Seeing the lines left in freshly raked sand,
pleased that yet no footprints appear.
I feel the cold window glass upon my fingertips,
while voices try to distract my thoughts.
Chased from one space to another
by my need for solitude.
Often others find a way to intrude
upon my burgeoning compassion.
Until I secret myself away
and find a sheltered corner.
Where I find myself a space,
to center and collect the person I’ve lost.
My eyes fall to a gray cement floor.
I begin the gathering of my thoughts.
Watching my breath I am calmed,
in these first few fragile moments.
As the morning light filters through the window pane,
no sounds are left to ripple me.
Like deep water now I rest upon my self’s reflection.
Asking nothing from the moment, only to rest in it.
In this space where unspoken thoughts fade,
the barriers to self begin to fall away.
This is the place where all feelings rest,
the light-and-dark, the happy-and-sorrowful.
My breath rises and falls,
not being forced or controlled.
I rest between the rising and the falling.
No light or dark, no sounds of fury remain.
Where once the clamor of emotion
and the cacophony of irritations rose,
now the empty silence of knowing abides,
and my collected self resides.
When once the morning’s gray thunderclouds hung,
the early sun shines in a bright blue sky.
The gray and filtered window fading
now bright and fills me with color.
Perhaps the morning sky was always blue,
and the window colors now visible,
and all the while my breath rises and falls.
I sit silently and reflect.
In these most tender moments,
knowing myself, I come to gather
all the thoughts of distraction, disdain and discord,
to let them pass from nightshade to dawn.
Sitting quietly the moments come and go.
The thoughts of life constantly filtering in and out.
The breath continues noticed and unnoticed.
Even mountains have moved while I simply sit and breathe.
For I have touched
the place of compassion,
and in the silent flickering of candle flame
my breath falls and rises again and again.
Bhante Kassapa
2 responses so far ↓
1 Tina Kyi // Dec 7, 2007 at 1:32 pm
This Dharma poetry is inspiring.
True compassion and awareness are immensely powerful. Thank you.
2 Bhante n. Kassapa Bhikkhu // Dec 7, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Thank you Tina, Many Blessings. BK
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