“Roll out the barrel, we’ll have a barrel of fun, roll out the sake, we got the blues on the run . . .”
We are back in Tokyo for this one. One final “shriner’s tour”, and there was enough donated French wine and Japanese sake stored on the two racks to inebriate all of Milwaukie, or, perhaps Beaverton, for at least a month. The spirits were donated to honor the Japanese emperor, who is in his 30th year of “leadership”. He is like the Queen of England, immensely wealthy, all pomp, no power. The people follow his every move.
.
In the Tokyo shrine, there were far too many tourists, and because of the noise and over-activity, there was minimal sense of a sacred presence. The trees were incredible, and had most of the spiritual energy of the place. The purifying station was so overrun with people, it sounded and looked like an active craps table. The shrine was so busy with people tossing coins it sounded like a carnival attraction. This had to be disappointing for Akiko, our friend and guide through Japan..
As the Dalai Lama says, we don’t need shrines, temples, or religions, as our bodies and minds are the only temples we need, and should suffice if we embrace kindness and consideration.
I could not have made the point more succinctly.
Could you pass me a 500 yen coin, I want to see if I can hit the slotted box and score points with God, just in case. . .
Hmmmm…….
Some Haiku (5-7-5)
Let go of the past
Love your neighbors as yourself
Live fully today
Nothing can be harder for an ideologue to embrace. Fear of sharing love, and fear of death itself, drives our citizens into all manners of dangerous thinking, “religious” or otherwise.
“God is not in a holy mountain or in a temple, the kingdom of God is within you”
“Know ye not, that your own body is the temple of the Living God?”
Jesus of Nazareth
Know that how we see life is dictated by who we think we are.
All that we will ever see, unto eternity, is our self. How will we see our self today?
Enlightenment is when a smile finally recognizes itself.
“The Emperors New Clothes” that our religions create and our egos worship are always spun with the help from tricksters out for personal gain. We all must become, figuratively, the little boy who calls out the parading “Emperor”, and observes that “he does not have any clothes on”, nor did he ever. The stories that we read about our “emperor” or “creator” are forever spun from the imaginal strands of the golden yarn of the mind itself, and we ignorantly “clothe our self” with them.
Prepare to get naked, and see through the shame that would force us to wear the rags of others.
It is time for a stroll through the gate into interior consciousness, where insight reveals the eternal truth.
Prepare to find the source of our Spirit, and the site of freedom and spiritual power.
The “sake and wine” of inspiration flow freely here from the barrels of the now liberated mind.
Prepare to wear the “robes of authentic power”.
Prepare to meet our Maker.
And smile!
