Category: Spiritualibus

Elephants, cattle, horses, and mares
gold and silver, women and men
no assembly all empty and void
except the community of heart
no village, no people to be seen
but forest in resolute confidence
hardly stress disturbing perception
void and empty of what is not there
in the singleness presence of forest
that becomes a perception of earth
no ridges, rivers, mountains, ravines
just this even and smooth sphere
genuinely undisturbed and pure
proceeding in boundless space
one perception field to another
previous ones empty and void
in singleness of the present
boundless consciousness
recognizing base spheres
nothingness that’s empty
neither nor non-perception
finally signless concentration
what it could at all be, or not
empty, void, and full at once
confident, steady, and resolute
in this body conditioned by life
as an individual consciousness
to recognize boundless at last
understanding what is present
and empty or void what is not
conditioned as well as volitional
impermanent and prone to cease
let go all taints of ignorant desire
always liberated free in holy life
what had to be has been done
no more coming nor going
to whatever state of being
sensing what is present
in this body and mind
boundless conscious
sound and space
empty and void
it’s all the same
unsurpassed pure
we train to enter and abide
in this supreme emptiness to be.

(Inspired by and based on the Cūḷasuññata Sutta,
#121 in the Majjhima Nikāya, the middle length discourses of the Buddha)

“Swami Uodalric puja” — spontaneous celebration

No elephants, cattle, or horses — but forest here

May you, and I, and all be well and happy!

Anattā — not self
This is not mine
This I am not
This is not my self
So please, what is?
Reality and delusion
We are all in between
Rather practice reality
Nurture what is uplifting
Not what is pulling down
With all human limitations
Better treasure freedom
Interwoven all together
Not self-centered fear
But realizing rather
This is not mine
This I am not
Is not my self
Consciousness
In calming silence
Where life is flowing
We can ride the waves
Of being in harmony
Ever here and now.

“Satipaṭṭhāna concordance” — a meditative object

Anattā — not self: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’

“As to those various views that arise in the world associated either with doctrines of a self or with doctrines about the world: if [the object] in relation to which those views arise, which they underlie, and which they are exercised upon is seen as it actually is with proper wisdom thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self,’ then the abandoning and relinquishing of those views comes about.”
— Sallekha Sutta — effacement — #8.3

“A well-taught noble disciple who has regard for noble ones and is skilled and disciplined in their Dhamma [harmony of life], who has regard for true men and is skilled and disciplined in their Dhamma, regards material form thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ He regards feeling thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ He regards perception thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ He regards formations thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ He regards what is seen, heard, sensed, cognized, encountered, sought, mentally pondered thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’ And this standpoint for views, namely, ‘That which is the self is the world; after death I shall be permanent, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change; I shall endure as long as eternity’ — this too he regards thus: ‘This is not mine, this I am not, this is not my self.’
“Since he regards them thus, he is not agitated about what is non-existent.”
— Alagaddūpama Sutta — the simile of the snake — #22.16 & 17

— Majjhima Nikāya — the middle length discourses of the Buddha, translated from Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi, pp. 123 & 229-230

Strawberry moon in the advent of summer heat

Fabulous fabulating
takes nothing literal
apparent flexibility
and total freedom
in consciousness
and everything
works very well
for sweet angels
ferries and gnomes
maybe also unicorns
and for humans mostly
while still quite young
again when very old
perhaps dement
out of the body
when all literal
locks in tight
to pull so-called
impure rotten teeth
draws exclusive lines
between us and them
ignoring we’re woven
together in one unity
that all try to protect
but most do trample
with their bare feet
polluting in excess
instead of purifying
with what we think
we say and all do
in this very body
here and now.

“Sunrise miracle”

Contemplating the body as a body

“In this way he abides contemplating the body as a body internally, or he abides contemplating the body as a body externally, or he abides contemplating the body both internally and externally. Or else he abides contemplating in the body its nature of arising, or he abides contemplating in the body its nature of vanishing, or he abides contemplating in the body its nature of both arising and vanishing. Or else mindfulness that ‘there is a body’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how [one] abides contemplating the body as a body.”

— Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta — Majjhima Nikāya — the middle length discourses of the Buddha, translated from Pali by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi

Fabulous non-fabulating reality

May we, you and I, and all be spiritually awake!

Please forgive
if I ever hurt you
or even hit you
made mistakes
now I do apologize
but we can’t be sorry
for lessons learned
at long last maybe
a heart a little wiser
after all the letting go
a pair of thistle-finches
come share breakfast
as rains flush the past
holding on in dreams
a mini statue broken
to fix it all personally
like a great equivalent
incense bowl cleaned
all pressures released
moments of being home
with trees as living guardians
contemplating where we are
at home in the loving heart
please forgive that I ask
that you forgive me all
as I work on the same

“Nirodha blues” — dance of the trees

Words of a wise heart

To be wise, we have to examine our intention to ensure that it is free from delusion. The ends do not justify the means. If our actions will bring harm to others, even in the service of some “good”, they are almost certainly deluded… If they are based on a distinction between “us” and “them”, they stem from delusion. Only to the extent that we act from the wisdom of no separation, understanding how we are woven together, will our intention bring benefit.

The Buddha instructs its followers, “Like a skilled carpenter who removes a course peg by knocking it out with a fine one, so a person removes a pain-producing thought by substituting a beautiful one.” …
“And when there still arise patterns of unskillful thought, the danger that thoughts will cause pain and suffering should be clearly visualized. Then, naturally, like the abandonment of rotting garbage, the mind will turn from these thoughts and become steady, quiet, clear.”

— The Wise Heart, Jack Kornfield, p. 264 & 301

Shack and clouds high above the worldly jumble

May we — you, and I, and all — be well, safe, and happy!

From the other side
we all come from there
and we return there too
sooner or maybe later
when it’s time for that
or rather we’re there
and here all in one
but tend to split it
to here and there
it actually just is
as we observe life
being in the present
when coming or going
into or out of our body
we are all the same
and still all different
individual mixtures
boasting protagonists
criticizing antagonists
and indecisive chaotics
each with great potential
qualities and drawbacks
well fed by our attention
one, the other, or all three
which one do you feed
pleasant we may like
unpleasant for contrast
neutral to open potential
concepts of understanding
basics of any fundamental
each sounding in its octaves
doubling to accommodate
the first other harmonic
the tripling quint or fifth
plus the next one then
still clearly perceptible
shakes up some more
from doubling, tripling
to quintling major third
uplifting and upsetting
go on more and more
pleasant, unpleasant
and neutrally chaotic
through given cycles
as far as you can go
until coming back
to the very start
from an other side
one way all around
or maybe one other
more at once or none
perhaps all or nothing
there’s no difference
just a loving heart.

“Another day breaks” — from dark to light

The wise heart

“Aggression, anger, and aversion are built into our universal heritage… After we learn how to face them directly, to see how they arise and function in our life, we must take a revolutionary step. Through the profound practice of insight, through non-identification and compassion, we reach below the very synapses and cells and free ourselves from the grasp of these instinctive forces. With dedication, we discover it is possible to do so.

“Aversion and anger almost always arise as a direct reaction to a threatening or painful situation. If they are not understood they grow into hatred. As we have seen, pain and loss are undeniable parts of human life…

“Fortunately, we can train ourselves… to meet fear and pain with wisdom instead of with the habits of aversion and anger. When a painful or threatening event arises, we can open our eyes to it. When we learn to bear our own pain and face our own fears, we will no longer blame and inflict it on others, neither family members nor other tribes… Instead of reacting, we can respond with spacious clarity, purpose, firmness, and compassion. A wise response includes whatever action, fierce at times, is the most caring toward life, our own and others’.”

— The Wise Heart, Jack Kornfield, p. 209 & 210

A view from the other side