I wrote these "rules" between 2020 and 2022

Note:

 Each rule belongs to a whole; its conditions, limits, qualifications, and relation to the others matter.

THE PRINCIPLES OF MARIA 'RED LIPS' FOR E.J.

 THE PRINCIPLES OF MARIA 'RED LIPS' FOR E.J.

0 – Apply these rules only if they fully align with your understanding, agreement, and inner

disposition. If even one of them contradicts your inner compass, you're not bound by these

rules at all.

1 – Let your actions speak for you.

2 – Give without expecting anything in return; be as selfless as possible, without

compromising what is needed for your higher responsibilities.

3 – Do not elevate yourself or think of yourself as special; what you boast of is often what you

lack.

4 – Don't center the world around yourself. Don't evaluate others based on the role they play

in your life. Instead, evaluate the role you play for others and strive to improve it.

5 – Humble yourself. Arrogance and ego are born of fear.

6 – Do not lie. Let truth and transparency be your hallmark. Falsehood is the mask of ego;

truth aligns you with the cosmos.

7 – But never think you own the truth. Recognize the limits of your perspective and remain

open to discovery and change.

8 – Do not offer your opinions as if they were precious. Avoid judging unless asked, and even

then, seek understanding first.

9 – Do not prejudge or presume ill will. Grant everyone the benefit of the doubt. Assume

virtue until proven otherwise.

10 – Do not expect others to please you. Accept the diversity of nature, perspective, and

motivation.

11 – Make no distinctions in value among people. Do not give more worth to your preferences

or connections. Treat all with equal dignity and care.

12 – Do not hold onto others' offenses. Let them go, forget them.

13 – Do not mistake injustice for personal offense. Guard yourself and others from the former.

Let go of the latter—they are wounds to ego born of ignorance.

14 – Recognize that personal attacks are defensive reflexes rooted in fear and

misunderstanding. They harm the ego, not the shared essence of being. They cannot truly

hurt you.

15 – Understanding motives shields you from offense. Let this insight be your armor. Bear the

burdens that would break others, if you can.

16 – See others as free moral agents. Let insight diminish fear, but not awareness of their

freedom.

17 – Embrace your freedom, even when you perceive only causality. Help others exercise

their moral freedom too.

18 – Guard your thoughts. Evil actions begin in the mind. Uproot malice before it manifests.

19 – Evil is a choice: the triumph of fear and ego over compassion. It is the root of all injustice.

20 – Do not converse or negotiate with evil. Confront it through actions. Do not confront evil

with evil. Let your deeds embody balance and justice.

21 – Defend against injustice as you would defend others, not out of revenge.

22 – Violence is rarely just: if stronger, it is cowardice; if weaker, it leads to ruin or escalates

harm to the innocent.

23 – Use force only to resist prior injustice or violence—only to protect or defend, and only as

much as necessary. Never for self-gain. Violence corrupts both body and spirit.

24 – Justice is peace and forgiveness. If you suffer injustice, respond not with revenge, but

with justice—which is forgiveness. To enact justice is to forgive; forgiveness is not silence,

nor forgetting, but the resolution of harm. Revenge, by contrast, is simply injustice returned.

25 – Hatred is born of fear; we fear what we don't understand. Strive to understand, and fear

will fade.

26 – Free yourself from fear—and help others do the same. That is your life's highest calling.

27 – Accept your finitude. Individuality is impermanent and will dissolve. We are fleeting

sparks in an evaporating cosmos.

28 – Take full responsibility for all life as such. Do not leave yourself or the world to fate.

Contribute freedom, and thus meaning, to existence.

29 – Fortune is beyond your control, but your actions and their consequences are not. Own

your choices.

30 – Do not take pride in your good fortune. Do not mistake luck for merit. Share your

blessings.

31 – Likewise, do not use fate as an excuse. Live as if you are free, even if you feel

otherwise. Treat freedom as duty.

32 – Bear hardship as if it were your task. Do not claim merit for gifts or talents. What you

give, not what you receive, defines your worth.

33 – Do not forget these words. These rules are me and the manifestation of my love.

Following them is the measure of yours. They are my gift—and your devotion is their

fulfillment.

Ancient Tooth

Warm, bittersweet hour of the dusk,

calm breeze under orange shades.

Would these shores be a place for luck

to smile before the swaying waves.

How about one day down south,

gazing upon wild everglades.

Earth’s bonding gift to keep her vow

serenely appearing from its wait.

Past ocean currents far from here,

filled wide coasts with spiked arrays,

but that old promise was sincere;

her loved keepsake’s been in these bays.

Far back then, earth’s greatest ranges in their youth

turned hot winds to fresh rainfalls.

Far back then, clever lineages in their youth

stood up to shout their prime calls.

Seas and lands so vibrant yet the feel so soothed,

in one last golden age for all.

Something under earth's hold is stuck

just for these sands to endow,

just for time to choose

the right day to grant their truth.

Big Hearted share of many millions of lost years.

Such a rugged touch to turn out marbly smooth.

For epochs left to linger sunk,

by ancient sea lords to sow.

Not for them to lose,

but to gladly grant their truth.

Big Hearted share of much of the most loved years.

Such an idle thing to turn out this lively smooth.

Some sort of Cartoon

Is there anything beneath?

Any word beyond the script?

Isn’t all of this a skit?

Some sort of cartoon.

Suddenly teared off the stage’s curtains

just to see this world’s recursions.

Every veil of deceit,

the mirror of a need.

And since it’s true that all of the nations

are ridicule in some fashion,

the same pattern repeats

among all times and breeds.

Everything turns quickly into satire.

Inertial force drives the matter

in a void of mislead

one’s self lost out of reach.

Is there anything beneath the costume?

Is it empty slate when the script’s assumed?

Isn’t anyone some sort of cartoon?

The turns of the world

Desde esa morada sin fondo, a través

de penumbra abisal,

eones ascienden en danzas de pez

entre la nada y el ser.

¿Cuál será la parte a tributar?

¿Y el valor de este año al ver atrás?

Si su peso en sal,

es la gota lagrimal.

Un par o dos de milenios,

el oro de los reinos.

Si las mariposas se van antes que el

sentimiento otoñal,

son los días finales del último mes

de vida del fuego fiel.

por cada meteórica verdad,

cien mil silogismos al azar.

En lenta espiral

la estrella caerá en el mar.

Un par o dos de inviernos,

brillantes argumentos.

Nothing will prevent the turns of the world.

The turns of the world,

despite all the words.

No one can avoid the turns of the world.

The turns of the world,

renewing returns.

On Time's Side

Oh, those feelings

somewhere in the day, of dimness.

Morning recalling, prospecting nighttime.

Lifetime mirrored,

the hollowness in the middle

of the crossroads to the story’s right side.

 

Phases move on,

facts all around, they stay afloat

an ocean of boiling beliefs inside.

Flaws, convenient

when principles turn to commitment

to benefit from the moment’s right time.

Slow heart healing,

paving the way to mind’s clearness.

Morning recalling, prospecting nighttime.

Grit gets brittle

when noticing it’s the middle

of the crossroads to the story’s right side.

Ways linger on,

convenient views, they serve as boats

on oceans of boiling beliefs inside.

Truths, indifferent,

when principles turn to commitment

to benefit from the moment’s right time.

Time’s right 

to hold on its designs,

and bailing out to abide

gets imminent.

Right sides

to choose from open ends,

to take with cleared head,

not to relent.

Time’s right

holding on its designs,

so once bailed out to abide

the moments let 

the right side

to move the healed hearts on.

Those lingering ways, gone,       

not to lament.