Love is not reasonable. If we could assign it to the reasonable world, it would not be useful.
Love is the chariot of emotion which takes us to our beloved. When we love we see beyond the prism of illusion.
When we love others we see our oneness with others.
I love so and so, how can I let go of them? You don't have to. You do whatever you chose. What you think, you become. Your thoughts are strongly affected by those you are emotionally open to.
In terms of spiritual development, it's not a big deal whether you have sex or not, the question is more of who you have sex with and what their energy is doing to you.
If you are having sex with someone who is not on the same frequency that you are on, it can be very problematic. The greatest karmic transfer occurs in having sex with someone.
Human beings are confused, deluded and generally un-awakened. So as a person who seeks to increase their energy, you have to be very careful about who you have intimate contact with.
The first sexual experience is a significant imprinting of attention.
Women tend to open themselves up more during sex. Because their subtle physical bodies are so much more sensitive they tend to pick up the total energy of the man they have sex with.
Many men have deep rooted problems regarding the status of women, and during sex these problems come out. They consciously or unconsciously project anger and hate towards women they have sex with. This energy enters a woman's subtle physical body and damages it.
It is most critical for a woman, or for a man who is very sensitive and opens up his heart, to be very selective about the people they have sex with.
I think I've learned more from women than anyone else, and perhaps from love - what a wonderful testing ground, what a wonderful place to see and sense our limitations, to know that the pain reflects your state of awareness and not being able to hide from it.
Reciprocity, a symbiotic relationship, is a relationship in which two people have worked out certain terms. I am using you in certain ways; you are using me in certain ways. That is a balanced relationship.
Let us say that you wanted a romantic partner who is in a higher sate of mind, a nicer person. The reason you will meet that person is because you are in a state of mind that will cause that meeting to occur.
In the classical spiritual definition, a soul mate is someone that you have reincarnated with many times. You find each other in many lifetimes.
You and I might define a 'soul mate' differently. For most people, a soul mate has some kind of sexual connotation.
We play in the jungle gym of sexuality until our spirit takes us out into a clear field where we can see the stars, the ten thousand radiances of enlightenment. One of those radiances is the dance of sexuality.
As you gain more discipline over your body, you will find that a corollary discipline will develop in the mind because the two really go together.
Those who are already adept at some disciplines of the body will find that the study of Zen and meditation will give you much more control than you now have.
In order to succeed on the athletic field, it is necessary to succeed in daily life. Your spirit and your life must be perfectly trimmed for the chi to flow properly.
Physical perfection, working out, adds to your spiritual perfection if that is your intent.
In Zen we strive to bring both the mind and the body into perfect combination, so that there is no intrinsic difference between them.
It is easier to develop the mind through meditation than it is just through athletic practice. If you put the two together, it will be unbelievable.
In the Zen of sports and athletics, we seek to bring discipline and control into our physical movements, but at the same time to eliminate the self that gets in the way of perfect play.
In the West, we think of sports and athletics as individual achievement, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat; it all revolves around the ego. This has nothing to do with the Zen of sports and athletics.
