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“Without the human world, Heaven or the spiritual life, is just a dream. And without Heaven or spirituality, the human world is a nightmare. The two hold each other in balance. This is the Middle Way. Not getting stuck in a dream, not getting stuck in a nightmare. But fully and completely waking up right at the zero point where the two meet. Dream and nightmare. Pray and play. Pleasure and worship. Friday night fucking and Sunday morning sacraments.”
― Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk
― Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk
“That's what the leadership was teaching me, day by day: that the self-interest I was supposed to be looking for extended well beyond the immediacy of issues, that beneath the small talk and sketchy biographies and received opinions, people carried with them some central explanation of themselves. Stories full of terror and wonder, studded with events that still haunted or inspired them. Sacred stories. ”
― Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
― Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
“Maybe I was in the actual real time situation after all and pain was just a part of it. I was in the moment. The moment just sucked. Just because you hurt doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. That you're weak, dumb, selfish or hopelessly screwed up. If life is suffering, then pain simply means that you're alive. The excruciating ache in my heart was proof that there was blood beating in there. Zen practice, like life itself, is not about floating above your problems but passing through them.”
― Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk
― Zen Confidential: Confessions of a Wayward Monk
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