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 What
does it mean to be truly alive?
Does it mean to be so busy, frantic, or worried
that we cannot enter this
moment deeply? Does it mean to be
so full of
yesterday's knowledge or tomorrow's hope that we cannot see
the contours of
today? Does it mean to
be so blind to this world's beauty that we spoil
everything we touch? Does it mean
to be so self-absorbed that we forget to
offer
simple kindness to others? Does it mean to believe so strongly in this
philosophy or that "ism" that we can't hear the original music playing
within us?
To be truly alive
is to be deeply in love with this moment. Not the moment that we imagine, not
the moment of our thoughts and beliefs about this moment, but this moment, as it
is.
CLAP.
This moment of
suddenness and energy and surprise. This moment of wonder and awe. This moment
of beauty and silence. This moment of light and stillness.
To be truly alive
is to listen very, very deeply-not with our ears, but with our whole being. Not
just with our whole being, but with the whole being of creation. Listening like
this, we have no center, nor beginning, nor ending. Our center is everywhere,
and so we begin and end here, and there, and here again. Listening with the
enormous ear of creation itself, we hear life breathing.
To be truly alive
is to be open, open, open...just that...open as the sky, no, more so, as open as
the heavens, no, more so. In this, there is no protection, no fear, no hiding,
no secrets...why would there be? To be alive is to be an openness in which
everything lives without prejudice, without hatred, without violence towards
anything...pure openness. Within this openness is acceptance...acceptance of
things as they are...as they are.
To be truly alive
means to recognize that anger and violence are signs of a broken soul, that
hatred and greed are signs of a broken soul, that obsession with our own self
and future are signs of a broken soul, that carelessness and cruelty towards
others are signs of a broken soul.
Really speaking, we
do not have a broken soul, for the soul can never be broken. Really speaking, a
broken soul means a neglected soul, one forgotten and betrayed. That is what it
means. How do we neglect, forget, and betray our own soul? Simple. It is this:
we love lesser things. We love lesser things, flat things without depth. We give
ourselves to superficial loves and lovers, we turn away from the deep well-water
of this moment, this moment as it is, free from distorting concepts and images.
This moment, free from self-obsession and worry and anger and doubt...this
moment in its pure state...the pure state of the heart opened towards all in
wonder, awe, and love. That is what I mean by this moment: the heart opened wide
towards all in wonder, awe, and love. This is where we find our soul without
break or bend...whole, in its true state.
We find our soul
here, in this true moment, and we become truly alive.
What else do we
need? Nothing. What else do we need? Nothing. This is all we need: to find the
true and unbroken soul within us, within this moment, and love it all the time.
Love it all the time. Do not give yourself to lesser loves, do not betray your
own truth, the deepening truth of this moment, the deepening truth of your
listening, the deepening truth of your loving. All within this moment. All
within your pure soul.
Right here. Right
now. As you are.
Listen to your own
silence. Love your own silence. Share your silence. Let your silence consume all
doubt, all fear, all arrogance, all loving of lesser things.
Love what comes
from within you, silently, to orbit the world, and you, orbiting the world,
re-enter the world as a shower of sparks in the unbroken soul of silence. 
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