Subtlety, Intimacy, Motivation VII

The Buddha started with, "Life is suffering." Eventually, we get around to, "Realization is intimacy." It is impossible to get to intimacy without accepting suffering; it is impossible to achieve whatever one genuinely desires to realize without relinquishing entitled distance or difference. If the goal is some sort of loving relationship with other people, love abides no distance. If the goal is something along the lines of thorough-going enlightenment (in some sort of arhat or bodhisattva ideal), the rejection involved in any degree of psychological avoidance will keep one from achieving realization. Muhammad made the point that--in the final analysis--every single action, every single instance of the state of one's soul, will be weighed and measured by a judge who cannot be fooled in the least and who is exactly fair to everyone. Jesus said, first: love the Lord your God with everything in you. Make it one. If you can't do that, if you're more complicated, then I'll say more to direct you to simplicity because it's all very simple. Love your neighbors as you love yourself. Love your father and mother. Love each moment of life as do the lilies of the field and the birds flying over your head or twittering in the branches of a nearby tree. Love--by your actions--unbelievers, too. Love your enemies and care for them to the extent of your ability. It all counts, each moment, so keep the lamp of your soul burning throughout the night. If you can't love the people who are with you--all made in the likeness of God--you cannot pretend to love God. So give it a shot--you'll like it. Love. Otherwise, all of your added on complications, all that weight, will make your life the same as a fat man forced through the eye of a needle. Do yourself and the rest of us a favor. Love. The path is narrow and steep, but you are loved by God. Go ahead and act like that's how it is because that's how it is. Realization is intimacy, my friends.

It begins with an acceptance of suffering and awareness of connection. Just as we can hate our enemies in war, we can hate other versions of this message as if we are entitled to hate--it's dumb, but we have a lot of potential.