People say our Way is folly, but the hours of folly are measured by the clock, and of the Way no clock can measure. Normality is a paved road, comfortable to walk on, but no flowers grow. Each person follows the Way uniquely, holding three things close to their heart. Here are mine: pity, simplicity, and humility in the light of my own Spirit. For me, without them I become aggressive, frivolous, insensitive, isolated; my heart locked and without insight. But with these deities awakened, my open heart beats in time with Eternity, and the smallest flowers give the greatest joy. Heaven arms with pity those it would never see destroyed.

True servants of the Way walk gently on the Earth. Peace follows in their footsteps. Sweet music and sizzling food cause passing strangers to pause but Word of the Way has no taste or flavour, there’s nothing solid to see. Most miss the subtle signs, they’ve no chimes to tinkle when tickled by Her breeze. But once awakened She’s inexhaustible.

Without motion or action, the Way moves effortlessly, finding flavour in the flavourless. See the tree while still a seed; look beyond concepts of small and great, or comparisons of any kind. Face, in simplicity, things before complications arise and pass obstacles as rivers round stones … never clinging to comfort, never striving for recognition, so not interfering with the Inevitable. The world is in a state of desolation because no one sees it in each grain of sand.

What was never born, yet is, can never die. Heaven enjoys Earth, and both endure because they don’t exist for themselves. In Reality, the first are those who put themselves last. Leaving self behind, they find that they’ve advanced along the Way, although to others they appear to be standing still. Setting self aside, stay centred by accepting whatever you are doing. There’s only one reason to do anything: a meeting with the Friend is the only real payment. When water meets with water where is the join? The Way is without desire, so She is present for all beings: Always.

Maybe there’s never been a time when the importance of just ‘being’ has been so neglected amid a general preoccupation with ‘doing’. If I was more often busy with what inspires me, if I was more free to write down words as they come to me, would I be so short-tempered? If I lived closer to those I really love spending time with, if we had more time to share and develop what makes us friends, would we even need a holiday? If I could grow, in my own garden, the food I remember loving as a child, and eat fresh eggs from neighbours’ chickens, boiled and with soldiers to dip in, would I ever worry about fast-food or eating out? If people lived in smaller communities, closer to the land, sharing small forest gardens, enjoying rustic life and thriving in each other’s company, stories, hand-craft and art, would they still desire imported luxuries or labour-saving devices? Sometimes my whole life appears to me a frantic running from silence. Yet, it’s always at the very heart of silent being that the Way unfolds so beautifully the single thing I need now.

As it acts in the world, the Way, (like a bow bending,) is a great leveller, raising the lowly and bringing to earth heads that have reached the clouds of excess. But in the world of men, inequality grows unmitigated through its systems, like a cancer. Those who try to control using force, charm, and manipulation are oblivious to the Way. She is like spring, awakening the sleeping life from winter’s spell; and like autumn, gently cooling summer’s exuberance. Awareness of the Way comes to those who grasp that there’s no limit to what can be accomplished if you don’t care who gets the credit. They know that the limelight dims human hearts and that all praise belongs to the inexhaustible Way.

Violence is the last resort for the first among warriors, winning respect as well as the war. Recognising rage and wrath as the real enemies, he knows that his best sword is a clear mind and best shield a clean heart. True leadership inspires more leaders not more followers. Like a child, in harmony with the Way, an inspired leader discerns the common interests, brings them into common consciousness, awakening in the process the most auspicious capacities of the people. With the warrior, the leader, or the hidden sage of silence, the Way is one and the same. The cistern contains, the fountain overflows.

Colours can confuse the eye, sounds dull the ear. Too much attention on taste spoils the simple joy o’ homely fare. Lingering desires can wither the heart, Luxury’s contagion is weak and vile. To witness the world joyfully but trusting the inner impulses of the Way, we let things come and go, the heart as open as the sky.

Being in harmony with the Way has been compared to the state of a newborn child: supple and soft but with a powerful grip, as if still immersed in the vital energy of its mother; completely under her encompassing protection, whether crying, laughing or sleeping, at one with life’s rhythm. Touching this harmony we begin to blend with the vital breath, meeting every need naturally. But beware! Do not force things … Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Attempts to control the Way cause harm; force courts disaster.

What’s rooted is easy to nourish. The not-yet in the now, simple to direct. What’s tender is easily torn. The small scatter with a hair’s breath of breeze. Be organised in the light of your Spirit and order things before confusion comes. A tree as big as a man’s embrace sprouted from an invisible shoot. Great journeys arise beneath your first foot-fall. Grabbing at a thing lets it slip. Forcing a project to completion ruins what was almost ripe. Follow the Way in allowing everything to take it’s course; making use of what’s left behind; taking notice of what occurs around you no less than what arises within. Learning and unlearning, a Master desires only to follow the Way, effortlessly reminding people of who they have always been.

What’s your priority, the opinions of others or your own? How you appear in the light of day or how you feel as daylight fades, which matters most? Some things are mutually exclusive: Greed costs, need creates. Content with what you have, and are, you lack nothing and are open to true perception. You are the honoured guest. Don’t weep like a beggar for pieces of the world.

To know the Way, you must welcome everything. There’s only one Way, but She’s the enemy of no one. She guides the minds of anyone who refuses to judge themselves, or others. In their hearts they come to know that people’s actions are just the products of the prevailing culture. Seeing beyond the right and wrong of what’s said, they perceive the potential for truth in all human hearts. In this way the witness of the world reaches harmony with it, begins to gain inner gravity, drawing out truth from genuine hearts. As the Way becomes Mother to a Master, the Master emits nurture just by living. Consciously or unconsciously, people drink this milk of human kindness because a Master resonates with the vibration of truth in the heart of all living things.

To understand an other is clever, but to know yourself is wisdom. To defeat or control others is power, Mastering yourself requires real resolve and strength. Wealth is to know what enough is. Contentment is some kind of ancient wisdom whispering always, ‘Stay where you are. What’s necessary will come.’ One animated by the Way may look fragile, but in their hands is an assurance of eternity.

When governed with a light touch, people live honestly, free to thrive. Under an authoritarian hand, people react with disobedience and cunning, or weakness, fear and depression. Happiness and misery depend on outer conditions, each laying the groundwork for the other. Delusion certainly persists. The future is as vague as the true state of the present. We don’t know where we’re going because we have no idea where we are. Knowing this, the sage of stillness observes, satisfied to serve as an example. They are simple but supple, their tongues may be sharp but not cutting. Their brightness never blinds or fades. They reflect the light of the Way. Her sun doesn’t sell instalments of light. She shines equally in people on the farthest island, and in those close at hand.

Which do you prefer, in-breathe or the out-breath? Whatever is embraced must be released. A wave must fall before it rises again. A mind must empty into sleep before new dreams come. If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is. Jesus was as soft and strong as water. His harmony with the Way flooded death with Life. Power can be hidden inside gentleness, courage and passion, in restraint. Fresh pastures of promise can come in dark days. Borrow eyes to see this if yours cannot.

Gravity is the root of freedom. Stillness is the master of movement. Action without vision is random activity: Vision without action is hallucination. There is a wisdom which knows when to go and when to return, when to act and when to witness. Innocent spontaneity is the pure essence of this wisdom. When a person does work in Eternity, then Eternity is their reward. They become part of the Eternal Way. If someone works for any other reason. than because it ought to be done, the reward is restlessness.

She is all-pervading and all things owe their existence to Her, though She demands nothing of anyone or anything. As animals obey the law of gravity, the human race live within Her, though without knowing they have such a Mother as Master. Flowing everywhere, nourishing everything She holds nothing back, yet asks for nothing; therefore can be called humble. All things return to Her, yet She makes no claim; therefore may be called great. But She has no aim and doesn’t show Her qualities, being beyond measure or the mind. Thus men forgot that All Her deities reside in the human breast. Such an existence is a deep disgrace. Anything born in the spring dies in the fall, but love is not seasonal.