A Life of One

Quite a long time ago I came to realize that I was being in a human way. For me, this shift in perspective was profound. I stopped thinking of myself as a being and started thinking of myself as simply being. As I expressed it at the time, I am not a noun; I am a verb. A happening. I began to think of all that is in this same way, as simply being.

Over the years, I have spent much of my reflective life allowing this single realization to evolve, being guided by my meditation, being influenced by what I read, testing it at each of its turns. There were many iterations, each building on its predecessors. Words and structure changed. I was progressing toward something, of this I was sure. Many times I thought I was close, almost there… then realized I was not there, if indeed there were a there. The process continued. Without end it seemed. I was at ease with that. I kept going to be going.

A few years ago I did arrive at three central, definitive conclusions. I was being. I was being in different ways. I was being in these different ways at the same time. “The same time” is a moment, as it turns out. At that point I knew my core belief was in place, though it remained for nuances to emerge. That process continued for a good while longer until… until about a year ago in the fall of 2020. Time passed. Nothing new surfaced. No changes. As always, I recited my belief day after day, night after night, into the passing weeks and months. Nothing new surfaced, no changes… it is as it is.

My statement of belief is written below.  Following it is a series of haiku that it inspired.

A Life of One

There is no plan, not one with purpose.
There is no journey, not one with destination.
There is no path, not one to follow.
What then is there?
There is being,
being only being.

There is being, first,
in a human way,
the way of
brain and circumstance,
the way of
perceptions,
thoughts,
concepts,
needs,
wants,
feelings,
senses,
memories,
attachments,
the way of this, of that.

In the same moment,
there is being
in an awakened way,
an abiding willingness to witness
being in a human way,
awake to the way of
brain and circumstance,
awake to the way of
perceptions,
thoughts,
concepts,
needs,
wants,
feelings,
senses,
memories,
attachments,
awake to the way of this,
to the way that.

And, in the same moment still,
there is being in yet another way,
a way that embraces moment,
an eternal moment in this world of time,
a moment constant in meditation.
There, harbored within the freedom to be free,
in the eternity of now,
the brain is freed at last
freed from attachment,
freed from conceptual thought.
Some might call this third way of being
a contemplative life,
others might call it zazen,
I call it the way of emptiness.
Yet emptiness itself
is not an end...
it is the beginning,
the beginning of being love,
the beginning of being kindness.
 

Together,
these three ways of being
are woven into
A Life of One,
being in a human way,
being in an awakened way,
being in a way of emptiness.

one in being
one in moment
eternal being moment
being only being
being love
being kindness
 
The Haiku
 
Prologue

there is not a plan
(just being only being)
no plan with purpose
 
there is no journey,
(just being only being)
no destination

there is not a path,
(just being only being)
no path to follow
 
without a purpose
or plan or journey, what then...
then there is being
 
The First Way

first, there is being
being in a human way
brain and circumstance
 
brain and circumstance
bring perceptions, thoughts, concepts
needs, wants, and feelings
 
brain and circumstance
bring senses, memories, and
they bring attachments
 
brain and circumstance
are the way of this, of that
this is the first way
 
The Second Way

in the same moment
the second way of being
an awakened way
 
 
faithful willingness
bearing witness to being
in a human way
 
an awakening
the awareness of first way
brain and circumstance
 
awake to the way
of perceptions, thoughts, concepts
needs, wants, and feelings
 
awake to the way
of senses and memories
and of attachments
 
awake to the way
of this and the way of that
thus the second way
 
The Third Way

in the same moment
yet a third way of being
a way that transcends
 
beyond and deeper
transcending all other ways
yet coexistent
 
embracing moment
the one eternal moment
while living in time
 
moment is constant
meditation never far
being in present
 
safe harbor awaits
moored within…a new freedom
freedom to be free
 
here in this harbor
an eternity of now
freedom found at last
  
 
the brain…it is freed
freed from conceptual thought
freed from attachment
 
what to call this way
a life of contemplation
or zazen perhaps
   
 
free from attachment
free from conceptual thought
call it emptiness
 
yet it ends not here
emptiness is the beginning
it opens the door
 
...to a vast new space
wherein loving flows to fill...
rushes to empty
 
wherein kindness wells
to overflowing and spills
out to all beings
 
Epilogue

three ways are woven
into a way of living
called A Life of One
 
in the same moment
human way, awakened way
way of emptiness
 
oneness in being
oneness in timeless moment
one being moment
 
being only being

being love

being kindness
 
Inspired by A Life of One

 
    
    

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