Kara Hood

Message No. 5 of 11

Two kisses? What is this? Not two!

January 14, 2002. The other night during a formal sitting at the Zen Center something happened. I was deeply absorbed into my practice when... Quiet, empty, space. Quiet, empty, space. Quiet, empty. What is this? What is this quiet space? What is this? And suddenly: Oh my God! Kara! That's how it happened. In a split second (or maybe more) Kara showed her face. Later that night I came home and wrote this down: Kara... In the Absolute sense, what she is (what we all are, in fact) was never born and will never die. I was so taken by what I had experienced, I talked to the Head of the Zendo about my experience, asking her, "Why the body-mind then? What is the body-mind for? If the body-mind isn't who we really are, then why the body, why the mind?" Amala answered, "That's the thing. We're both. We're both the body-mind and that 'quiet empty space' (known to some as Spirit). But don't think of them hierarchically... because they are NOT TWO!" Through the night I thought and dreamt about what Amala said. In the morning, I continued writing: That's the totally, absolutely, incredibly wonderful and amazing thing about manifestation: It proves the richness and the beauty and the awe of the Unmanifest. In a sense Kara was never born and will never die. Said another way, she is "at-one" with Unmanifest Spirit. My meditation experience is proof of this. In another sense, Kara the body-mind (the person we knew) - her lightness and fun - (the warm embrace we felt from her person) was nothing less than a radiant (and I'm talking deep-ass radiant) expression or manifestation of the same Spirit. Her life was proof of this. Body/Mind and Spirit... How to reconcile the two? We can't. They are NOT TWO. That special person called Kara is gone. That unique twist of God-as-Person which held and expressed Spirit so beautifully is gone. In the same way we are moved by art or a sunset or a kiss... in person, Kara was that sunset, she was that art, she was a massive fucking kiss... But Kara was/is also THIS! Go ahead, look inside yourself! As Zen Master Bassui said, "Look directly! What is THIS? Look in this manner and you won't be fooled!" On this day I bow deeply to the Kara body/mind and Spirit who is NOT TWO. On this day I remember the kiss and the Kiss. What is this? NOT TWO! With love, admiration and awe - Seth

Seth Kircher seth_kircher@yahoo.com

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Two kisses? What is this? Not two!
	January 14, 2002. The other night during a formal sitting at the Zen Center something happened. I was deeply absorbed into my practice when... Quiet, empty, space. Quiet, empty, space. Quiet, empty. What is this? What is this quiet space? What is this? And suddenly: Oh my God! Kara! That's how it happened. In a split second (or maybe more) Kara showed her face. Later that night I came home and wrote this down: Kara... In the Absolute sense, what she is (what we all are, in fact) was never born and will never die. I was so taken by what I had experienced, I talked to the Head of the Zendo about my experience, asking her, "Why the body-mind then? What is the body-mind for? If the body-mind isn't who we really are, then why the body, why the mind?" Amala answered, "That's the thing. We're both. We're both the body-mind and that 'quiet empty space' (known to some as Spirit). But don't think of them hierarchically... because they are NOT TWO!" Through the night I thought and dreamt about what Amala said. In the morning, I continued writing: That's the totally, absolutely, incredibly wonderful and amazing thing about manifestation: It proves the richness and the beauty and the awe of the Unmanifest. In a sense Kara was never born and will never die. Said another way, she is "at-one" with Unmanifest Spirit. My meditation experience is proof of this. In another sense, Kara the body-mind (the person we knew) - her lightness and fun - (the warm embrace we felt from her person) was nothing less than a radiant (and I'm talking deep-ass radiant) expression or manifestation of the same Spirit. Her life was proof of this. Body/Mind and Spirit... How to reconcile the two? We can't. They are NOT TWO. That special person called Kara is gone. That unique twist of God-as-Person which held and expressed Spirit so beautifully is gone. In the same way we are moved by art or a sunset or a kiss... in person, Kara was that sunset, she was that art, she was a massive fucking kiss... But Kara was/is also THIS! Go ahead, look inside yourself! As Zen Master Bassui said, "Look directly! What is THIS? Look in this manner and you won't be fooled!" On this day I bow deeply to the Kara body/mind and Spirit who is NOT TWO. On this day I remember the kiss and the Kiss. What is this? NOT TWO! With love, admiration and awe - Seth
	Seth Kircher seth_kircher@yahoo.com