Retreat Inward

A quiet mind is fleeting
Thoughts flash
Can't recall the last
Or ones before that
Sit an hour
Can't observe twelve straight breaths

A ship tethered to the docks
Is in the sea
But it is not sailing
It is not free

Persist
Unclench
Let go
No judgements
Only curiosity

Get below the fray
Frivolous sensational games
Continuous reactivity, indulging ignorantly
There's little peace
And much suffering

Observe meta thoughts
And dodge self sabotage

Invert your awareness
From outside looking in
To inside observing out

From held in place
To suspended in space

Subtracting movement with agency
Only compelled activity remains

With quiet mind,
Still body
Retreat inward

Core

Retreat inward
From edge to core
Invert your awareness
And find liberation

At the edge of consciousness,
Thoughts are indulged
Ignorantly
From the core,
They are beheld
Objectively

At the edge you hear sounds
From the core you hear silence

From the core
Observe heart's beat
And sensation waves passing
Reject time
Melt your dimensions
Blend dream, thought, and form

Narrow your consciousness
Achieve freedom through small
The space starts narrow
Like a underground burrow it expands
With time, familiarity, and skill

Retreat and be ultra still
Invert your awareness
Dwell from the core
It's right here
O yes! Here it is

What Is Art?

"Art is a place where you can ask a lot of questions." - Rirkrit Tiravanija
"Art is a wound turned into light." - Georges Braque
"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." - Pablo Picasso

The Real

Editor's Note: Originally written April 2016

The Real

You ask, what is Real?

I ask, do you have the courage to find out?

Do you have the relentlessness?

If you plunge your head in a river,
holding your breath, burning your lungs,
Do you want to know as badly
As you want that breath of air?

Can you tell what is Real?

Is it monkeys pounding on the metal roof,
Or the throbbing fear stalking from your limbs?

Will you find it below the defilements,
peeling back layer after layer,
like a snake molting its skin?

Do your nightmares not make you startled?

Do your fantasies not make you aroused?

Can you tell what is Real?

Restlessness or relaxation
Agitation or perseverance
Pain or purification

To know what will prevail,
Understand what is Real
And what is not

No Mind

Editor's Note: Originally written April 2018, this poem was partially inspired by this classic movie scene

No Mind

Too many minds
Mind on relations
Mind on work
Mind on fear
Mind on pleasure
Too many minds

Not every thought the mind serves is worth something

Why is thought-ful the status quo?
Why counter thought with thought?
When feeling small, remember you're vast, unique
When feeling big, remember you're a universal speck
Too much thought

I have another way:
No mind

It's existence, not merely dwelling in existence
Not watching a swimmer in a vast clear blue ocean
It's plunging in yourself

No internal dialog
No evaluation
Just being with a capital B
No mind

Drop Into Reality

Drop Into Reality

Drop into reality,
Join the fray
Leave your baggage
Release your stories
Don't fuss about the spade,
Just start tilling!

Join the fray,
Any time

Sensations are impersonal
Sensations are a-senseless
Don't bring your calendar,
Your time is a fear
A silly sail
In the vast ocean of Consciousness
Where karmic waves
Connect countless lifetimes

Drop in,
Right now