the Dao of Atheism :jeffers' petroglyph, pre-dakota, minnesota : the Shaman Atheist 27/81

27

The best walkers leave no trail
the best speakers neither slip nor offend
the best accountants need no calculator
the safest places have no bolts or locks,
the best friendships have no need of vows or promises,
yet they cannot be broken
the best theology has no god or heaven
yet everyone is saved.

Thus the wise person
helps people, never becoming callous;
helps all living things, never becoming superior.
No one refused, no thing abandoned,
following an inner self-knowledge.

Although the educated are the teachers of the ignorant,
ignorance remains the foundation of knowledge and education.
When teachers lose respect
and students are not cared for,
ignorance prevails.
This is no secret.

Two cousins, gastropods, the snail and the slug.
One wears its shell on the outside, the other on the inside.
Like theism and atheism
like marriage and living together
like ritual and mysticism.
Neither is better or worse than the other
each has adapted to the same environment
in a different way.
Shells protect, and no animal has ever grown too large for its shell, yet some animals have internalized the shell, more exposed,
yet still guarding
something
inside.

There is an atheism
beyond this atheism.




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