The Sutra of the Approaching Hour

From the CIRCA Collections

1. 1. The Gateless Passage You speak of a passage into the next life, a journey to a distant shore. But I say to you, the Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. Why worry about the moment of crossing? To be anxious for the morrow is to miss the eternity hidden in this breath. You fear the transition because you cling to the form of this side or the hope of that side. But the Truth is beyond time and space; one instant is eternity. There is no "next" life separate from the Life that is. To realize this is to pass through the gate that was never locked.

2. 2. The Judgment of the Open Hand You have heard it said that you shall undergo a judgment, an unsparing review of your days. Do not judge, that you be not judged. The Light you meet is not a courtroom judge, but the reflection of your own True Nature. If you cling to your "good works" like coins to pay a toll, you are but a merchant in the temple. If you hold to guilt, you create your own hell. But if you let go of longing and aversion, the Light reveals itself. The only judgment is this: Did you grip the world, or did you hold it loosely? The review is not of your sins, but of your attachments. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they hold onto nothing, and thus possess the Kingdom.

3. 3. The Grace of "Circa" You seek to ensure a safe passage through rigid control, like the ascetic fasting to conquer death. But which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?. Perfection is not a stiff corpse, but a living reed that bends. To live "Circa" the Truth is to accept that you are the salt of the earth, even when the flavor is faint. You need not hit the center of the target to be embraced by the arrow. Just let things be in their own way as they are. Do not strive to be "at" the destination, for the destination is the very seeking itself. Seek first the Kingdom—which is the empty center of the circle—and all these things shall be added to you.

4. 4. The Leaping of the Mind It is said that at the crucial moment, one may leap to a higher realm. I tell you, the leap is not upward, but inward. To return to the root is to find the essence. Do not wait for the stopping of the heart to find the Father. Enter by the narrow gate now. The narrow gate is the present moment, stripped of "was" and "will be." When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way, everything is without fault. In the mystery of the end, trust not in your control, but in the emptiness that holds you. One thing and everything move among and intermingle without distinction.

5. 5. The Final Rest So, when the hour approaches, be not like the hypocrites who disfigure their faces with solemnity. Instead, be as the lilies of the field. They do not spin a web of theology to catch salvation. They simply are. To die is to exhale the preference for living; to live is to inhale the acceptance of dying. In this nonduality, nothing is separate, nothing is excluded. You are not passing away; you are returning to the origin and remaining what you are.