Here is the dharma poem of the week, a wonderful poem by Mahmoud Darwish.
I Was Not With Me
Staring at the ceiling, resting my face on my hand, like some-
body stealing up on a fresh idea, or lying in wait for a gleam
of inspiration. After a few hours I realized I wasn’t there on
the ceiling, or here on the chair, and my mind was blank. I
was absorbed in nothing, in total, complete emptiness, sepa-
rated from my being, sheltered by a benign absence, and free
from pain. I was neither sad nor happy, for nothingness has
no connection to emotion, nor to time. Not a single memory
shook me awake from this trance, and no fear of my fate dis-
turbed my obliviousness to the future. For some reason, I was
sure I would live until tomorrow. I could not hear the sound
of the rain shattering the smell of the breeze outside, nor the
flutes bearing the inside away. I was nothing in the presence
of nothing, and I was calm, trusting, and confident. For how love-
ly it is for a person to be nothing, only once, not more!
…
I think the last two words are particularly interesting. Thoughts?
posted October 17, 2009 at 1:21 pm
There’s only one moment, not more! I love the poem, and would not dare to elaborate on it.
posted October 17, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I believe and I’m sure my immortal Soul knows that myself as a body does not exist. The Course in
Miracles says that, also. This journey is in Truth a Journey without distance – when we remember
that all Reality – capital R, abides in our heart, not mind. As The Supreme Creator of the Cosmos says
in Letters to us daily, YOU ARE ALWAYS INEVITABLY THE VERY BEAT OF MY EVERLASTING HEART.
It’s time for us all to waken!!! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your experience! maryann moon
posted October 18, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I think it was Joshu who wrote that blankness is not emptiness.
Inner silence is not one state, but has many manifestations…and silent mind can be blankness, a prelude to something more, or something more
gassho