The I-Need Mouse

Running around quickly, quietly,
with great intensity, very busy,
is the I-need mouse.
A small creature, often hidden,
peeking out from behind most endeavors.
I need money, security, peace and quiet.
I need a relationship, a car, certainty in life.
I need a good dinner, four good friends.
I need better understanding, to weigh less.
To have better timing, more energy.
To be less critical, more forceful, more money savvy.
To be be more accepting
of whatever is on offer today.

At times a roaring lion, but more often,
whispering around the corner,
the I-need mouse befriends your every movement.
Hardly seen, yet never far,
he scampers in and out of your thoughts,
your feelings, and most of all, your sight.
You see a friend with something you need.
You see a garden with something that is perfect for you.
You see the dishes and they have lots to say.
You read a catalog with your dreams in it.
The mouse says, "You ate too much."  "It wasn't healthy."
"It cost more than you wanted to spend."
"Your friends know better."
Squirmy, furry, ever-present, subtly winding,
round and around your toes, your life.
The I-need mouse.

What can possibly tame this Pavlovian creature?
A short laugh and a moment's notice.
Look at that, a mouse!
How could it be otherwise? It can't
How sweet that the mouse has his own plan.
How perfect that the plan has not unfolded.
The Great Plan includes the mouse,
The mouse includes the need.
The need shows up in this life, this moment.
We never left home. How glorious!
And look at that!  I need a mouse!

First Step

Will you allow an interruption of this play of words,
these talks, presented to hurt yourself?
Endless looping tape of "not good enough."
An internal searchlight casts brilliance
on what you call mistakes.

Light of life shines on your existence,
whether you denigrate
what you take to be you, or not.
It's not you.
Wake up to this foolish, hurtful, musical!
Stop singing this dark mournful song.
Or at least, notice that you alone are humming it.
When everyone else has gone back to work,
loving you just like they always have.

What you took to be you is nothing more
than the flashes of a film streaming by.
Something, not you, focuses on the scary parts.
So what! Let it be. This is not you.
Bring your attention to something so constant,
so limitless, so perfect.
That even your love and familiarity for struggle,
cannot deny it.

What is that undeniable thing?
Not a thing or state, but pure existence.
The awareness of life that never left you.
What is so special about that?
Nothing! That is the gift, the joy. The treasure.
Not rare, not special. Ever here. Now. You.

Breathe and relax.
Here you are no matter what happened yesterday.
No matter what decisions visited you.
No matter what thoughts rose up about what could have been.
Actually, no, it couldn't have been.
Get off that horse. Put down the whip.
Notice awareness of life is ever present.

Be still to certainty for a change.
Certainty, for which you so long desire,
is a most painful quest.
Never to be found. Mistaken for love.
Give up certainty for peace, for everything.
Allow a single thought to visit you:
"Whatever I may think, I don't know."
And if you don't know,
then be at peace.
Notice your own life shining out of nowhere.

A Moment of Recognition

All day long, a maelstrom of mind movies,
feelings, thoughts, and swirling into notice.
And then, a moment's flicker.
Stopping. Alive. Here now.
Existence.
And a shiver of joyful recognition breaks through.
It's like that.
Except when the movie plays on, OR
When there is nothing but upset, OR
When the joy prevails.

It's a quick reminder that the aware space,
has no demands. Prevents nothing.
It holds the details as well as the silent everything.
Don't wait for the right day,
the ultimate feeling,
the endless bliss.
Don't wait for anything you can think about. 
You'll miss the bus!

No Filter

Have you not been struck by the nature
of love's complete lack?
It is the emptiness that comes,
when no barriers are placed between "me" thoughts
and "you" thoughts.
When no filter arises between how you appear
and how I appear.
We are seen together. This is love.
It comes down to "what is left over?"
The remainder.
Coming up empty.
You need not think it is something
not worth having.
Or somehow, the least of things.
No no. Quite the opposite.
It is the MAIN thing worth having.
An unfiltered fling of the Universe's hand
into notice.
Absolutely full, fullness, completeness.
Everything is here, the cup is full.
So too, the filters are there, but of no import.
The paradox of playfulness.
I love most when I bring nothing
to bear, nothing to add to this beautiful life.
This love need not apply only to humans.
For this is the light that shines on
all that you encompass, and that encompasses you.
Shine on, open to all, receive, all love.
All words in you, of you, are you.

Even the Masters Get Frustrated

Even the masters get frustrated by
this show of force, show of faith,
for our weak, searching, improvements.
Our aplomb in struggle.
Ask yourself with great sincerity.
Do I love the search more than the answer?
Is spiritual evolution better than the ordinary truth?

Don't look in the mirror to see who you are.
Turn around and look at the source
of the looking itself.
Not the eyes, the brain, or thinking.
But the fact of existence itself.

You are not weak, blind, or stupid.
Why wait another day to see what you are?
Few know the timetable for the truth.
So, if you haven't scheduled it yet,
book the time now.

You are here. You exist.
Rest, rest, REST in that.
Everything else is the dream.
Yes, you need to navigate the dream,
that road is before you.
Navigate away, within which, you are awake.
Only that.
Only that.
Only THAT is true.

Be Fascinated

Behind the words, the shadows,
the outlines of all before you,
lies a steady quiet.
This is not the quiet of no sound,
but the quiet of everything that is and isn't.
It steals over attention at times,
and a heartfelt loveliness ensues.
That does not mean that a wallop of an energetic event
isn't waiting to ambush you.
Ride it the way you wait out a thunderstorm.
Don't wish it was over.
Be fascinated.

A Few One Line Poems

There are only two states: Joy, and Joy distracted.


Appreciate the lovely truth of this statement: I am Being distracted.


The meaning of anything is in its arrival.

Don't Follow, Go Home

If you walk behind your teacher,
I hope he says, "Don't follow me. Go home."
You may go away, sad, but you will return.
I hope when you stand on the threshold
of the teacher's room, she says,
"Don't follow me. Go home."
You may rage and feel dejected.
Other than just living, you may
Sit upon your cushion,
Or become quiet by looking,
Or perform service,
Or singing praises,
Or just breathe through the day.
It doesn't matter.
The light that is in you,
not the path,
will unravel you.

Wrap Around

Life, existence, you.. what words!
Like the day, like the sun,
Wraps around you. Carrying you.
Humming to you from the back.
Stop for just one moment,
and rejoice in it.
Or just notice that you are.
Nothing is left behind in this
clear, prayerful, abiding.

One Line Poem #14

What you get when you lift an embedded rock, is a fresh look at a hidden place that was there all along.

Bring On The Day

A slight joy, effervescent and eternal,
Full of charm, bolder colors, than before.
Reveals a fascination.
A deep relaxation takes hold,
allowing this new artistic view to unfold.
The deep stillness you find at the beach,
on the sand looking at waves, is here.
And follows everywhere.
If you are not at home, ask why.
You are not alone. Ask why.
All you have to do is lift up off your seat,
And see what's been holding you all along.

Behind the Day

Behind the ordinary light of day is
a softness, a velvety wrap.
Not the sharp sound, nor the catch
in your throat,
Can ever sway you from this.
Own it, lean into it.
It can not leave you.
Wallow in it.
It backs you, depend on it.
For while the wind speeds on, sweeping
your thoughts and noticings aside,
This, that you are, shines on.

Use Your Broom to Find the Lightness of Being

If you are waiting for someone else's clarity,
the sage's words, however heartfelt, to ring true,
sweep them away.

Find the certainty of the ever present,
Shining where it never left you.
No one ever lied in describing
The 10,000 things, as One,
But you and that One, are one.

Sweep away even the highest,
most sacred ceremony,
Sacred chants, holy path,
in favor of simple existence.

Relax. Relax. Do not mourn,
That you can never know what others know.
Though their descriptions flow on,
Only timeless moments flow into your heart.

Sweep your attention toward the fundamental,
the unspeakable, peace of simple existence.
It belongs to you.
It belongs to whatever you are.

That existence that is you, never defends itself
No story, object or force derails it.
Bask in its unstoppable, ever flowing nature.

Reach for the "ever beyond words" part of you
that never changes. Never left you.
Sweep your focus into mystery.

Who Are You?

If you knew nothing about mind,
the brain,
your life,
Something would still exist.

If you had no thoughts about the past,
this day,
yourself,
Something would still exist.

If a feeling just arose,
From a pool of noticing,
From a sense of being in a body,
And a flicker across being,
Something would still exist.

If the something that exists,
Is aware,
Is beyond limit,
And present to you now.
You are home.