To think about doing something
and to actually do it
are two different worlds.

First, there is the conversation,
sometimes endless,
about pros and cons,
and then there is
the simple act of doing.

When the conversation falls away,
action flows effortlessly,
as if energy and skillfulness
are what we swim in,
when we awaken to it.

The world we each live in
is made of everything
we see and hear.

Clamoring for attention,
ideas and images,
opinions and fantasies
assault us,
laced with joy or despair,
desire or anger,
jostling
for a central place
in our awareness.

And so,
we become infected
with the inner life of others,
a virus that circles our globe,
within this web
that grows around us.

Seduced by its power,
we forget to look in front of us
or inside ourselves -
a direct experience
of what is real and true.

And when we do look,
in the equanimity
of that peaceful place,
THAT is the best time
to plant our own seeds,
the viruses that heal!

The tree
outside my window
is not the same.

Has time replaced it
with another tree,
or is this simply life,
playing out before me?

The purpose of meditation
is not to become better.

It is spending time
not trying to change,
accepting what you are,
what you think,
what you feel,
without judgement
or complaint.

It is becoming
a compassionate observer,
befriending yourself,
and all your little selves,
enfolding them
in kind acceptance,
embracing them,
with all their little fears,
in the arms of love.

If the person
you think you are
isn’t real,
feel free to sacrifice him,
like so much smoke,
like forgetting a dream.

Abandoning who you aren’t,
nothing is left,
except what you are.

A cat
is the perfect teacher -
you can expect nothing from him.

What he gives,
or receives,
unexpectedly,
is the truest gift,
to be savored,
and then released,
like a leaf
floating
downstream.

As you observe yourself,
from mood to mood,
the sea
you appear to swim in
may change,
and the swimmer
may appear to change,
but there is always
the one who sees,
beyond these changes.

Poised with grace,
gliding effortlessly
along its surface,
you flow with the wave,
without being of it.

Perfectly balanced,
its power propels you,
its energy is yours,
as long as you ride it.

But, to fight it
is to fall
from its grace,
into the turbulence
beneath it.

In the roiling mess
inside it,
you will tumble wildly,
buffeted,
and broken.

To trust in its power,
abandoning resistance,
is to be free
of its violence.

I have seen glimpses
of the buddha in me.

Sometimes,
an ancient teaching,
sent through the ages
by the kindness
of countless caring souls,
pries me open,
illuminating the darkness
of my mind’s worst imaginings.

And sometimes,
the light of this world
peaks through my ruminations,
splashing the colors
of life’s abundance
across my inner shadows.

These are gifts
not to be taken for granted,
not as rewards bestowed,
but as part of nature’s bounty,
free to be discovered.

I am grateful
for this chance to look.

My memories and expectations,
my opinions of myself
and the world around me,
are like a Google map
of my life.

I am the blue dot
in the middle of it all,
the nexus of motion,
always changing.