The Business of the Recluse

(Brahmacharya)

The recluse is he who
loves nature more than man
for man is arrogant
and nature is natural

the recluse cares not for
the politics of civilization
and the inflated idea of

a currency that is not real
the dollar of this or that country
and imaginary territory
of this or that people

and imaginary Gods of this or that
origin, that is innovated
by this or that gestures
and who gets credit when

the credit is due to nature
the recluse not understanding
man’s self-importance
lives a life of contemplation

not only breeding for man’s dominance
not only mating for pleasure
but with an eye for the universe

and looking for signs of the cosmos
in nature and the history of man
and for the future that has yet

to be born, the recluse
has an internal being made for
not only for her personal affairs

but for wisdom, art, knowledge
and the formula of love that
could one day save humanity.

Memories like chinese poems

A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
~ Lao Tzu

homesick for something
I cannot name, for home
beyond all other homes?
I am alone in a foreign land

in love with foreigners
sick of the locals
I do not want to speak
or conform to the customs

of living, sowing, reaping
i search for the Tao
but cannot find it, it evades
my grasp, like the endlessly

awake stars, they do not sleep
for light is bled in rivers
of heaven, like poems
mild-mannered echoing down

the centuries, poorly translated
by tongues who no longer speak
with the ancients, the ragged fringe
to be a rare fellow lost among

the songs, i hear music on the lips
of the clouds, that do not dream
but draw, day after day
to bid each other a sad farewell

as neighbors, as friends, as heart-broken
children that have no place
but the wiping of eyes
the lingers at the fork in the road.

Treatise on Silence

Wherefore of one cannot speak
Thereof one must be silent
For silence is listening to the universal

Doing nothing is better than
Being busy doing nothing
Doing nothing is silence of action

Therefore be vulnerable and open
Being open to beauty and bounty everywhere
Therefore be silent and have reverence

It is the space within that makes it useful
There are times when the only correct
Thing to do is to bear out troubles

Until a better day, therefore be patient
As patient as the moon, which does not fight
It attacks no one, it does not worry

It keeps to its natural course and nature
Be as a gentle influence upon others
A subtle light of friendship and hope.

Treaties on the Tao III

Together we call them the Mystery
The way which we all trod, that cannot be named
The nature of existence, the laws of our being
All in the world knows the skill

That works through our skill
Without doing anything, we are
Instruments of other forces
Together we call them the Mystery

He who knows others is wise
She who knows herself is Enlightened
But I do not concern myself with rituals
Either good or evil, I do not serve any

Together we call them the Mystery
Great acts are made up of small deeds
So don’t be ashamed to do the little things
Together we call them the Mystery

From caring, comes courage
To see things in the seed,
That is genius, one who is too insistent
On his own views, finds few to agree with

Together we call them the Mystery
Violence, even well intentioned,
Always rebounds upon oneself, so
To lead people, walk behind them.

Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity
Reduce selfishness, have few desires
To have few desires, server others
To serve others, increase the scope of your love
Together we call them the Mystery.

Treatise on the Tao II

At the center of your being
You have the answer;
All the answers are written there –
And the questions, the luminous

All-important queries, that which
Your life built upon
The Way is “how you know who you are”
Rejoice then, in the way things are

For everything extends from acceptance
And everything is possible if
He who trust enough, intrinsically, implicitly!
To the mind that is still,

The whole universe surrenders
Nature does not hurry, all experiments are tried
We are one such experiment, that is all –
Nature works through us, slowly

Everything is accomplished, truth
Is only completed by paradox
Soul, is only realized in quantum nano-fusion
When I let go of what I am,

I become what I might be
And that is all I need to know
He who knows that enough, is enough
Will always have enough.

Treatise on the Tao

Life is a series of natural
Spontaneous changes, don’t resist them
Let reality be reality
Let things flow naturally

Forward in whatever way they like
That is contentment, that is
Non-attachment, that is natural joy
When you realize there is nothing lacking

The Whole world belongs to you
The entire Universe applies to you
Then you are most truly yourself
With nobody to compete with

But an indwelling spark to nourish
And to nourish it in others
In thinking, keep to the simple
In work, do what you enjoy

In family, be completely present.
Simplicity, patience and compassion
These remain, after all control
Has been relinquished, living

Is an organic feature of existence
If you realize that all things change
There is nothing you will try to hold on to
Possession is an illusion, we are but spirits

Roaming from one world to the next
A journey of light-years, must begin
With a single look into the Sun.