it was a summer day

When the people no longer fear your power,
It is a sign that a greater power is coming.

Interfere not lightly with their dwelling,
Nor lay heavy burdens upon their livelihood.
Only when you cease to weary them,
They will cease to be wearied of you.

Therefore, the Sage knows himself,
But makes no show of himself;
Loves himself,
But does not exalt himself.
He prefers what is within to what is without.
-- John C. H. Wu, Chapter 72, Tao Te Ching

 It was a summer day.

We lay on our backs in the meadow.

Soft white clouds floated in the blue blue sky..

"All the people you know are within you," said Lao Tzu.

"No. They are out there," I said.

"They are voices in your head and images in your heart," said Lao Tzu.

"They are like clouds floating in the sky of your consciousness," said Jesus.

We grew silent.

The wind blew through the trees.

"I can take you to them, at least some of them," I said.

"You can make the meat meet the meat," said Lao Tzu. "Yet even then they are as you imagine them."

"What about if I set myself aside, and really really listen, listen deeply?" I asked.

"Now you're talking," he said.

"They are definitely not separate from you then," said Jesus.

"Everything you imagine, sense, see, feel is you," said Lao Tzu.

"Loving your neighbor as yourself is opening to this awareness," said Jesus.

My heart smiled with the vastness of its being.

A bird sang

one note.