Refuge
still a name
once chosen
fully independent
by oneself long ago
for breeding reptiles
along feeder rodents
the cycle of existence
breathing in, out, pause
bodies present here now
the miracle of life in action
countless stars seen at night
often veiled or hidden by clouds
shining brightly all the time
like the sun all day
just one for all
or all for one
bodies here
incarnated
flesh, bones
are you here
how are you
who is it
is it you
or am I
here
now
?
NO ANSWER, PLEASE!
“Non-return” — from a non-I retreat
The sound of silence and harmony of life as refuge
“As you calm down, you can experience the sound of silence in the mind. You hear it as a kind of high frequency sound, a ringing sound that’s always there. It is just normally never noticed. Now when you begin to hear that sound of silence, it’s a sign of emptiness — of silence of the mind. It’s something you can always turn to. As you concentrate on it and turn to it, it can make you quite peaceful and blissful. Meditating on that, you have a way of letting the conditions of the mind cease without suppressing them with another condition.”
— The Way It Is, Ajahn Sumedho, p. 75
“Speak only of what you have known, seen, and understood for yourselves…
This Dhamma [the harmony of life] is visible here and now, immediately effective, inviting inspection, onward leading, to be experienced by the wise for themselves.”
— Majjhima Nikāya – the middle length discourses of the Buddha, translated from Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi – Mahātaṇhāsankhaya Sutta, 38.24 & 25, p. 358
Refuge here now — together in the harmony of life
