Beyond the Known

365 Days of Exploration

Takuin Minamoto

Liberated Words…

Every part of this book may be reproduced in any form and by any means, electronic and mechanical, including photocopying, recording, and by any information storage and retrieval system. But it must always remain free of charge, regardless of format.

You may do what you like with the words you find in this book. Send them to anyone, anywhere on this beautiful planet. Share them in any way you see fit.

If you enjoy this book, please take a moment and send it off to someone else that might also enjoy the words.

They are not Takuin’s words, after all. Not physical structures one can possess or hold sovereignty over. These words are available to everyone in every moment…

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the many readers of Takuin.com who have made this book possible. Without your intense curiosity and endless questioning this probably would not have come to pass.

I also thank Akiko, for her patience and forbearance whilst I have spent the last three years being Takuin Minamoto.

And special thanks to Junko Odagawa for setting the deadline.

Life Beyond the Image

www.takuin.com

Preface

During the middle of 2009 I had a conversation with a friend regarding e-books and online publishing. In passing he said, “You know Takuin, if you just took a short piece on liberation; a sentence, question, koan, or some other short item for contemplation; and wrote two per day, by the end of the year you’d have a book.” I remember thinking at that time, Well, what the hell kind of book would that be?

This one, apparently…

This book is a calendar of short contemplations; one per day for an entire year. They are all very slight of word, and easy to take in at a glance. Most of the pieces were written after meditation. Some were taken from live dialogues and skype calls I’ve held. And others were taken from my replies to comments on Takuin.com. But each one is designed to stand on its own, as an object of exploration.

During the course of reading you might find yourself believing or not believing, agreeing or disagreeing. But how you feel about the words is irrelevant and will only get in the way of your own explorations. It is how You, the Self, come up against these words that might be important, and not necessarily the content of your likes and dislikes.

You may find that, during the next 365 days, you will exhaust yourself of this search for enlightenment. If you are serious, and think deeply on each day’s contemplation, this may indeed come to pass. This might sound terrible to you — to be free from the search — but it is a beautiful first step in a life of freedom.

If you are diligent, never looking away from what you are, you may begin to finally live life … for the first time.

— Takuin Minamoto, December 2009

How to Use This Book

This book contains 365 contemplations for meditation. While not necessarily koans, they are similar in that they are not to be ‘solved’ like a riddle or a problem. It is not a matter of your understanding of the words, or how much experience you might have had in spiritual matters. Those things will only get in your way.

It is probably best to approach these contemplations in a calm, un-agitated state, and certainly not on a full stomach. It is not necessary to be in a fasted state, but gut-busting fullness will only slow you down. Always travel lightly.

The book starts on January 1st, and ends on December 31st, but don’t feel that you have to wait to begin. Just pick the appropriate date, and get started.

Many different topics are covered in this book, such as consciousness, violence, love, thought, liberation, and peace. There is no pattern to how the subjects are spread out. In most cases, each day in the book leads into something completely different from the day before, much like our daily lives.

Throughout the book you will see words like it, that, and this, with no reference to a subject. In nearly all of these cases, these words refer to liberation or enlightenment.

Just take one contemplation per day. Sit with it. See where it takes you. You may find that you go nowhere, or you think you know what the words mean, or you cannot understand, or it just seems to be pointless nonsense.

All of that is fine. But at least take it seriously long enough to suspend your belief about the words. In the end, you may leap over the words themselves, falling into something beautiful.

It is something beyond your wildest dreams and expectations.

Good luck.

January

January 1st

Take this, the first day of the year, and resolve to live fully.

Begin with gratitude for all living creatures.

Begin, not to teach, but to learn.

Understand humanity is not us and them, but only us.

There is only One, and nothing else.

January 2nd

You already have the strength to fully sit with what is.

You are born encompassing all that is.

Allow this freedom to live as it will.

January 3rd

Why would you sit at the feet of the master? Your feet are just as holy as his.

If the master is not willing to sit at your feet, please use them to quickly walk away.

January 4th

Don't worry over consciousness. It really is not so important.

You have no consciousness.

January 5th

No effort.

Be quiet.

Be still.

January 6th

If you want the right person in your life because you think it will complete you, it is the wrong direction.

You are already full and complete.

Perfection is there, share it with everyone.

January 7th

Methods and systems are not the answer.

And that includes any method or system of your own creation.

January 8th

Nature is something thought cannot touch.

Thought can create glorious structures, but it can do absolutely nothing about nature.

Only awe in its presence.

January 9th

Separation is violence.

Yet one hopes to be free of pain and suffering through separation, creating more violence.

Separation can never bring unity.

January 10th

The should be and the IS can never meet.

One is the world of thought; the other is beyond thought.

January 11th

All belief is the same.

January 12th

Consciousness is the same as the content it contains.

There is no consciousness if there is no experience, no memory, no thought.

January 13th

Thought is the only suffering. Nothing else.

January 14th

Is it in your mind that enlightened people should follow a certain path, dress a certain way, or talk a certain way?

Are you looking for truth, or more comfort?

January 15th

This is your life.

Only your discoveries, free from the muddy paw prints of others, shine in the darkness.

January 16th

If the self hopes to be compassionate, is compassion there at all?

January 17th

A mind that is whole is incapable of taking wrong actions.

There are no actions to take…

January 18th

Look at the world, as it is.

Can you see it?

January 19th

What if your spiritual journey was negated?

If you woke up tomorrow and your search was gone, if nothing were left, what would you do?

January 20th

The real tyrant is the ghost in the darkness.

It is not the one staring back in the mirror; it is the one thinking about the one staring back in the mirror.

January 21st

You must go deeper.

See these movements in their purest form.

January 22nd

It is in your nature to be the expression of complete compassion.

January 23rd

Are you a question, seeking the answer?

Or are you already the answer, seeking the right question?

January 24th

Challenge the thought arising.

January 25th

Perhaps you have seen no way of knowing.

Where do you move from there?

If you cannot possibly know, what does that suggest to you?

January 26th

You have superimposed belief onto reality. That is the Way of Seeing for the blind.

January 27th

No one can tell you how to see.

Not even You.

January 28th

Many people stop with the idea of surrender.

“Yes, surrender is the thing that will get me what I want.”

This is the action of the doer, trying to get something to complete its wholeness.

Are you incomplete?

January 29th

There is the idea of a separate identity.

This becomes the center that sees; the point of false light, creating its own illusory shadows.

Its greatest strength is that it can hurt itself. And through that pain, it seems more real.

What is real about you?

January 30th

If you believe war cannot end, you fan the flames of blood and suffering.

January 31st

The danger is in reaching for the idea of freedom, thinking it is in any way real.

February

February 1st

It is not a matter of doing. It is not even a matter of what you desire.

All of that is insignificant when faced with the reality of what you are.

It unfolds beyond all you've learned.

February 2nd

The ghost whispering in your mind will only lie to you.

But not out of maliciousness.

That is all it knows how to do.

February 3rd

Find out now.

Every second you waste is a disservice to humanity.

February 4th

Thought is a wonderful playground. Many wonderful things may happen there.

But far too many predators lurk about, so one must be careful.

February 5th

You will never know death until to you die to all you carry with you at this moment.

February 6th

Quiet yourself and see what is within.

Be alone.

February 7th

Is there a point of view if there is no point to view from?

February 8th

Are thoughts good or bad, or is it merely your thoughts of thought being good or bad?

February 9th

Be the light to the world you wish to possess.

February 10th

To search is to escape.

February 11th

Life Beyond the Image is death.

February 12th

Consciousness accumulates over time, and that is the pool the self draws from.

February 13th

The self does not search. The self is the search.

February 14th

There is no enlightenment. There are only ideas of enlightenment.

February 15th

It is not a pointing in a particular direction, and it is not a matter of seeing things the way another person sees.

It is seeing past, sifting beyond, what you already know.

February 16th

Can the self move in any way other than to perpetuate its own continuity?

February 17th

Compassion begins at the end.

February 18th

What is it you hope to change?

Where is it?

February 19th

In all of this time, where has the search taken you?

February 20th

It is the job of the seeker to make these things into a system of practice, or to reject them out of their own already existent system of practice.

February 21st

Human beings are completely dependent upon one another for survival.

This is visible everywhere in nature. Even down to the cells in your body.

It is all dependent upon relationship.

February 22nd

If we use technology to solve a problem that is, essentially, a problem of the self, the results will be devastating.

February 23rd

It is a playful-ness, and something that can never really be lost.

It may be covered up, but never lost.

February 24th

You may say this is all aliveness, or there are various levels of consciousness, or it is all one source, I Am That, all paths lead to the same oneness, or a million other things.

But is this what you have discovered, or is it what you have been told?

February 25th

Your idea of freedom is based on ideals — or ideas of ideals — your search, your result, your despair, and so on.

None of this is freedom.

February 26th

Is the self capable of seeing beyond what it knows?

February 27th

Have you ever actually seen another person?

February 28th

You hope to surrender yourself in order to be free?

How will you surrender the person doing all of this surrendering?

March

March 1st

If you wish to see to the end of the tunnel, simply look.

Only your eyes can reveal the truth.

No one else can see this for you.

March 2nd

It is not quite right to say liberation is like a laser that cuts through all things.

There is nothing to cut.

March 3rd

There is no shame in doing something you love to do.

There is no reason one would drop their joy after awakening.

In fact, a greater appreciation might be revealed, as the experience and the doing become an unparalleled event.

March 4th

One day, thought may collapse in on itself, destroying the secret curtain hiding the charade.

But even if it does not, you can still have a wonderful life, full of joy.

March 5th

Nothing, other than the self, can hold one back in this life.

March 6th

This is only for you to see.

March 7th

Opinion is based upon an idea of what you perceive.

It is a trusted, static bit of knowledge that you lean on as a crutch during active moments of experience.

March 8th

You can never have more or less than what you have.

That is where you start, and that is where you end.

March 9th

You are not a mere part of nature and you are not separate from it.

You are nature.

March 10th

Could it be the only reason you go to someone for answers is not because you want to find something new, but because you want them to support the answers you already have?

Do you really want to see anything for yourself?

March 11th

Enlightenment is the end of the line.

Nothing is gained and everything is lost.

March 12th

Does wholeness require any time?

How long does it take to move from zero to zero?

March 13th

The self is nothing more than a contrary position.

March 14th

Some people call it — this process of awakening — taking out the trash.

But I have found it is not so much that trash needs to be taken out…

…Can you carry yourself to the curb?

March 15th

It is far better to meet in person.

March 16th

A compassionate being is one that acts, free of the trappings of the self.

March 17th

Compassion is a natural movement, not dependent upon thought.

March 18th

This is not mere understanding.

March 19th

People want to be free from suffering.

But their favored means of attainment is personified suffering.

March 20th

Are you able to listen?

March 21st

The selfish always fall, and fall hard.

March 22nd

Technology allows us to be connected instantly all over the world.

Yet, we are the loneliest we have ever been.

March 23rd

Freedom will not come through accumulation.

March 24th

You cannot flower under the boot of another.

March 25th

This thing takes hold instantly, and there is no way to see how anything could have led to it.

March 26th

Is there a Way of Seeing that is not dependent upon the known?

March 27th

To relate is to be present, to be fresh, from beginning to end.

March 28th

There is no security in the self.

There is no security in Liberation.

March 29th

None of this is a mystery.

Always as it is; never as it should be.

March 30th

Grass bends in the wind, but not because it wants to bend.

March 31st

A guru may tell us Enlightenment is all bliss, all love, all this or all that.

And all we can do is imagine that non-existent state.

Then we begin our search, looking for the state we have imagined, which is not the actual thing.

April

April 1st

Dualism of the word enslaves you to the emptiness of thought, which is not the emptiness of being.

April 2nd

If you draw a picture of yourself, make it as detailed as possible with the exception of the eyes.

Leave them out entirely.

This is a more accurate depiction of how we live our lives.

April 3rd

The world needs you.

Somewhere on this planet are men, women, children — real-life human beings — that will benefit from your presence.

Please, do not waste one more minute of time.

You will be dead soon, after all.

April 4th

The wind blows.

Bits of trash scrape along the street.

That is all there is.

April 5th

You are the only one. There are no others.

April 6th

Being alone has nothing to do with loneliness. And it is not about isolation.

Only the self can be isolated, and this isolation has nothing to do with one’s surroundings.

April 7th

Oneness isn’t a matter of believing in non-belief.

There simply is no belief.

April 8th

Liberation is beyond all of your ideas of Liberation.

April 9th

If there is separation, it is due to the activity of thought, and has nothing to do with what you really are.

April 10th

I go to you for the answer to enlightenment.

You tell me, Do this, do that.

I do those things, but nothing changes.

I go on and on.

April 11th

It is true that all we need is food and shelter.

But there is no need to live in a cave or give away everything we own.

An ascetic lifestyle is just a different kind of greed.

April 12th

Everything just happens.

Nothing ever happens.

April 13th

If there is a who contemplating, the who and the item of contemplation are the same.

April 14th

Preconceived ideas of right and wrong compress the organism into a dull zombified way of seeing.

It is not really seeing at all, but a dependence upon our preferences of right and wrong.

April 15th

People think of enlightenment in terms of how it should be.

And if, after all of this time, you are still only seeing what you think should be, what is the point of it all?

Once you follow the should, you are lost.

April 16th

All movement in liberation is an extension of compassion.

April 17th

Is it possible to be compassionate, or is there just compassion?

This is very important to understand on your own.

April 18th

Compassion is, where separation is not.

April 19th

The greatest freedom comes from what the human being can explore on its own, outside of the external powers that be.

April 20th

The questioner is the answer.

April 21st

It is destruction…

…leaving nothing but dust.

April 22nd

Another person might explain liberation, or how it will unfold, beautifully.

But that doesn’t mean anything.

Even though they may very well end up being correct, it still means nothing.

April 23rd

Instead of a frightened, uncertain, violent caveman with a pointy stick, we have a frightened, uncertain, violent caveman with gun and a home theater system.

April 24th

The problem is your story of liberation; the idea of what is there and how joyful you will be once you achieve it.

April 25th

Cast out all of it and begin where you are.

You do not need anyone to tell you what is there.

April 26th

Is the I trapped, or is the I the trap?

April 27th

Sit down with one of your closest friends.

How do you see them? Can you see without your memories?

April 28th

Never once can there be the knowledge of what is not, and if there is a knowing of the not, it is not the not.

April 29th

The only mystery is the one you have created.

Outside of your ideas, where does it exist?

April 30th

Using words, all one can do is approach the essence.

May

May 1st

You will lose everything you hold dear.

But that is quite all right; you have nothing to begin with.

May 2nd

How many pages, in the book of your life, have been written by others?

Most of them? All of them?

What is it you hope to achieve by editing the words of others?

May 3rd

Learn deeply the lives of those you love. It is a lesson beyond measure.

May 4th

Be considerate, but please don't worry too much about being on time.

You'll be dead soon, in the scheme of things, and I am fairly certain your final thoughts will not linger over

someone's anger at your tardiness.

May 5th

Can one make love happen?

Is it something we have some control over, or is making love happen the same as making breathing happen?

May 6th

Sit with yourself, with no expectation of what you will get or how long it will take.

Do it for the sake of the doing, and nothing else.

May 7th

If you are full of beliefs, there is nothing wrong with that.

But if you want to deeply inquire within, be prepared to lose everything.

May 8th

There may be pride in knowing liberation. There may even be the need to tell everyone what you now believe.

But is the stillness there? Or did the monkey simply take the train down a different track?

May 9th

Nature can only be.

You are nature.

May 10th

All the time you are becoming, you are never being.

May 11th

Understanding is never enough.

May 12th

As there is no self to define, definitions are useless.

May 13th

When the self is in action, it is a movement of the past.

May 14th

When our objections arise, it is the perfect moment to see how we, the identity of self, operate; how we may react to things we believe or disbelieve.

May 15th

How do you know what an enlightened person is supposed to look like?

May 16th

Every movement in liberation becomes an expression of compassion and love.

May 17th

Compassion is expressed when the idea of being compassionate is dropped.

May 18th

It is life, as it is lived.

It is not anything more or less than that.

May 19th

All that you are searching for is hidden within your own being.

You are your own greatest guru.

May 20th

The should be is not a fact; the wanting to be is.

All of this begins with what we have, as painful as it may be.

May 21st

If you want to investigate, begin with your own beliefs.

May 22nd

Experience is a solidified and unchanging state, born from a unique and ever changing moment.

May 23rd

If there is an age of enlightenment, it is now. It has always been now.

It is within every moment of every second, in every petal of every flower, and it is inescapable.

May 24th

You have seen this clearly.

With every perception, you become the greatest teacher you’ll ever need.

May 25th

The searcher might get caught up in what they think is there, or what they think might happen.

But these very ideas of what may or may not be, solidify the problem even more.

May 26th

Effort is separation.

May 27th

Stop.

Take your time.

Breathe…

May 28th

One can only pity the self.

All the activity it undertakes in order to find something it can never know.

May 29th

There is no world crisis, meaning, out of your hands. It is your crisis.

It is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.

May 30th

Perhaps aggressive acts will come to an end because humanity will finally see the danger and act accordingly.

Perhaps aggressive acts will come to an end due to the extinction of humanity.

Does one seem more likely than the other?

May 31st

Freedom, liberation, truth, is really the most fragile thing.

It can be destroyed with a word, an image, an idea.

June

June 1st

The lessons of Nature are constantly available, forever playing out in front of you.

Only for you.

June 2nd

The seeds of peace are within you.

You do not have to be a farmer to nurture those seeds, or to cultivate a life to unimaginable heights.

June 3rd

Whatever you think of liberation — how to get, how to acquire — is irrelevant, and will only keep you from expressing whatever is naturally within you.

June 4th

Can't you just look at the tree?

Don't worry over this word is not the thing nonsense. Just look.

Embrace its beauty.

June 5th

If you think relationship differs from person to person, then what you describe is not relationship, but your own prejudice and preference based on memory.

June 6th

Relationship is a constant, moving, living thing.

June 7th

Liberation is not really a loss of belief, but a loss of the believer.

It is the loss of everything.

June 8th

Stay with the seeing, and not with the believing.

It is this open-ness that brings the energy to the fore; the seeming eternal energy that spreads like a flame throughout humanity.

June 9th

It may seem blinding or frenetic or smoggy, but it is the height of love and beauty.

It is all there for you, but it is not necessarily happening to you.

June 10th

Nothing more and nothing less.

June 11th

Enlightenment – if we can use that word – is beyond thought.

It is alive-ness that is beyond what we have known.

June 12th

If you think you know it, you are mistaken.

June 13th

What is it that contemplates?

June 14th

Sit with whatever it happens to be.

June 15th

Be.

There is nothing else.

June 16th

Self-Development.

LOL…

June 17th

You…

…are not.

June 18th

Too much energy is spent on resisting or countering everything that comes into view.

No amount of pushing will ever clear one’s mind or ease one’s suffering.

June 19th

There is no NOW.

June 20th

Don't move!

It is there, right in front of you.

June 21st

The room stays the same, no matter how colorful the new curtains are.

June 22nd

Words will always be imperfect, but we do the best we can with what we have.

June 23rd

No one can give it to you.

June 24th

Be prepared to take it to the end. Do not be too timid in your explorations.

June 25th

Taking a single step is going too far.

June 26th

You have seen it clearly.

Now what do you do?

June 27th

If someone insults you, and you become angry, do you ever ask Why am I angry?

It is such a simple question, but no one ever asks.

June 28th

To even approach this will require all of your attention and energy.

June 29th

It is a very clean and clear movement bringing peace in its wake.

There is no evil that can stand against it.

June 30th

None of us knows what will happen.

One can only sit with oneself and see how it all unfurls.

July

July 1st

When sitting with nature, do not look for answers.

Look with nature and share in all of these parallel movements.

July 2nd

You will live until you die.

The beginning and ending is certain.

But what will you do with the long middle act?

July 3rd

One must be truly alone to discover whatever lies inside.

One must set everything aside, for perhaps the very first time, and travel alone.

July 4th

You are nature.

And naturalness is the nature of nature.

July 5th

You might think you can only have a relationship with someone you know…

…someone known to you through your memories of them.

If that is how you perceive things, it is quite possible that you have never related with anything.

July 6th

The question you might want to explore:

“Is it possible to be completely present with every single human being I come into contact with?”

Find out.

July 7th

When you sit in order to see, you must go slowly.

Don’t instantly fall back on what you already know and have memorized.

Leave space for the meaning to become apparent without your effort.

July 8th

It is an awareness of the whole movement of thought.

This is an altogether different kind of functioning.

July 9th

The energy of liberation is massive. It bursts through the room and reaches out into infinity.

As one sits in the chair, aliveness seems to pulse, like a metronome that counts in waves, not in beats.

This energy engulfs all. It is the purest essence of life.

July 10th

We disconnect from oneness, thinking we will have security, only to want to go back to nothingness because there is no security.

July 11th

There is no possible way to know enlightenment.

Once thought has solidified something in order to better control and understand it, the thing is dead.

July 12th

If a cat comes into the room and you see it, you might say that you are aware of the cat.

But what happens if the cat is seen, but there is no one there to be aware of anything?

July 13th

Contemplation means, the act of looking.

But when the self looks, it does not actually see; it only interprets from what it already knows.

July 14th

Why do you place such value on your perceptions?

July 15th

It is fulfilling and meaningful to see the person; to be there with them as being unfolds.

It is a moment frozen in time, as the past falls away.

But due to the nature of being, there is no moment to be frozen.

It can only exist as a monument in our memories.

July 16th

If one’s mind is separate, broken, and incapable of operating clearly, can that mind know what it means to be compassionate?

July 17th

When compassion seethes through every pore on your body, the idea of being compassionate will escape you.

You will move, and compassion will be there.

And that is all.

July 18th

It takes some strength for the self to come up against what it believes to be true.

July 19th

You must see with your own eyes.

It is the only way.

July 20th

When belief rises to answer the question, question the belief that rises.

July 21st

You see the fact, ugly or not, and that is the truth that sets one free, not looking for something better.

July 22nd

There are no other people. No one to bring you hurt, no one to leave a scar.

If one hurts you with a word, where does it leave its mark?

July 23rd

If someone is hateful to you, or if you have been insulted, you may feel some kind of pain.

But who is being hurt?

July 24th

Question your own statements.

July 25th

Find out now.

Everything is at stake.

July 26th

You see the search as futile, but at the same time, you think you need it in order to gain something.

July 27th

Anger helps to solidify the self.

You never feel more real than when you are angry.

It weighs heavy in the mind.

July 28th

If there is a path, it will be one of your own exploration, devoid of all interference apart from your own activity.

In that place, there is every possibility, and it is not limited by what you accept or believe to be true.

July 29th

How can anyone be angry at a sound?

July 30th

The self perceives the outer world as separate; something that is over there while I am over here.

But what is really happening?

July 31st

One would not ‘let go’ unless they felt something was wrong in the first place.

But there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.

You lack nothing.

August

August 1st

All of your effort to be free strengthens the shackles of confinement.

August 2nd

Please slow down.

Take a deep breath.

Repeat.

August 3rd

Everything is new at every moment.

Memory stays put, arising only when necessary.

August 4th

Violence is not the nature of man; it is the nature of thought.

August 5th

Your idea of a person freezes out any chance of seeing them as they actually are.

You’ll only see your image of the person, and never the real thing.

August 6th

If you say you are there, if you know you are there, if you believe you are there, you are lost.

August 7th

Meditation never ends. The cushion is not necessary.

August 8th

If thought were truly aware of itself, it would only be aware within its own limited field.

It can only relate to itself through what it already knows.

Nothing new springs forth.

August 9th

Without attachment, thoughts are seen as a beautiful movement.

The ebb and flow of thought is wonderful to behold.

August 10th

The individual is limited by the walls of its own design.

August 11th

If you must live in a world of thought, at least go about it in a way that is pleasant for everyone.

Live in a way that is beneficial for all human beings.

August 12th

Consciousness contains the memories, experiences, thoughts, and other mental constructs of the mind.

What else is there?

August 13th

There is nothing seen, and no one is seeing it.

August 14th

A word is just a sound.

And this sound, if it is to be interpreted, needs an interpreter.

August 15th

Can you cast aside everything and see belief for what it is?

August 16th

Is the self in any way capable of sensitivity?

August 17th

Compassion is natural.

Why is it you need to be taught anything about it?

August 18th

Questioning is not a reaction based on belief.

August 19th

Start with you.

Your own words. Your own thoughts.

It is all right there for you to see.

August 20th

There may be a mind that perceives, but it is not yours at all.

August 21st

The searcher feels the need to create something better, while simultaneously pushing the bad away.

It never works.

August 22nd

There may be harsh words thrown around, but why do they hurt us?

Who is the victim being threatened or humiliated?

August 23rd

In order to see things as they arise within us, we cannot resist or condemn.

August 24th

Is liberation achieved through action?

If you say yes, how do you know it to be true? Is it due to what others have told you?

August 25th

If there is an answer to your suffering, it is to become very serious about your life and find out what is there.

August 26th

Curiosity implies you really want to find out what is within, not find what you already believe to be there.

One is full of life, the other is dead.

August 27th

Holding violence in the mind is one of the most destructive things we do to our bodies.

August 28th

Liberation will arrive when it arrives.

It is your job to get out of the way when it happens.

August 29th

Do not be angry and look outward; be anger and look inward.

August 30th

Do not expect anyone to do this for you.

They cannot.

August 31st

The only state you have, is the one you are in.

To sit with what is present and work from there, is all one can really do.

September

September 1st

This freedom is not a simple matter of letting go.

Who is this entity hoping to free itself?

September 2nd

If you seek it, you will never find it.

September 3rd

It is not that we have forgotten compassion…

…we just spend all of our time wishing things were different from what they actually are.

September 4th

Is the self capable of love?

September 5th

Are you really interested in relationship, or are you simply trying to placate loneliness or some other feeling?

September 6th

Liberation is freedom in every direction.

September 7th

All of the thoughts you hate will set you free.

September 8th

Liberation is beyond the normal capabilities of thought.

It is not dependent upon knowledge, or what has come before.

It is a freshness that permeates throughout everything and touches all.

September 9th

Awareness comes in like a truck through the wall, and it obliterates everything in its path.

That wave washes over everything and all is one.

September 10th

We look outward for the missing element, instead of seeing that it was always here.

September 11th

Are you interested in enlightenment, or what you can get from it?

September 12th

What is being sought, and who is doing the seeking?

September 13th

You sit on a rock next to a tree and a person walks by.

Your physical eyes look at the person.

What is there?

Find out, my friend.

September 14th

If one is serious, they take it to the very end, not relying on knowledge to answer for them.

September 15th

The search automatically brings in the notion that there is something missing.

September 16th

One might believe that one is compassionate, but what does belief have to do with compassion?

September 17th

There are, of course, thoughts.

But none of them are yours.

September 18th

Is compassion a concept?

If I have a concept – a generic idea – can that in any way touch this fullness of life?

September 19th

As a human being; a brilliantly vibrant living being; you are beautiful, whole, and complete.

Never let anyone convince you otherwise.

September 20th

Can anything truly be called our own?

September 21st

Things seem to change from time to time.

You may even find yourself letting go of things you may have once felt necessary.

But has anything really changed?

September 22nd

Is it possible to have a non-dual concept?

September 23rd

Are you, the separator, in some way different from what is being separated?

September 24th

If you sit within your own conclusions, you no longer want to find the real.

You only wish to see what you already believe to be true.

September 25th

In finding out, there is no expectation of what is supposed to be.

There is just honest, passionate curiosity.

September 26th

We think we can have everything by having everything.

We must question this.

September 27th

Any conclusion you reach will be made through belief or knowledge.

So where does that put you?

September 28th

Do not assume there is a something to surrender, or if there is even one capable of surrender.

September 29th

We have created all of this suffering that has gone on in the world.

The death, the struggle, the horror, is all the result of what we believe.

September 30th

Permanence has no truth.

October

October 1st

Liberation is a mysterious stranger.

You'll never know anything about her from a distance.

Cross the street to meet her, and take a closer look.

October 2nd

Be careful if you say you are All One. Are you using it as a foolproof path to selfishness?

It is not just a means for you to do whatever suits a particular greed or desire.

All One is completely free of that.

October 3rd

Liberation is not a matter of more knowledge.

October 4th

Appreciate the gurus and old masters, but do not depend on them to set you free.

Your burdens are heavy enough without the added weight of their words.

October 5th

Some of us enter relationships in order to avoid, or smother, our own loneliness.

Motivated by the fear of being alone.

There is no desire to relate, only silence the pain.

October 6th

See all things as they arise within you.

See it for yourself.

October 7th

There are no thoughts to avoid, only thoughts to witness.

October 8th

Let’s be kind to thought. It is an innocent victim.

If it weren’t for your ability to think, you would never have gone down this road in the first place.

October 9th

We move from place to place, wanting to find the Truth.

When we cannot find it with guru A, system B, or religion C, we move on to the next target.

We are victims of the search.

October 10th

The individual can only feel connection to those things important to its continuity.

October 11th

Smile as you enter every room, and leave when your presence is no longer needed.

If asked, help anyone you can.

Help them find their own worth, so that they might do the same for others.

October 12th

Is there a better, more grand experience, or is there just experience?

October 13th

It is as natural as breathing.

It is life.

October 14th

Go deep and see if anything is really there.

October 15th

You cannot get what you already have.

October 16th

Is there hope for anyone outside of your belief system?

October 17th

Stop accepting or rejecting and just look.

October 18th

Is love a paradigm? Is love based on patterns of thought?

Some say yes.

But is that all love is?

October 19th

Forget hurricanes, tornadoes, or tsunami; you are the most destructive force in this world.

October 20th

You have no problems.

October 21st

Non-essentials fall away to reveal the necessities.

October 22nd

Many people say this or that is useless or meaningless only because someone told them so.

But how useful or meaningful is that?

October 23rd

There are no higher or lower states.

There is only the state you are in.

October 24th

It is a gentle reduction of the unnecessary.

Do not try to force anything.

October 25th

There is no interpretation to gain from.

October 26th

Sit with it all and see where it goes.

But don’t expect to watch a specific event or occurrence.

Watch whatever happens to be there.

October 27th

The monument of the self.

Such an impressive, yet precarious, structure of thought.

How do you see it?

October 28th

If there is surrender, it will happen despite everything you’ve done to make it happen.

October 29th

If war has ended within you, your actions become clear.

Everywhere you move, peace moves with you.

October 30th

The doer:

A person that believes they can somehow control or wrangle Truth.

An image living within an image.

October 31st

All of these things – whatever feelings or thoughts you might have, good or bad – are your greatest teachings.

You must begin with what you have, and not with what you think is better.

November

November 1st

True liberation is at the end.

The end is the beginning.

November 2nd

Don't try to be free. Don't hope to be free.

Don't want to be free. Don't even think you can or cannot be free.

Be free.

November 3rd

A natural state is just that: natural.

It has nothing to do with making the right decisions.

November 4th

You cannot exorcise the ghost residing in your mind.

You are that very ghost.

November 5th

Liberation is not about being submissive.

It is not a matter of just taking whatever comes your way.

Liberation is seeing things as they truly are.

November 6th

This bliss, this divinity, this whatever it is, is outside all imaginings of thought.

It is completely new and reborn.

It is simultaneous birth and death, construction and destruction, start and finish.

November 7th

If you have thoughts that are mean, selfish, and so on, those are your greatest teachers.

It is the perfect opportunity to see what is happening within, without resorting to theorizing.

In that moment you can go deeper and deeper, sinking into the reality of how your mind is functioning.

It is extremely beautiful to behold.

November 8th

It may seem like a high goal; to be aware, liberated, enlightened or whatever.

But you attack life as it is, and separate it into the menial and the meaningful.

It is a movement of violence.

November 9th

We substitute our moment-by-moment awareness for the search.

But the object of the search is the moment-by-moment awareness.

It is the thing that we already possess.

November 10th

The individual feels connection based on its sphere of experience and desire.

A connection to itself.

Is connection to oneself connection?

November 11th

Oneness? Wholeness? Liberation?

These words are not important.

November 12th

The idea of something better than what is, is destructive.

You are here, but you think you should be over there.

Why?

November 13th

Others may never understand you. They might not even try.

But that is OK.

You can have enough understanding for everyone.

November 14th

Is there such a thing as an enlightened person?

Have you ever asked this question?

November 15th

What happens when we simply learn to be?

What are you doing right now? As you read these words, what is it that you are doing?

That is what happens.

November 16th

Can a separate being, one that is divided, express compassion?

November 17th

Everything the self encompasses is old and used.

November 18th

All of these happenings within the fragmented mind are fantasies.

November 19th

Growth within the self is limited to the desires, prejudices, and beliefs therein.

Is there time involved – becoming, getting better, and all of that – outside of the self?

November 20th

We can use words to simply indicate the person, or to make things a bit more clear.

But there is never a reason to believe in these words.

November 21st

Do you chase what you are after in order to keep it forever as a new system of belief?

November 22nd

If the guru speaks in a way that is contrary to the seeker’s belief (or answer), then he is crazy.

But if the guru matches the answer already held, the seeker becomes the follower.

November 23rd

The answer to your question is fluid and alive, and coming to a fixed conclusion will only bring more frustration.

Can you see the answer without your conclusion?

November 24th

This silence; although we may say the appearance seems to change over time; the completeness of the thing is always there in its entirety.

It is a continual evolution without growth.

November 25th

…you'll never have a question of how to see…

November 26th

Liberation is out of your hands.

November 27th

The endless chattering of the mind, and our belief in that mind, is self-terrorism.

November 28th

Go into the darkest cave for yourself.

You may find, in the deepest recesses, there is far more light than you ever thought possible.

November 29th

Don’t look to others to tell you what to do.

End this now.

November 30th

We do not sit in order to become; we sit in order to see.

Not what we want to see, and not to get the right answer, whatever the hell that might be, but simply to see.

December

December 1st

Are you able — after a lifetime of following — to take even a single step on your own?

Take that step, and you'll find out.

December 2nd

You will never be free someday. It will never happen.

You can only be free now, in every possible moment.

Now does not include someday.

December 3rd

Look up into the sky every once in awhile.

Realize your life is more than the objects situated around your physical body.

December 4th

Don't Mistake the Finger Pointing at the Moon for the Moon.

Forget the moon; there is no finger!

December 5th

Sometimes writing things down can take weight off of the mind.

December 6th

In the physical world, if we move toward a door, there is time involved to get from here to there.

But inwardly, can any movement be made?

Is there time at all?

December 7th

Awareness is the movement of sitting with what is, even if you are standing.

It is something that moves as you move.

December 8th

You are on the edge now.

The edge of the beautiful and the taxing; the free being and the image tightly held in bondage.

Only you can move into this freedom that is already present.

You may listen to others, but in the end you will find it was a movement completed on your own.

December 9th

Just look. See what is there within you; it is within us all.

It is already right there, as plain as the nose on your face.

December 10th

If one is All One, there is only connection; not I am connected.

December 11th

Only here for an instant, fully expressing itself, and never to be seen again in the same way.

December 12th

There can only be what is, and nothing more.

December 13th

The only level is wherever you are.

December 14th

Where is the person doing all this moving and attaining all of this bliss?

December 15th

There is no motive or anything that might view the experience of pain as being important.

December 16th

When one is awake, when reality realizes itself, every action is taken without fragmentation.

It is through that wholeness that compassion is expressed.

December 17th

The self might need to know or need to be, but it can never grasp compassion and own it like a possession.

It is not something cultivated, and it cannot be held, stored away, and pulled out for later use.

December 18th

There are no degrees of compassion or love, as measurement occurs within memory and thought.

December 19th

There is no moment to be in. But what can you do?

Wait for the next moment in order to find out?

;)

December 20th

Seeing what you are, how you truly behave…

…and sitting with no condemnation, or no lust toward changing…

…that alone may be enough to thrust you beyond the veil.

December 21st

The believer is full of conclusions, and empty of curiosity.

December 22nd

If one discounts their own answers, the gurus become meaningless.

December 23rd

The I is no different from what it wishes to be free from.

December 24th

All of the teaching you could ever hope for is there, hidden within your words.

December 25th

You’ll come to the end on your own soon enough.

December 26th

Can memory tell us anything about the present moment?

Or can it only be held in front of reality as a filter?

December 27th

It is the greatest difficulty one might come up against…

…how to see.

December 28th

The ego is built from what has come before.

This is clear, and easy to see.

December 29th

See this for yourself, and do not take my word for it.

Go there and find out, and you will never again ask how to live your life.

December 30th

We sit to see, not to change.

December 31st

How have you lived your life during the last 365 days?

PostScript

In the end, only you will know where you’ve been, what you’ve done, and what you’ve seen, but all of these things are insignificant when faced with the truth of what you are. I can say over and over, “You are All One. You need nothing,” but it is your own energy that will discover if this is true or not.

It is only for you to see. For you, and no one else…

Life Beyond the Image

Takuin Minamoto had an ‘unfortunate event’ of the destruction of self on December 1st, 2006. From that time to the present, he has written words on enlightenment, spirituality, and other nonsense at his site:

www.takuin.com

Stop by and subscribe to the blog, or just say hello.

·

Table Of Contents

- Liberated Words…

- Acknowledgements

- Preface

- How to Use This Book

- January 1

- January 2

- January 3

- January 4

- January 5

- January 6

- January 7

- January 8

- January 9

- January 10

- January 11

- January 12

- January 13

- January 14

- January 15

- January 16

- January 17

- January 18

- January 19

- January 20

- January 21

- January 22

- January 23

- January 24

- January 25

- January 26

- January 27

- January 28

- January 29

- January 30

- January 31

- February 1

- February 2

- February 3

- February 4

- February 5

- February 6

- February 7

- February 8

- February 9

- February 10

- February 11

- February 12

- February 13

- February 14

- February 15

- February 16

- February 17

- February 18

- February 19

- February 20

- February 21

- February 22

- February 23

- February 24

- February 25

- February 26

- February 27

- February 28

- March 1

- March 2

- March 3

- March 4

- March 5

- March 6

- March 7

- March 8

- March 9

- March 10

- March 11

- March 12

- March 13

- March 14

- March 15

- March 16

- March 17

- March 18

- March 19

- March 20

- March 21

- March 22

- March 23

- March 24

- March 25

- March 26

- March 27

- March 28

- March 29

- March 30

- March 31

- April 1

- April 2

- April 3

- April 4

- April 5

- April 6

- April 7

- April 8

- April 9

- April 10

- April 11

- April 12

- April 13

- April 14

- April 15

- April 16

- April 17

- April 18

- April 19

- April 20

- April 21

- April 22

- April 23

- April 24

- April 25

- April 26

- April 27

- April 28

- April 29

- April 30

- May 1

- May 2

- May 3

- May 4

- May 5

- May 6

- May 7

- May 8

- May 9

- May 10

- May 11

- May 12

- May 13

- May 14

- May 15

- May 16

- May 17

- May 18

- May 19

- May 20

- May 21

- May 22

- May 23

- May 24

- May 25

- May 26

- May 27

- May 28

- May 29

- May 30

- May 31

- June 1

- June 2

- June 3

- June 4

- June 5

- June 6

- June 7

- June 8

- June 9

- June 10

- June 11

- June 12

- June 13

- June 14

- June 15

- June 16

- June 17

- June 18

- June 19

- June 20

- June 21

- June 22

- June 23

- June 24

- June 25

- June 26

- June 27

- June 28

- June 29

- June 30

- July 1

- July 2

- July 3

- July 4

- July 5

- July 6

- July 7

- July 8

- July 9

- July 10

- July 11

- July 12

- July 13

- July 14

- July 15

- July 16

- July 17

- July 18

- July 19

- July 20

- July 21

- July 22

- July 23

- July 24

- July 25

- July 26

- July 27

- July 28

- July 29

- July 30

- July 31

- August 1

- August 2

- August 3

- August 4

- August 5

- August 6

- August 7

- August 8

- August 9

- August 10

- August 11

- August 12

- August 13

- August 14

- August 15

- August 16

- August 17

- August 18

- August 19

- August 20

- August 21

- August 22

- August 23

- August 24

- August 25

- August 26

- August 27

- August 28

- August 29

- August 30

- August 31

- September 1

- September 2

- September 3

- September 4

- September 5

- September 6

- September 7

- September 8

- September 9

- September 10

- September 11

- September 12

- September 13

- September 14

- September 15

- September 16

- September 17

- September 18

- September 19

- September 20

- September 21

- September 22

- September 23

- September 24

- September 25

- September 26

- September 27

- September 28

- September 29

- September 30

- October 1

- October 2

- October 3

- October 4

- October 5

- October 6

- October 7

- October 8

- October 9

- October 10

- October 11

- October 12

- October 13

- October 14

- October 15

- October 16

- October 17

- October 18

- October 19

- October 20

- October 21

- October 22

- October 23

- October 24

- October 25

- October 26

- October 27

- October 28

- October 29

- October 30

- October 31

- November 1

- November 2

- November 3

- November 4

- November 5

- November 6

- November 7

- November 8

- November 9

- November 10

- November 11

- November 12

- November 13

- November 14

- November 15

- November 16

- November 17

- November 18

- November 19

- November 20

- November 21

- November 22

- November 23

- November 24

- November 25

- November 26

- November 27

- November 28

- November 29

- November 30

- December 1

- December 2

- December 3

- December 4

- December 5

- December 6

- December 7

- December 8

- December 9

- December 10

- December 11

- December 12

- December 13

- December 14

- December 15

- December 16

- December 17

- December 18

- December 19

- December 20

- December 21

- December 22

- December 23

- December 24

- December 25

- December 26

- December 27

- December 28

- December 29

- December 30

- December 31

Table of Contents

Beyond the Known

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

PostScript