"Gold for friends,
and Iron for enemies."

Roman saying

The Wise of yesterday wrote it
that the Wise of tomorrow wouldn't have to

Only reinvent the wheel
if it is requisite to improve thereupon

Only replace foundations
if houses would otherwise collapse

Read and then do better than that
so the future may build thereupon

Strong people don't put others down.
They pick them up.

"Yeah, I get that, but, why's it so hard? Why must it be so painful?
Why must there be such emotional struggle and spiritual turmoil?"

"Aha, then you don't get it at all.
You study the map well, but have yet to hazard traversing the Path, itself.

Without all the pain, Grasshopper,
without suffering and perseverance,
why bother to try to learn these first lessons at all?
Would you have had the tools and motivation you needed?

Without adversity, where's quality control?

Imagine, if you can, what an eternity of bliss would be worth to One,
who had suffered countless lifetimes in the struggle for that Nirvana,
as opposed to One who was born into such bliss without lifetimes of sorrow to counterbalance; provide context. Is the discrepancy of appreciations apparent?

You see-
if you want to learn, to live, to experience anything worthwhile,
you must accept the pain. Life is pain. That's the deal how it is in the contract: you get to live, but then you have to die. It's called Mortality. It's a joke, an illusion. Get over it. Laugh at it before it gets the last laugh. Welcome it. Let it teach you. Invite it for tea.
Dare to look it in the eye.
It respects that.

That isn't to say give in to it, but, rather, listen to it. Respect it's counsel.
If you must suffer, learn to use suffering,
lest it drain you of your very Soul
and entice you to seek to the same of Others-
That's the corrupting agent, Grasshopper.

Though Pain may well be dark by nature,
it is made bad by abusive nurture.
It mustn't be a construct of Evil.
It can be made an excuse for Light, as well.
There's an example of the play of yin and yang.
Be keen to both, so as to make the most auspicious choices.
Choose to transmute that Pain,
whether emotional, spiritual, physical, or creative,
into a source of inspiration, motivation.
Reflection. Redemption.

Balance is qi, Grasshopper.

Also, try to avoid killing the ants. They're just finding their place, too.
There's no sense in causing more suffering than there must already be.
You wanna talk about suffering? Talk to the ants who carry off the bits of the other Ants you smash! How d'ya think they feel?
Probably nothin', they're just ants.

Point is, not unlike pain,
the ants serve a purpose, as do we all.
Unlike the ants, though,
we are free to define our own purpose.
We must chose wisely.

Now, contemplate that as you get back to sweeping the leaves off the deck.
I have tea that urgently needs my attention."

He combed his hair with his hands and looked off at the sunrise, smiling.

"You're welcome to join me once this chore is complete.
I sense you're almost ready to truly begin your study."

I was strangely afraid he'd say that. I hope he's right.
He always is, but I don't really even know what it means to be ready.
Maybe all just simply is as it must be, and I should just be open to it.
I think I'll sweep a little slower and let all that simmer down.

"..so she just comes up to me and I didn't wanna say nuthin' to her
so I'm just like: 'Hey man, I'm just some dude.'
I wasn't lying, man, I mean, right? We all just dudes, right, man?
I be like 'Check it, dude; hows I sees it is: all us ******' dudes is equal,
and it make no ******' difference whether you got ovaries or testicles or whateverthefuck in between. **** like that is just a bad excuse to hate a ******* for no good reason. There's no need for that.
You best be hatin' a ******* for the right ******' reasons
if you gonna be hatin' on a ******* at all, naw'msayin'?
There are too ******' many good ******* reasons to hate on a fool
to let that silly, lame, petty childish **** cloud our judgements.'

Dude's a dude is a ******* dude no matter ******* what, man.
On a cosmic scale, I will have you know, gender really ain't a thing at all.. yo.
(Not at all to be confused with ***, which, as it says here:
"can surely be cosmological in effect, assuming proper conditions.")
A genuine dude ******* can't be trippin' on petty ***** **** like what the **** is or isn't between your legs! Seriously: grow the **** up.
I mean, if I may, there be bigger issues at hand here-
bigger players in play, as it were, than
what the **** side of what ******' line on the beach you're from,
or what ******' skin you got,
or what genitalia you have,
or what genitalia you like,
or what words you use,
or what the **** versions, translations,
or versions of ******* translations
of whichever-the-**** books
you do or don't happen to respect, man.
Just remember we all just dudes, man, okay?
That's all, really; Just be cool, and we cool.
It's really very simple and could be easy.

Now, I beseech of thee to dig it, dudes:
yea, though it would surely seem
we are physically different dudes,
there's really just this one Dude
with a capitol muh'****** D, right?
That ******' Guy is really every-******'-thing else, man,
and we're all, like, little dude fractals and ****
aspiring to be spiraling out of his head and **** like that, man,
and Mr.Dr. Big Supreme Badass Cpt.******'Everything Dude's all like:
'Go for it, my dudes! ******' right! Rock on! Yeah!! Get some!'
and I'm here to ******' prove it, man,
but, I mean, we're all here already, dudes,
and that's really all the proof of my point I think I need:
it's the Dude that's ******' everywhere, all the ******' time, man,
and, like, we've just gotta recognize that ****, man,
and reflect it. We gotta respect that ****, you know, man?
It's, like, soo super ******' far out, man,
that it's really just super ******' far in, maaan!
It's all the same, dudes.
Dudes. Hear me out, dudes.
It's all just ******' fractals and crystals and vibrations n' ****, dude.
Reflections of Dude everywhere, dude.
I am Dude. We are Dude.
Dudes ******* abound, dude.
Keep bein' dudes, dudes.
Be excellent to each other. Party on, dudes.

Hey, woah man, what's that like?
I heard about that..
Pass that over here, dude, would'ya?
If you're into it, I'm curious...

..aww yeeeah.. thanks, man.
I appreciate it. Respect.

Now..
where was I..
****. I lost the trip, man. Oh well.
There was gonna be a point to that,
but I forget now. ****, man.
I feel like an idiot. I'm sorry, I just wasted all that time!
What were you even asking me?
I get a bit carried away at times.
Huh?
Oh, yeah, its'..uhh. about three-fifteenish!"
-Jesus/Krishna/Horus/Me?/Etc./[You?]

"God ******! ******* guys!
I'm so very beyond caring if you'll ever ******* get it anymore.
Jesus ******* Christ!"
-Jesus

I knew that voice...
..so familiar and unmistakably.. divine.
I found the courage to look her in eyes as she said
"I'm not upset that you've been gone,
I'm just so happy you're back."
Those blue eyes.
As I gazed, I knew then that I believed in my heart
her every last syllable.

Each and every last word
was *divine.

Perfect-
were it only such a thing to be.