Tag: happiness

Categories
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

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
Poetry

reconciliation

          … how to reconcile
if I feel great suffering
              I have caused such suffering

and continue to do it still

          … now I must cease
turning the wheel of sharp weapons
          and turn the wheel of Dharma instead

          … how strange
to have obliged such ignorance
               with each delusional teardrop

          … how strange
to feel the harm I cause
              and still I do not stop

Categories
Poetry Saturday Expressions

f*cked | Session 19

If I cannot have pleasure
free from all pain
while enjoying samsara’s treasure

I must be addicted to pleasure
and addicted to suffering
in absolute equal measure

Categories
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

Categories
Poetry

un thrilling reflection

I am not a thrill seeker
I have already felt such falls
I no longer live on the edge
enjoying such close calls
I am not a party animal
I prefer my nights alone
passing by the cemeteries
imagining my gravestone
I do not appear a fun person
for my joy comes from within
and what I seek is simple
virtuous and absent sin
a place without people,
a cave of calm, a sea of silence
except birdsong, except the animals
here among       the rotting leaves
      just myself – grasped mistaken
moment by moment foregone

just letting go

       un fun
              un riled
                    un identified
              less
        self
              less
                    un identified
              un riled
       un fun

just letting go

moment by moment foregone
      just myself – grasped mistaken
here among       the rotting leaves
except birdsong, except the animals
a cave of calm, a sea of silence
a place without people,
virtuous and absent sin
and what I seek is simple
for my joy comes from within
I do not appear a fun person
imagining my gravestone
passing by the cemeteries
I prefer my nights alone
I am not a party animal
enjoying such close calls
I no longer live on the edge
I have already felt such falls
I am not a thrill seeker

Categories
Poetry

Addicted to the melodrama

In my heart of hearts
I know

I know
what happiness is

I feel it exists
I know where it is to be found
under the bones, beneath the ribcage,
sub atomic the heart, in the subtle
in the very subtle mind

I know where all is found, created
produced phenomena
mistaken, mistaken
still mistaken
so there’s the rub
the grasp for external things
produced from an internal space
perceived from a point
moving through time and space
but a point, a personality nonetheless
     — non-existent so to speak
yet hard to see       (until it’s not)
   and it’s the rub that’s missed
the feeling, the touch,
the understood cause
of pleasure, pain
the smack, the beating
and don’t get me started on the aural
     — tongue lashings
to teach you tough lessons

What the fuck, right?

do you ever forget that people are real?
do you treat them too much like the dream characters you know they are?
can you feel – or is there a shelf in the way?

will someone please un-install the shelf!?

I think it can be recycled.
donate it. Please, help me.

the ledge is the safest place to be
if it perpetuates such refuge practice

but I don’t want to be there anymore

where do I want to be?

have I done the work, made the effort
that must render the results
effects I’ve created mindfully       (somehow)

and    somehow   I’ll do it again
                   ((blessings))

but oh! how I could do without
the melodramatic feeling!
the melancholy that arises,
                           such ache!
as if I am on the verge of losing
              My Attachment

balancing
the moment, a magic moment
while seeing the potential – certain!
decease, death of these magic moments

no phenomena exists in the same way
for a second moment
care to think about that?

the certainty of change
still surprises you;           cry about it
mourn the wisdom you missed
but receive what’s given to you
       now                   — and why not happily?

you’ve got this
after all, you’ve got the lines —
just practice them
as an actor, rehearse rehearse
perchance to entertain…   to fail…
to fly

imagination is all you need
to reach the end of the path

transform the melodrama
enjoy each step as you walk it

What the fuck, right?

Categories
Poetry

How does it feel?

I dream about the serenades
     I remember each bouquet
          I recollect the cards they wrote
I recall sweet things they’d say

I received all the attention,
     had a taste of every gift
          I enjoyed quality time (a plenty!)
some acts of service, if not swift

and how I miss the ways
     they’d touch me, bow me to their will
          such kind physical affection
that I crave …                 desire still

confused pleasure in each moment
     mistakenly I named the cause
          external force, sexual proponent
when really born from karmic laws

how it feels is empty
     how it feels is lost
          how it feels was temporary
even now I pay the cost

still missing stupid moments
     I still idolize false gods
            still failing through each feeling
still attached to what is, was

still hopelessly romantic
        I’m still burdened to the core
               still looking to step lightly
 while still planting seeds of war

still learning love and patience
     I still apply effort every day
               still seeking Three Jewels of refuge
and for simple blessings I do pray

                                            so when

I dream about the serenades
     smell a sweet bouquet,
          find the cards in deep dark drawers,
and reread things they’d say

I let the attachment slip away

the feeling cannot stay

Categories
Buddhism Good Fortune Poetry

Feeling Joyful

Here and now, I finally know
A result, born from
Past cause – a virtuous one – and
Present causes making future effects
Yes, this is the source of my

Happiness!