Category: Philosophy

Categories
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

Categories
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

Categories
Buddhism Philosophy Poetry

The Deserter’s Confession

To desert – to leave someone, especially lacking 

Desert – a dry place barren or lacking of water, and therefore life, typically characterized by sand or rocky substrate  

Have I deserted others? I have been repenting for abandonment – all while running from those in need, in this very life.

I have grown attached to comfortable conditions and yet things are changing. Although I know the years bear varied fruits, I still expect a consistency inconsistent with samsara, and now I am frustrated and my wishes are unfulfilled!

What can I possibly do to bear the burdens and great sufferings of this life but go for refuge to the Three Jewels – the only glimmer of gold available to protect my mind until I reach full Enlightenment. I will always be vulnerable to the illusion-like elements, believing them to be inherently existent and external to my mind! Ha! A joke and a lie grasped at by a self-cherishing, ignorant mind. 

Please, Buddha! Ripen a Dharma Jewel in my mind that I may no longer abide in such senseless suffering knowing that I create causes, I purify negativity, I grow merit in abundance, especially by remaining ever mindful and alert to the delusions that arise continuously in my mind, nonstop, as I breathe. To fight against this endless deluge, a magnificent current, is only possible through blessings (a miracle indeed)!

Praise to Buddha, the neverending source of happiness guiding all my steps, so that I may always keep a happy mind and so I might attain Enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings! How wonderful I have this precious opportunity. I will not take it for granted and I will not waste time wishing things would be easier or faster. What benefit is that to me when my primary goal is to end samsara permanently? I will be patient. I will wait quietly. I will not seek revenge. I will take responsibility for my negative karma. I will act as a Bodhisattva, now, in the present, even as I’m becoming one. I will bring the future result into the present which is simply happiness – for whatever arises is bliss and emptiness and we’ll wake up laughing, seeing it was here all along. 

And after all, how far off can we really be?

All we have to do is give up grasping at this dream. 

I will desert the dream. 

I renounce samsara.

But I will not abandon living beings. I will come back to help all others. For my goal is not, nor ever, solitary peace.

No matter how much I think I may enjoy the quiet.

I will not live in the desert.

Categories
Philosophy Poetry

Persistent Montage

If my life were a movie
I’d be in a montage scene right now

They really gloss over the stamina it takes
To be a long distance runner
When you’re only familiar
With sprinting

— There’s no finish line?

Categories
Philosophy Poetry

Observation 1

The space between 1 and 2 is the 
same infinite quality as between 2 and 3

Not the same space
different aspects

Yes the same nature
infinite
∞

Categories
Buddhism Philosophy Poetry

Consistently Mistaken

I thought when I received, I would be grateful.

I wasn’t.

I thought to be pursued would be fun, a real romp.

It wasn’t.

I thought to be beheld as beautiful could give me confidence, know my beauty.

It didn’t.

I thought to be loved to could open my heart, make me love.

It couldn’t.

I thought when tested, I would pass.

I didn’t.

“We will only engage in pure spiritual practice if we have definitely understood that we have a precious human life and we have to use it now. We can die today. It’s possible.”

Gen-la Kunsang, Kadampa Podcast

Categories
Buddhism Philosophy Poetry

Reality

Some things come
Some things go
At least that’s what
We think we know

Yet no thing can rise
And no thing can fall
For there is no out there
Mind is all

Categories
Philosophy

Become the Jedi Master of Your Life

Anger is a poison that eats away at your life giving energy winds.

Why would you indulge in such an addiction? What benefit is there?

All those giving up anger in turn for peace and love, for better health, better relationships, rejoice! And do not lose faith. Challenges will come.

The experience of healing anger is not linear. It is not better, better, better. It is many different things for different people. Sometimes better, bad, better, better, bad, better, better, worse you’ve ever been, better, best yet.

Not always. The only thing that matters is never giving up.

Become the Jedi Master of your own mind and respond to your thoughts and feelings appropriately.

May your path be blessed.

Categories
Buddhism Philosophy

Non Attachment is Renunciation

While we can happily enjoy conditions while they are good, there is no logical reason to become attached to any particular condition, because they are always changing.

All conditions, situations, people are temporary. They may last what feels like a long time or they may be brief, changing suddenly, unexpectedly, perhaps lost forever. Because when we manifest the same ‘souls’ or similar appearance in our next life, we have absolutely no recollection that we’ve lived it all before. Loved it all before. Losing it once more. And what lessons have we learned? What imprints are left?

With wisdom we can enjoy each appearance, as it arises, unattached. The end of coming is going. The end of meeting is parting. It happens all the time. All at once.

Why take anything so seriously? Life is but a dream. All we need to do to make it a happy one is create causes. By performing virtue. Sacrifice the self-cherishing, maker of all suffering. Ditch the attachment, rooted in self-grasping ignorance. Renounce samsara and all the pain it’s worth.

Stop harming others. Stop harming your self. Three deep breaths. Relax. Shake your sillies out. Volunteer. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Loosen up. Let it be. Love. Become Enlightened. Rejoice endlessly.

Categories
Philosophy Poetry

Out brief candle

What character am I today?
Oft I strive for studious, disciplined

Yet my ego shakes those keeners off
and lets me where a suit
I’m likely to get in trouble for

In grade school I was sent
to the lost & found to find
myself in another’s clothes

after boldly wearing my own
t-shirt listing the names of the
popular kids in the class

under the stamp
Cool Girls Suck

something ran amuck —
I cannot comprehend
my own ten year old mind

that thought her teachers
were arrested in the head

these past life impressions pressed
back out, creating misery this time ‘round

Attachment to the ego,
character Thomas B.
never did bring happiness
so I won’t be attached to thee —

what kind of actor am I today?

Who will I be as I create
causes for ultimate peace
not just for me — 
          what purpose for that?

If I truly love others,
   I’ll escape and come back