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Zen mind, Beginners mind

If you meet the Buddha on the road kill him."

The true Buddha lies within. In essence, that means to seek your own truth. Whatever it is, if it does not ring true deep inside of you, then it isn't true — for you.

Follow those who seek The Truth. Beware of those who find it.

THE 80 PERCENT RULE:

"Readers of my horoscope column 'Free Will Astrology' are sometimes surprised when I say I only believe in astrology about 80 percent. 'You're a quack?!' they cry. Not at all, I explain. I've been a passionate student of the ancient art for years. About the time my overeducated young brain was on the verge of desertification, crazy wisdom showed up in the guise of astrology, moistening my soul just in time to save it.

'But what about the other 20 percent?' they press on. 'Are you saying your horoscopes are only partially true?'

I assure them that my doubt proves my love. By cultivating a tender, cheerful skepticism, I inoculate myself against the virus of fanaticism. This ensures that astrology will be a supple tool in my hands, an adaptable art form, and not a rigid, explain-it-all dogma that over-literalizes and distorts the mysteries it seeks to illuminate."

... So to be a human being is to be a Buddha. Buddha nature is just another name for human nature, our true human nature. Thus even though you do not do anything, you are actually doing something. You are expressing yourself. You are expressing your true nature. Your eyes will express; your voice will express; your demeanor will express. The most important thing is to express your true nature in the simplest, most adequate way and to appreciate it in the smallest existence ... - Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

"The only war that matters is the war against the imagination.
All other wars are subsumed by it."
—Diane Di Prima, "Rant," from Pieces of a Song

Your main assignment in 2008, Virgo, is to become highly skilled at feeling good. Does that sound like something you might want to do? If so, here's the beginning of a regimen you could follow:

(1) Be constantly taking notes about what experiences give you delight and what situations make you feel at home in the world.

(2) Always be scheming to provide yourself with those experiences and situations.

(3) Take a vow that nothing will obstruct you from seeking out and creating pleasure, peace, love, wonder, and an intimate connection with life.

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SACRED ADVERTISEMENTS

Where exactly does happiness come from? That's the riddle posed by David Meyers and Ed Diener in their article, "The Science of Happiness," published in The Futurist magazine. I invite you to write your own answers to their question. Map out the foundations of your own science of happiness. Get serious about defining what makes you feel good. What specific experiences arouse your deepest gratification? Physical pleasure? Seeking the truth? Being a good person? Contemplating the meaning of life? Enjoying the fruits of your accomplishments? Purging pent-up emotion?

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Every fundamentalist divides the world into two camps, those who agree with him and like him and help him, and those who don't. There is only one right way to interpret the world—according to the ideas the fundamentalist believes to be true—and a million wrong ways.

The fundamental attitude of all fundamentalists is to take everything way too seriously and too personally and too literally. Imagination is a sin and a crime. Correct belief is the only virtue. Every fundamentalist is committed to waging war against the imagination unless the imagination is enslaved to his or her belief system.

And here's the bad news: Like almost everyone in the world, each of us has our own share of the fundamentalist virus. It may not be as dangerous to the collective welfare as, say, the fundamentalism of Islamic terrorists or Christian politicians or CEOs who act as if making a financial profit is the supreme good or scientists who deny the existence of the 96 percent of reality imperceptible to the five senses. Our fundamentalism is not as virulent as theirs.

But still: We are infected, you and I, with fundamentalism. What are we going to do about it?

I say we practice taking everything less seriously and less personally and less literally.

-- Rob Brezsny, FreeWillAstrology.com

VIRGO:

YOU are intelligent, reliable, and diligent.

OTHER Virgos are fussy, critical worry-warts, and lots of the ones that are guys are not that happy that their sign is a girl so they lie and say they're Leos.

You know what? Let's fix that right now. From now on, a Virgo man is called a Mango, and that is final.

LIKES Books, details, and telling people that their sign is a pretty girl. (Mangos, you can start telling people that your sign is a bulldog or a piranha or something tough like that.)

DISLIKES Messes, pushy people, and dry frizzy hair with no bounce, vitality, or sparkling sheen. Also war.

MY BIG FAT PUBLIC BLOG

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

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