Samatha and Vipassana

 Wings

Oh beautiful bird with expanded wing,
carry me away,
to the kingdom my Self longs for,
a place where I can stay.
I put away my running shoes,
my need to hide, to  grasp, to seek  
and close my eyes and wait for you
 to clasp me in your  beak.
Lift me up with gentle ease,
 and save me from my fear.
Take me to that special place
 that exists nowhere but here.

 Place me on  the graceful wing
where time is hushed and stilled
 and where mind and body stop to breathe
as nature surely wills.
Upon your feathery pinion,
I will stretch out in passive form
giving up my struggles and my fight
to resist each passing storm.
I will surrender graciously,
as we glide through spacious sky,
and I will notice just how blue it is
while the grey clouds pass us by.

I will have faith in you my friend
to shelter and protect,
as I let go  into the sureness of your strength,
my view you will correct.
As you hold me on your wing,
and we skillfully swoop and glide,
I will know that where you're taking me
is nowhere but inside.
And as I breathe in each precious breath,
I will observe  each internal knot release
from  the twisted  pain of wounded cells
to settle into peace.

Then when there is no longer in me
a place for fear and grief to hide,
I will crawl so gratefully over you
to the wing on the other side.
There, I will lie and look about;
the wonders of the world, I will see
and understand so perfectly
the way it was and the way it's meant to be.
And without a noise of flapping wing,
you will gently set me down
in the home of Self where I never left
and where peace always can be found.

Dale-Lyn  May 2020

I was reminded of this poem after listening to the one person in the world I would have likely made my guru if he were still in flesh...Thich Nhat Hanh.  I think, but I am not sure, it was a Plum Village talk when I first learned of samatha and Vipassana (sorry no accents). When I heard this man speak today...a beautiful recording from Plum Village with amazing cinematography...I was reminded of this poem. Hmm! I wrote this very imperfect poem then because I was realizing how much I wanted to heal.  That desire still brews in me. Healing comes with stillness, silence, and resting in Self.

It is possible for us to live every moment of our life in such a way that every moment becomes a moment of healing. 

Stop running. Let yourself be healed. 

All is well.

Thich Nhat Hanh/Plum Village.( February, 2024) Stop Running/ Teaching by Thich Nhat Hanh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qch5ISD9Bxo