Beyond the Map

Today, O Mysterious One, I will burn this fearfully sketched map
On my brazier of my heart.
With bodhi-compass and open sails, always only just arrived,
I want to flow along in graceful trust, letting
Each encounter Reveal the Right Medicine, letting
Each impulse Augur what makes me Most Alive.
Beloved, guide me along the path of Holy Names,
Every syllable a stone between my destiny and my desire,
Every gathering a constellation of gifts,
Every moment a lesson,
A verdant terrain of blessings
Into which I will sow an endless field of gratitude.

Raleigh, 2014-04-06

To Become a Living Prayer

Boundless, vast, and peaceful,
Let my palpitating, fragile body
Become like a living prayer.

Let this breath, this steady pulse,
Elastic skin and fluttering lids,
Twitching muscles, twisting viscera,

Fluids, bone, and sinew
All profess a singular, sacred,
Precise and passionate vow,

The kind that meadowlarks
Make of the morning light,
Because they have wings.

Sanctuary - a song

Love prepare me
to me a sanctuary
pure and holy
tried and true
with thanksgiving
I'll be a living
sanctuary
for you.

i thank You God - e.e. cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

Triumph of peace - Mahatma Gandhi

When I despair,
I remember that all through history
the ways of truth and love have always won.
There have been tyrants, and murderers,
and for a time they can seem invincible,
but in the end they always fall.
Think of it - always.

This we have now - Rumi

This we have now
is not imagination.

This is not
grief or joy.

Not a judging state,
or an elation
or sadness.

Those come and go.
This is the presence that doesn't.

Refuge Prayer - Thich Nhat Hahn

At the foot of the Bodhi tree,
beautifully seated, peaceful and smiling,
the living source of understanding and compassion,
to the Buddha I go for refuge.

The path of mindful living,
leading to healing, joy, and enlightenment,
the way of peace,
to the Dhamma I go for refuge.

The loving and supportive community of practice,
realizing harmony, awareness, and liberation,
to the Sangha I go for refuge.

I am aware that the Three Gems are within my heart.
I vow to realize them.

I vow to practice mindful breathing and smiling,
looking deeply into things.
I vow to understand living beings and their suffering,
to cultivate compassion and loving kindness,
and to practice joy and equanimity.

I vow to offer joy to one person in the morning
and to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon.

I vow to live simply and sanely,
content with just a few possessions,
and to keep my body healthy.

I vow to let go of all worry and anxiety in order to be light and free.
I am aware that I owe so much
to my parents, teachers, friends and all beings.

I vow to be worthy of their trust,
to practice wholeheartedly,
so that understanding and compassion will flower,
and I can help living beings
be free from their suffering.

May the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha support my efforts