Tag Archives: “real”

BOOKS ARE MY FRIENDS (For Laurel)

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Books are my friends –
Accompanied by them I’ll never get bored
And if at times I get a bit “down,” a passing title will soon pick me up.

Books surround me with the most thoughtful people who ever lived –
Crowding around in my study
Their intrinsic seriousness and brilliance lifts my room sky high
Ready for long-distance visits to a future “me.”

If a book is empty and brings me down – I quickly put it down
And pick up another.

People without books remind me of deserts without water –
A mechanical kind of survival –
“Clank, clank, clank.”

Books are the sea we swim in
So as to relax by distant shores.

Books are magic pills we swallow
In order to change into someone else.

Books are dreams we can make real
By spending time inside them.

Books will make you an entirely new and different person
If you’re open to opening them.

THE WORLD APPLAUDS HYPOCRITES

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The more suitable word for ego is “hypocrite.”

In ancient Greek theatre, hypocrites were actors –
Those who “play a part” –
From which the word “hypocrite” originally derived.

I’ve often spoken of one’s “true self” as opposed to one’s ego –
Because we create egos as our “face to the world” –
And, sometimes, more than one such “face.”

The Greeks used masks in their plays –
So egos are our contemporary “masks”
Used by us to “play” the world
And manipulate society (along, of course, with our own selves).

So who are we fooling?
Is the world nothing more than a huge “theatre” – as Shakespeare intuited –
In which all of us cooperate in playing out our several parts?

What happens, though, when a person enters the world and refuses to play that expected part –
Refusing to be anyone but her “true self”?
I think she might get killed – even if not physically –
Certainly, she’ll face rejection for her refusal to “go along.”

The world insists:
“Play your part – whatever it is – and don’t try to be ‘real’” –
Because that might call everything into question!

 

I WANT TO HOLD A CUP

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I want to hold a cup made by human hands
To walk on Persian rugs crafted the same way.

I want to hang paintings on my walls reflecting spiritual joy
Refined through millennia of grand artistic inspiration.

I want that cup more than anything –
A personal object – touched by touch –
That I hold next to my body – and rely upon.

I want human work to be helpful
With caring primary in all our efforts –
This is why I want God affirming us, as well as our affirming God –
Because we’re carrying out what God wants.

I want the knock at my door to be God coming home –
Searching for me –
And this is how I want God to find me – waiting at home –
Studying to become holy.

I want God knocking and knocking –
For this not to be a dream –
But real as life!

A WORLD OF SPLINTERED MINDS

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The poet “drowns” himself in beauty –
But this can never happen in the West – in the land of logical thinking.

The poet greets a flower on the dining room table
Which his wife placed there that morning – just before he arose.

The internet, on the other hand, never contains actual beauty
Because whatever’s there –
Isn’t real –
And, since only the real is vulnerable to dying, only the real can truly be beautiful.

So, wake up – put down your iPhone –
Beauty, as the essence of God, is waiting everywhere – just for you.

Like I said, wake up, little one –
Then, wake up again!
Because beauty resides only in that second awakening.

The poet has “drowned” himself in beauty –
But, unfortunately, he’s asleep – and completely unaware of it –
This kind of “waking sleep” constitutes normal quotidian activity –
A mental “mirror” reflecting infinite numbers of digital mirrors –
But never, ever, an actual flower!

So, this all-encompassing electronic world, completely empty of natural beauty,
Will always be a world of splintered minds.

THE GERMANS

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They like to measure things –
In fact, “things” constitute “poetry” for them –
Like manipulating microns
Or fashioning the best teeth in the world.

They often fall into harsh prejudices or judgments, however,
–  (like other people enjoy jumping into lakes) –
Against Jews or Blacks
Who have experienced Germans walking – not on water – but on their heads.

Life for Germans is Romantic
As opposed to Real.

Their religion is anti-spirit
Because it’s impossible to manipulate God
Without placing “Him” inside a spiritual-materialistic religious organization –
Far distant from any possible change.

Germans are heroic –
But sin in their lack of humbleness –
In fact, they’ve long believed – back to the time they were still living in forests –
That they’re a “race” of heroes –
Especially when it comes to manufacturing guns, swords, and sausages.

Hansel and Gretel are typical good Germans
Baked in an oven by a bad old witch –
Who tricked them –
Since Germans are always innocent of everything.

THE SINGLE SOLE MESSAGE

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The world is only as “real” as our senses will allow us to experience –
Since with limited senses we can only interact inside a limited world.

Also, the world is only as real as the ideas we take mental “rides” on –
Rides created inside our heads – and run just for fun.

If nothing we experience or think is actually fully “real,” however –
Then that experience or thought must be our subjective reality –
While positing an infinite “beyond” which no human being will ever reach.

So, what if “gratitude” is all we’ll ever be allowed to authentically experience –
With gratitude being our “Heaven?”

What if the single sole authentic message we’ll ever be given
Is “Thank you God?”

“Thank you.”

 

 

WELCOME TO THE KINGDOM!

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When you’re a baby, you feel you’re equal to the entire universe –
Because there’s nothing that matters – except you.

You’re given a beautiful mother
Who takes care of all your personal needs –
So you’ll never forget her face.

Then, slowly, surely, the world comes into focus
Until, one day you can actually see yourself –
Along, of course, with all your limitations.

That’s the day you’ll commence building a “fantasy” you – i.e., your “ego” –
One that you’ll be able to almost believe in –
Hopefully, a splendid one – “dressing up” the negligible you
Into a “someone” demonstrably able to survive in this world.

Eventually, you’ll be a “real” puppet
Able to “pass” – just like Pinocchio –
Manipulating the world from behind a curtain –

Only in bad dreams, however, will you suddenly realize that the rest of the world
Is the same as you.

You continue existing through this “person” or “persona”
Because you know no alternative.

Entire religions are built around a handful of exceptional people
Courageous or insane enough to trust in living as their original “true selves.”

But those religions never explain it that way –
Instead, they assert that such people are “gods” –
And, if you’re willing, they’ll “protect” you,
Enabling you to “live forever” – whatever that means.

Gurus and other spiritual hustlers
Ask if you know who “you” are –
Knowing you’ll have no answer –
That you’d have to “die” to discover one –
And there’s little chance of that ever happening!

Actually, it’s simple –
There are no religions or “enlightened masters” available to save you –
There’s only you.

To discover your “true self” you’ll have to give up everything
You are, have, and want to be –
You’ll find your “true self” by taking a good hard look at that well-developed ego,
And then drop it, and keep dropping anything else that appears,
Until, literally, there’s nothing artificial left.

That’s when you’ll be “born again” – just like Jesus recommended –
Being extremely careful, however, not to let that develop into an even more elaborate ego.

This is why humbleness comes first –
True humility – so you can be
Someone unimportant – but someone who’s real.

That’s when you’ll finally be able to breathe freely –
When you’ll be able to see reality –
Including, most importantly, the reality of yourself.

Finally, at the end, God appears and says:
“Good job, little one ….
Welcome to the Kingdom!”

TIME IS NOT REAL

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The past and future are not “real” – but simply “mental bookkeeping” –
True reality is present only in the “Now” –
The sole “eternity” that exists
And where God, in fact, actually lives.

This “Now” is experienced, ordinarily, only when we get “out of our minds” –

However, when we experience life mainly “inside” our minds,
Real life will continue on in its spontaneous and colorful way – on the outside –
Totally ignoring our inner obsessions.

This “outside” life could be ours – all the time –
If we ever decided to “wake up”
And start sharing life with God in the “Now.”

INNER LEAF

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God’s never “perfect” because God is real –

Same as nature –

Same as you.

God’s not limited by imperfection
Since that’s the wrong category to apply to God –
“Perfection” is only applicable to the world of abstractions –
Which only the “unreal” achieve.

Abstractions are “definable” –
God never is.

So if you truly want to experience God
Take anything from nature,
A leaf, for example –
This is not God, obviously,
Yet the leaf belongs to God,
Just like you, if you’re fortunate enough to discover your own
Inner leaf.

TALKING ABOUT BEAUTY

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Beauty needs to be “fresh” –
Strike us as a surprise –
And be “one of a kind.”

Can beauty be separated from love?
In other words, is it possible not to love what we experience as beautiful?
I think it’s unimaginable, unless you’re dead!

Spontaneity is the principal requirement for beauty –
Because no matter how much training you’ve gone through–
Whether in dance, sports, art, or anything else –
True beauty only appears beyond what you’ve already accomplished.

Beauty is natural –
Unaware of itself.

It’s always a gift –
Since it doesn’t have to be paid for –
Being much too dear for commercial purchase.

Sometimes, if you aren’t paying close attention, you might get tricked
Into thinking beauty is present, when it really isn’t –
But as soon as you look more closely – you’ll know whether it’s real.

It’s like a hummingbird flash –
Suddenly appearing, and then, just as quickly,
Gone.