Life Is Lived Between The Hands

On the one hand, this. 
On the other hand, that.
Sometimes we do it this way,
and sometimes we do it that way.
And that is how we do it.

The Buddhists say there is no duality.
There is duality
and there is denial of duality.
Which is duality.

The Taoists say it is Yin/Yang all the way.

Jesus said doing unto others
as we would have them do unto us
is the second greatest commandment.

Then he tells the story 
about the unjust landowner
who pays his workers the same wage
for different amounts of work,
saying, "Shall he not do what he wants
with what is his?"

Immediately raising objection:
JESUS!!! What happened to
"Do unto others as you would 
have them do unto you"???

To "Love your neighbor
as you love yourself"???

Remembering you said in answer
to the question, "Who is my neighbor,"
"YOU are the neighbor!
GO BE ONE!!!"

"What do you mean, Jesus?
What is going on?"

In reply, Jesus merely tells the story
of the wise and foolish bridesmaids,
with "You go get your own oil!"
as the way the wise treat the foolish.

WHAT? "Love your neighbor," unless you 
are a wealthy land owner?

"Love your neighbor" unless you are 
awaiting the arrival of the Groom Lord?

And let's not forget 
Jesus cursing the fig tree
for not having fruit out of season!!!
When "YOU BE THE NEIGHBOR--GO BE ONE!"
is the burden carried by us all,
even you, Jesus!

What gives here, Jesus?
You sound as one who does not know
whether he is coming or going!

And, I posit that this is the case!
Jesus does not know whether
he is coming or going,
and he recommends this way of being
to all who would walk with him
along the way, saying,
"Do not let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing."
(And how can we do that but by
not knowing ourselves what we are doing?)

And he adds emphasis to this not-knowing
recommendation by saying,
"The Spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will,"
meaning that the Spirit does not know
what she is doing 
any more than the wind knows what it is doing--
and neither know what they will be doing next!

Sometimes we do it this way,
and sometimes we do it that way.

It all depends upon what is called for
by the situation at hand.

Sometimes we love our neighbor
as we love ourselves,
and sometimes we do not.

Sometimes WE are the neighbor,
and sometimes we are not.

And that's the way it is.

And when do we do what,
and how do we know when to do what
where and when?

What guides our boat 
on its path through the sea?

Each of us can count on three guides
throughout our life

There is our original nature.
Our innate virtues--
and our virtues are the things we do best
and enjoy/love doing most.
And our intrinsic intuition.

When we live in intimate harmony
with these three aspects of ourselves
we are at one with who we are
and are able to love from this core
in dealing with what comes our way
and doing what is called for
in each situation as it arises.

This is the pivotal point
in "knowing what to do when, where and how."

In living out of who we are
in relationship with what is called for here, now,
we find ourselves doing spontaneously 
what the circumstances are asking for from us
as a "direct arising" in the moment that action is required--
without knowing why or how we know what to do.

Sometimes we do it like this
and sometimes we do it like that
and we don't know why, or where, or when.