Meditation verses
IN SILENCE AND STILLNESS
In silence and stillness
hear the heart beating.
When no words are spoken,
no thoughts are formed,
the heart speaks truth.
If you know how to hear it,
listen to the heart.
BEGINNING
I escape from the constrictions
of guilt and anxiety
(It's hard to do)
O my little soul is still so scared
If I leave behind all my planning and controlling
I'll fall into chaos, no?
Time unstructured
feels like unvalued,
No agenda
feels like no achievement.
I travel onwards,
no longer "towards",
venturing to try
the taste of freedom.
SMALL WEEDS GROW IN THE MARSH
Under the great clear sky
small weeds grow in the marsh
and the reeds nod
and the wind blows
and the wild ducks fly over
O Lord make my soul to be
like a wild duck flying
like a reed in the wind
like a humble weed immersed in the water
of the marsh that stretches for ever.
SLOW
Opening the mind
happens very slowly
Opening the eyes
is a matter of constant attention.
As flowers with slow certainty
progress from bud to bloom,
it will happen --
though sometimes you think it will take forever --
growth happens.
WAITING
So you should wait like the camel
waiting for oasis
meanwhile walking on, with its stored up water.
Living on rich input of the past
through today's drought
enduring patiently dryness and labour.
Do not take it as a right for the rain to fall every day,
neither give up your work.
Remember the camel
kneels at the end of each day.
EVERYTHING THAT IS
Everything that is
grows as a flower
from the tree that is God.
RIPPLES
Ripples on the surface of the lake
mean nothing to fish swimming below:
daily hurts need not disturb our deeper peace.
Ripples on the surface of the pool
reflect the stars above:
God in even these passing pains.
LOVE IS AROUND ME
Love is around me,
Love surrounds me.
As I sit quietly,
Love sits with me.
I AM ME
I am me
here in the moment
Before me nothing
behind me emptiness and rotten rags
no escape either way
here I must stay
and be me.
THE TREASURE
From deep water
the fisherman drew up the treasure.
He saw it shining in the meshes,
coming up as he hauled in his net,
brighter and brighter as it approached air and light.
It looked more glorious to him
as he was aware of from what depths he raised it.
When he sold it later, he priced it high.
because he told of the darkness it came from,
the struggle he had.
If it had never been lost, no joy of finding.
If the struggle is forgotten
its value is halved.
COMPANIONSHIP
Two Stones
You and me
like two stones on the river bank
letting the water flow past
basking in the warm sun.
Our companionship
is in the sharing of the gifts the universe gives
in being part of the same song
in being part of the flow of love.
TRAIN OF THOUGHT
Train speeding through your mind
endlessly roaring,
the linked freight of images
running on rails, towards a fixed destination.
You have the illusion of power, speed,
of getting somewhere.
You are in bondage
to the baggage, the habits,
the one-track mindedness of your life.
If only you’d consent to jump off the train,
to sit in the station, letting the lights go by you
(how tempting to jump aboard,
to go where the people are going)
you’d find in the silence of the empty hall,
in the emptiness of not-going-anywhere,
in the release of not-having-to-catch-the train,
you’d find freedom.
I AM THE MOUNTAIN
I am the mountain that you walk up
On the foothills, easily treading forested trails,
enjoying cool air, hear birds in branches.
Wide are those forests. Long are the years
you could spend here wandering,
peaceful, joyous.
Far above looms the bare peak,
rocky, airless and cold.
Remotely promising
a realm now undreamt of,
now ungraspable
someday to come.
SECRET TREASURE
In the silent darkness of the deepest cave
dwells the secret treasure.
No one finds it who seeks it with lamps and companions.
You must go alone, trusting the guides who tell you it's there,
daring to place foot after foot on the unseen floor,
believing there will be no precipice to throw you down.
Wrapt in darkness
when the open eyes see no more than the closed
where the only sound is your own heartbeat and footfall ...
there will come light
that is not for the eyes to see,
there will be locutions, and even ecstasies;
in the deep solitary place.
You will enjoy these treasures,
but never be able to take them back with you.
You cannot reveal them to light,
for no mind or memory can grasp them.
You can't tell anyone else about them.
Only you and I will know.
ON A BIRTHDAY
Here we stand together
on the far shore of a sea
looking back on a stormy passage.
When you reach the safe haven at last
I shall still be with you.
When you find what you sought
know that I am the treasure,
I am the harbour, I am the shore,
to where all your voyaging
at last brings you home.
RETINITIS
I am the light that falls from the hazy sky
that is seen through a clouded lens
marred by floating spots of trouble.
Don’t worry about your portion of darkness,
which is there for your salvation.
FEAR OF FUTURE
In the deep waters lies the huge fish
waiting to see the right tempting bait to be thrown
and then to surge up towards light
(through the green weeds, through the finny youngsters.)
Bite the hook! And be removed in pain and surprise
from the familiar haunts,
to a future undreamt of, unknown.
DARK NIGHT
Nothing to be said.
No more to be written
No words come
nor prayer to be spoken
nor movement made.
But to be held unmoving:
move if you wish to,
and speak if you will,
otherwise just sit here with me
doing nothing
enjoying the night
enjoying the darkness
in the dark dark night
I make love to you.