A true conversation
is not merely when two people talk;
it is when they talk and listen.

It is when each one
is at least as interested
in what the other has to say,
as in what they have to say
themselves.

Enlightenment
is like a clear sky,
pure and cloudless.

We may experience it
in the gaps
between our cloudy thoughts,
our dreams of identity,
fear, and craving.

And we may widen those gaps,
through patient concentration,
seeing what obscures them
as the phantoms they are.

Most likely,
we will never see that cloudless sky
in its pristine entirety,
but we can be blessed
by the taste of it,
and the grace of knowing
it is there.

What if you stepped into each moment
like a new country,
attuned to its uniqueness,
drinking in its sights and sounds?

Revelling in its differences,
you would sidestep the familiar,
grateful and eager for newness.

What if we traveled through our lives
as we would travel the world,
always moving,
with welcoming excitement,
into a foreign land?

Sometimes my mind roams
like a restless animal,
darting from thought to thought
in a frenzy of unease.

Seeking calm,
I try to quiet it,
to reign it in
like an unruly child.

And all my effort
only feeds resistance,
my thoughts running faster
as I chase after them.

Until I find the patience
of a loving guardian,
allowing my monkey mind its freedom,
watching with compassion
as it winds its way down to silence,
and rests peacefully
beside me.

As long as I am a human
walking on this earth,
there are things I have been given,
for as long as I am here.

I have this body,
but I am not this body;
I have this mind,
but I am not this mind.

I am not my thoughts,
or my feelings;
my dreams,
or my fears.

I am what came before them,
and will last beyond them.

I am the flow of life,
and its joyful witness.

In this moment,
I am alive,
breathing,
and awake,
drinking in the richness
that life presents to me.

I accept this gift,
unearned,
with gratitude,
humble and amazed
at life’s bounty.

Often, I awaken
in the middle of the night,
convinced there is something
I must do,
some complicated pathway
back to sleep.

I awaken from a dream,
a half-formed plan
receding from memory,
some urgency
that my dream self
would not abandon.

All these diversions
lure me away
from peace and rest,
towards goals
not understood,
not wanted,
or needed.

And often,
in the light of day,
I am likewise assailed
by waking dreams,
a myriad of imagined pursuits,
a million distractions
from the simple pleasures
of being.

Awakening
from this daylight dream,
I taste the fulness
of the moment,
a perfection
that takes no effort
to attain.

in the world of flesh and blood,
there are always itches to be scratched,
holes to be filled;
fears to be quelled,
urges to be satisfied.

in the world of spirit,
these are only flimsy dreams,
fleeting images,
coming and going
in the flow of time.

They are mirages,
shadows cast by clouded vision,
seen into existence
by the stubborn persistence of thinking.

In the world of presence,
they will quickly fade,
dissolving into the light.

(in memory of Larry Coryell,
best friend of one of my best friends)

Why do we wait
to feel our love
for so many people
(only in retrospect,
when they have left the Earth)
until they die?

Why does it take missing them
to value what they have given us?

It would be better, each day,
to stop and consider
who give us joy and comfort,
and return their gift,
while they can still enjoy it,
with gratitude.

Looking back across 65 years
of days and moments
mostly not remembered
there are threads
I have woven stories out of
flavors I have tasted
which linger on the palate
like a fading banquet of memory.

There has been drama
and joy
reasons for doubt
and reasons for rejoicing.

The meaning of it all escapes me
when I trace the paths
as details in a narrative
and the stories dissolve
into shadows of experience
and so much smoke.

There has been some pinnacle
I searched for
some peak of understanding
but looking back
and looking forward
all I see
is a clear and empty sky.

Standing here at this crossroad
all I know for certain
is that I have arrived here
on this day
breathing
and grateful.

We are always standing at a crossroad,
between what we believe
has shaped us,
and what we believe
is possible.