All that holds you back is fear,
Fear of change,
Of the unknown,
Of you, in all your glory,
fear of the dizzy space,
the bright abyss of boundless light
of the starry, starry firmament
and deep unfathomable night.
Too long have you crawled worm-like and cowed
Along the muddy base of life
Blind in your fear and ignorance
Wallowing in bitter, bitter strife.
But now the stars do call
Sunbeams and rainbow light enthrall
And you must give your all
Or stay in darkness walled,
Your eyes long sealed by tears of the misery of hell
Now painfully see
The bit of suffering in which you dwell
& senses dimly become aware of
the fragrance of freedom
wafting to you on scented air.
Your heart is pierced with a shaft from the sun
The darkness rendered
& all the ways of woe undone,
no longer in misery’s safety can you hide,
wrapped in shrouds of darkness
all your glory walled inside.
Now you must turn your face
Towards the light and space
Open your eyes and wish
Leap into the bright abyss.
Ah, but fear, blind fear
Holds you in its claim
– all that you have been must die
& death for you is forged with pain
For all that you have been must die
Death holds you in it’s sway
But die you must
Darkness to light
Death to life
In the diamond studded way.
For all that you have been must die
Even the loves and pain that brought you here
to freedom shore
Consumed in the fire,
The whimpers of self-made isolation
Lost in the roar
Of the wind that blows through all creation.
For all that you are must die
Your conflicts that give you shape
Your heart-ache that gives you excuse for all you do
All that you are,
Sacrificed to all devouring freedoms face
All surrendered
All given
All that is you, lost without trace
In the dizzy whirling depths of formless, faceless,
Fearless space.
So leap, leap, leap
Into the bright abyss
No backward longing glance
To the safety of your chains
No fingers grasping at the security of your pain
No reaching forward
With ego’s hardened urge for approval or love
Or even cease of pain.
Let go, let go
Spread your wings and fly
Coast in the gentle breeze
Soar in the azure sky
For who will remember you as you are
When high above you shoot and flash
A brilliant, brilliant star.
Dhammadinna 1976