MOVING TOES

In this spot I sit! 

A thousand years have passed

Nothing has changed since

Yet! My legs cramp

My toes move again! 

RED CARPET

Warm blood soaks the carpeted floor

A carcass slumps down!

A life lost in slumber

Now! Finally Awakening!  

TWO WORDS

Two words! 

One and all! 

Between them

The hidden truth ! 

The heretic says !

Let the wall collapse !

PATH OF THE PATRIARCHS

Silent and tranquil 


The rock stands still


As I walk this garden  path 


The gravel beneath speaks 


The water trickles in prosody 


The birds hum in tune 


The pebbles shine as they  reflect the filtered sunshine 


Not very long ago 


Wasn't this  is the path of the patriarchs!


But then! 


Does it matter now !


I'm  just a man with nothing more to seek ! 

WORLD IN A TEA CUP

The summer sky is cloudless 

The garden is fresh and green 


On a stone bench by a bamboo hut


I sit here drinking tea 


In a  distant hill a trail of  smoke rises


In the canal beside me water gently  flows 


People in the road  chatter 


Cars rush by 


As the world moves on within this tea cup


What else is left to say !

LOST SILENCE

Trees sway against the mossy landscape 


Clear water ripples amongst the lotus flowers


Embraced by the comforting beauty


In this garden of tranquility 


I sit here seeking to write poetry 


Nearby, in a temple by the brook 


A little boy rings an ancient  bell 


People come and go in reverence 


As the mountain air reverberates  with the lost silence 


Deep within


Stillness remains !

STILL REVELATION

The ancient cedar croaks with every step  


The mountain behind stands tall 


Thoughts and trees merge 


Ideas vanish in silence 


All seeking ends here 


All findings cease 


As the water fall sets the tune 


And stillness plays as music


Nothing more can be said 


As all is revealed in this  very moment ! 

WORDLESS RIVER

No river, no raft!

No finger ; no moon!

No seeker; no sought!

No buddha! No buddha nature !

In the path of enlightenment

No word remains ! 

EMPEROR'S TEA

The tea pot is brewing

The flowers smile

The emperor sips!

Bliss is every sip!

Clear, calm and happy

Is his heart of enlightenment! 

As the fly shares his royal tea! 

MINDLESS SUNRISE

Another morning, fresh and new

Dew drops and misty grass 

Clouds and thoughts floating by

Crimson feelings flowing  

Happiness and joy

Residing peace

As the tranquil rays spread and glow

Oh!  Can’t tell my mind from the sunrise!

MEANDERING LEAF

Meandering in peace

Gurgling in happiness

The Clear water flows!

A leaf caressed by the gentle currents! 

I float on, in blissful silence! 

TWO WORDS

Coming and going!

Just two words!

Entangled by them

The “I” struggles on!

BLINDMAN BY THE SUNSET

The sun sets over the green hill

The crimson evening is over

As the darkness of the black night begins

Alone in a corner

The blind man sings in bliss!

RUTHLESS PATH

The path across is ruthless

No room for life or entanglement

Concepts and understanding

From and feeling

All of these too, have to go

So kill and slay!

Leave no corpse behind!

In this path of enlightenment

No idea can ever get across!

CRIMSON MOMENT

The earth stretches her arms  

The bluish sky bows low

Molten and slow

Consciousness over flows

Matter and mind melt and  merge

Words crumble; form evaporates

 Position, place and person finally vanish

Silence and bliss!

Is all that remains; as the crimson disc slips!

Oh! How blissful is this moment!

This Moment of tranquil sunset !

GREEN ENLIGHTENMENT

Curly dark clouds embrace the southern sky

As the rain drops kiss the moistened earth

Rippling smiles spread across the newly formed puddles

As the perfumed earth fills the air with fragrance

The trees sway to the tune of the moist wind

And the dust settles and the dirt is washed away

The glossy leaves attain green enlightenment

In this rejuvenating shower of paradisiacal bliss  

My besprent heart silently blossoms!

LIFELESS ROCK

Lifeless as a rock

Still is the bliss

Without thought or feeling

Form or formation

Without consciousness or contemplation

Existence or non-existence

All, none and only!

I am; I is; lifeless! In bliss!

Rock and non rock! 

ONLY THIS

It’s only this

Nothing more, nothing less

Just here and now 

THE RIPPLE

In the stillness of the silent waters

Someone drops a pebble

Neither in the water; nor in the pebble

Yet, here I am, rippling in bliss!

Existing now, and so sooner, never more!  

Transient yet real; caused now to cease later

Euphoric awareness, ready to vanish forever

Sparkling here and now, in this rippling bliss!

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!