Why do this? Why sit still and watch the thoughts and feelings drift past like the boats on the surface of a stream? It's not easy to find words to explain; to answer the question requires that you do it. But David Whyte has caught something of it; he speaks from another tradition but his words ring true.
SITTING ZEN
SITTING ZEN
- By David Whyte
After
three days of sitting
hard by
the window
following grief through
the breath
like a hunter
who has
tracked for days
the blood spots
of his
injured prey
I came to a lake
where
the deer had run
exhausted
refusing to save
its life in the
dark water
and there it fell
to ground
in our mutual
and
respectful quiet
pierced
by
the pale diamond
edge of the breath's
listening
presence
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