---
layout: post
title: "Twilight"
date: 2022-04-09
---

You need not  
  be forced  
to dwell  
  in illusion.  
You have   
  rested  
a long time.  
Rise.  

Do you struggle  
 against  
  the weight  
of birth, age, illness, and death?  
There is no way  
  to know  
if you will live  
past  
Now.

You could be  
  blown out.  
Begin  
 with death  
and find  
  balance.

Each moment  
 is not spent.  
How we will die?  
  Beyond our ken.   
If you do not find  
  a way  
to trust   
  without heeding Now,  
what point is there to live?

All   
  are selfless, empty, and free   
of category.  
When they change  
  together  
they form   
  a mirage, a dream, a reflection,  
a castle in the sky, an echo,   
the moon on the surface of a still pond,  
a bubble, a trick of eye,  
  or an untouchable wisp.

You know all things of the cycle  
  and the extinguished  
  follow the Way of smoke and mirror.

All things   
  were never brought  
to stand out.  
They do not stay or stop,  
they do not come or go.  
They do not dwell  
  outside  
    of us.  
They make no mark,   
  have no thought.  
Mark this truth!

Thank what came before!  

Alas! How we need   
   to suffer together,  
in pain  
  from our past  
action.

Drowning in the abyss  
of our actions.

Such is the cycle!  
Bless us, so that  
the ocean of suffering  
dries up!

How we need  
to suffer together,  
those without skill,  
in pain  
  from  
our priors.  
Those who act  
  toward  
    their suffering,  
even as they want happiness!  
Bless us, so that our priors  
are dissolved!

How much we need to suffer together,  
those who think they know  
those who stop themselves  
from knowing.  

Bound in our fixations,  
  stuck in separation,  
like a songbird in a snare  
  tightening and caught  
again and again!  
Bless us!   
  So that our loops  
are shaken.  

How we need to suffer together,  
those who loop endlessy  
in the cycle  
of standing out.  
As if circling  
  an eternal toilet flush  
in a six-dimensional  
  toilet bowl of past action!  
Bless us, so that we  
may not form   
priors.

We fearless  
We hard-hearted  
Despite carrying  
  so many births,  
agings, illnesses, and deaths.

Choosing to be    
  dragged apart  
instead of   
  moving freely.  
Bless us! So we remember Change and Death!

Somehow we forget  
  that things  
   are unstable.  
Even now  
  we cling,  
    we hold on  
to the cycle  
of standing out.  
Wanting happiness,  
  we carry the heavy weight  
of wanting  
  all our lives.

Our changing environment  
  will be torn and destroyed  
by eruptions and deluges.  
The changing beings  
 within it  
   will be cut off  
from body and mind.  
Seasons are change.  
Bless us!  
 So that we suspect  
 our expectations.

Last year,  
 this year.  
Yesterday,  
  today.  
Waxing moon,  
  waning moon.  
Seconds, minutes,  
  hours, and nights,  
moments of infinite time  
all change.  

See change,  
 see death.  
Bless us!   
So we may face  
death.

Though this body  
  moves with love  
   and fitness,  
when Lord Death arrives  
  in a mask of disease,  
how we need to suffer together,  
those who lack  
  the agreement to learn,  
come again, empty-handed!  
Bless us!   
So we know  
we are pressed.

Alas, alas!  
You who embody  
suffering together!  
Since you,  
  who touch and take,  
are blessed  
  by a loving heart,  
bless us!  
So we and all our parts  
are free, right Now,  
from carrying the weight  
of the cycle  
of standing out!