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From
the Introduction-
"As a Christian priest I had
clergy from denominations other than my own castigate me
for my liberal interpretations of scripture and my desire
to study and teach non-Christian concepts. As a disciple
and teacher of Zen I was challenged regarding my use of
Christian analogy, imagery and metaphor in the zendo.
Almost from the beginning of my introduction to the Good
Red Road of American Indian spirituality I have been told
that I have no right to learn and share what I have
learned of the Medicine Teachings because my skin is the
wrong color. One of the benefits I now enjoy from all the
years of criticism is that I have developed something of
an immunity to it."
From
the Mystical Christianity "About This
Fragment"-
"It's been said that you can
never ask a father which of his children is his favorite.
A good father could never make such a choice- he loves
all of his kids equally. I can say with no hesitation
that the children contained within this fragment are,
without a doubt, my least favorite. I guess that makes me
a bad father. Or is it bad Father?"
From
You Must Be Saved-
"However we express our love
for God, by whatever means we choose to mature in the
faith, if we are sincere in our desire for union, and if
we open ourselves to Spirit's movement, we allow the
fields of our being to be cultivated and nurtured,
properly prepared for the realization of all that our
Essence has destined as our possibility and our
potential."
From
Three Doors To Liberation-
"We must empty ourselves of
all of the burdens that we have chosen to carry and do
away with all wants. Want implies longing. Emptiness and
want cannot peacefully coexist. Want is a life-negating
emotion, the negative expression of the will-to-change.
The will-to-change is an expression of the
life-affirming, and acting on that will is not a passive
and impotent act."
From
Counterfeit Worship-
"Implicit in true worship is
the giving of respect and love, characterized by an
appreciation for the majesty of the Creator and the
Creation. Counterfeit worship is any activity that fails
to bestow honor to the One worthy of such
honor."
From
God Or Idol?-
"If all of our idolatry was
as simple as raising up a golden calf and proclaiming it
god, it would be a simple matter for us to identify such
behavior and keep it in check. The Second Commandment is,
unfortunately, violated more often in ways that are not
tangible or readily apparent."
From
The Nature Of Sin-
"Sin is merely the failure
on our part to recognize and actualize the inherent
Godliness within us."
From
The Virtue Of Pride-
"Though it is a most
uncomfortable point to ponder and one harder still to
accept, is it not possible that those in positions of
power throughout history have strived to maintain control
over the masses by indoctrinating them into the belief
that pride is an emotion to be shunned, even feared as a
catalyst to both physical and spiritual ruin? Sadly,
there is much empirical and anecdotal evidence to
substantiate such a hypothesis."
From
The Fallacy Of Sacrifice -
"It is with no small amount
of thought, prayer, and meditation that I say Christ's
actions on the cross WERE NOT A SACRIFICE! They were a
free gift, an example through His Resurrection to all
mankind of what each and everyone of us have the capacity
for in our own lives."
From
the American Zen "About This Fragment"-
"Remember- if you meet the
Buddha on the road, buy him a beer."
From
The Perfect Dharma Talk-
"It is unfortunate that the
greatest Dharma talk I shall ever give happened to be my
very first. After that it's all downhill from
there..."
From
Expedient Means-
"Addiction and other
self-destructive behaviors are examples of less than
mindful practice. Damaging the body is damaging the means
whereby we may achieve that which we say we
seek."
From
Sleeper, Awaken!-
"When we recognize that we
are in a dream it is then that we possess the first and
most powerful tool needed for the achievement of
Awakening. The dream is not the enemy; the foe is the
Slumber within the dream."
From
the Sociopolitical Commentary "About This
Fragment"-
"The words in this fragment
are unquestionably those of a pessimist. Fortunately, I
am substantially more than my
pessimism."
From
Reality Deficit Disorder-
"Afflictions of the body can
usually (to one degree or another) be treated;
afflictions of the mind and the spirit are not so easily
remedied. For Reality Deficit Disorder, there is no
treatment other than the bitter pill of
honesty."
From
The Cubicle Wasteland-
"The grooming of a superior
employee succeeds by the extraction of the humanity from
human capital. Drain the reality of life for an illusory
substitute and, eventually, the illusion will become the
reality."
From
Lamentation For A Dream-
"Though the democratically
elected lords and the obeisant masses will both offer
arguments to the contrary, the United States of America
has become little more than a neo-feudalistic society.
The electorate labors obediently for their masters, hands
outstretched in expectation of the largess their
overseers have promised."
From
the Earth Teachings "About This Fragment"-
"Make no mistake: the
Teachings contained in this fragment are Good
Medicine."
From
Metis Heart-
"The very fact that so many
of non-tribal ancestry are drawn to Medicine teachings is
indicative in itself of the failure of the
Judeo-Christian enterprise to meet the spiritual needs of
those disaffected. It is not that those attracted to the
Medicine are drawn specifically by the perceived mystique
of the American Indian culture; the attraction lies in
rediscovering a fulfilling connection to the Earth from
which we all arise."
From
A Woman's Place-
"It is a fact that the world
in which we live will never truly be at peace until women
assume their rightful place in it. And women will never
assume their rightful place until they find the courage
to reclaim their Power in all of its aspects."
From
In A Sacred Manner-
"Life is so very precious.
The world we have created for ourselves is filled with
myriad distractions that serve to blind us to this
simple, yet profound truth. Still, Mother Life conspires
at every turn to remind us of the Beauty that enfolds
us."
From
The Nature Of Evil-
"It is far easier to cast
blame for the existence of evil in the world on to some
nefarious agent than it is to admit the ugly truth that
evil exists solely within the bosom of
humanity."
From
Dirty Little Gods-
"The fear of Nature is
nothing less than the fear of our Selves. It is our
isolation from Nature which blinds us to the character of
our relationship to the Earth and the inescapable truth
that we do to the Earth, we eventually do to
ourselves."
From
the Prose And Cons "About This Fragment"-
"It's a simple question,
really- If those who write poems are known as poets, why
aren't those who right prose known as
prozacs?..."
From
the Moonwater And The Fox "About This
Fragment"-
"Moonwater And The Fox is a
ten-chapter story arc, of which the first four chapters
are contained herein. They are fairy tales written
specifically for adults."
From
Moonwater And The Fox-
"Long ago, someone told you
that you were a fox and you believed them."
From
Ripples-
"Lounging by the pool,
lazily swirling a paw in the water, Fox waited for his
new friend Moonwater to return and play with him. The
ripples caused by his paw fascinated him. 'How far do
they go?' he wondered aloud."
"The ripples go on forever,
little friend."
From
Little Lost Fox-
"All things on Grandmother
Earth need rest. This is true even for beings of light
and water. Lulled by the rhythm of the trees and the
silence of the night air, Moonwater dozed."
From
the Horse Apples "About This Fragment"-
"In the same manner that
horse apples fall to the ground, the majority of
thoughts, noodlings, and cerebral ejaculations contained
herein have been dropping onto the pages of notebooks,
napkins, envelopes, and the like for more than a decade.
And like horse apples, some of them might possess a
highly offense odor."
From
Horse Apples-
"Since I don't care if
you're offended I can afford to be honest."
"Deicide is essential. One
must slay the false gods to find the Source."
"Each and every time I
encounter a demon, no matter how fierce and menacing it
might first appear, in time it always removes its
horrible mask to reveal the face of a beautiful
angel."
"Your illusions will take
you only so far."
"Shouldn't the lubricating
strip on modern razors make contact with the skin and
hairs before the blades rather than after
them?"
All Material
Copyright 2004 - Enright House Press
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