Unison of Life

Canto Twelve: Mindfulness

Half-way, between the beginning of time
and the end of eternity –
– Each moment
When we are mindful for a flicker of thought
and that is all it is – without language
– as we witness our lives
our inspirations... following our breaths... now.

This mindful, repetitive moment is the total of our life –
we are conscious and aware of our reality
as we construct our memories –
that dusty storage bin of our consciousness
which gradually softens and becomes a
gentle, down mattress, a cozy cloud.

As on a beach we, one handful at a time,
build a castle of sand however unimposing.
We experience in this fleeting, flicker of time
all our dreams, memories, fears – buddhahood
– yes, and our fantasies and imperatives.

We see the parts of these in stages and impulses
as these accumulate into priorities and concepts.
“First I will get up, then get a drink of water.”
“Then I will walk to my room, and lie down for a rest.”
As with the five progressive stages
of stepping in mindful, walking meditation.

When our impulses are simple and pure
our clean actions come rapidly, as chaste
as a kitten playing with a ball.
We see – but usually as a retrospective –
that our lives are already right and interesting.

This mindfulness of and compassion for ourselves
develops together by these same progressive stages,
Yet notice how these thoughts come too fast to contain “I or mine.”
Instead, that is a meta-place, a reference point
not a place in the moment of time.

“I and mine” are judgments in a meta-language
that describe the flicker of time we perceive
in the same way that all people perceive
Even when they are least aware of this unison of life.
October 29, 2010; Pullman, WA