Black Lacquered Box

In my hands 

 

It is not heavy 

 

Inside it contains 

Outside it conceals 

 

It's beautiful 

 

Maybe you don't think so 

 

Inside it contains 

A goodbye 

Love letter 

Today 

 

There 

Is always something different in 

There 

 

Today it is not heavy 

Yesterday  

 

It was heavy 

I could not lift it 

 

Inside it contained 

 

Something 

Hard like a brick of coal 

Blackened 

My hands 

Pulled me by 

My face 

 

It was regret 

 

Maybe you don't think so 

 

I dragged it to the river 

Dumped the brick in 

It sank 

 

I felt bad 

For the emptiness 

 

But today 

My face 

 

Is not heavy 

 

Today 

Inside it contains 

A hello 

Love letter 

 

In my hands 

 

Maybe you don't think so 

 

It is not heavy 

Returning to breathing with acceptance

Focused in the upper reaches of light

That which eludes the naked eye is glimpsed

Fragments of truth that inspire delight

If not understanding. Like broken shards’

Multifaceted reflections, so our

Visions are by our thought process shattered

Returning to us in pieces. Power

Resides in the returning: our strong-willed

Desire to come back to ourselves, our home

In waters that by mindfulness we’ve stilled.

We contain the Earth’s circle, the sky’s dome.

We carry back the oneness we have learned

When from our returning we have returned

I love to bring poetry back from meditation:  to see an image, to experience another dimension, if you will, or to see something I could not otherwise see.  The mind is a thinking organ, a maker of thoughts, images, ideas.  There is no better vehicle to deliver a message.  

Following is my version of a meditation that my teacher led:  

In your mind you can make a forest, a path through the forest, and a clearing in the forest in which a special box has been placed just for you.  Follow me there now.  Come on. 

Sit down and make yourself comfortable.  Let your legs be out in front of you so that your energy can flow freely throughout your body.  Sit up straight, but relax.  Place your hands loosely in your lap or rest them on your thighs.  Close your eyes or focus on a point on the floor a few feet in front of you.  Let your attention be drawn to your breath.  Think about each breath you take as you breathe in an easy, unhurried rhythm.  

Breathe in, breathe out.  

Every breath is acceptable, every breath is good.  

Every breath is a moment of your life worth enjoying.  

Breathe in... breathe out.  

Relax your body by thinking of specific parts.  Breathe in and relax your shoulders.  Breathe out and relax your back.  Breathe in ... breathe out.  Relax the muscles of your face Breathe in ... breathe out.  Relax your legs.  Breathe.  Relax your feet.  Continue breathing.  

***

Now, as you breathe, imagine yourself in a forest, following a path.  Somewhere there is the music of a small stream.  As you follow the path through the beautiful forest, you see up ahead that there is light filtering through the trees:  a clearing.  

As you near the clearing the sunlight gets brighter.  You arrive at the clearing.  There are wildflowers.  It’s beautiful.  Somewhere in the clearing has been placed a special box just for you.  Go and find it.  There it is.  

Look at it closely.  Notice the details.  Pick it up.  Look at it from all sides.  You’ll notice it has a lid.  Open it.  What’s inside?  

Here’s something else I brought back from meditation.   Again and again I am told that the breath is the key.  Return to the breath, the Buddhists and other spiritual leaders say.  Breath is life, isn’t it?  It is not just in learning to concentrate on our breath in meditation, it is within the act of accepting the inevitable distractions and returning to our breath that spiritual growth takes place.