Crap, crap and more crap.......

After many years as a very devout Christian; one who prayed deeply and fasted long, one who refused to believe the rhetoric that stated that any thought or teaching that had you question the shepherd of the flock or the teachings of the Bible is a question inspired by darkness; one that sought to minister and heal and place no harm, even to those that sought to dominate any inkling of free thought....The time came when I decided to seperate myself. To silence the heavy hand of dogma.
I touched upon the many paths that went up the mountain. Some were littered with the thorns of dogma and tradition. Some retained the stink of religion and others gave me cause to linger. There is a visible thread that runs through them all. One has to shake the tree until all the rotton fruit falls to the ground and only the edible remains. Buddhism and Taoism, Hinduism and Mystic Christianity, Sufism, and many other paths hint at that which is beyond words. Like a whiff of a pleasant perfume that lingers for a second while your head bobs in for another smell.
My quiet search led me to the quiet meditations of Taoism. It opened doors of awareness that Buddhism also seeks to open through the understanding of the four noble truths and the eight fold path. Unfortunately, Buddhism is full of Dogma and tradition. I believe that Zen usually says more with less, leading one closer to full awareness. One does not need to define over and over and over what is found when you "just sit", but the human minds has a need to catagorize, compartmentalize and piece together our "understanding" or "awareness" The end result is too often dogma. A list of thou shalts and thou shalt nots. The eight fold path of Buddhism often falls into that catagory for many; too many. Buddhists trying to define themselves and others; whether you should eat meat or not, what tradition or lineage is closer to what the Buddha taught.
But, I digress. All the shit in the world - the need to remove myself from such crap, crap and more crap. American politics, world turmoil, religion...........It never changes. The quietness and power of Taoist meditations like the "inner smile" can aide in keeping you grounded in all the crap, crap and more crap because removing oneself is never the goal, nor is it really possible.
On another note, my Mother died three years ago today. Death is a constant reminder that we must live for the moment. Her death was untimely and tragic. The ripple effect upon her children has swept them away into opposite directions.
My prayer is that we will be able to sustain ourselves through the hell of American politics and the assault on our liberties. I do fear that an American Taliban is waiting in the wings. I do suspect that hard times are close by as well. Major depression type of hard times. I do hope that I am wrong.