All Comments By

The inner and outer, separate and non-separate, awake and asleep, in these words we are limited and are the finger pointing to the moon. We try our best to wrap words around the Truth, and Ted was very fond of the challenge of attempting to do so. That is why the ends his poem saying that it is all just the same. Truth IS regardless of whether I am aware of it or not. The separate “me” is intrinsically part of the whole, the one who suffers is not left out, is embraced by Metta in and around her temporary manifestation as Liz. May we all embrace one another and ourselves in this temporary lifetime, and ramble away with our words in joy!

Integrity is inherent in our very Being, and is beyond personal or collective beliefs and values. In this deeper perspective, it is impossible to not be in integrity, but whenever language is used, it exists in the duality of having vs. not having. I believe the challenge arises when navigating life in a world of choices, of good and bad, better or worse. In my own experience, it is very difficult to strictly adhere to any idea of how things “should” be. Reality is much gray-er than my mind thinks it to be, and sometimes a compromise leads to less suffering. Indeed my ideals often can be an obstacle to the right action of the moment. Attachment to the ideas of “what I think is right” seems to me to be a path towards suffering, yet acknowledging what is True seems to also be necessary for embodying the deeper integrity mentioned above.