SLOW REALIZATION

Slowly and tardily; I’m learning

Learning to finally let go!

Bound to the wheel of transient phenomena

Spinning unconsciously in the web of life

Is it not natural to be carried away?

In the warm comfort of a good life

The pleasant pride of possession  

The anger of unmet expectation

And the pain of sudden dissipation

Can anyone be blamed for this piquant attachment?

But slowly; the murky water clears

And slowly, the transcendent truth appears

All things are dependent; and all things change

Clinging to a selected few; is the only root of pain

Difficult it may be, to accept and fathom; but yet wholly true

There is no real I, sitting behind my viewing eyes

There is no lingering me; nor a persistent mine

Oh! striving mind! Once you see this as the transcendent truth

The conceptual wall of self, crumbles; the mirage of self- made pain ends

And the fountain of love and compassion, overflows and transcends

Slowly and tardily; I now understand this truth

Slowly and tardily I fill my pot with this eternal love

Slowly I aim for the boundless compassion

Slowly may I even yearn for this ultimate bliss!   

BAKER'S PRIDE

The aroma of freshly baked cake fills the evening air

The crispy smell of caramel as it forms the crust!

The rising dough! The mystical flavors!

The softness! The sweetness!

The tantalizing taste!

Oh! How dainty is my cake!

How dainty is the cake of my very own making!

As the softness melts in my mouth and the ecstasy overflows

As the wonderful taste seeps in; and invokes a feeling of pride

I pause a moment, and gently wonder

Did I strive in the vast fields of wheat, where once mighty forests stood?

Did I pollinate the vanilla flowers; and harvest its sapid pods

Did I churn the creamy butter, from the deprived milk of some miserable calf?

Did I lay the eggs, of those unborn chicks that ended up in the bowl?

Did I make the motherly oven!  Did I mastermind the canonical recipe?

Yet, having done none of these; I proudly call it my cake!

What of mine did I bake; to take all this credit?

Except for time and intention, what more did I contribute?

 Now as the exalted taste of cake merges with my new found insight

Humility is born and pride melts away; as I finally see , the whole universe, hidden within this cake!

THE HEART OF EMPTINESS

The heart of all is emptiness

The soul of all is emptiness

Essence of all things is emptiness

Emptiness! Emptiness!

Everything is emptiness!

The body you and I reside, is emptiness

The mind you fathom with, is emptiness

Sensation and feeling; thought and intent

Urge and action; perception and consciousness

All of these are nothing but emptiness!

All phenomena are emptiness

All objects are but emptiness

Dependent rising is emptiness

Causality is emptiness 

So in emptiness

Nothing is born and nothing dies

Nothing is pure, nothing is defiled

Nothing rises and nothing falls

Nothing exists without the all

So also in emptiness

There are no eyes and there are no ears  

No act of seeing; no act of hearing

No thought; no feeling

No desire; no craving

No free will; No consciousness

No perception; no knowledge

No ignorance; no suffering

No birth and no death

Thus is the truth of emptiness! The wisdom of emptiness!

The heart of all things! Emptiness!

Emptiness!! Emptiness!

MIRAGES ON AN EMPTY MASK

Mirages appearing to and an empty mask

Who watches who, when no one does the task

No doer nor done; no feeler no felt

No player to play, the card that is dealt

If so great soul! Who is it asking, who am I?

In this world sans intentional stance

Does “self” perform a delusional dance?

Zombies marching on fate’s unfortunate belt

Or deluded bubbles trapped in their own Umwelt

But epiphenomenal fools can we be? 

Yet beyond the semiospheres do we ever see?

Problems such of agency

Free will, Soul, and clemency

Can we but wonder!

With bubble brains and divisive thought

Can we  see beyond our  inherent blunder?  

As no single word can spell the truth

And no single tree can bear a composite fruit

No divisions can describe the interdependent whole

No Components and parts can make a unitary soul  

Thus Life, magic and consciousness

Are but illusions clarified by emptiness

Biases of completeness and sufficiency

Blinded to the blind spot efficiently  

Thus are the illusions of self and sentience!

Mirages playing on the blank  screen of emptiness!  

Life, magic and consciousness!

AMAZING MAIZE

Kernels of sweet gold,and blades so green!

King of the grasses you always been!

Oh! Amazing maize! How mighty you seem!

Plains and mountains, you've spread your seed

Taming the farmer, to help you breed

                                                              

Forming bread, milk and eggs; and miserable meat

You feed my flesh, with all I eat

From plastics and fuel; to candy and clothes

You build them all,  from  thin air!

Oh amazing maze !!


Domesticator of  the human race! 

How splendid  is thy kernelled face !