Soulful Sadhak

How to Order Interbeing when disorder is what we're seeing? What theory or philosophy Will make us bond beyond entropy Turn matter into energy And bring unity through diversity? How to Order Interbeing What can be more deeply freeing Than to arrive with every step Into this Pure Land we create Carrying the jacket of our Bodhicitta Do we take the leap of faith? How to Order Interbeing and to become real human beings To not be lost in thoughts or feelings And find real purpose and meaning Non-selves coming into oneness One Action to True Emptiness How to Order Interbeing And to meet Love’s high demand In the midst of separation We come together to make a stand Build the beloved community Until injustice is forever banned How to Order Interbeing Let our activism be an organism Practice openness, no dogmatism We are the light that breaks inside the prism Liberating us from mental prison Reconnecting us with ancient wisdom How to Order Interbeing And as a species to evolve? For our igno...

  I ran into the ground of my Being yesterday It smacked me in the face while i wasn’t paying attention As the ground rose up from under my feet I fell down touching the Earth and felt Her soft embrace The air was pressed from my lungs A heavy weight lifted from my chest I could breathe freely again While the Earth stood still my head stopped spinning my legs stopped running I was stuck to the ground Where were You when my head was in the clouds swept away by the winds? How did i lose touch? In the midst of my depravity The sky came down on me And as i circled back into Your gravity I was blessed to encounter reality

 Op uitnodiging van de Vlaamse Plum Village Sangha gaf ik een voordracht over sociaal engagement: hoe kan je je engagement in leven houden in een dolgedraaide wereld waar alles mis lijkt te lopen? Waar begin je? En hoe houd je de moed vol zonder op te branden? Ik deel over de lessen die ik trok uit meer dan 20 jaar sociaal engagement, en over mijn vallen en opstaan met perfectionisme, sociale angst en overdreven dadendrang.  Je kan de voordracht hier beluisteren: https://soundcloud.com/soulfulsadhak/dharma-talk-duurzaam

Ik ben de zinloze zenzwetser Ik palaver en klets er op los uit mijn nek Ik vul je oren met drek Ik ben de verlichte oplichter Ik draai schielijk door en sticht er verwarring en nieuwlichterij met overdadige woordenbrij Mijn onzinnen zijn ondingen die liegen over verlossing en in kromme zinsbegoocheling de waarheid driewerf verloochenen Pas op voor valse profeten je zou beter moeten weten Wie is er klaar voor het gevaar van de zenzwendelaar? Mijn onzalig gezwans houdt geen steek en geeft je geen kans Je ontspringt maar net de dans Dit is gezellig gezenzever van een dromer, een zwever, zijn hoofd in de wolken zijn taal niet meer te vertolken Mijn eindeloos gemijmer doet je brein wegkwijnen Dit valt niet te rijmen Ik probeert je te lijmen Je kan het zo gek niet verzinnen Er valt niks tegen te beginnen Ik heb ze niet allemaal op een rij Het einde is nabij   Zoals Lucebert schreef, " Ik ben geen lieflijke dichter. Ik ben de schielijke oplichter." Wat maak ik mezelf en jullie eigen...

  Poiesis* Where does the poetry come from, what is its stem? Where do words go when there's no one to say them? Who will read me when i am no longer there? Does anybody know, does anyone even care? What will come out, when there's nothing left inside? How can i speak to You when i have nothing more to hide? Can one name the structure of existence? How to write a declaration of interdependence? Is there an Intelligence that is more than artificial? That makes real sense, and not superficial? Is there a meaning to creation? Or is this a mere figment of my imagination?   * Classical Greek for 'creation', 'artistic creation', 'poem'  This little poem was inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings on Interbeing and Buddhist psychology.  

Please call me by my true names So I can see that my joy and pain are one - Thich Nhat Hanh    For a while i struggled with this thought: How can i practice mindfulness and meditation and find peace and happiness, while there is so much peace and injustice in the world? This poem came out of that contemplation. It is dedicated to my brother in the Dharma and activist friend Tom. When i breathe, let me breathe for Eric Garner and all those suffocating under discrimination and oppression And when i breathe, let me breathe for the officer who only knows how to react to challenge with violence When i walk, let me walk for the child in Gaza who can no longer walk home as he lost both his legs in a bomb explosion And when i walk, let me walk for the soldier who does not know  how to walk in peace but sees enemies everywhere When i eat let me eat for the mother in Darfur going hungry to save the last scraps of food for her starving children And when i eat let me eat for the mult...

This poem is inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh's story about  the warrior and the pine gate . Dear old pine gate Please let me come inside I have slayed all my demons and traveled far and wide I want to return home and sit by my master’s side Dear old warrior To enter through my door you must have a pure intention and stop running after more delusion, greed and hatred can pervert you at your core Oh petty pine gate Why don’t you open for me? So hard have i fought for all beings to be free Why do you hold me back from celebrating victory? Oh hard-headed warrior I cannot let you in Go sit by the river Did you really win? Take out your looking glass Do you see virtue or sin? Oh pitiless pine gate Am i at the gate of heaven or the gate of hell? I don’t know where I’m headed Please can you tell Was I really so glorious Or did my soul I sell? Oh weary warrior You have nothing left to hide Where else for you to go then to look deep inside Did you really slay your demons or was your demon pride?...

  A Walk with God Last night i went for a walk with God And as He held my hand, we talked I asked: ‘Where do we go from here, what is the direction? When do we arrive and achieve perfection? He said: ‘There is nowhere to go, nothing to fear Everything you need is already here Look through my eyes and you will see I am in you and you are in Me Everything you touch is already Divine With every step you reach this Kingdom of mine’   And as we strolled a bit further down I could not help but for my face to frown: ‘Lord but there is, so much suffering and pain In this crazy old world, how can we stay sane?’ ‘The road is long and windy, and it’s easy to get lost If you want to reach your goal, there will be a cost There is hardship and struggle on the way But to find your destination, it is worth to pay The toll to reach the other shore Arrive in peace and suffer no more’   His answer made me stumble and wince I could not say I was fully convinced: ‘Where is...

A piece about my life in Sadhana Forest  and how living in a sustainable reforestation community contributes to my understand of Interbeing. Originally written for Wake Up . Adapted from an earlier post . Tree planting in Sadhana Forest The past four years, I have been living and volunteering in an eco-community in South India. We live very simply in thatched roof huts made from local, natural materials. Our community is off-grid and uses only electricity from our solar panels and the water we draw from our well. In our daily life, we practice reforestation, bringing back to life an almost extinct indigenous tropical forest on a 70-acre piece of land, returning water, trees, and life to a once-barren and deserted area. I have learned many practical things about community life and sustainable living practices, but the deepest teaching while living this life has been a very direct, lived experience of the reality of Interbeing. Living this close to nature and actively participat...

 A cloud never dies Photo: Max Pugh You are leaving, but every moment you are still arriving in every step and every breath I take Your eyes are closed, but I can see you more clearly now in the clouds and in the water in my tea You are no longer here, yet I see you everywhere in the smile of a child and the blossoms of spring Your voice is silent, if it weren’t for the singing of birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind There is no coming and no going as you are leaving, you are only returning to us The greater the distance between us, the more we carry you in our hearts You have left a void, which we can only fill with the the practice you gave us We feel an emptiness, but we know we are only empty of a separate self My sadness is beyond limits, but so are the gratitude and love I feel today A bottomless hole is gaping in my soul, from which a wellspring of compassion rises I am at a loss for words, my mind is blank and yet understanding is born: The boddhisattva stands majes...