Hardcore Zen

You can never escape yourself.  The truth is always there.  Try to look away from it and wherever you turn your head it's right in front of you.  Reality is the one and only constant thing in this universe.  It's always right there.  Just as it is.  Your life is yours alone, and to miss your life is the most tragic thing that could happen.  So shit down, shut up, and take a look at it. 

That pretty much sums up why you need to read Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner, he also has a blog here.  But if you need more then I should just tell you that I FUCKING HIGHLIGHTED and dog eared more than I remember ever doing in college, lol.

• It's a frightening thing to be truly honest with yourself.  It means you have no one left to turn to anymore, no one to blame, and to one to look to for salvation.

• Chasing after fantasies is always a bad idea.  Stick with reality.  Reality's all you've got.  But here's the real secret, the real miracle.  It's enough.

• Drugs won't show you the truth.  Drugs will only show you what it is like to be on drugs.  (lol).

• Reality is here and now.  The universe is where you are at this moment.  The most important action you can possibly take is what you do right now.  Be completely naked.  Be absolutely open and the universe will show itself in all its true glory.  It's not the future that counts.  If you want to believe in reincarnation, you have to believe that this life, what you're living right now, is the afterlife.  You're missing out on the afterlife you looked forward to in your last existence by worrying about your next life.  This is what happens after you die.  Take a look. 

• People imagine enlightement will make them incredibly powerful.  And it does.  It makes you the most powerful being in the universe - but usually no else one notices

• We try so hard to preserve the very thing that's making us miserable.  We cling hard to our pain because we mistakenly think that that pain is who we really are.  We define ourselves by what we don't like or we define ourselves by what we like.  Either way, we miss the truth, and the point.

Comments

[anonymous]

So, if this Zen stuff is sooo right-on about facing reality here & now, then how come you're running off to NYC? How will a change of location solve your problems?

Sorry, lol, I actually totally support your move and wish I was coming with...but I just couldn't resist. But you're just going to edit this comment out, so no loss... ;-)