Poems by Kenya-Lee Province …
REFUGE
i am
a simple one
i can cast off
neither body nor mind,
so i must abide
in
Amida's heart,
that sacred
soft
and silent
place
inside of love
where not a single question
is asked
of me,
but all of mine
are answered
without
a
word.
________________________
RELEASED
how graceful
how perfect
dancing
nembutsu
with nothing to hide
no stick
no drum....outside
the Temple gate
_________________________
WELCOME
NamuAmidaButsu
IS
The ultimate
Reality....
The perfect
'INCLUSION'
That knows nothing
Other than
ITSELF.
_________________________
MYTH
Myth does not equal...lie
Myth does not equal...true
MYTH equals...MIND...beyond language
Beyond............time;
An infinite...EVENT,
Another way
Of saying, yes
To life..
A song of permanence
And change
Without warning,
The wax and wane
Of worlds
We do create
Yet never name,
While we use the word...'believe'
To silence doubt
To fix the game
In favor of
Survival
In the ..dream.
MYTH holds the HEAT
To fuse the sand
Of 'search'
Into the GLASS
Of ......certainty.
Within
Amida's golden light
A silver moon
Alone
Is 'myth'
Reflecting
In
A hundred million
streams.
______________________
SACRED GROUND
why do we
guard
our own 'myths'
and
combat
those of ....others?
'Sacred Ground'
though never
solid,
supports
ALL.
______________________
HANAMATSURI - Birthday of Buddha
and the Burial of Pope John Paul II
five million people
flow....together...
in PEACE
past a single
point of light
now......still,
now gone beyond
their needs...
they carry candles
through the night
as one
great river
of bright
gratitude.
______________________
CLOSE-CALLING
YOU,
a bonbu?
NO......well
maybee...
me tOO
so, WHO
cares??????
Oh,
YES...
namu
Amida BUTSU
______________________
THINKING of BUDDHA
it is not that i am pious,
perfect,
or bent on being Buddha
here
or in a pure-land
pleasant time....
i only went
to school
because i could not stay home.
my 'cunning self'
that should be gone
is not...
i stand
NOW
convicted of my crime.
it is quite simple...really
AMIDA and
His Precious
VOW
are just my
ONE
favorite
THOUGHT.
________________________
(Additional
poems)
i am
a simple one
i can cast off
neither body nor mind,
so i must abide in
Amida's heart,
that sacred
soft
and silent
place
inside of love
where not a single question
is asked
of me
but all of mine
are answered
without
a
word.
______________________
how graceful
how perfect
dancing
nembutsu
with nothing to hide
no stick
no drum.....outside
the Temple gate
______________________
You,
a bombu?
NO......well...
maybe....
me TOO....
so WHO
cares???????
namu
Amida....BUTSU.
______________________
it's not that i am pious,
perfect,
or bent on being Buddha
now
or in a pure-land
pleasant time........
i only went
to school
because
I could not stay home.
my cunning 'self',
that should be gone
in NOT.....
i stand
convicted
of my crime.
it is quite simple....really,
Amida and His
Precious Vow....
are just
my favorite
THOUGHT.
_____________________
ON JOHN PAUL II
five million people
flow... together...
in PEACE
past a single
point of light
now .....still,
now gone beyond
their needs.....
they carry candles
through the night
as one
great river
of bright
gratitude
____________________
ON RUTH TABRAH'S DEATH
Conditions to meet
Conditions to part...
Yes...we suffer
The insidious violence
of
Impermanance..........but,
The Shaka Nyorai
Revealed
AMIDA,
Who
Embraces both
Conditions
Without
A second
Thought.
____________________
Toy train
WRECKS?
we are gods
with motion on our minds
de-railed by stillness
distracted by
our own
ability
to think up
chaos
where it would not
exist
without
us.
how marvelous
how miserable
how true.
i would say with
Saichi
Namu
Amida
Butsu.
trying
to keep my ego
in check
i pull back
on the leash.....
my attention
focused
on the
pressure...
the 'dog'....wins.
i have seen
nothing
along the path
on my morning
walk
Some battles
are not
worth fighting
others
are not
worth winning
A heart-mind
that listens
and responds
is that not
The PureLand
within
the marrow
of the
bones...
Amida's Ocean
in a single
tear.....
is that not
Kannon ?
FREEDOM?
we have
nothing
to trade
for
our
'safety'
no exchange
is possible
Grace alone
provides
The Way
for you
for me
Namu
Amida
Butsu.
____________________
When I am scared Amida breathes for me.
When there is no peace in me, Amida takes the weapon from my hand.
When I can't
Forgive, forget
Or forge ahead,
Amida CAN...
So I 'rely'
On Him
And hope the rain
And tears
Will stop before morning.
____________________
BURNING TIME
River of fire, river of water;
The incandescent
White Line...... is Faith.
We must each hold to
That heart-mind vision.
We are 'embraced' even when
We are torn from our foundations..
We are guided even when we are adrift
On a burning tide of waste....
We are exposed to the True
In the midst of the unthinkable.
The Name holds..
Like an anchor down
In deep mud....
The lotus bends
And rolls
Before the rising
Wind...and
Water......
Wounded
She whispers
Namu Namu Amida Butsu.
_____________
Nothing happens by 'chance'......
ALL of it is.... "magic"...
inconcievable.
beyond our comprehennsion, our calculated 'working'..
NOT superstition.... not that,
only
Absolute Reality
IS....
totally OPEN
to interpretation,
but not to
subtraction
or addition
by
ANY
Living Being.
_________________
Kukai and Shinran are seated in a Cosmic Cafe.
They share a table, and gently take food from one another's plates.
They know... they are not....two,
but neither are they
one.
They are
an unthinkable
solution to
difference...
to unity
and seperation.
They chant together..
Namu, Namu,
Amida Butsu
THIS NAME
is
the most hidden
within the
obvious...
the most
obvious
within the
hidden...
namuamidabutsu.....
so simple
so impossible
to explain
a mystery
so imminent
so complete
that
nothng else
is needed.....
nothing there....
but
six characters
alone...
and nothing
lost
or
missing.
They share
the tea
and smile
without
confusion.
_________________
STILL
Death
does not 'kill'
or 'conquer' or 'divide.'
It
keeps us...'Still'
So we can learn
To fly
Beyond our 'selves'
Outside
This story told to us
As time.
For
then we see
The Pure Land with
The eyes
Of 'sight' itself
And learn to love
The Truth
Within
The
'Lie.'
_________________
FIRE IN THE CAGE
Mind will be
Awakened
Sparks will
Fly
Into a thousand
Dry leaves
New fires
Will be taken
By the
Wind
Of words
Well spoken
To the ones who
Need
That warmth
To breathe
Their freedom
In a cell
_________________
TOGETHER
in nembutsu
Across ten thousand miles
Across a thousand years
Outside of 'chance'
We are each
Given
Once again
To one another
As need unfolds
As hope demands
We
are not ...one
We are not ...two
Neither separate
Nor same
Beyond the...false
Beyond the...
True
Beyond what we can
Dare
To
Dream......
A
million shades
Of gratitude
Now color The PureLand
Of Grace......
We join hands
We dance
The Faith......
We are the angels
Of
The Name
Na Mu
A Mi Da
Butsu
______________________
Wisteria
Drapes the trees
In deep
Purple
As bumble bees
Gather
For the feast
Of days.....
How well,
How often do we
Glorify
The breath we breath
And raise
A word...a hand
In praise
Of what is Real and True.....
The All
That is but One...
The Name
That is
Complete
Within the simple
Turning of a
Phrase...
Namu
Amida
Butsu?
______________________
na mu a mi da butsu
The jewel is ONE
The facets are innumerable
The colors
Unimaginable
Reality
IS
Deceptively simple
In six character
Sound
Complete.
_________________________
REFLECTION
Christian, Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, Bahai.....There IS only ONE
Reality.....and WE ALL LIVE, MOVE, and HAVE OUR BEING within IT.
Whether I think of myself as a 'lost sheep' or a 'burgeoning
Buddha'.....It's all the same... I am just here... just now... just as I
am.......In constant, imminent need of 'God', Amida Buddha, Indra, Allah or
Ja.
I am never alone, abandoned, nor actually disconnected from every other
person and phenomena in the 'Multiverse'.
(no matter what I 'think')
Right and wrong exist for me. I am a creature of here and now, and must
find my way through the dense jungle of phenomenal existence.
Trust in Other Power does not relieve me of the responsibility for my own
choices. But, it does make living with the results of those choices less
painful when I am 'wrong', and sparks increased gratitude when I am 'right'.
Fog and mist can be haunting, even beautiful conditions when experienced
in nature; but when there is no movement in the gray.......it sifts the mind
through a colander of discontent.
Within that very lack of color sadness wanders well beyond the borders we
have set for her, to find that tears have mingled with the rain...
The soul is rent by indecision
not by pain.
_________________________
Step aside.....let
others pass..
the trail is steep
don't force the pace...
rest awhile
and watch the movement
of the mist beyond
the veil.
you are embraced,
sweet child,
for
failure is impossible
in faith.
_________________________
MIND OF SORROW -- MIND OF JOY
The grass
is cut
down
to the dust
but
with the rain
it does
return
for it is
made
to grow
again......
and yet
again
'Just as it is'......
with sorrow
at the root
and joy
in
the
blade.
_________________________
TEA WITH AMIDA
Q&A
Do I need my 'self'
More than I need...You?
Do I need my
Little daggers of delusion
My single-lane confusion
More than I
Need
Namu Amida Butsu?
It does not matter
What you 'want'
Or need
Or have
Or do not 'want'.
I made
And did fulfill
the Vow...
You live
Within
My grace.
You were not 'found',
For you were never
'lost'.
There has never been
A place
Where you were
That I was not,
Or a time
That you
Drew
Breath
Outside
Of
My 'embrace'.
_______________________
CHANGED
No matter where I go
Or what I do,
No matter which prison
I seek re-entrance to,
I am grasped,
Embraced,
Changed..
I know 'The Way'...
I know
The Name...
There is
Now
No escape
From the freedom
Of
Namu
Amida
Butsu
