Vajra

Every spiritual tradition honors the vajra sword. Even Jesus said, "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Do not mistake it for the sword of war. It is the sword of Buddhi, discriminating intelligence.

Much suffering arises from the idea that some past cause is to blame for my present situation. My restless unhoned mind invents and superimposes the notion of a "cause." No cause, no blame...

The present moment, in all its ruin and splendor, is a flower of light without a seed, a rainbow in the sky, a fatal enticement, a mirage.

The elegant dagger of awareness is whetted by a breath. This blade sparkles, not because of what exists, but because of what does not exist - because of what has been honed and polished away in the sharpening.

If there is not a cause, then who is responsible?

Responsibility is ability to respond. When I am disabled by the past, shackled by imaginary causes, I cannot respond. But when I sever the cause, disconnect the blame, cut off the storyline, I am free to be fully present. I am free to respond. I am free to love.

The sword is compassion.

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