Neither This Nor That

21 Sep 2015 2 Comments

by zeuslyone in Buddhism, Non-dualistic thought, Poetry, Taoism Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Me, myself, and mine
Are not the heart of the divine
“My” Truth? Do you comprehend
What this phrase would intend?
Between extremes–meaninglessness
Or metaphysical seriousness
We swing on conceptual dichotomy
Really invokes experiential lobotomy
Either/or, black or white?
Can All be measured in wrong or right?
Is value so readily inherent?
Is Truth just personally apparent?
Must we choose eternalism or nihilism?
Absolutism and relativism–a schism
De-cide–roots meaning to cut apart
Conceptual delimiting of ideological art
The Way walks through the abyss
The dividing line between–just this
Neither here nor there, this nor that
Wisdom lies not in the distinction I shat
Presence/Oblivion: two sides, same coin
These are not separate–nothing to join

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After a storm at sea the sailor heads for home and quiet harbor.
Tossed by indecision
we must return our unsettled mind to the center.
Tao is within us all.
With many voices it has but one beautiful song;
many aspects but only one essence.
Though we are not bound, we are always connected.

Buddhahood is meditation;
with constant attentiveness our mind travels far:
into the highest hills and all over the world.
Elusive, delicate–we see the cosmos is empty
as well as full.
Nothing beyond, Nothing in hand.
Beauty, spirit, Tao–all one.

–§1 in “Everyday Practice” from The Book of the Heart: Embracing the Tao by Loy Ching-Yuen

Without words, we understand no-mind;
without shape, we understand true nature.
With relaxed mind, we grasp the meaning of Tao;
with the boundless Way, we understand truth.

–§3 in “Everyday Practice” from The Book of the Heart: Embracing the Tao by Loy Ching-Yuen

May this help you see beyond dualism and the relativistic pat on the back that can come with your own Stories–that is “My Truth”.

Gassho!

A Visit–Nostalgia

18 Sep 2015 Leave a comment

by zeuslyone in Poetry Tags: , ,

A trip through a home from the past
Proof positive–nothing does last
The place–uncanny, both foreign and known
In these environs, many memories grown
Faces and voices flit through my head
Though called forth alive, long since dead
Recollections: so much pomp and circumstance
Also, niggling–the sweet comforts of romance
Nostalgia flashes under pale blue, fall sky
As all these trees and buildings pass by
Yet hazy ache is soon quelled
This story by details dispelled
Forgotten, repelled, and left aside
As self-righteousness and revisionism abide
Home you were, briefly and hard-won
In a moment, our greatest loves unspun
What was–cast as silly and delusion
This self-justification is the “wisdom” illusion
The Way goes on–perhaps with a return
Meanwhile, may you peacefully live and learn

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Visit to the Japanese Garden

15 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by zeuslyone in Haiku, Nature, Poetry Tags: , , , ,

I went to Seattle’s Japanese Garden yesterday. It’s a beautiful place, and I thought that there is no better way to celebrate a summer day there than writing some haiku poetry about the natural beauty of this serene gem.

Enjoy!

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Flitting blue wings glide
Dragonfly dancing over
Lotuses smiling

Serene shade’s cool
Neighbors sunlit pond’s vibrance
Gold fishes swimming

Pink bush exploding
Bright bountiful blooms beckoning
Passersby rejoice

Sunlight’s shimmering
Water ripples against stones
Still turtle basking

Ducks and large koi
A frolicking feast by the bridge
Bread dropping from hands

Wind’s rustling soft leaves
Summer breeze’ gentle embrace
Birds sing in branches

Juniper leaning
Diagonal line at shore
Water mirrors face

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A Human Becoming

26 Feb 2015 10 Comments

by zeuslyone in Change, Ego, Poetry Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Heart beats–*ka-thump… ka-thump”
Breath inward/outward–*hnnnn…ahhhh…*
Thoughts zoom by–*”I should go do…”*

Feelings come & go–agony & ecstasy
Days pass–work, sleep, routine, adventure
Years flourish & wither–seasons, periods, phases

Connections are made & lost
Wrinkles appear & hair recedes
Scars & memories accumulate

Birth, birth, birth
           &
Death, death, death
—  In every moment
    With each heartbeat & breath

Tell me:
Where is the static “I” underneath the process of life?
Where is this being that endures
When all else arises and ceases?
—  A story, a fiction, a masterpiece of self-creation & self-deception

You are not a human being.
You are a human becoming
—  A realization of unfolding potential, moment by moment
An emanation of openness, that is: basic goodness

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Water’s Flux

14 Jan 2015 1 Comment

by zeuslyone in Change, Poetry Tags: , , , , ,

Indigo waters gently stir
Under a night sky, black as emptiness
Foggy lights behind – the only luminescence
Ripples gently skim the surface,
Lapping at the dock’s beams
Lip, lup, lap, lup…

The water shimmers as it moves
Undulations in dim, pale light
A glittering, indigo, velvet flow
With each lap, the lake changes,
Water moves, dirt and particles shift
With every moment, fluctuation

The lake remains, but
It is imperceptibly different
I meditate – looking on the splendor
Of flux, of impermanence
As each ripple rolls toward me
Breathing in and out
Changing microscopically
With the lake
The “I” that appears the same
Just as the lake seems constant

Change and Continuity

27 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

by zeuslyone in Change, Commitment, Intention, Poetry, Relationships, Transition Tags: , ,

A journey back, a return,
To a former home and old friends.
So much change in a place
Once familiar, and yet…
An underlying aspect
Remains the same.
Friends too! Different lives,
But something about them
Still beats the same rhythm.

Awash in a sea of discontinuity
With a few undulating waves
Of continuity. I look back
Over the years.
“I” have changed—another person.
Yet again, somehow the same.

What changes? What grows?
Or withers away?
Our thoughts? Our souls?
Our bare nature—
Merely biological shifts?
Yet something abides…

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Everything changes, but our choices
And actions
Are ours.
We continue on as time-beings,
For the time being,
By committing to what we value,
What we want to continue
Into the future.
Sometimes, experience leads us
To new values—new projects,
Commitments, and masterpieces,
But we also have the power
To make the future
Through our commitment and choice,
Through our love.

A Scab

27 Sep 2014 1 Comment

by zeuslyone in Change, Healing, Loss, Poetry Tags: ,

I pulled a scab off my knee today.
The red, irritated skin underneath
Breathed with fresh life.
No longer a tingling itch
Behind a brown carapace.
No longer a patch of “skin”
Lacking the intimate
Sensitivity of touch.
I felt renewed, yet vulnerable
And aware of my frailty.

The skin was scraped away
In a moment – blood
Suddenly seeping out
Of an aching hole,
A surprising, spontaneous lack
Of a piece of me,
So minor and present
Merely moments before.
Now, two weeks later,
The red of the blood
Matches the newly born,
Red skin…

I now have a scrape on my heart,
A place of lack, ache, and emotions
Seeping through to fill the wound.
How long will this take to heal?
When will I peel back
The crystallized feelings
Finding a renewed, yet vulnerable
Heart underneath?

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