Turtles All The Way Down

Everything in this universe
(and perhaps beyond)
is interdependent.

There is no “thing”
that has its own existence,
apart from all others.

And there is nothing
which is not impermanent,
that can exist outside of
a constant state of change.

All that we see are the forms
that matter, energy, and thought
give rise to, in the flow of time.

Each thing we perceive
is the sum of smaller parts,
each made of smaller parts still,
going all the way down.

Each form we know
was born from an earlier form,
itself born from one earlier still,
going all the way down.

If we look for a first cause,
it is as if our Earth
were carried on the back
of a giant turtle,
itself on the back
of another giant turtle,
and so on, and so on,
all the way down.

Without these turtles,
do we have a place to stand on,
or do we need one,
as we look out,
as the eyes of the universe,
from nowhere,
into everything?