We are always searching
for the truth of what we are
in what we can perceive,
when, in truth,
the essence of what we are
is that which perceives it all.

So many times
throughout my life,
I have felt this emptiness,
wondering what was missing,
fearful of my lack.

Slowly,
I am seeing
that this emptiness
is the absence
of all that holds me back,
that keeps me
from being myself.

I have never needed anything
beyond what I am.

My bank account may not permit
a trip to foreign places,
but I can send my mind away
to new and peaceful spaces.

My thoughts are like a road I take
to the world I live inside,
and how I guide or follow them
is my birthright to decide.

I could send myself to the gates of Hell,
if I gave my thoughts their play,
or sit in bliss in my own heaven,
if I send my mind that way.

We can travel the earth
in search of relief
from the pain of our daily grind,
or follow the path
to our heart of hearts,
and find our peace of mind.

Mountains of meaningless malarky
meander through my mind
as I sail the sea
of my imagined identity.

“I am none of this!”, I say,
as I drift past each scene of my history,
and yet, each picture has its poignant pull,
its sense of “This is me!”

These are powerful dreams,
the memories that define me,
when I am asleep
and in their grip.

In my waking moments,
they grow cloudy,
evanescent,
yet still redolent with meaning.

They are the tapestry
that this story of “me”
is woven from,
the fabric of my life,
the movie I watch
for as long as I am here.

I am not the story,
not the movie,
but I am the grateful viewer
of all of this
as it plays out,
in this brief snippet of eternity,
before my wondering eyes.

We have been given all the wisdom
we will ever need,
but we have not taken it
to heart.

So many have pointed the way,
but we have not looked
with our own eyes,
to see what they were seeing.

We have lulled ourselves
with dreams of wanting,
dreams of avoidance,
blinding ourselves
to what’s right in front of us.

So we do not see
that there is nowhere to stand
except where we are,
that the Paradise
we have been promised
is all around us,
ready to be seen,
if we would open our eyes.

I have wasted so much time
trying to please the people
in my life,
trying to please myself.

I have forgotten
that I have been given
the privilege of being alive,
and that it is sufficient
to be myself,
regardless of the thoughts
of anyone,
including myself.

The gift of being
is not to be won
through popularity
or appeasement;
it is given unconditionally,
by whatever drives this universe,
and it is only won
through the act of acceptance.

Love of the particular
is like a lever
which pries open the heart
at least a crack,
and let’s the light
of the universal
shine through.

Each beautiful sight,
each beautiful person,
is like a glimpse
of a greater beauty
we do not always see.

And when we love
without attachment,
the lever becomes a key,
which opens the door
to everything that can be loved,
to a universe
that is nothing but love.

Reality isn’t comfortable.

But in the long run,
it is less painful to face it
than it is to continue to avoid it,
as the fear of what we refuse to face
only grows greater and greater,
the longer we deny it.

Hopes and dreams
are what make us human,
and give our lives direction.

And they can lead us astray,
when we forget the difference
between what is
and what we dream and hope for.

To face reality,
and accept it for what it is,
is to stand on solid ground,
a place to start from,
towards wherever
we would like to go.

What do you see,
before your first impression?

In the moment of perception,
what floods your consciousness,
before your mind is drowned
in thought?

In the blink of an eye,
something new and nameless
fills your awareness,
as you stand before it,
newly born.