Enemy of Enlightenment
So long ago,
it remains even today.
The faint outline,
of life’s Mysterious Passage.
It can take the shape of one word,
or maybe two?
Perhaps a sentence.
A flower or a stone.
Sounds or shapes,
it really doesn’t matter.
Your breath and the wind
move in unison.
You are the architect
of all you build,
while life cleverly tears down
your walls.
The One
moves mysteriously,
like the sun on the horizon.
It comes like a bird,
in the early morning.
Its memory is old,
as old as time.
But it hasn’t forgotten
you are here.
It asks you:
why play the game
of hide and seek?
Like dreams,
enlightenment washes the sleep from your eyes.
But the moment it comes,
it is just as easily – forgotten.
Consider this:
You know how difficult it is to remember your dreams?
The minute you awaken,
even as you ponder its meaning,
the dream evaporates.
Dreams are like a mist,
swallowed by the rising tide of reason.
In the ebbing and flowing
of night’s curious fabric,
the harder you try to remember
the more the dream slips out of reach.
It seems the enemy of your enlightenment wants to remain hidden.
How much more difficult
is enlightenment by day?
Can the awakening be any different?
You capture glimmers of meaning,
dancing in life’s illustrious flow.
But these sudden and momentary insights
elude your grasp.
It is as if the awakening
is adrift on an unknown sea.
You reach for what you remember,
and the same enemy of enlightenment pushes it away.
But you will find the answer
when you can trace the outline
of the one who doesn’t want to know.
Who is this enemy of your enlightenment?
And what does it guard so fearfully?
Why should you forget
your constant communion with the Source?
It closes the door
to all of your desires to open it.
You call it ego,
but it is simply fear.
Is it true that knowing you will die
made life into a game of survival?
Fear is the signpost
revealing where you hide.
Life always finds you.
Stop worrying,
and all will be well in your world.
You cannot see
how your desires
perpetuate the illusion of suffering.
Desire is the longing of a cup that is already full.
Suffering is every bit a gift
as receiving your desire.
It cracks you open wide,
so you are better able to receive.
Emotions are the tyranny
that rise against what the heart already knows.
Restrain your arbitrary needs.
All that you need
is what you came here to share.
Perceive through the heart’s intelligence.
Live in gratitude.
Trade reasoning
for faith.
How softly you rise
without striving.
How gently life receives you
when you arrive
without going.