of being human
atheism arises.
Being the original human experience,
it is the parent of all religion.
From theism we derive the essence of atheism,
although from their names, we see only the conflict.
Both ways of experience
have the same origin
only different names.
Their mutual identity is the mystery
of experience.
And in this mystery
is found
the doorway
to the universe.
2
Everyone knows what god is --
that is how we know what is not god.
Everyone knows what good is --
that is how we know what is not good.
This is how being and not-being,
experience and non-experience,
theism and atheism
create each other
and are mutually dependent.
Light and dark complement each other,
long and short form one another,
low and high are relative,
sound and tone are harmonies.
Wise persons
do not judge good or bad
do not take action for or against
do not disown judgment or action
but practice a silent teaching.
Only together do opposites make a whole.
The world is acted upon by even the passive observer,
still nothing is taken and nothing is destroyed.
Things are created, actions taken,
but no claim is made upon them.
Things are controlled but not manipulated for personal gain.
Compensation -- verbal or material -- is never the desired goal.
3
By not saying
one is better than the other
we prevent argument.
By turning down
promises and rewards of another life
we eliminate competition for heaven.
If other realms of existence
are not promoted as new and improved
religions will not seek converts.
Empty the heart and mind of ambition,
fill the stomachs of the hungry,
live simply without material and intellectual treasures,
live simply by your own physical labor.
People are led best when information is value-free
and their basic needs and wants are fulfilled.
This way people in power cannot manipulate and interfere.
Through nonaction and noninterference
all becomes better.
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4
Atheism is an empty bowl:
it cannot be filled
neither does it need filling.
It is at the beginning of all human consciousness
and is even the origin of theism.
Soften the sharpness
stop the debate
dissolve the confusion
reduce the glare
become like dust.
Like a spring-fed pool in a quiet forest
it has no bottom
no beginning
no end.
Is atheism born from theism?
No one knows.
But it is
the natural state
of all being.
5
The earth and the universe
have no attachments.
Everything is dust
to them, within them.
So, too, the wise
have no permanent attachments.
To them also
people are dust, ideas are dust.
Still, the earth is like a fan:
empty,
never filled,
constantly giving.
The more it works,
the more it gives.
The more one speaks
of theism or atheism,
the less is understood.
Better to keep quiet
and look inside.
6
Low-lying
human spirit
never dies
it is the eternal mystery.
The forces
of the earth
and the universe
are the doorway
to the mysterious.
It is here
within us
always.
Use it
it will never run dry.
7
The sky is eternal,
the earth remains.
Energy is constant,
matter is always.
Why do these things outlive us beings?
Because they do not promote
their own existence.
Place yourself last
and thereby be first.
Keep apart
but thereby be included.
Through this disinterest
and selfless action,
the fulfillment of one's journey
is achieved.
8
The objective
is to become
like water.
Water is the basis of life in all living beings,
yet it is consciousless
and flows away from all high places.
It lives underground
and in the swamps that people disdain.
Thus it is the best example
of the way.
In building a physical structure, build close to the earth.
In constructing an intellectual edifice, keep it close to the heart.
In affairs of the heart and mind, be deep.
In affairs of money and human need, be generous.
In friendship, be gentle.
In words, be true.
In leadership, be just.
In work, be effective.
In action, precise.
By not contending with anyone
there is no strife,
and with no strife,
no failure.
9
Better to underfill
than to overfill a cup.
The overstretched bow
soon breaks.
The constantly sharpened blade
soon dulls.
A house full of possessions and wealth
cannot always be protected.
A mind full of morality and social convention
will not always be right.
Materialism and ambition
bring their own ruin.
Draw back
from your completed work and fame.
This is the way
of water.
10
Living both an emotional and intellectual life,
can you join them without separation?
Breathing and moving,
can you be as soft as a child?
Seeing,
can you narrow and sharpen your focus
on the universe till it is perfect?
Loving,
can you care for and lead all the people
without becoming known as the care-provider and leader?
Opening and closing the gates of life and death
can you remain powerless?
Knowing and understanding science, reason and politics,
are you able to let it go?
Create and sustain ideas and things,
but do not attempt to control them.
Manage them, but do not ask them for credit or favors.
Guide them, but do not dominate.
This is the way of the universe.
11
Engine and alternator and U-joint and tires and accelerator and steeringwheel and headlights and bucket seats
all together make a car,
but it is the space within
inside the empty seats
that makes it
useful.
Clay and glass and plastic are molded to create
jars and vases and cups and bags,
but it is the space inside
that is empty
that makes them
useful.
Houses and skyscrapers are built
and cut open with doors and windows
because it is the space inside
that is empty
that makes the buildings
useful.
Being and profit come from
what is there,
usefulness from
what is not.
12
All together
colors blind the eyes
sounds deafen the ears
tastes deaden the palate.
Seeking and pursuing and looking for and chasing
make for
insanity.
Expensive tastes
make one a slave.
Wise people
attend to the intuition
of stomach and feelings
rather than the desires of eye, ear and hand.
Let go of that
take this.
13
Both favor and disgrace are disruptive.
Fortune and privilege cause physical pain.
What does it mean: favor and disgrace are both disruptive?
Favor impresses and disgrace depresses. Trying to get favor makes oneanxious, losing it makes one anxious.
What does it mean: fortune and privilege cause physical pain?
The reason we feel pain is because we have material bodies.
If we didn't have bodies, how could we feel pain?
Fortune and privilege have material realities, too.
Without class rank or privilege, how could we feel loss?
Thus, persons who deal with the world and others
as they deal with their own bodies,
living simply,
accepting both joy and pain equally,
are the best people to be entrusted with leadership.
The persons who love and care for the earth
as they do their own bodies,
living simply,
are the best people to entrust with the care of the earth.
14
Because the eye cannot see it
it is called invisible.
Because the ear cannot hear it
it is called silent.
Because the hand cannot touch it
it is called vacuum.
These three absences point to
the empty way.
Its height does not illuminate,
its depth does not obscure.
It is infinite and beyond human terms,
collapsing in upon itself as it began.
Matter within vacuum
forms within the formless.
Facing it there is no front
behind it there is no back.
Knowing the past,
move with the present.
To know the past
of the universe
is to become
its essence.
15
Wise people
are so very subtle, deep, penetrating and mysterious
that they are
too profound to be understood.
Because they cannot be understood
one can only try to describe them.
They are
cautious, like a cat entering a strange house
alert, like a person walking through a strange city at midnight
reserved, like an invited guest
yielding, like lake ice in the spring
simple, like a block of wood
spacious, like night on the plains
obscure, like a muddied stream.
Can you wait quietly
or the muddy to become clear?
Can you calm yourself
in order to later become active?
Following the path of natural atheism
one has no desire for heaven or to believe.
When a person is not swayed by desire or belief,
one is able to remain one with the universe
without changing.
16
Sit next to the void
become empty
quiet and still
at peace.
Years go by
you contemplate your return.
You see the years,
they shrink and return.
Everything returns to its origin.
This return to origin is called stillness;
stillness is called accepting the natural laws of the universe.
Accepting the way of the universe
is enlightenment.
Not to know the nature of the universe is to wander aimlessly.
Knowing, one has room for everyone and everything.
Having room for all, one is without prejudice.
Without prejudice, one can be a leader.
To lead is to be of the earth.
To be of the earth is to be one with nature.
Being one with nature
is to be transformed.
Though the body falls
nothing is destroyed.
17
A master's existence
is rarely known.
A good person's presence
is widely known
and praised and imitated.
A person who collects power
scares others and makes them fearful, small and hateful.
Without total trust
there is no trust.
Better to have
no trust
and accept everything.
Without talking-about
without writing-about
a master takes action.
When it is done
everyone says
it just happened
naturally.
18
When nature is forgotten and abandoned,
goodness, justice and morality are created,
and theisms flourish.
When intelligence and knowledge appear,
great advertising campaigns are created,
and religions compete.
When partners and family members are not at peace
they begin talking about relationships and
duties and responsibilities
and spiritual needs.
When there is tension, distrust,
and revolution
in a community,
we hear calls for
loyal followers.
19
Give up knowledge and wisdom
give up tests and degrees
and it will be a better for everyone.
Renounce kindness, morality, and justice,
and people will return to love and mercy.
Get rid of professionalism, eliminate profit, give up luxuries,
and theft and embezzlement will disappear.
If this advice is too complicated
then follow
simplicity
selflessness
and the lessening of desires.
20
Give up morality and social conventions
and be free of your problems.
What is really the difference between social classes?
Is it like the difference between good and bad?
between theism and atheism?
"That's the way it's always been done"
"Everybody else is doing it"
how artificial!
Everyone else is happy
celebrating the sacrifice of the lamb or the Son
or going to the opening party.
Yet I am alone and motionless
like a baby that has yet to smile
like an old man on a park bench.
Everyone else has more than enough to eat and
pay the rent and dream and take trips,
I alone have nothing.
My mind is so confused,
I must be stupid.
Everyone else can see the light,
I alone am blind.
Everyone else is happy and well-adjusted,
I alone am depressed.
Yet I am in motion like the bottom cycles of the ocean tides,
like flotsam and jetsam, never to rest.
Everyone else has a career or a job,
I alone am useless.
But I am also different from everyone else,
because the earth itself feeds me.
21
The universe acts only according to the laws of nature
even though such laws may seem chaotic and elusive.
Chaotic
still there are patterns.
Elusive
still there is life.
Mysterious and obscure
still it contains the essential.
Power that is immeasurable
still is true and active
from before the beginning
til after the end,
through the next beginning and ending.
How do any of us know this?
Look inside.
22
Be less to become more
become broken to remain whole
bend like the grass to stand tall
be empty to receive
be used to become new
have little to gain more.
Those who have much
will not understand.
Wise persons
hold fast to the natural ways
as a standard for use by all.
Reclusive, yet known by all
unassertive, yet respected by all
modest, yet praised by all
ambitionless, yet followed by all.
Do not argue
and no one will argue with you.
