...this apparently

Sadness
is a feeling
a feeling which fills me
emptiness beyond consoling.

Trinity
The dragon and the teapot come to play
"There's something you should know."
they say with one harmonious voice,
"For there to be emptiness there has to be a self
there is no independent self.”
Dragon pours tea
cup gives thanks and drinks
teapot isn't less
cup isn't more.

Looking deeply
seeing inter-is-ness
all is well
for all is one
separation and suffering occur
when notions of self arise.

Conditions
conditions arise
manifestation happens
conditions withdraw
manifestation ceases
because of that
this.

Sadness
is wanting things to be other
they aren't
they are as they are
momentary without moments
everything is as it should be
endlessly.


Words
frail words fail the task
unable to lend silence a voice
for which it never asked.

Silence
silence says it all.

Experience
there's experience
and there's explanation
acres of misunderstanding and confusion
between the two.

My guardian angel says I'd better do some weeding or bookbinding now.
I walk to the allotment; the bookbinding can wait until this afternoon's rain.

Whatever next?

Wonder
technology
in the blink of an eye
printing out the wonderful words
simply.

Dharma

Right views
all in the mind
this is because of that
neither the same nor different
clearing.

Plaiting through the Logjam of Doubt

Open

morning prayer speaks

tickled by the spirit

encouraged to revise the words

enriched.

Stuck

who knows why

everything aligned

motivation lacking

just get on

two hours should do it

make the fastenings

it’s the aversion to leather that’s doing it

even though it’s a by-product…

Stuckdom to Freedom

...breakthrough

activity frees the logjam of doubt

in the mind

just for it’s own sake 

progress

free.

In the Company of Angels

Early
in the morning
focusing on the breath
discovering more within me
at last.

Almost
imperceptibly
without fuss
something happens
like time
but smoother
without tick tock
of gears and wheels
to break the silence
deftly
making itself known
in the silence
relinquishing any
sense of self
openness
smiles in the morning sun
enshrining everything
enfolding birdsong
expanding soulspace
invokes the litany of saints.

Dream-sequence (i)

Waking

Leda and the swan

but the head rises

above the green algae

nobly gliding across the lake

Clytemnestra’s cat

beloved of the muse

making a late entrance

on the lips of a stranger

whispering secret stories

forbidden urges

dangerous liaisons

and tea in the portacabin

whilst researching the myth.

Image. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2018 from : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyra#/media/File:Sidney_Hall_-_Urania%27s_Mirror_-_Lacerta,_Cygnus,_Lyra,_Vulpecula_and_Anser.jpg

Listening to the Music

Thinking
is not doing
this is obvious but
it’s easier to think than do
why’s that?

two hours
gone by like that
oh what I could have done
what lesson will I learn from this
today

simple
trust myself more
become more disciplined
following the flow of my heart
gently

question
ugly voices
listen to the music
soaring in the depths of my soul
onward

focus
on the present
listening mindfully
dismissing that which smells of death
for now.

The Great Anchor of Breath

Disease

comes from thinking

mind takes over control

always come back to the breathing

gently.

When I think it’s all over

salt is losing its taste

morning comes early to greet me

body tells me more sleep is needed

but mind races away through the day ahead

the past and the regrets

the more I try to stop it the more it races 

into this sea of raging chaos 

drop the anchor of breath

returning to the moment 

slowly a sense of proportion 

begins to establishes itself

calm begins to return

two hours pass

mind is calm

body refreshed

the process reveals itself

"nothing can thy power withstand

none shall pluck me from thy hand" ¹

¹ Loving Shepherd of Thy Sheep, Jane Eliza Leeson (1808 - 1881)

The Way Things Are

Right now

is all there is

to do the will of God

however you conceive that word

stay true

there is no way to pray
learning to pray is praying
praying is the way to prayer
being unable to pray is praying
love
freedom
happiness
peace
the same
there is no me here and happiness there
me here and peace there
me here and love there
me here and prayer there
me here and freedom there
all is one and one is all
simultaneously
timeless
only mind needs division
to produce ego
false sense of identity
the river the sea the cloud are all one
and the same
separated only by the mind
this I see
this I know

falling

nothing special

get up and walk again

forgive as you forgive others

gladly.

Change in the Wind

Roots

Deep down

I know the truth

in ways which escape me

in stillness and silence revealed

gently.

It’s all getting a bit too much now
the dusting, sharpening, showing and making
even the allotment wants to look unkempt
but there are values
or ways
lines
along which
life can naturally run
left to it’s own devices
naturally
fulfilling potential
without expectation
or pressure
of any kind
flowing
the river completes its circuit
the cherry blossoms
the worm turns
birds nest
the sun rises and sets
leaving me to wonder about my part in it all
about fate and destiny
choice and discernment
action and inactivity
sitting with the questions
exploring interbeing
interconnectedness
how I interam
and interbe.

Image from https://pixabay.com/en/ayutthaya-buddha-roots-thailand-1971354/

Futurity and the Present Moment

Today

is all I have

me the person I am

containing and contained in all

presence.

Things get harder
pile up
become trouble
effort
need planning
sorting
what once was effortless
now seems uphill
ideally there would be less plates
in the air
enabling focus
letting go isn’t easy
the drive is to do more not less
but how will it all be resolved before death?

Feeling the `shortness of the tether’¹
straining on the lead is not perhaps
the most appropriate response
death’s inevitable wintry lead
worn loosely about the neck
becomes a familiar friend
rather than an adversary
ceases to be a restraint
more a fact of life
perhaps an elder
sister
brother
co-joined at conception
gently reminding us of
this one precious life
and how we might
bumble along together
learning from each other
in this late autumn
of wind and ever more
falling leaves.

and

"Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment "as to the Lord". It is only our daily bread that we are encourage to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received."¹

^{1. C.S Lewis, Learning in War-Time http://bradleyggreen.com/attachments/Lewis.Learning%20in%20War-Time.pdf accesed 03/05/2018.
My} 

Ancestral Landscape.

River

gathering place

the family meet again

all life is here in this moment

precious.

Almost daily
walking to or from the city
passing the place where first
the river spoke to me
hearing my father in the rills
trills and permanently changing
scene
stopping a while seeking
neither consolation
or confirmation
being with more than enough
to remind me
recollection
centres
anchors the chaos.

You see,
the time is coming
when salt loses its taste
as predicted
all human life is there
the rants, raves, loves and desires
documented for all
nothing new under the sun
all is vanity
and in the end harvest
to be turned over
until like lifeless wheat
becomes the means of life
crushed grape
converts the mood.

At first we thought in straight lines
it made sense fitted the evidence
but then
upon further investigation
light bent
gravity won
and everything became relative
related in a joyful death
in which nothing could be lost
to a God who counted sparrows.

Returning again
and again
discovering new songs
along old paths
happiness these days
comes not so much
as a feeling
but as a deep knowing
no longer searched for
presents itself silently now
with generous grace
drawing up alongside life
and I at last belong
where I always did.