Enlightenment Poems

[Suba]

Blessings Everyone,

The following poem arose from a series of meditations on Enlightenment.


Process:

Take the Time
Create the Space
Invite the Energy -
for it Matters

These are the building blocks
4 Consciousness
2 Experience
1'ness

[kumar ul islam]

[Suba]

I have been compiling my pithy poems and sayings from my 8 day meditation on Enlightenment, and after organizing them into groups, i found myself with many more questions.

For the next five days i will be talking about some of those questions. I would be grateful for any thoughts regarding these questions as i genuinely do seek Enlightenment and any help or different perspective you can offer is appreciated.  

One question i had was what leads us towards searching?

What stone,
What pebble
Stubbed our toe
Shifting,
But for a second -
The direction we go?

I look back at my life and see many different moments that could have led down a completely different road than the one i am on. While there were many defining moments in my life, one that stands out  is when i was locked up in Ventura Schools Youth Authority.

During this time of incarceration i had two cellmates that not only directed me towards the magical wonders of life, but also pointed me to the road which brought me here.

Leading up to this i consumed an unimaginable amount of drugs, LSD, and anything else that would shift my thinking, creating the mental and emotional conditions for my cellmates to impact me.

As i look back into my history i remember the peak moments, not the factors leading up to them. It's those factors we seek to remember in order to invite more peak moments into our lives – moments of clarity, great joy, and understanding. We have all had those moments of complete awareness, a taste of oneness, we just need to recall them, see into their essence, and then invite them to arise as often as possible – continuously even:)
 
That would be awesome!  

What things do you feel trigger our search for Enlightenment?

[Dogboy]

However far or long you travel, there is always a yearning Of the soul for homecoming.

[Charliedog]

As long as I can remember, the longing has been always there. But that was not recognized as That. And tried to fill it up with all kinds of actions and materials.....
And now it is recognized, the longing is always there.....recognized and deeply loved.
But how high the energy may rise, the longing stays
Divine love and Infinite longing or desire
Always there

[Charliedog]

Desire and Bhakti......

http://www.aypsite.com/plus/12.html

[Suba]

It is strange, my initial list of factors leading us towards Enlightenment veered on the negative side: sickness, disease, loss, fear, suffering and so forth. The second time i meditated on this topic the list revolved around the more positive motivators such as longing for Truth and Understanding, a desire for connection and wholeness, and so on.

It reminds me of a story i once heard about this guy who left his hometown in search for meaning and fulfillment. After traveling for fifty years accomplishing all his aims, experiencing everything, having all desirable possession, he found himself exhausted and tired and so decided to settle in the small little town he found himself in. After a few months he started experiencing deep and lasting happiness. He had let go of the searching mind and just started to be. It was not long after that, that he realized this little town he found himself in was the very town he left so many years ago: his search, as Dogboy tells us, was a homecoming.

[Suba]

My second meditation focused on the obstacles we face. Obstacles can be anything from the very mundane to the highest spiritual aspirations. One of my many obstacles is waiting:

waiting to reach a goal
to finish a book
find the right person
the right moment
get the best tools
the best practices – right practice
and so on...

The right moment being the most insidious. Don't get me wrong, i practice a lot. Even on the worst day i still study an hour or two and meditate at least once. It's not practice necessarily, but this weird underlining resistance towards fully committing myself because i am waiting for the right conditions/moment to arise.

It use to be an undisturbed three year stretch to study and solidify my work. Then it was just one year. Now I just want enough stability and security so that i can practice without anxiety of financial troubles. To have some consistency.

Another aspect of waiting is to be ready. I am just not ready to wake up. I am waiting to be ready. Is that weird? I am not waiting to wake up, i am waiting to be ready to wake up.

That is a strange aspect of my personality. Like telling children they have five minutes left to play, i prepare myself for change by setting in my mind that change is coming. I like the idea that on December 18th, 2015 I will Wake Up! That would be cool. I remember the first time i heard someone say, "My baby will be born on this day."

"What do you mean" i asked, "is that around the time the baby is likely to be born?"

"No" they respond, "I am having a cesarean. My baby will be born at 11:34 AM."

Anyhow, recognizing that i am waiting has helped me to let go and be open to what is. The underlining resistance, while not gone, has definitely soften.  

[Suba]

Some Signs of Enlightenment

Knowing
Flowing
Growing

There's a sense of knowing
themselves
others
reality

There's a sense of flowing
seamless movement
still
powerful
eternal
empty, yet whole

There's a sense of growing
for everything around them
breathes
expands
comes into focuss
widens
deepens
rises
opens...
________________________

This comes from a group of poems/sayings investigating the different signs, characteristics, traits, and qualities of an Enlightened person.

I hear and read time and time again that there are no qualifiers for Enlightenment, that we cannot say what it is, or for that matter, even ascribe qualities and states to it because to do so only takes us away from it.

At the same time, there does seem to be a lot of finger pointing. It is not this or that. It can't be spoken of, and yet, why do so many great teachers give thought and words to it. Why are there so many similarities between their stories, experiences, and embodied qualities.

I do not pretend to know what Enlightenment is, nor do  pretend to know what giving birth is like, being a man and all, but i am trying to understand, to open myself to these many qualities, that if not a manifestation of Enlightenment proper, they at least invite more peace, understanding, wisdom, joy and other such things into my life: and i do want these blessed things. If the desire for these things shows me to be a fool, that is okay with me. At the very least i know what i truly want...

[BillinL.A.]

You're no fool Suba.

[Suba]

Thanks BillinL.A.

I don't think so either, but you never know[]

[Suba]

I write in notebooks,
all my thoughts
understandings
problems
excuses
successes and failures
et cetera…

I had a thought
an idea –
insight into the nature of being.

"I need to record this," crosses the mind's screen of consciousness.

Looking for a pen –
none to be seen.

"I gotta capture this."
I get up,
stumble to the kitchen,
and get 1.

Going back to capture the moment,
much like a photographer, only,
so very much more.

On the journey back
my little girl needs her hair combed.

I get the comb,
call her over.
We brush
talk
share
and open to each-other:

The Moment is Won/One.

I get back
sit down
open the book –
and there B a Pen/Pin.

Pulling it out,
the moment/tapestry unravels.

I Laugh
____________________________________
This is a spontaneous poem arising from/within the moment...