Dhammaceti-Dhamma-Teaching-School

A View on Buddhism

POETRY

PAGE CONTENTS

Introduction Love - by Bhante Wimala If - by Rudyart Kipling Peace is Every Step - by Thich Nhat-Hanh Autobography in Five Chapters - by Portia Nelson Quietness - by Rumi Today - Indian Poem Love - by Gurulugomi Desensitization - by Tykal Let's not blow it - by Homer Groening Within You, Without You - Lyrics by George Harisson Spiritual Life is a Life of Search - by Swami Ramakrishnananda Mind - by Niguma

Better - by the Buddha from the Dhammapada Take Heart - by Jennifer Edwards Preconceptions - by Milarepa Speaking Truth - by Jesa Macbeth The Strength of a Man - by Jacqueline Marie Griffiths Poem - by Lama Gendun Rinpoche Song of the Diamond Heart by G. Bluestone Life - by Daisaku Ikeda A New House - by Jennifer Edwards Stop killing! - by Chan Master Cloud of Vows Do not stand at my grave and weep - Mary Elizabeth Frye

INTRODUCTION

Although I am not a particular poetry-lover, below texts do carry special meaning to me.
Be they Buddhist or not, they convey some essential wisdom for me.

Most of below stunning photos are from Geoff Wise and are visual poetry to me, enjoy!

LOVE
By Bhante Wimala

When your mind becomes motionless
and the brilliant eyes of the peaceful mind
take a straight look down into the depth of your heart
you will see the life-force pulsating and thriving
in the warmth of pure love.
As you experience this pure love
what we all call "heart"
beams of light will begin to radiate from the center of it
for heaven is there in eternity.
If you can release this radiance of love
and allow it to flow through you,
your heart will become light.
The spirit will get liberated into the air
and then, from a place of inner stillness
you will know what it would be like
to be an eagle and soar in the evening skies.
And most of all,
you would understand
what it would be like
to be perfectly sane.

PEACE IS EVERY STEP by Thich Nhat-Hanh Peace is every step. The shining red sun is my heart. Each flower smiles with me. How green, how fresh all that grows. How cool the wind blows. Peace is every step. It turns the endless path to joy.

IF Rudyard Kipling If you can keep your head, When all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat these two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: `Hold on!' If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE CHAPTERS Portia Nelson

1) I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk I fall in. I am lost... I am hopeless. It isn't my fault. It takes forever to find a way out. 2) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don't see it. I fall in again. I can't believe I'm in the same place. But it isn't my fault. It still takes a long time to get out. 3) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in...it's a habit My eyes are open; I know where I am; It is my fault. I get out immediately. 4) I walk down the same street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it. 5) I walk down another street.

QUIETNESS Rumi; Translated by Coleman Barks

Inside this new love, die. Your way begins on the other side. Become the sky. Take an axe to the prison wall. Escape. Walk out like someone suddenly born into color. Do it now. You're covered with thick clouds. Slide out the side. Die, and be quiet. Quietness is the surest sign that you've died. Your old life was a frantic running from silence. The speechless full moon comes out now.

TODAY

Vijaya Samarawickama, A Buddhist Reflects on Happy Living, 2004

This day is a special day, it is yours.
Yesterday slipped away, it cannot be filled anymore with meaning.
About tomorrow nothing is known.
But this day, today, is yours, make use of it.
Today you can make someone happy.
Today you can help another.
This day is a special day, it is yours.

LOVE
Gurulugomi (Buddhist Sage~12th Century AD)

If you develop love truly great,
rid of the desire to hold and possess.
That strong, clean love untarnished by lust,
that love which does not expect to be repayed,
that love which is firm but not grasping,
enduring but not tied down,
gentle and settled,
diamond-hard but unhurting,
helpful but not interfering,
cool and refreshing,
giving more than taking,
dignified but not proud,
soft but not weak,
that love which leads to Enlightenment,
then you will be washed of all ill-will.

DESENSITIZATION By 'Tykal'

the child after realizing its mother had led it astray since the first lessons in thought: "why did you lie to me?" "because I did not know a lie could look and feel to the senses like an absolute truth"

LET'S NOT BLOW IT
Public Service Annoucement By Homer Groening (1967)

There are millions of years in the past
There are millions of years ahead of us
And here we are
Right in the middle

Then there's space
There are miles and miles of space in all directions
And here we are
Right in the middle

This is a big deal
Being in the middle of time and space
It sort of makes your eyes water

We'd never find this moment again
In a million years
This is our world
Let's not blow it

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WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU
Lyrics; George Harrison, 1967

We were talking - about the space between us all
And the people - who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth - then it's far too late - when they pass away.
We were talking - about the love we all could share - when we find it
To try our best to hold it there - with our love
With our love - we could save the world - if they only knew.
Try to realise it's all within yourself no-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows on within you and without you.
We were talking - about the love that's gone so cold and the people,
Who gain the world and lose their soul - they don't know - they can't see - are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself - then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there -
And the time will come when you see we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.

BETTER
From the Dhammapada

Better than a thousand
Hollow words
Is one word that brings peace.
Better than a thousand
Hollow verses
Is one verse that brings peace.
Better than a hundred
Hollow lines
Is one line of the law, Bringing peace.
It is better to conquer yourself
Than to win a thousand battles;
Then the victory is yours.

MIND
Niguma

You don't have to do anything with your mind,
just let it naturally rest in it's essential nature.
Your own mind, unagitated, is reality.
Meditate on this without distraction.

Know the Truth beyond all opposites.
Thoughts are like bubbles that form and dissolve in clear water.
Thoughts are not distinct from the absolute Reality,
so relax, there is no need to be critical.

Whatever arises, whatever occurs,
simply don't cling to it, but immediately let it go.
What you see, hear, and touch are your own mind.
There is nothing but mind.

Mind transcends birth and death.
The essence of mind is pure Consciousness that never leaves reality,
even though it experiences the things of the senses.
In the equanimity of the Absolute, there is nothing to renounce or attain.

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SPIRITUAL LIFE IS A LIFE OF SEARCH
By Swami Ramakrishnananda

Spiritual life is a life of search...but a true search.
Not to investigate and to seek what you hope to discover,
Not the object of your aspiration,
But what you are.
Meditation is just a search for the meditator.
Enlightenment is to discover...
To discover that there is no discoverer, and there is nothing to discover...
Enlightenment is to be.
To be the most wonderful discovery of what can not be found.
It is to arrive to no where...
To meet no one.
You fail, because of your habit to search only for that which satisfies your needs.
Get rid of all this need.
And you will see...
Get rid of all that you have.
And you will see...
Throw away all that can be thrown.
And you will see...
Give up these words, and what they make you feel
And you will see...
Give up your attempt to give up.
And you will see...
Give up your attempt to see.
Because then you will really see...
The farther the object you search for, the better eyesight you need.
That which is closest to you, you have to be.

PRECONCEPTIONS by Milarepa Just as fog is dispelled by the strength of the sun and is dispelled no other way, preconception is cleared by the strength of realization. There's no other way of clearing preconceptions. Experience them as baseless dreams. Experience them as ephemeral bubbles. Experience them as insubstantial rainbows. Experience them as indivisible space.

..........

TAKE HEART by Jennifer Edwards But also take comfort, healing, rest and love Leave sorrow amongst the rocks and woods who most of the time are far stronger better able to handle such loads Take courage But also, take honesty, courtesy, empathy and patience Leave doubt amidst the deep ocean waters watch it sink there until you cannot cling to it any longer Take faith but leave with an open mind, an open hand, open arms Take whatever you need to make it through leave what keeps you from going on Tears only go so far Fear only holds so long Though your feet may bleed and your hands, tremble Take deep compassion for the suffering of another and journey on

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SPEAKING TRUTH By Jesa MacBeth It is possible to speak truth in anger. When so done, people tend to hear the anger and not the truth. It is possible to speak truth in arrogance. When so done, people tend to hear the arrogance and not the truth. It is possible to speak truth in deceitful ways. When so done, people tend to sense the deceit and take the truth for more deceit. It is possible to speak truth in loving kindness. When so done, people tend to hear the love and the truth. Or so it seems in my experience.

The Strength Of A Man
by Jacqueline Marie Griffiths

The strength of a man isn't seen in the width of his shoulders.
It's in the width of his arms that encircle you.
The strength of a man isn't in the deep tone of his voice.
It's in the gentle words he whispers.
The strength of a man isn't how many buddies he has.
It's how good of buddies he is with his children.
The strength of a man isn't in how respected he is at work.
It's in how respected he is at home.
The strength of a man isn't in how hard he hits.
It's in how tender he touches.
The strength in a man isn't in the hair on his chest.
It's in his Heart...that lies within his chest.
The strength of a man isn't how many women he's loved.
It's in can he be true to one woman.
The strength of a man isn't in the weight he can lift.
It's in the burdens he can carry.

© July 15, 1999 Jacqueline Marie Griffiths (written for Hunt D. Rochon)

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Poem
by Lama Gendun Rimpoche

Happiness is not to be found with many efforts or will, but is here, nearby, in your relaxing and surrendering.
Don't worry, there is nothing to be done.
Everything that comes up to your mind has no importance because it has no reality.
Don't conceive any attachment for it.
Don't judge yourself.
Let it be.
Let it come up and down without changing a thing.
It all vanishes and begins again, endlessly.
Nothing but the quest for happiness prevents us from seeing it.
It is like a rainbow that one is always chasing without ever reaching it.
It is because it has no existence.
It has always been here and goes with you all the time.
Don't believe in the reality of experiences, good or bad.
They are like rainbows.
Because we want to grasp what is not to be grasped,
We exhaust our strength in vain.
As soon as we relinquish our hold, space is here, open, welcoming & comfortable.
So, do enjoy it.
Everything is yours already.
Stop searching.
Don't go into the jungle to look for the elephant that is quietly waiting for you at home.
There is nothing to do.
There is nothing to force.
There is nothing to desire.
And all comes by itself.

SONG OF THE DIAMOND HEART By G. Bluestone The pine tree's voice is always whispering Yet how many pause to listen? For when the churning mind is still, The Diamond Heart within Reflects even the falling dusk that Shrouds every eye and branch And hears, but listens not. Walking then, with Courage and Kindness, Never ceasing to walk in Wonder, We follow our ancient path. For the Way of the sword is folded two; Like the rose we have thorns, And like the rose, we unfold

 

LIFE by Daisaku Ikeda I will cast out All the vagueness and indecision within me Because my wish is to construct The castle of my whole life On the fulfillment of each promise that I make. I want to live my life As a surpassingly broadminded man Known for being happy and honest A person in whom people can have absolute trust. I've put behind me The age of dreaming about a rosy future And with roots extended into life's reality I realise that the power to create happiness Derives from what we actually do today.

A New House by Jenifer Edwards If I search your face only looking for my reflection How can I see you as you really are If I fill the hours with empty chatter How can I hear you when you finally decide to talk It is love, indeed This that brings me to you And this is why a new house needs to be built With doors big enough for understanding and compassion to fit through

The Crystal Winter
Depressing Yet So Blissful
As Frozen Tears Crash
CP

Stop killing! Chan Master Cloud of Vows (Song Dynasty) For countless years the bitter stew of hate goes boiling on. Its vengeful broth is ocean deep, impossible to calm. To learn the cause of all this conflict, Terror, bombs and war, Listen to the cries at midnight by the butcher's door.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
Mary Elizabeth Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there. I do not die.



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