PozLotus

About me:

PozLotus, poz'-lo-tus, noun:

1 : Just a being trying to figure out if he is a man dreaming he is a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he is a man.

2 : A man transformed through the experience of 23 years of living with HIV.

"The understanding of what you are, whatever it be -- ugly or beautiful, wicked or mischievous -- the understanding of what you are, without distortion, is the beginning of virtue. Virtue is essential, for it gives freedom. It is only in virtue that you can discover, that you can live - not in cultivation of a virtue, which merely brings about respectability, not understanding and freedom. There is a difference between being virtuous and becoming virtuous. Being virtuous is a result of understanding what is, whereas becoming virtuous is postponement, the covering up of what is with what you would like to be. Therefore in becoming virtuous you are avoiding action directly upon what is. This process of avoiding what is through the cultivation of the ideal is considered virtuous; but if you look at it closely and directly you will see that it is noting of the kind. It is merely a postponement of coming face to face with what is."

--- J. Krishnamurti

There are many parts to a tree:

The roots which go deep into the earth to provide moisture and nutrients for the tree as well as stability and foundation.

The trunk which is the conduit for all the moisture and food and which provides support for all the branches.

The branches which extend upward and outward and support all the leaves as well as providing a connection to the trunk and therefore the roots.

The leaves which, arguably, are the most important part of The Tree, provide a mechanism, through photosyntesis, for food production. They provide respiration by exhanging carbon dioxide and oxygen. They open and close their pores to retain or release moisture in response to the moisture level in the soil far below.

Let's say that The Tree decides to give The Leaves awareness of themselves and of the rest of The Tree of Which They are A Part....

At first, The Leaves are joyful and excited because they are aware of this Magnificent Thing Of Which They are A Part.... they are so happy to be A Part Of this Great Thing Which Is so much greater than any one of them or even of the sum of all of them together.

One day, one of The Leaves on a lower branch starts to think. "I and all my friends on the lower branches are much larger than the leaves on the upper branches... it seems we are doing more work than they are." A sense of unease began to grow. Then, on another day, the same leaf began to think, "I bet those leaves up above have a much better view than I do." Then he decided that he was doing most of the work and had a crappy view on top of it! He became resentful and his Awareness of The Tree began to fade... he eventually felt separate and apart... Then, later, he was looking around and noticed, below him, that there were DEAD LEAVES on the ground. He thought, "I do all the work, I have a crappy view and then I am going to die?!" He decided he had a terrible life. The Awareness of The Tree had gone away.

He had forgotten about his Connection to the other Leaves and to The Tree. He also forgot that The Life within him is not from him or of him. It is from and of The Tree... forgetting these things, he failed to realize that, when a leaf dies, The Life that was in it does not die... it simply returns to its Source. The Life that was in the leaf recedes back into The Tree to become another leaf.

Life does not die... It simply returns to Its Source.

This does not mean that I can act in an unconcious manner because, since I am Connected to All That Is, anything I do affects me as well as others.... Neither thought nor action leave their source. Forgiveness is key. I must remember the principles of forgiveness and forgive all things; accept all things.

I need do nothing...

Alan Watts: The World Behind Words
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