A quiet day, just spent at home writing programs, eating at the Chinese restaurant with a book, and watching “Finding Nemo”. From the day, a few thoughts and a [[day.in.the.snow][short story]]: Beliefs are like footfalls we make into the Unknown. Or they can be a key, turning in the doorway of the mind to open or close it. Once that door is opened, there is no more conjecture. Light flows in through the windows, mellifluous and warm — and real. Belief is a defense against the despair of the darkness. In the realm of ideation, belief is anathema. It is concoction without foundation, no better than fairy tales. In the scheme of reality, however, they tell of what we haven’t seen. Without such beliefs, what would impel us to go further? There is no way to prove that an exit exists, or that some beliefs hold the key while others don’t. In this regard a fundamental belief says: “Seek and ye shall find.” Desire is the key. The purest of all desires leads along a moral path to a doorway at the heart of being. When this door opens, and we commune with the Beloved in whatever mode fits us best, it’s like drinking from a fountain whose flow grows stronger by the use. It is a thing of realities, often opposed to ideas: Ideas about how things should be, what we should do, how we should spend our time. A lifetime of should’s and must’s and have-to’s. The puritan ethic of expelling desire has so cut us off from this inborn sense, that adults are willing to devote themselves to a life with little joy. I think desire is the root, which if expressed in the right channel leads us intuitively, immediately to what we seek. I see religion counseling us to rid ourselves of attachment, rather than acquire knowledge; to become pure rather than perfected. A pure soul, who like a child looks at the world and senses where the Fount of happiness begins, is able to connect to the present in a way that is simple, real, and genuinely satisfying. Otherwise mysticism is only a collection of pale ideas, too easily consumed in the fire of everyday experience. When lofty ideals seem too hard to apply to the day-to-day. The central fact of the soul’s yearning should make our choices obvious: Of course we would choose one thing over another, based on whatever leads us to the joy of experiencing the Loved One’s presence!