Monkey’s Signless Solstice Sea

waves continue backward in time ~d nelson

s continue forward (click to enlarge)

On this darkest day my monkey’s
curious from where he’s come from
& whether he’ll be gone
when he’s no longer here.

curious, book-learning monkey

Zen Master helped monkey
realize a key to reality
through conscious breathing & meditation.
Contemplating manifestation & continuation
he began touching signlessness;
our true nature of no
birth & no death.

Harbor seals sun themselves (click to enlarge)

earth, sea & sky dance

Just as the ocean becomes cloud,
cloud begets rain, begets living things
he saw the cloud in his tea, in his food.
Ahh, this clever monkey recognizes he
is a continuation, & large part cloud, sun, earth, banana…

sightseer’s beholding earth & sky ~d nelson

When conditions are sufficient monkey manifests.
When conditions are no longer sufficient
monkey will no longer manifest in this body.
Certainly I’ll continue in a new form, beautifully, thinks monkey.
Quite happy, now to be, to inter-be,
hanging around, smiling.

liberated monkey mind (click to enlarge)

feeling free with the sea

happy & free monkey

Where should we look to find the world of no signs? Right here in the world of signs. If we throw away the water, there is no way for us to touch the suchness of water. We touch the water when we break through the signs of the water and see its true nature of interbeing. ~Thich Nhat Hanh, from “The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching”