Tag Archives: Zen

It Was You All The Time

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I hear you sing my name in the rustle of the trees

But, it was me all the time

I feel your caress in the gentleness of the breeze

But, it was me all the time

I hear you tapping on my window in the pitter-patter of the rain

But, it was me all the time

I smell you in the fragrance of the rose

But, it was me all the time

I taste you in the nectar of the fruit

But, it was me all the time

You feel the power of my love, as it flows gently through the very veins of your soul

But, it was you all the time

Copyright © Richard F Holmes 2024

Where Eagles Soar

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You may or may not have noticed, that my last few posts have been an attempt on my part at spiritual poetry. This is because, after five years, I have an idea for a new writing project. It’s going to be a book of poetry. Just a very small one, probably just 20 poems to test the water and see what happens. Here’s my latest offering; I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

Where Eagles Soar, you will find me

My heart calls out to you as I glide on the air waves

Soul searching; a soul searching

Searching the vastness of eternity

 

My Lover responds

Like a fragrance

permeating my entire being

I am smitten

 

You were there all the time

But I didn’t notice you

 

I couldn’t see

Enveloped by ego

 

But

 

Now

 

I

 

Melt

 

As I crawl into your loving arms

Reincarnation

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Waiting for nothing in particular

Just sitting here

Just listening to the tick-tock

Of imaginary time

As it passes by, almost unnoticed

In all its nonchalance

Tick

Tock

Just being

Tick

Tock

The End

Start Again

ॐॐॐॐॐॐॐॐॐ

Waiting for nothing in particular

Just standing here

Just listening to the tick-tock

Of imaginary time

As it passes by, almost unnoticed

In all its nonchalance

Tick

Tock

Just being

Tick

Tock

The End

Start Again

ॐॐॐॐॐॐॐॐॐ

© Richard F Holmes 2024

Son Of Eternity

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In the depths of The Ocean of Life

I find you waiting – ever patient

Softly whispering to my soul

Your nurturing nature comforts me

 

It blows gently on my face

Like a warm breeze on a sunny day

My heart melts

Knowing we are One

 

And like a lover – gently leading a beloved

Hand in hand

Like the tide

We ebb and flow together

 

Through Lifetimes – transitions and more lifetimes

Leaving soft footprints in our wake

At each transition

I melt into your loving arms

 

Until…

The next journey beckons

 

Ultimate Reality

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My best friend, ever, forever

In the world of silence – my constant companion

In the world of no companionship – we are One

In the world without Oneness, without concept – We are simply Being

In the world without Being – I Am

In the world of no worlds – I Am That I Am

 

If You See The Buddha Kill Him – Part Two

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Following on from my post from May 22nd, here are a couple of very apt quotes I came across in the book The Zen Teachings of Bodidharma authored by Red Pine and published by North Point Press ISBN 978-0-86547-399-7. They really resonated with me so I thought I would share them.

At the appearance of spirits, demons or divine beings, conceive neither respect nor fear. Your mind is basically empty. All appearances are illusions.

Eyes that aren’t attached to form are the gates of Zen.

 

 

The Road To Nowhere

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Ikkyu 1394 – 1481

I believe that I’ve covered this concept before. However, I don’t think that I’ve ever had a truer understanding of what it actually means until now. Stuff that I’ve been reading lately coupled with my own experiences have really brought home to me that there is no destination apart from the actual journey. Wherever we find ourselves in any particular moment is our destination; it is Divinely and perfectly exactly where we need to be in accordance with the soul’s agenda (desire), and the soul’s desire is the only thing that matters. It is also a reminder that we do not have to search for anything in this life; we are already that which we seek.

Life is an eternal series of cycles that gives consciousness the opportunity to express and know itself through the physical form. It is also the process via which the individual soul evolves into the remembrance of its true nature (consciousness).

I’m reminded also of the quote from ancient Japanese Zen master, Ikkyu:-

“Having no destination I am never lost.”

Pointing The Way

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I really love parables; especially Zen parables. The reason I love Zen parables so much is that quite often they are tongue-in-cheek, but at the same time very profound. As with all parables, we have no way of knowing if the stories actually happened, and because the meaning is never in the story itself, but in the subtext, I suppose it doesn’t really matter whether the story actually happened or not. The parable that I’m going to share with you is one of those rarities where I really hope that the story is a complete work of fiction. You will understand why as you read on.

Many centuries ago there was an old Zen master, who would raise his index finger in the air after engaging with disciples. Whether it was to an individual or a group, after imparting some wisdom, the master would raise his index finger in the air. This was a source of great amusement to a young boy in the village, and he would constantly mock the master every time he saw him by raising his finger in the air too. One day, the boy saw the master walking through the market place, and as usual he raised his index finger in the air in a mocking manner. As quick as a flash, the old man caught hold of the boy and cut off the finger. As the boy screamed in agony the master looked at him, raised his finger in the air and walked off.

A harsh lesson indeed and as I said, I really hope it isn’t true. However, the parable contains a beautifully profound message. It’s similar to the old story that says if you want to see the moon and stars, you have to look beyond the finger that’s pointing to them. For me, it is also an indication of the difference between a master and a teacher. A teacher will teach us what’s in the text book, everything that’s gone before; all the old stale stuff. A teacher will contribute to our conditioning, along with priests, parents, peers, media etc. Indeed, everything that shapes our thoughts about who we are as we are growing up. A master, on the other hand, treats everyone who comes to them as a unique individual and “points the way.”

A master doesn’t teach, in fact, I’ve heard it said that a master is the antidote to the teacher. A master points the way by giving us the key to ourselves. The greatest knowledge is Self-knowledge, and that isn’t something that can be taught. It is experiential and very unique to the one having the experience. The boy in the parable may have been young, but the master’s actions were saying, “I’ve cut your finger off, what are you going to do now? Look beyond the finger.”

The Court Jester

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I absolutely love this little parable from early 2019, so I’m posting again.

A king became exasperated with his court jester, who simply wouldn’t stop jesting.  Seemingly every minute of every day, the jester would be cracking jokes and playing the fool.  Eventually, the king decided he’d had enough and he condemned the jester to be hanged; ordering that he be taken to the dungeon to await his fate.  The day of the execution arrived and the king started to have second thoughts.  He felt that good court jesters were hard to come by, and after all, the poor bloke had only been doing his job.  But, the king also felt that he couldn’t go back to the way things were, so he wrote out the royal pardon on official parchment and added the condition that the jester was not allowed to ever crack a joke again.  He put the royal seal on it and gave it to one of his courtiers to take to the executioner.

The courtier ran to the gallows, and arrived in the nick of time to see the jester already standing on the trap door with the noose around his neck.  The courtier blurted out that the king had changed his mind and that the execution should be halted; he then proceeded to read out the pardon.  As the reading of the pardon came to an end, the jester just couldn’t contain himself and quipped, “no noose is good news”.  He was hanged.

Of course that rather amusing story isn’t actually true, but it aptly explains how we function in accordance with our conditioning, as opposed to our true nature.  When we are born into this world, we are pure, open and still aware of the love that we are.  Gradually, as the years pass, we become conditioned; we are told that we are good or bad, beautiful or ugly, intelligent or thick etc, etc; and we become what we believe (or at least we THINK we have become what we believe).  Then we enter adulthood and we get a job or career, adding that to “who I am” as we go along.  In the case of the jester, “jestering” was what he did, it was not who he was.  However, he was not able to drop the egoic belief that, “I am a jester”, so when the opportunity arose, he couldn’t resist the quip and was promptly executed.

Whether you are an ugly professor, a beautiful cleaner or a good retail assistant, the professor, the cleaner and the retail assistant are what you DO, they are not who you are.  As to whether you are ugly, beautiful, good or bad, these are only judgements made by other people that you may or may not believe.  They are also not who you are and do not have to define you.  So, in life don’t be a silly jester; or the joke will be on you!

It’s Only Wine

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Image by Unsplash

A rich landowner was very well loved by all those who worked for him on account that he was a very caring and compassionate man.  The man’s pride and joy and one real vice, was his wine cellar; of which he was immensely proud.  He had wines of all vintages from all over the world, reds, whites, dry and sweet, before dinner, with dinner, after dinner; you name it, he had a wine for the occasion.  Amongst all of his vast collection, there was one single bottle of an extremely rare vintage that he was waiting to share with the right person.  Many a time he was on the verge of sharing, but it never quite happened.

One day the governour of the state visited him but the man thought to himself, “I can’t open this vintage wine and share it with a mere governour.”  Soon after, he was visited by the Arch-Bishop, but “no” he thought, “this man just wouldn’t appreciate it.”  He then entertained a member of the royal family, and as they supped he also felt that this royal simply wasn’t senior enough to taste the rare vintage.  Even when his son got married, he was tempted then to crack open the bottle and toast the happy couple, but again had second thoughts, believing that none of the guests, or indeed his own son, were appreciative enough to taste the rare vintage.  Eventually, the man became old and died and the rare vintage remained undrunk.

The day of his funeral came, and because he had been so kind and popular in life, all his employees and the peasants of the area were invited to attend a great celebration of his life.  All the wine was brought out from the cellar, including the one, single bottle of the very rare vintage.  The man’s family shared the wine with everyone present.  However, the peasants and indeed the family, knew nothing of vintages and to them all that was poured into their cup was wine; plain and simple wine.

So it is in life too.  No matter what status we are given by others, or whatever status we award ourselves, it all eventually comes down to the same thing.  Death does not discriminate; it takes all of us eventually from our physical bodies.  I am a firm believer, especially now I am older, that status is very superficial and holds no importance, except that which may be contextual.  The greatest people I have ever known and been inspired by, have been those, that in the worldly sense of the word, had little or no status in life.  They were people who were simply kind, caring and compassionate.

In Zen, death is considered to be part of life, a stepping stone to the next experience.  I hope, my friend, that you drink and enjoy the wine of life that is your experience and I hope your chosen vintage is love…