we have all been conditioned to believe that we can think our way through life. All we are is that which the spirit projects into our aura, over time our bodies will take on a new configuration. The spirit produces the bodies that we have, and no amount of wishful thinking or contrivance will make one iota of difference.

Be loving and patient, kind and forgiving and seek guidance from people with those qualities and all things will be given unto you. There is no substitute for practice, and only a spiritual approach will give you the impetus to practice. Even a very simplistic practice is sufficient. The fact is, you don’t even need a teacher, you need only simple practice fueled by your spirit!

Hush, be still and know….(your spirit knows the truth) and the truth will set you free.

Copyright Cory Williams 2012