The Outer Life - A Short Poem

 

The Outer Life

The objective moved him

To strive, to grasp—

The fleeting smile,

Hiding feelings of desperation

And demands—

"Going with the flow",

He lost control

And believed in falsehoods.

There was a branch

Reaching into the rushing river,

Extending truth

To the chaotic blindness—

Pulling out of the water,

Finding dry footings,

Surveying the rushing course,

His life was revealed

In a continuous force—

A force so real,

So powerful,

So total.

Yet, there he was,

Standing firm

Beside the flow,

Watching it and himself

In a peacefulness

Long forgotten,

By conflicted fury

And mistaken truths.

MS

2024

Notes:

The title refers not to the life outside of the river, but the superficial life which is a characteristic of being in the river.

This poem is written quite plainly as the communication of the meaning has been prioritized over more sophisticated wording.

Acquiescent Motion No.2 - Form and Poem

 

Stepping across the field,

Time adjusting to thought,

Partial recordings reintegrate

Forming new experience—

 

Opening to All,

The timeless presence

Pervades, consumes,

Persists.

We follow.

Flow.

 

 

The One and Only All

 

 

 

Opening up to the ground of spacelessness—

Peering into oneself—

The looker is the seen—

Separation dissolves

Leaving only the vast waters,

The one and only All

 

MS

 

Permeable Existence No.5 - 2023

 

Dropping Delicately - A Short Poem

Dropping

Delicately

Into the Sea

 

Opening

Boundlessly

The field of Love

 

MS 2023

Very Very Brief Explanation of Timelessness and Spacelessness

 (Taken from the email newsletter September 2023)

TIME AND SPACE

I like to incorporate a short (as possible) article, for those that are interested, on metaphysics (philosophical, not new age) to the newsletter as the field of study (and praxis (greek term) for ascension!) inspires the ideas and forms for my artwork. The Behind the Wood Forms blog, which includes more of this type of writing and poetry can be reached through my website at mikesasaki.com.

It is ironically perhaps both one of the most revolutionary ideas as well as one of the most traditional, ancient and natural ideas: that is, the idea of timelessness and the lesser known spacelessness. The irony lies in the fact that much of the truth regarding these ideas has been covered by theories, rhetoric, confusion, inadequate descriptions, and conceptual conclusions. Modern values tend towards technological progress, which includes speed, wealth accumulation, and domination. These values presuppose time as a linear abstraction (moving forward!). The idea of timelessness stops this concept of time in its tracks. Timelessness is exactly that: time-less-ness. It is a world without time. We will allow motion to remain for the time being but only as change of state, position, etc., not in or of time. The challenging aspect of the understanding of timelessness is that our very thinking is the cause of this psychological framework. But at the same time, this is the most interesting aspect and the aspect which must be examined. Thought includes memory, and this process of thinking based on comparison with some memory, thus constructing new memories and modifying the existing memories, continues endlessly. Our time-based reality is the effect of this process. Hearing someone (in my case, it was J. Krishnamurti) question this very process which we take as the norm, can seem overwhelming at first, but I can assure you that this is the doorway to psychological liberation. In time, there is psychological fear. Psychological (or irrational) fear (as opposed to physical fear, which is a necessary and healthy function) is a necessary byproduct of time. In timelessness, fear has no place. Why? Because fear is intrinsic to the time-based structure. When the structure is not activated, fear does not exist. Fear arises when the future state of affairs is imagined to be less than desirable. This mixture of thinking, desire and comparison comprises psychological time. Again, let us allow the clocks, the orbits around the sun, etc. to remain as motion, but not time. In timelessness, there is endless motion in the present! As for space, all is one, and space is a concept based on the measurement of at least two points. The fact that you need these two points proves measurement to be relative and therefore not absolute. The only absolute is oneness and how can space exist when there is no division of the whole. I will end the article here as a brief (perhaps too brief) illustration or introduction to my understanding of the topic, although it requires much more elaboration.

Just Stands

 

The mist, thick and white,

Pressed down upon

Our lives below

In this morning scene

Of proud oppression—

It was quiet.

Many had yet

To make the crossing

From within to without;

To bring forth

That new energy,

To start the day

Afresh and alive—

How quickly the violent

Winds of the night

Are forgotten

As the dew-filled air

Sits heavy and present

All around us,

Impeding our innocent

Existence—

Gazing at the scene

In a sleepy trance,

The motionless pine

Is there—

Standing tall,

Firmly anchored

In the motherly soil,

Its nonchalance,

knightly, nay stoic

In its unmoving response

To the fiercely quiet attack—

In its noble stance,

The expressionless tree

Reminds of strength,

Of an enduring wisdom,

And confident knowing.

Untouched by anger,

Dread or time,

The great plant stands,

Neither inside nor out,

But just stands

In silent order,

Nurtured by the watery air,

Living this day

Equally to the last

With its roaring winds

Of empty threats,

Tormented thoughts,

And exhaustive power—

It stands,

Alive and fresh,

Always new

And full of vigour,

Swaying or still,

Wet or dry,

Purifying the air

And supplying life

For us to breath,

So we can move

With strength in our hearts

From all the trees

Surrounding our day

From morning to night,

And night to morn,

Overseeing our thoughts

And inspiring our acts—

Leaving the home,

We step into eternity,

The endless dome

Beyond the mist,

Engaged with the trees

In timeless union,

In renewed recollection

Of the harmonious whole,

And the permeating Soul,

So great in wonder,

And unmoving in motion.

MS23

 

Mother Earth

 

The Dawning of Light

 

Neither hot nor cold

The summer morning

Was one of anticipation—

The yet to rise sun

Stopped just under the mountain range

Painting the horizon graduated hues

Of pinks, oranges and purples—

The scene was unchanging

For a perdurable eternity

As I simply waited

Without thought

Without feeling

Silently gazing at the predawn sky.

 

MS23

 

The Dawning of Light No.1 - 2020