I
The mind that finds fault
with this moment
slips into sadness,
the mind judges or condemns
its own experience
or anyone else’s experience
in this moment.
The mind that dwells on past
or future
wanders about distraught,
building fences
where no animals graze.
The mind that seeks outside itself
is always running from its own fear
like a rabbit moving
in the shadow of some bird
of prey.
Yet outside thought,
there is nothing but clear sky.
The hawk sits on the branch
Leaning out
Over the abyss.
II
In this moment,
Reality is fully present.
Nothing is lacking.
In this moment,
there is nothing to judge,
nothing to fix,
nothing in particular to think
or to do.
Here in the fullness
and precise certainty
of this moment
thought interferes,
the perception of inadequacy begins:
Life is not good enough
Other people are not good enough
I am not good enough
Something is wrong
Something needs to change
for me to be happy.
These thoughts
lead to negative feeling states
as quickly as a knife
cuts through soft butter.
There is no challenge here.
To be compassionate with self
means to accept these feeling states
without empowering them,
to let the wave pass through
even as you stand your ground,
to stand in the truth
even as you feel sadness.
Feelings pass.
They linger only when you identify with them
or resist them.
Neither identifying with feelings
nor resisting them,
feelings wash through,
and the thoughts behind them subside,
like waves breaking on the sand.
As you become present,
you rise above all mental
and emotional states,
because who you are is beyond all states,
beyond all definitions.
In the unconditional acceptance
of here and now
the dream world of symbols,
interpretations, meaning,
comes to an end.
There is no more seeking.
No more striving.
No more finding fault.
Nothing apart from
simple attention in the moment
to the situation at hand.
From “Crossing The Water” by Paul Ferrini