The humor is deadly serious, though, and the advice goes deep, as anyone knows who has had even a glimpse of the intelligence of the universe. But even to take sides against the ego is to assume the struggle, and thus to be forever involved in it. How far this is from the effortless serenity of Yün-men, where the mind has become an element as natural as sunlight or rain. And how do we get from point alpha to point omega? “This thing we tell of can never be found by seeking,” says the Sufi Master Bistami, “yet only seekers find it.”
The Essence of Wisdom is not meant to be read as you would read most books. Each saying stands alone on an otherwise empty page because, in order to resonate deeply, it needs at least that much emptiness around it. (If the economics of publishing were different, each saying would have its own book.) Each is a meditation in itself, enough for a day’s reading; you might try reading one at the beginning of your day, then carrying it with you in your mind, lightly, as the day progresses, and reading it again just before you go to sleep. Even better: rather than reading them, I hope you can find a way to let these sayings read you. Wherever you don’t understand them, and wherever you do understand, let them keep ripening in the empty spaces inside you. The more open you are, the more they will bear fruit
