Rest in appreciation of…

“Never allow yourself to mistake outward appearances for reality.”
-Huang Po

All we can say about any particular thing or experience is but a heap of generalizations and partial descriptions.  

Take, for example, what we say is a mountain. On its surface is a multitude of plants and trees, birds, insects and animals, and an endless assortment of other things with names. 

Strip off the trees, plants and topsoil, and again is a diversity of dirt, rocks, sediment, and so on. 

We don’t see what is; we see an assortment of names.

There would be no problems or fear if we did not believe a thing is its name.

Implied in a name is identity. Hidden within identity is a false sense of possession: You feel things and experiences are yours, or not yours.

The fewer things you identify with, or claim as your own, the better; we all knows how it feels to lose a possession.

I found, if I did not identify who I am with the past or the future, I became free of both. The past and the future are not mine to possess. Both are imagined, so neither can injure me.

Stop naming things and experiences, and experience reality as it is: perfect.

Until you think, nothing is. No past, no future… Just the present, to know, experience, and enjoy.

What is, is love. Love is the appreciation of being. Rest in appreciation of being, and as living commands itself—you are complete.

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Each Monday, I’ll post a new topic in one of two categories. One will be on shooting, and the other will be on living, or: “how I learned to live from what I learned by competing.” 

Thanks for coming in.