Poetry by Lily G. Stephen

The Supreme Path of Continuous Presence

they see dread 'round every corner; they say we've gone to hell in a handbasket; they say you can't trust your best friend; they say all hope is lost.

we see us shining in splendor; we say we're linked in dynamic friendship; we say we're embracing change and transformation; we say everyone's being renewed.

he asked did she read the front page; she asked if he saw that news flash; he said everybody's dyin'; she said we're destroying our planet.

we asked if they read higher teachings; we asked if they saw the Clear Light; we said everybody's livin'; we said our real condition's perfect.

let's sing the Songs of Rising; let's walk our paths together; let's serve the cause of knowing; let's touch our cosmic sources.

then knowing our true nature; then seeing liberation; then striving for perfection; then finding splendid wisdom

we'll be in the present moment; we'll be ready for transition; we'll maintain continuous presence; we'll join the Light of the One.

This Waking Dream*

Dun gray expanse beyond cold glass silver some visionaries deem

Yet look again yon icy ridge in unseen moment streaked with rose

Hoary elm twigs o'er the dawn hold waking eyes entranced with light

Unfurl'd in folds and sweeps of hue no time to pick up brush or pen

For one could miss the vision true embedded in sun's rising hymn

So sure enough clouds roil and part; unveil to view the distant crest

Newly dressed with nighttime storm and newly iced against the blue

Oh poor sleepers who dreaming still think longer rest of high value

Have missed day's break; this waking dream will not give way to day just so again

*or: What Our View Was Like Before Those People Built That House

Courage

A thought passes. It's gone.

Another thought comes through.

His sitting there in a place of holiness,

In a state of relinquishment,

Allows his presence as a vessel,

Empty, then filling.

While he knows the reason for being there,

Thought about that has been released.

His eyes find the position in which

They have been parked.

His breath has slowed,

Though not too much.

His heart beats

And rocks him to and fro,

Sometimes.

He becomes empty

Then he receives,

Like a long drink of water,

Then he vanishes.

Yet he hasn't left.

Return is the word

That enters into the quiet refuge.

His heart has become warm.

Though he tries to release

All attempts to think,

He sees with that unblinded eye

The point of light placed

Squarely in his heart

And falls, imploding, into it.

There in the black space lit with heart,

He watches the snake

Take within her mouth her tail.

Return. Relinquish. Ah.

It is the Tathagata-garbha,

The essence of primordial teaching

That dwells within each of us.

By and by he reaches for the ancient bell.

Its tone lingers long.

The moment of its sound

And the moment of silence

Cannot be divided.

His forehead rests

Gently on the floor

And leaves there once again

The pieces of his trivial human pride,

Like brittle autumn leaves,

There on the floor, where pride should be.

To walk out

Into the midday sun

Is to see with new eyes,

Eyes no longer clouded with longing.

He's been undone.

The puzzle is unlocked.

Let's be of one mind about this,

He says.

For those who meditate have no enemies

Nor battles to wage,

Nor anything to escape.

Yet the meditator

Is braver than the five-star general I was.

What courage it takes

To face this raw moment,

To have an in-the-body experience.

Let's stop the wars

With uncompromising courage

To be present. To be here now.

Let's lose ourselves

And have a common heart.

Let's set aside our trivial pursuits,

Our numbing escapes, our excuses,

Complaints, greed, anxiety, and strife.

We have time no more for those.

Let's hear the great and splendid

Song of Life

And then sing with it, all our voices

Rising above the individual notes

of discontent, preconceptions,

Duty, sorrow and pain,

For in our harmony

All these become transformed

As they are drawn into

The magnificent symphony of light.

Let's walk into our inner rooms,

Accept the dark with the light,

Allow our weary minds to rest,

Revere the essential nature

Of our common consciousness,

See the unfolding flower of change.

Who then has time for strife?

We shall not sing in anticipation

Of being released,

For we have been released.

The veil has been drawn aside

And the unnamable name is known.

The journey is the point,

And the arrival

Is happening in the eternal now.

Let's allow the ephemeral

Mystery of life

To move through us,

And ourselves move through it,

Without fear.

Mindful Haiku

Do you mind I've mined

Primordial treasure through

The keyhole of mind?

____________

All material Copyright 2003 Lily G. Stephen

No reproduction allowed in any form without permission of the author.