The sky is my Gohonzon.

As a train of clouds
roll by the moon,
tuft upon tuft
of vapor
passing by,
each one is like a bead
of my heart’s rosary.

My prayer is to be part of this,
to sink into its center,
embedded in it,
empowered by its
infinite energy,
to BE what I am seeing,

And I am!

On this roller coaster,
there are no tracks,
except the ones
our minds lay down.

Not trusting there solidity,
we buoy them up with thought,
but sometimes, still,
they crumble into nothing,
and we are flying free.

There is nothing below us,
and there never was.
In this vertigo of falling,
we can abandon hope and fear
(as in an amusement park),
for the thrill, instead,
of this ride of a lifetime.

Walking to the door with your mask of indifference,
What price do you pay for your daily compromise?

You have sold yourself for a dream of security,
The promise of safety
in shark-filled seas.

How does each long night pass,
When darker dreams break through,
And the face of your broken integrity
Stares back at you?

Was there a moment when the choice was clear,
Or did you slip, beguiled and unawares,
Into the machine that has eaten you?

Are you still in there,
Longing for freedom,
Or does the lure of safety still lull you,
Snug in the dream of protection?

The vividness of this night
Explodes against the senses,
Impaling the eye
With each stab of light
Against the canvas of the dark.

The “I” behind the eye
Is washed away
In this sea of sensation,
Embalmed in the intensity of vision,
Burned away
by the brightness of seeing.

Life well lived is a dance,
a spontaneous song.

Each note grows
from the one before,
branching unexpectedly.

Step follows step
in endless possibility,
infinite curves
of Nature and Spirit.

What unclenches
the fist of fear?

Love.

What unfolds the armor
around the tender belly
of suffering?

Compassion.

How do we embrace
our own suffering?

Through feeling in others
a mirror of our own pain,
and giving comfort
to both,
as one.

When something inside shifts,
and the light shines through,
the Mind says: “Aha,
THAT is the way!”

Then something else shifts,
and, like a cat,
the Mind chases after it.

Always in pursuit,
locked on to its image of “the way”,
it misses the joy (unlike the cat)
of simply moving.

Everything experienced
Is simply energy,
organizing itself,
expressing In a flow
of changing form
And shifting patterns.

All matter and life
dance before us,
exuberantly,
and we,
creation’s eyes and ears,
watch raptly,
singing their song.

Death is life’s way
of reminding us
to LIVE
while we’re alive!

Where there is a story,
there is a hero,
a villain,
and a victim.

For every history told by the victor,
there is a tragedy told by a victim.

If there were no stories,
there would be no victims.

Beyond our minds’ imaginings,
we are all equal.