Category: Buddhism

An Offering

In the New Kadampa Tradition, we perform a practice called Offering to the Spiritual Guide on the 10th and 25th day of each month. Typically practitioners meet to recite chanted prayers and bring food and flower offerings to our Spiritual Guide. This verse is my offering.

~~~

Sometimes I feel
         I was built to handle anything
                          limitless potential
                                   powerful, strong

Other times, too sensitive
         to get along
                          difficult to get by
                          or even make do
         I don’t want for much
                    and yet there’s never enough
         and the disappointment’s strong

Am I made up of feeling,
mistaken discrimination?

Why can I never make contact
                   when I try & touch
                              another,     soft   skin
                                                   — lost
                     gone          by the time I’m there

                                 it’s only    air

                    and though it’s space I crave,
                                          it’s a high cost

tears, sorrow
                         yet goodbye to rage
             I’ve freed myself from anger’s cage
                         yet sadness remains here
                                          all the same
                         delusions wrong,
                                                  familiar, strong
             I beg them leave
                                please do not stay!

I see a face
             familiar shape,
                     I know that walk
             I’ve seen that gait
                     I recognize that stride
             he takes his time
                     if he has rhythm,
                                  I have his rhyme
             and false reason
                              keeps us apart —
             though why should we meet
             when every greeting
                          ends the same way
             goodbye, depart until
                           some other day

So though I want to beg & cry
      & sit & pretend I don’t know why
             this pain, though here, won’t stay
           it’s mere causes created
                            now ripened seeds
                   appearing here as suffering
          yearning great as I’ve felt before
                    wishing there was something more
                    while this vision reveals all
          it’s just my mind
                         it’s not out there,
                                       though it’s appearing
                                                       everywhere

I can write it down
                     I can share some words
             & still the truth remains unheard
         for causes we don’t create
                   to sit still    ,     think    ,   concentrate
          on something more virtuous than hate
                    why can’t we learn to meditate
                                       on happiness & love?
                     How is that too hard    (as I’ve heard
                                                                 whiners complain)
                                          & my heart breaks

So sensitive, so still
            so patiently I work,     I wait
       as effortful seeds
                     I do create
                        and generously dedicate
                     for others’ joy
                                          & may hearts heal
                                   anvil strong
                                               unbreakable & vajra-like
                                                            until
                                                    Enlightenment.

Tags Buddhism, creative writing, emptiness, karma, offering to the Spiritual Guide, osg, past lives, poem, Poetry, prayer, reality

Buddhism Poetry

Part of it all: III

(continued from)

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I sit apart
yearning
misunderstanding
my separateness
does not exist

and still
it is effortful
to fight such suffering
deceitful maras
mistaken minds

I am but a drop
at my heart
at the heart of all hearts
inseparable, pure
with the Dharma cure

to be a part of it all
happily

Tags Buddhism, creative writing, dependent existence, dharma, happiness, healing, love, mara, poem, Poetry, pure, reality, suffering

Buddhism Dreams Poetry

osprey

Post author By K. Samways
Post date July 9, 2024
No Comments on osprey

I see
an osprey kick a gull in the head
& catch a fish
this morning

emerge compassion
for attachment
killing
though thought rare sight
— such common poison!

emptiness
a play of light
arises before me
due to mind

it’s only mind

I must endure
just one more day —
time to love & time to play

I must endure this suffering
for I have caused it
that I see

these imprints strong
self-grasping me

like clouds appear
in a summer sky
seeming so blue
in my sense’s eye
and clouds so white
appear to dance
changing shape
and circumstance
with one another
scenes create
a turkey vulture roosts
while whales tempt fate
to swim so high
up in the sky
it almost makes me
question why
I feel that I can wait
to truly escape
this earthly suffering
finding no one here
who is happier than me

finding no couple who’s truly at peace
seeing no being that moves with ease

observing not one who can work together
without hatred, attachment, greed

should I give up? — No!

I’ll change my aspiration instead

I aspire to be truly happy, a pure example

& although I wish for another by my side
one who would face the changing tide,
I know in another I cannot seek
any joy or peace to be —
for it all must come from me

& although I strive to give & give
in humanness, I can’t let go
of my own unfulfilled hunny-do list —
this deluded partner, lazy, low —
by whose esteem I now accomplish
many of my deeds — instead of
saving for me, a pure aspiration
— enlightenment for all, equally

& although a man in measure
may grant me earthly pleasure
there’s not a time I can recall
unmixed with poison from the fall

an apple sweet, an apple tart
both eventually rot & fall apart
never singular, & still
each wish we’d like it to fulfill

the flavourful & wellness start
healthy gut, balanced, body art

this world is crazy, bizarre, insane —
& if I believe I can lay the blame
with anyone else,
I’ve already failed

so instead I vow to see, in each & every irony
a new teaching, a blessing, gift
in each disturbance, every rift

a chance to see things appear to fall apart
never once one thing
except in name
and with delusions I lay all blame

self-cherishing, self-grasped —
in dependence, same

I am so tired of samsara’s games
I quit

on to Enlightenment, charging forth
with Dharma’s wealth

I’m collecting merit for good health

for long, long years in which to help
all beings do the same

to happiness, I now lay claim

watching the gulls upon the bend
leaves me with these words to send
to you

thank you for your time,
and love, and coming to this place
may your mind be ever blessed
with peace & happiness

Tags Buddhism, creative writing, delusional, delusions, emptiness, fishing, karma, love, nature, osprey, poem, Poetry, reality, virtue, wildlife

Buddhism Philosophy Poetry

determination

I am only a witness,
transparent eye
a non judgemental mirror —
or at least a mirror who keeps
her judgments to herself

I am the nursery rhyme before it’s written,
the angel before the fall
the dream before the nightmare
the ring before the call

I hear the future coming,
still feel the distant past,
see outcomes from our actions
that for years & years will last

I weep for sad beginnings
I laugh at mad hellos
see insanity all around us
and suffering only grow

I am ready to escape this
ready to depart
ejecting all attachment
burning all my art

I have not one creation
of which I am proud
except those that come from virtue,
those soundless,
those I’ve vowed

I sow these seeds in silence
for my words have caused much pain
all contaminated actions
seemingly in vain
(* focus on intention *)

I hear the whistle blow,
a hundred miles from home
smell the fields of mountain thyme
growing round the purple heather
and still cannot decide
if to stay or go

until I walk the streets
see the suffering
hear the cries
smell the stink
feel the terror
taste the drink

then it all comes rushing back,
each and every pleasure,
that I’ve had it all before
— it’s time to think!
I cannot do this anymore!
I won’t!

So with reliance, offering, requesting,
my life I do lay down
only for something better
more meaningful, profound

with diligent, stable practice
(which, finally, I’ve found)
and compassionate, loving heart
I fall upon the Bodhisattva’s ground

I bow before the new moon,
and rising with the sun
try to take things lightly,
because all is mind and none is one

Tags attachment, Buddhism, creative writing, emptiness, karma, love, nature, pleasure, poem, Poetry, reality, renunciation, samsara, transparent eye, witness, writing

Buddhism Good Fortune Poetry

once free

Do you know what it is
to be without

fear, sorrow,
deluded doubt?

Do you know what it is
to be truly free

from anger, hatred,
and misery?

Do you know what it is
to go within

where all is pure,
without sin?

Do you know what it is
to exist in peace

where all causes for unhappiness
have ceased?

Do you know what it is
to know your mind

limitless potential,
joyful, kind?

I have finally found
such instructions pure
as my name imputed,
an unmistaken cure

now to follow
this joyful path
it alone is happy,
clear, unmatched

who will join me?
may it be all
with equanimity, love,
we shall heed the call

and finally discover
Enlightenment unbound
dreamlike true existence,
once unknown, now found

Tags Buddhism, creative writing, emptiness, freedom, happiness, karma, love, peace, poem, Poetry, reality, realization

Buddhism Dreams Philosophy Poetry

the speed of love

in grade six,
we were asked to
define love

I plagiarized Chicken Soup for the Soul
           after we were force-fed its trite passages
           (so it seemed to me – I hated it)
     strong past life imprints
             tearing present apart
     of course I got caught
I lacked the language
     the metaphors
                 – the red, red roses –
                 I knew I did
     how could my eleven define love?

only years later,
     the unchanging definition was given to me
only years later,
     a pure example, to be echoed
absorbed into my roots
                          my Guru
          – how shall I mind to be
               an echo of utter purity? –
          so now love is my wish for all others,
                                                    for you
                   to be happy
                     effortlessly & evermore
                                         & quickly

Tags Buddhism, chicken soup for the soul, creative writing, emptiness, happiness, joy, karma, love, love is a red red rose, poem, Poetry, reality, the speed of love

Buddhism Philosophy Poetry

the space between

I look up to see
the space between
the spring’s bright leaves,
framing failing light

the eve’s chill falls
as the day’s warmth lifts
dew dances on the lawn
while my brook babbles on

as of late, my words betray
what my mind creates –
for with incorrect name
my suffering’s made

beneath me now
the earth is cold,
this rock is hard,
I’m feeling old

so many lifetimes,
all the same
wasted, wasted
all in vain —

now depend on heart-filled meaning,
mindfulness, do practice, pray
the power of delusions, cease!
and all bad habits, slay!

anew my happiness is born
here and now today
and with constant prayer & blessing
will never pass away

how lucky are these eyes
to behold periwinkle skies
how lucky are these toes
that walk where wild grows
how lucky are these hands
that touch the living earth
how lucky is the mind
appearing Bodhichitta birth

how lucky to be giving
to create the cause of wealth
how lucky I may nurture
to create the cause of health
how lucky to be kind
that I may create the cause of peace
how lucky to hold compassion
so all hatred, anger cease
how lucky to be patient
and know beauty will ensue
how lucky to be loving
and again feel love so true

Tags blessings, bodhichitta, Buddhism, compassion, contemplation, creative writing, emptiness, happiness, karma, love, nature, poem, Poetry, reality, realization, sky, virtue, writing

Buddhism Poetry

Futile complaint

All the conditions
all the instructions
all the sorrows
the pains
the long introductions
you should know suffering
and develop intention

You have all the conditions
all the instructions
all the pleasures
such joys
you should know these are temporary
called changing suffering
and seek the wisdom realizing
emptiness instead

Tags Buddhism, buddhist philosophy, changing suffering, emptiness, happiness, Impermanence, insight, joy, karma, Philosophy, poem, Poetry, reality, suffering

Buddhism Poetry

Second Disappointment

You search for conventional cause
but come up empty handed
not quite the emptiness you seek
because the suffering is still there
the realness of a wound laid bare

and why not rub salt in it —
we’re out of control anyway

a disappointing dream, yes, sore
red, raw, sinewy once more
the band aid won’t stick
and the solitary peace that binds,
too, won’t stick in spite of such mess

Shariputra’s demon will not
prevent my efforts as a spiritual warrior
even if injured once more

after all, we’re all lunatics in
the madhouse of samsara
          arrogant prisoner
        trapped
hard to believe it’s not permanent
          until we move beyond
                           conventional cause

you want to be angry,
but on what authority?

what justification could you have
for such delusion?

Thinking of virtue, compassion and love
-how do you forget love?
the simple wish for others to be happy

I am so sorry for you that you
do not know this feeling

a flame carried for all living beings
despite my own suffering
‘cause that’s life

and what say you to that?
that in a moment of weakness
                we see it all
and having been forsaken, both,
             and both put through hell
             and failing miserably
to the lower realms we could descend
              if this silly hatred doesn’t end

it’s temporary anyway

do you resist?