A few years ago I was fortunate enough to see what I consider to be the most beautiful place on earth. I had seen Grand Canyon a few days earlier and of course found the scenery breathtaking. However the day I  drove through and around Monument Valley blew me away. The pictures on these pages were taken by me during that day. I have visited places in the world where a person can feel very alone, usually in the mountains. In Monument Valley I experienced a vastness so extreme I cannot recall any other time in my life when I felt so isolated and insignificant. This was a kind of enlightenment. I stopped all thought processes and experienced total calm. Instead of considering myself to be a part of what I saw, I became part of it. Herein lies another jewel of truth. Treat it with respect.

Try and see the great wisdom contained in these words. It explains the reason for prayer, for meditation, for fasting, for horsehair shirts, for religious self deprivation, for the stark lifestyles led by monks of whatever denomination. They are all methods adopted by religions in order to starve the self until it is finally conquered. This is what the Buddha did. I believe Christ and many other leaders and originators of the worlds religions also reached their 'enlightenment' in the same manner.
Destroy the self and inherit the universe.

I am not suggesting for one minute that the self is what you see in the mirror or that you should wear horsehair shirts. I am talking about your spirit and a way of freeing it.

Sometimes I sits and thinks.
And sometimes I just sits.

Stop thinking for a minute. Do you cease to exist when you're not thinking? You go to sleep at night and become unconscious. Do you cease to exist? 

You lose nothing and gain everything.

Be a lamp unto yourself.

No-one else can do it for you.