The Tao of Dark Sages
by Scott Bradley
by Scott Bradley
Sue-tzu, I have only recently arrived here and don’t know much about your teaching. I personally have a great interest in the ancient Zen Masters, especially Nagarjuna and his doctrine on Emptiness. May I read you now a discussion on time and ask you to comment?
Certainly, though I know little of Nagarjuna.
I read from his Middle Stanzas: “If present and future depend on the past, then present and future should exist in past time. If present and future do not exist in it how can present and future exist in dependence on it? The establishment of the two does not occur without dependence on the past, therefore, present and future do not exist.”
I do not understand any of this, dear friend. But if I may, I have a message for you and, indeed, for all my friends gathered here:
You are free! Be free!! You can do it! Stand and shake off this bondage to knowledge and speculation this very moment — whether the moment exists of no.
Do it now! Cast off seriousness! Cast away speculation! Nothing matters! You have no soul to save! No rewards to earn or punishments to avoid. No karma to weigh you down! You have nothing to gain and nothing to lose. Cast off caring!
Shake off this bondage of seriousness! Do you believe that the Unknown stands wringing its hands, hoping you will achieve enlightenment? Get real!
Do you believe you must fulfill your divine destiny? Spare me, grasshopper!
Will vain and endless speculation and metaphysical lint-picking bring you closer to the Tao? Of course not! Return is the movement of the Tao! We all share the same destiny and it has no rewards and punishments, achievers and failures.
Nothing matters! Nothing matters! Nothing matters! You are free now. Be free now!
You want enlightenment? Alright, I’ll give you enlightenment now: You are free. Feel that freedom now!
I see smiles of recognition. Even if you experience this freedom for only an instant, you have felt it, it is yours, you know it’s there. Everything that separates you from your own glorious emptiness, freedom and joy is created by you and you alone. Every cord that binds you, you have tied.
Shake them off. You are free.
(A long pause. The sound of bird song.)
If you're interested in reading more from this series by Scott Bradley, go here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are unmoderated, so you can write whatever you want.