Laddership Vietnam

Sunday gathering with sisters and Nipun (16/1):

• Community is everywhere in our heart. It is not when we have something in common that we become community.
• From no-me, we build a "me" identity. But soon we reach the limit of "my" effort. Then me melt more into the "we" when we realize it does not fall on our ego shoulder. We're not steering.
• And when we identify as a bigger body, like the right hand taking care of the left, being virtuous is no longer "my" aspiration but just common sense. 
• On what basis do I make decision? Whose suffering matters more? If there are people coming together, intending to move from "no me" to "beyond we", to "us", that is insurance for me. Here is where I invest. When I forget and stumble, who'll save me? If we are smart, we will never miss such a chance. If we're wise, we'd stay 24/7 in this "we" space.
• It's not mine or yours. It's happening.
• Random manifestation
• Come in with empty pockets
• In the Self realm, with or without boundary, we suffer both ways. We're meeting only at the reaction level.
• Can I do it for the WHOLE, instead of just me? Can I think for the benefit of the oppressor too? I can do the same thing, but from what space?
• Embrace inconsistency. I want to go within, and I too want to reach out.
• Say a prayer. Am I doing God's will? Am I an instrument of my subconscious desires?
• Even when he's certified by the top teachers, he still has a little doubt, an inquiry. He didn't dismiss the lady as "this person from the defiled realm" and accepted her pudding instead.
• When we have all the answers, it's dangerous.
• Stillness is not absence of tension. It's when we can hold the tension, surrender without becoming vegetable. 
• I have joy like the waves of the ocean because the grace of god is like a hand upon my head. I keep it in an empty pocket so it flows right out. This jewel is kept in a treasure chest with no lock. Tears come and go in my eyes but the moisture in my heart is alive and well. Like waves on the shore, the shore keeps count, like a fool keeping a spreadsheet, but the ocean care for us not for our spreadsheet. The sky above me, like the brahmaviharas, endures.

Noise

Is a cruel ruler

Who is always imposing

Curfews,

While

Stillness and quiet

Break open the vintage

Bottles

Awake the real

Band.

- Curfews, by Hafiz

All of a sudden, one day

Walking down a road 

If someone stops me

To gently ask,

How are you doing today?

Like joyous ocean waves

I'm at play, I'll say

Nature's hand

Rests like a blessing

On my head, always!

All of a sudden, one day. . .

My frayed pockets

I've stuffed

With bouncing, spilling

Waves of ecstasy

I may be alone, and yet I feel

I'm in a carnival all day

On a treasure chest

With no lock at all

My riches are plenty safe!

All of a sudden, one day. . .

Water in my eyes

Will come and go

But the moisture in my heart

Is always there

While the shores keep track

Of plenitude and lack

The ocean couldn't care less!

This sun will rise and it will set

But the sky over my head

Will be right there

All of a sudden, one day. . .

- Ochintu Koi Mane 

Ngày Sư Ông chuyển tiếp (22/1)

Đi bơi không

cho mượn quần

Có anh em

vượt lực trì

của tính toán

Có giao dịch

thì nơi đó

vắng chuyển hoá bên trong

hình hài ngẫu nhiên

Bụt hiện thân

nhân chứng sống

thả dằn vặt

trái tim có giới hạn

đón nhận kẻ bên kia chiến tuyến

như người tươi cười đang đến với mình

Hệ thống thưởng cho người ngoan ngoãn

Không sợ, không sao hết

Đầy niềm vui trao đi

chân thật

Đi bơi không

cho mượn quần.

Em cũng xin gửi lại 2 bài thơ: Trái ý thức chín rồi và Bé đã sinh ra rồi.