*image by Ben Harubin

First voice: "How are conditions out there?"
Second voice: "Same as always -- irrelevant."

Roads and words seem to go somewhere, while the surface of a sphere
Ignores C.O.D. packages.
(A man lost is close to knowing where he is...a man, that is, with a new knowledge of what being lost is.)

An enlightened man with a doctrine is an illusion...and if not, a fraud.

A man asked a mystic, "Is 'not caring' anything like being awake?"
And the mystic replied, "Not if you care whether you don't care or not."

Rule (that should weigh a ton and sit on your bad foot by now):
Nothing is "like" enlightenment if it means anything to you.

A man asked a mystic, "Is--"
And the mystic interrupted him, "Are you about to ask me if such-and-such
is anything like enlightenment?"
And the man replied, "Well...as a matter of fact, I was."
And the mystic said, "Haven't you confronted me with such as this before?"
And the man replied, "Well, as a matter of fact, I have asked you about the
possible similarity between enlightenment and several specific areas on previous
occasions."
And the mystic said, "Let me save you some time and give you a blanket
response to all such curiosity." "EVERYTHING is 'like' enlightenment, for
everything IS enlightenment. But you only know this after you realize that
everything, as you perceived it, was nothing! Not 'everything,' not even
'anything,' but NOTHING."
"Only then do you see everything in its pristine state, unencumbered by any
of your thought about enlightenment or non enlightenment."

These words appeared to deeply effect the man, who fell reflectively silent
for several minutes. He then brought his attention back to the instant moment,
and once again to the mystic spoke, "Well, is what you just told me anything
at all like being enlightened?"

As long as the mind is talking it can never describe what it is, for speech
can never say what it is, other than to say, "This is me! -- this is me talking,
telling you that this is me."

How long will it take for echoes of reflections to realize that they are not
representations of anything real?

(I guess you might as well look at the Grand Canyon and ask,
"How long should you cook this?")

There is no reality separate from your thoughts -- only your thoughts,
separate from reality.