At Furnace Mountain
Practice 1
The maple leaf no longer fools me
the power of the robin to deceive is gone
the mask on the face of the Pleiades
has been stripped away, and all nature
now stands… revealed as One.
Practice 2
No longer does the flower seem as she
bends to her daunting purpose; what she
is is what she will become – and was
no more does her appearance mystify
as if separated from… the common One.
Practice 3
The great well of monastic silence - down
down – down - as a pebble falls through
clear water – making no ripple, making no
sound - ever down beyond the frontiers
of sense, to rest at last in the sacred silence
…of the eternal Onc.
Practice 4
When I am with people the best prayer I
can offer to God is to be with the people
I am with:
in all of their joys
in all of their sorrows
in all of their triumphs
in all of their defeats
and when I am alone the best prayer I can
offer to God…is to be with God alone.