[This poem was a part of a series of River Sky poems that eventually counted seventeen. “River Sky” was my name for a hillside pedestrian/cyclist pathway high above the Columbia River, but it also has a deeper meaning- referring to a meditational state. The ecstatic River Sky poems were all composed in a two-year, maybe three-year period. It should be noted that these poems are not in the vein of Mahayana Buddhist poetry. Instead they were written from a Vajrayana perspective- specifically Nyingma/Bön]
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River Sky XIV
With no arrivals and no departures this is an amazing place!
With no movements and no parts, how can one not laugh?
The great pavilion does not hang in space, nor is it occupied.
If there is anyone within, then it is not the abode of the Victors!
If there is anyone looking at it from without, it is just a fabrication!
One walks along and there is no location to or from.
One rests under a tree and it is simply this way, not even a center!
Nothing can describe it! It has neither walls nor moats,
Confusion is not outside, nor is enlightenment inside!
Formerly one was a guest, then one became an owner,
Then the Pavilion was ones own true self!
How wonderful! How marvelous!
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Mastery beyond mastery comes only from unending devotion!
Understanding beyond understanding comes only through the guru,
And the warm nectar of loving obedience and trust.
The Lineage blessings in the beginning fall like the spring rains,
Later, they shine outward like rays from the bright sun.
In the end they cannot be found!
What good fortune!
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Walking along, the guru is atop our head,
And on the head of the guru is yet another,
And on the top of all sits supreme Kuntuzangpo.
And above his head-why incredible: sits there River Sky!
Little obtuse one- River Sky always sat above His holy head!
The river flows, the sky abides, the sun always shines.
On the long path the walker has departed.
Emaho! Emaho! Emaho!
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Enjoying these series of poems and observations, Michael. This line strikes well for me: "The river flows, the sky abides, the sun always shines."