Manifesting Desires -- Duality

There is a Zen koan which describes three men observing a flag fluttering in the breeze.

One man says, "The flag is moving."

The second man says, "The wind is moving."

The third man says, "You're both wrong; it is your mind that is moving."

And, as you observe your life, it is your mind that is moving, creating the illusion that your world of reality exists as it does. Zen perceives all as a unity: Life is a whole, and you are simply part of it. Dualities such as you and me, material world and spiritual world, right and wrong, success and failure, moral and immoral, do not exist. In removing the dualities, there is nothing to worry about, for all is perfect tranquility. However, to experience, you must detach from your illusions about reality and recognize that it exists only as that which you experience. You can experience reality as a hostile separateness or a tranquil oneness -- it's up to you.

It is this detachment that allowed the Samurai to rise above the effects of fear, and also allows some people to be perfectly tranquil in the midst of noisy, crowded or chaotic environments. They go into themselves and not touched.

NOTHING TO SEEK
There is nothing to seek and nothing to find. You are already enlightened, and all the words in the world will not give you what you already have. The wise seeker, therefore, is concerned with one thing only: To become aware of what he already is, of the True Self within.

THE STRONG ARE PATIENT
Patience means to hold back in your inclination to respond to the extreme emotions of Anger, Anxiety, Fear, Hate, and Adoration. Do not repress your real feelings, instead, simply give yourself the opportunity to get past your automatic response so you can determine what your real feelings are. Give yourself time to be perceptive about the repressions and to weight your response against your values. It may only take a few minutes, or a few hours. The idea is not to act immediately, for when you act from a position of extreme emotions, it will never be in your best interests.


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