Post by Apsara on Jan 10, 2010 18:09:08 GMT -5
I offer this to seekers, let your sincerity be your guide.
Cartographer
Eager we are,
to emboss our signature,
on the map of the human heart,
as if we know the way,
as if we are the cartographer.
All we really get to know
is that enlightenment is somewhere,
and that we search the maps
for what that means to us.
Stymied by the magnitude
and sheer size, when unfurled
feeling halted, pen quivering
when we attempt to plot the course
over astounding topographies,
who’s peaks of despair
and lowlands of happiness
we cannot fathom.
All we really get to record
is where we have been.
Our maps
are nothing more than retrospectives
and no two are the same
when compared.
Initiating tremendous debate
in the halls of thought
and deep frustration
ensues, when we find
that we borrowed
or pilfered
another’s map...
all just maps to the past.
None yet complete
making us yearn for exactness
craving accuracy like a man
dying from scurvy
craves fresh, clean water.
And yet...dear captain
do not forestall your journey!
Strike the mast with your hand
and call up the sails.
Wrap determined fingers
around varnished copper astrolabe
warm from your touch,
familiar,
sight the constellations by night
and follow the winds by day
Wipe clear the table!
Throw down your parchment!
Grab the fountain pen and chart!
Gladly embrace where you have been
and proudly demark its location.
And above all else
I offer these words to you
fellow traveller...
You will find what you seek.
But the one that seeks
will not be the one
that finds.
The human mind
is not capable enough
to plot the trajectory
or guess the exact location
of where the richness of experience
with your human heart
will lead you to.
The treasure you clamor for
cannot be experienced
by the mind that clamors...
Cry enough over that loss
to sink your ship...
and finally, blessedly
somewhere on the journey
you may come to a great emptiness
a place where longitude and latitude
run parallel and never know one another
and you may fall off the edge of the world
never to be seen again
and yet you will be seeing the world
for the first time
in a lasting way- for all time.
If this happens...
Walk away from the plotting table
with the compass spinning with incomprehension
pens rolling around like misplaced notions
and just lay down on the chest
of the great ship
surrender to its sway
feel the mighty ocean’s spray
mingle with your salty tears
and feel the mind fall away...
welcome to where you are
finally...welcome to where you are.
Place your hands upon your heart
and with clarified whispers, speak the words
“I AM HERE”.
more at www.skymeetingtheground.wordpress.com
Cartographer
Eager we are,
to emboss our signature,
on the map of the human heart,
as if we know the way,
as if we are the cartographer.
All we really get to know
is that enlightenment is somewhere,
and that we search the maps
for what that means to us.
Stymied by the magnitude
and sheer size, when unfurled
feeling halted, pen quivering
when we attempt to plot the course
over astounding topographies,
who’s peaks of despair
and lowlands of happiness
we cannot fathom.
All we really get to record
is where we have been.
Our maps
are nothing more than retrospectives
and no two are the same
when compared.
Initiating tremendous debate
in the halls of thought
and deep frustration
ensues, when we find
that we borrowed
or pilfered
another’s map...
all just maps to the past.
None yet complete
making us yearn for exactness
craving accuracy like a man
dying from scurvy
craves fresh, clean water.
And yet...dear captain
do not forestall your journey!
Strike the mast with your hand
and call up the sails.
Wrap determined fingers
around varnished copper astrolabe
warm from your touch,
familiar,
sight the constellations by night
and follow the winds by day
Wipe clear the table!
Throw down your parchment!
Grab the fountain pen and chart!
Gladly embrace where you have been
and proudly demark its location.
And above all else
I offer these words to you
fellow traveller...
You will find what you seek.
But the one that seeks
will not be the one
that finds.
The human mind
is not capable enough
to plot the trajectory
or guess the exact location
of where the richness of experience
with your human heart
will lead you to.
The treasure you clamor for
cannot be experienced
by the mind that clamors...
Cry enough over that loss
to sink your ship...
and finally, blessedly
somewhere on the journey
you may come to a great emptiness
a place where longitude and latitude
run parallel and never know one another
and you may fall off the edge of the world
never to be seen again
and yet you will be seeing the world
for the first time
in a lasting way- for all time.
If this happens...
Walk away from the plotting table
with the compass spinning with incomprehension
pens rolling around like misplaced notions
and just lay down on the chest
of the great ship
surrender to its sway
feel the mighty ocean’s spray
mingle with your salty tears
and feel the mind fall away...
welcome to where you are
finally...welcome to where you are.
Place your hands upon your heart
and with clarified whispers, speak the words
“I AM HERE”.
more at www.skymeetingtheground.wordpress.com
