I am free.
Free from doubt about the past.
Free from fret about the future.
Free from the infinite web of petty thoughts that entangle the heart.
Free of the can of wasps that is the snare of my own and other’s projections.
Free of the up-close stickiness, the trivial clumping, of my own and other’s baggage.
Clean and Clear.
Just walking.
I had this dream once. I am walking through a tangled forest. The trees and roots and undergrowth are thick and matted in the way of ancient jungles. The colours are bright green and the darkness of deeper shadows.
In front of me a slim man is walking. He is shaven-headed, and wearing the saffron robe of a Buddhist monk, with one shoulder bare. The narrow clear path that trails behind his heels is lit by a strange and attractive light ~ a golden glow ~ and I am following him.
As I walk I begin to notice the forms of many hungry ghosts among the trees. These pitiful creatures are crawling around on the ground to either side of my feet. These are fellow beings, I know, who are mired in suffering. I become very anxious for them, and begin to haul them out and to place them on the golden-coloured path. As I am doing this they become more and more demanding, until there are multitudes of them, grasping and clawing at me, and wrapping themselves around my ankles, their arms like like tentacles, and they are slowly but surely dragging me into the Forest of Suffering.
I am becoming frightened by the impossibility of helping them. I feel myself grow frantic. Suddenly the Bodhisattva turns his head, and speaks to me.
”Leave them,” he says. ”I will do that. That is my duty. Your duty is to keep on walking.”
I let go of the hungry ghosts. I return my gaze to the path.
Just walking.
Just walking.
I’m free.
OM TAT SAT
Generally just Being. Nothing in particular, no claims to fame. I like gardening and the sea, nature, art in all forms from poetry to films and everything in between, and being in the company of my family.
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