(The doctrine of the not-self is Buddhist in nature and is part of the five components of individual existence--form or body, sensation, perception, predisposition and consciousness. The not-self reinforces that the effort to analyze some problems is spiritually edifying but that it can also be misleading at best and a wast of time at worst. It emphasizes the ultimate goal of non-attachment. That being said, this piece takes elements of the five components, builds upon it and expands the subject--in this case a generic *I*, who ultimately reaches nirvana. The journey is obviously not an emotionally easy one, but with each *trial* the *I* slips further to the bliss of non-attachment. Although the last section is not in reference to the doctrine of the not-self, it envelopes the ultimate freedom--hence "resolve." I'm not accustomed--nor do I particularly like doing *I* poems, but in this case, the *I* are the roadsigns of an inner journey)
The Tao of the Not Self
~A Meditation on Detachment~
The Elements EssentialPart One
Grave brows shade caliginous eyes,
dart away, avert my attention.
        I remain unseen.
Full of lip, carotid pulse withheld;
a ratio of permanence.
        I am unheard
Bend of knee, crook of arm,
offerings on a shattered altar.
        I stand alone
Brain fire, a fervid consciousness;
conflagration out of control.
        I have no pain
Eyes water, fluid arcs of
compensated vision.
        I gratefully drown
Sorrowing womb, yearning reminder
of your abstinence.
        I labor barren
Expansion above tainted views;
ironic breath on bared neck
        I am ascending
Veins wide open, a race of
unhindered priorities.
        I fall absolved
Vagrant assumptions yield
to horizontal insights
        I am the portal
Critical tedium, one blatant
lie after another
        I lay exempt
Seed of my soul conceived;
stillborn in absence of nurture.
        I mediate untouched
Sole benefactor resigned, a lost
experiment in rapid transit.
        I ascend this death
Unconscious torture, infinity
of graceless longing.
        I call back lost energy
Myopic hindsight falters and
underscored mistaken future.
        I sing my colors
Syncopated rhyme, unrequited passion
the future was immediate.
        I reach for infinity
Unmistakable ImpassePart Two
And in this void of the Not-so-Self,
viable rejoinders rise to cross interrogation.
You are not my total and
I cannot be the sum of your parts.
Detached integrity glides into the zone of
safe reality where analysis fails
as well it should.
Shadowed images melt as ice in desert,
leaving a fresh vase of clarity in place
of the jagged shards of distortion.
Emphasize non-attachment in the face of
logic to eliminate the focal motivator, but
over analysis is a waste of time and
blind speculation eludes perception.
Flex useless muscles of deformity;
a greedy persistence of traps lays
bare this image against a pallid
canvas of waning soul scraps.
ResolvePart Three
Guru on the far shore chanting
Ram Ram Sita-Ram.
I crossed the river and did not drown.
Sitting the final asana,
compassion leads me home.
The Tao of the Not Self
~A Meditation on Detachment~
The Elements EssentialPart One
Grave brows shade caliginous eyes,
dart away, avert my attention.
        I remain unseen.
Full of lip, carotid pulse withheld;
a ratio of permanence.
        I am unheard
Bend of knee, crook of arm,
offerings on a shattered altar.
        I stand alone
Brain fire, a fervid consciousness;
conflagration out of control.
        I have no pain
Eyes water, fluid arcs of
compensated vision.
        I gratefully drown
Sorrowing womb, yearning reminder
of your abstinence.
        I labor barren
Expansion above tainted views;
ironic breath on bared neck
        I am ascending
Veins wide open, a race of
unhindered priorities.
        I fall absolved
Vagrant assumptions yield
to horizontal insights
        I am the portal
Critical tedium, one blatant
lie after another
        I lay exempt
Seed of my soul conceived;
stillborn in absence of nurture.
        I mediate untouched
Sole benefactor resigned, a lost
experiment in rapid transit.
        I ascend this death
Unconscious torture, infinity
of graceless longing.
        I call back lost energy
Myopic hindsight falters and
underscored mistaken future.
        I sing my colors
Syncopated rhyme, unrequited passion
the future was immediate.
        I reach for infinity
Unmistakable ImpassePart Two
And in this void of the Not-so-Self,
viable rejoinders rise to cross interrogation.
You are not my total and
I cannot be the sum of your parts.
Detached integrity glides into the zone of
safe reality where analysis fails
as well it should.
Shadowed images melt as ice in desert,
leaving a fresh vase of clarity in place
of the jagged shards of distortion.
Emphasize non-attachment in the face of
logic to eliminate the focal motivator, but
over analysis is a waste of time and
blind speculation eludes perception.
Flex useless muscles of deformity;
a greedy persistence of traps lays
bare this image against a pallid
canvas of waning soul scraps.
ResolvePart Three
Guru on the far shore chanting
Ram Ram Sita-Ram.
I crossed the river and did not drown.
Sitting the final asana,
compassion leads me home.
Galadriel
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness
Dalai Lama
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness
