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Trap

Perception requires
something to be perceived and
someone perceiving;
subject and object, the trap
of dualistic thinking

creating borders,
categories, labels for
the ten thousand things
appearing deceptively
out of wholeness beyond words.

Flower

Seeing a flower, we might
for a split second delight
in its beauty, but then if
not mindful, be distracted

by associated thoughts.
For example comparing
this flower with others we
have known previously or

trying to find a name for
the colours in the petals.
This is just mental rambling
pushing out the first delight.

Forgetting to stay in the
present moment here and now,
we unlink ourselves from life
taking thoughts as reality.

A flower can affirm life
if viewed with full awareness
seeing its connections to
soils, sun, rain, its dependence

on them, the animal life
dependent on it. Flowers
are not separate items
that exist all on their own.

Seeing a flower in this
way means seeing the whole world,
also seeing the mind to
which the flower appears.

Each flower is a unique
miracle and so is the
mind apprehending it
with unsullied awareness.

So an encounter with a
flower can be taken as
a kind invitation to
stay beyond the split second.

World

My world, conditioned by my
clinging mind (a mind that grasps
all things as real in service
of falsely-conceived self)

improves or worsens with the
quality of my thoughts, be
they selfish or generous,
negative or positive.

Who

Taking off, I tell myself I am imagining
the aeroplane and the journey.
Then I relax, not needing to worry
about the engines, weather and so on.
All I have to think about is who
I imagine is doing the imagining.

We exist

We exist only
in others’ thoughts. Our name
the only constant.