Once it happened that when Buddha came for his morning sermon he had a handkerchief in his hand. Sitting down before his ten thousand monks he started tying knots in the handkerchief. They were all surprised-he had never done anything like that. What was he doing? Had he forgotten about the morning discourse? But out of respect they simply kept quiet and went on looking at what he was doing.

After Buddha had tied five knots in the handkerchief he said, “I want to undo these knots. Before I undo them I would like to ask two questions. One is: Is this handkerchief the same as it was before the knots were tied?”

Buddha said, “You are right, Ananda, that’s what I wanted to tell my monks. When man is divided he remains in one way the same and yet he is not the same. His freedom is lost, his harmony is lost-yet fundamentally nothing has change. You are gods and goddesses, nothing has changed; it is just that the god has become imprisoned. A few knots have come into existence. Fundamentally you are as free as a Buddha, existentially you are exactly where I am, and yet psychologically you are not where I am, you are not what Buddha is because of your knots. Existentially we are all Buddha’s, psychologically we live in different, private worlds…those knots.”

Then Buddha asked the other question. He said, “Monks, I have another question to ask which is: If I want to undo these knots, what should I do?

Another monk, Sariputtra, stood up and said, Master, if you want to undo them let me come closer, let me observe them because unless I know how they have been tied there is no way to know how they can be undone. What process has been used to tie them? How have they been created? Only knowing that, can they be untied. Let me come closer. And don’t do anything before I do, because if you do something without knowing how the knots have come into existence you may create even more subtle knots. They may become even more difficult. It may even become impossible to open them.”

And Buddha said, “Right, Sariputtra, that’s exactly what I wanted to say.”

Discipline with the urges of the body must be foremost in our lives. If we do not have this, we are at a great loss for insight and what will come next in our life.

Most people live off of the inertia of the collective unconscious, more than willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of earthly concerns such as familial traditions, societal rituals and worrying about what other people think and say about them. They allow so many distractions to divert their attentions and take them out of their practice.

It is all about ego and gratification, wanting to feel as though they are “loved” and “important.” People love to feel indispensable. It is a real ego trip to believe they are as “important” as they want to believe they are.

This is not to be taken lightly. One must be “fit” to walk the path of the Way.

Everything that does not pertain to Love must be set aside…even our own comfort. This is a harsh world crafted by our own hands through acts of hate and fear, coupled with never taking responsibility for what we have done in this lifetime. We do not face the wrath of a god that is punishing – we face the hell we have made for ourselves by creating and living in a Karma that sustains only fear.

The authentic reason why people don’t gain much, if anything, from meditation is because they have no deep sense of remorse for the way they have lived their lives. The unconscious mind keeps constantly banging away causing a deep-seated sorrow for the way they have lived from genetic dispositions that are two-faced.

One face of the unconscious tells them to “do” whatever or “live” however they want, even if unkind or profoundly foolish. The other face of the unconscious punishes them for acting upon the impulse of its own direction. Al they are eft with is a contrary and convoluted judgment about themselves based in the fury of a morality that has nothing to do with the meaning of this lifetime.

The Heart is pure silence. It does not speak through ideas or beliefs. It is not an impulse like our emotions are. The Heart is a profound sense of space that has NO philosophy or voice – an inner silence that has no polarities to pull our attentions toward “right” or “wrong.” In silence, we are non-dualistic in our thinking.

We develop a whole new sense of perception that reveals “impressions” as the language of Love. Within these impressions we find the the Way, and if we follow it through kindness, compassion and forgiveness, we enter into a profound way of living.

I cannot give this to you. No one can. You must seek it out through the process of living forgiveness for yourself. You have many things that you hold yourself to that need not be.

I have been a teacher all my life. I have lived a long time in the Way of my own practice as well as teaching it to others. It is not for the faint of human heart. Very few are able to follow an authentic practice. The manner of the Way requires three powerful aspects:

1. A profound sense of the “pull” to Love
2. A sense of what must come first in a our life
3. To do all things for the sake of Love, rather than adoration

Are you up for it?