The Road Home

Endless wandering across this barren desert
Exhausted by the relentless search
To discover the oasis
That finally quenches our thirst

The temptations of samsara are like this:
A mirage born of ignorance and craving
Chasing enticing objects
Cycling through old patterns

Indulging our desires
Is like drinking salt water
For a moment we taste relief
Only to be drawn back into bondage

Alluring, enchanting images
In the mirror of the mind
Pull the subject toward the object
Bring us back into samsara

Yet as we approach
That which we desire most
We perceive its true nature
Through our weary eyes

Fleeting and impermanent
Empty and unreliable
For the objects of the senses
Offer no true refuge

Like a rainbow across the sky
Vividly appearing yet ungraspable
This is the nature of the mind:
Empty clarity

Though The View is clear
Awakening is mysterious
What finally prompts that moment
When consciousness recognizes itself

How do we find our way home?
What compels the ego to surrender?
This body-mind buckles
Under the frenetic pace of seeking

Disappointed with our efforts
Disillusioned with our fantasies
Like a dog chasing its tail
Samsara is like this

Lifetime after lifetime
Of endless wandering
Isn't this what all of us are truly seeking:
The end of seeking

But who is this seeker?
Can you locate the mind's center?
Can you point to its edge?
Can you find the thinker behind these thoughts?

Turn inward and look
Then rest and release
Can you find a meditator?
Or just an empty cognizance?

Abide in and as awareness
From which appearances arise and dissolve
Let go of any effort
Rest in and as the sky like mind

Like ripples arising and fading
Across the surface of a placid pool
Thoughts self liberate upon recognition
Spontaneous expressions of the mind

Wide open and free, without center or edge
Indivisible yet not identified with the clouds
This is the very nature
Of this sky like mind

This is the nature of a mind
That turns inward
A mind resting in its own place
This is the essence of nirvana

Bow to the Guru that is Samsara
For all of its beautiful teachings
For without bondage
We could not know freedom

Offer gratitude to every experience
That leaves you disenchanted
That helps you to recognize
The dreamlike nature of samsara

With a view as vast as sky
Suffering transforms into grace
When we know deep in our bones
That we come to nirvana by way of samsara