Tag Archive | Buddhist philosophy

Becoming Nothing

Contemplating Nonexistence

Nothingness is of something. It causes distress
Among many folk. People don’t want to go there.
The fear of Becoming Nothing is very strong,
But of nothingness can there be anything wrong?
In their everyday living people do not care
To examine the topic were they to confess.

At the prospect of all your efforts vanishing…
Your achievements and attainments turning to dust,
How do you feel? Do you find it most depressing?
Most people need something onto which they can cling.
The concept of nothingness to them is unjust,
So they find within it absolutely nothing.

But what if the fundamental reality
Is of nothingness? Where does beingness come from?
By saying we are all basically nothing
We release the resistance everything can bring
To the present moment. The eternal outcome
Of everything is nothing. But how can this be?

Nothingness is like the emptiness of deep space.
It contaminates nothing. Its pureness is clear.
Yet it holds the whole universe. The sacred void
Is of spirit. Do not be fearful or annoyed
At the prospect of losing all that you hold dear.
Join the party then dare to be nothing with grace.

There Is No Name For It

Existence Unspeakable

In this universe there is One Great Energy
That there is not a name for. A few that are tried
Like Brahman, and the Tao have a greater meaning
Than does God because that name is often leaning
In peculiar directions. One cannot decide
For oneself what’s the nature of divinity.

One substance is existence. It’s fascinating
That anything came to exist. Much easier,
Then, it would have been had there been nothing at all.
The effort and energy needed isn’t small.
It’s an on and off system. We are, as it were,
And are not at the same time as we do our thing.

An infinity of functions it does contain
And of this elegant suchness all are a part.
Now you see it. Now you don’t. The Yang and the Yin,
Like the crest and the trough and the particle spin,
Are a principle that can be taken to heart.
In the naming of suchness there’s not much to gain.

Good will never once and for all triumph over
Evil. ‘On’ will never finally conquer ‘off.’
By indulging in the illusion we become
Disillusioned. The spirit may grow cold and numb.
Then creation becomes like a persistent cough.
The mind is a place where the nameless can’t occur.

There Is No Name For It

Conscious Nebulous Forces

All that is and that ever was has not a name.
Many have been used, but we’ve become rather bored
With defining and naming something so nameless.
All is all but one substance, and in the process
It evolves all quite seemingly of its accord.
We know too little about where everything came.

It’s an off and on universe. Now you see it.
Now you don’t. It’s the forces of the yang and yin
That define our perceptions of all taking place.
From complete utter nothingness to time and space
That which is ever nameless is where we begin
To get some understanding as it will permit.

“But what if the bad forces win out over good?”
This question comes from ignorance of energy
And its back and forth nature. We tremble in fear.
The potential of living a future austere
Amplifies the illusion of needing to be
In control of the nameless as it’s understood.

Wouldn’t it have been easier had their been not
The first cause of creation and all come to be?
Nothingness is unthinkable. Can it exist
Without something to contrast? That which does persist
Is consciousness eternal and evidently
Some people take delight in giving it much thought.