STRAIGHTEN UP (PDF-1894)

Perhaps I can finish up this series on purity. It is a touchy subject because on the one hand, in order to develop the awareness needed to recognize the true nature of the mind, various purification practices may be involved. It is like cleaning a dirty pair of glasses. On the other hand, once we can see clearly (so I am told), everything is seen as pure. Obviously, here I am focusing on the first part, purifying our view.

I admit I am still on this kick of tracing back my own struggle with purity and how I got there, which for me required holding my feet to the fire -- some kind of purification process. I was already somewhat jaded early on, just by living in this world, but a lot of it was artificial coolness, you know, being "cool." I guess I got that from "The Beats" back in the late 1950s. We listened to Cool Jazz and did our best to be or at least appear "cool." No, I never wore an actual earring, but I wore a lot of figurative earrings, all kinds of them.