What does the practice look like if
critical thinking is built into the
beginning of every dharma talk
before the refuges, before the
four noble truths
What if nothing is noble or right,
What if there is no refuge outside of
this moment to take heart in?
Before my first dharma talk
I wish someone had told me
about my own power, my own capacity to discern
for myself the path of awakening
Fuck placing teachers on pedestals and
Revering their words as truth
Looking to them to save me from
My own darkness.
I wish someone had told me
Do not turn outside of yourself,
Do not look to me to guide the way
Fuck everything in this dharma talk if
It does not resonate with your own experience.
You are the expert in your body, not me
I have no authority to guide you out of pain
should you wish to stay.
Think critically.
Do not breathe mindfully through the
Difficulty if punching the air or
Swinging an axe into the earth
Will take better care.
Taking care does not look a certain way.
There is nothing wrong with releasing
Your anger into the wind, the ground.
Take up space with it, let it rage
Burn down the shelter where your
perceptions stay.
