Ocean of Samsara

Thoughts that run though my mind tonight...

The Ocean of Samsara

Alas, is not Samsara like the Sea?
Drawing as much water as one pleases,
It remains the same without abating.
Are not the three precious jewels
given from the heights of Mt Meru,
That never can be shaken by anyone?
9th song of Milarepa

Samsara is that endless sea of illusion that surrounds us. It seems to flow back and forth like a tide pulling us from here to there, always looking for the horizon. Seeing land fall, yet never able to reach out to climb out of this ocean of delusion. Somehow in these times it seems that I am surrounded by such delusions. Spoken by the talking heads that abound, always screaming out there endless banter. In the end, just filling the air with more constructs of illusions, turning the wheel... Where does one walk from here, how does one cope with such excess of humanity railing and fighting each other about those things that seem to matter not, while turning their backs on those things that are close and indeed far more important. Can one really look past it all and walk away, or should one. After all the Buddha himself when faced with individual nirvana was turn to the path of the Bodhisattva. To look towards the salvation of all others to teach them to turn away from their delusion that keep a man from barely seeing the glimmer of the moon in the nights sky! It is here that the three jewels are presented before us to find out our understanding... After all that is the most important thing that can possible be brought forward... And yet many turn away...

I think to the worlds that I have created recently. Those that seem to have their ups and downs. In each there is a slice of reality, but it is easy to get caught up in the waves of Samsara that abound. Frustration and unsettled tone seem to come to the surface. The strong desire to leave and walk away come like a burning seed deep withing the heart charkra. Yet there is a knowledge that this feeling is but an illusion. That the single moments of what surrounds me, the people I meet and the path that lays ahead is just as valuable here if not more so, then any other place. Without a community or Shanga, it is easy to become distracted from that path. One needs guidance and that requires admitting that you cannot go it alone with all things. It is indeed a moment to become humble. Enlightenment within a community of people is important. When I am out in the wilderness I see the real world about me many times, but it is without one part of Gaia, Humans. We make up 6-7 Billion of the species on the planet. Other then insects and bacteria, there is no other greater population of species (not sure statistically on this one). When trying to look past the cloak of delusion, one cannot forget to add in the human part of the sphere, for we make up a great amount of what actually occurs on the planet.

So in those moments, like today where the Ocean of Samsara seems to be clouding my course, it takes just a moment to think of the view from atop Mt Meru and look out across the clouds, knowing that one can climb above it like a fall day back on at Hidden Lakes Lookout. But one must make it to the trail to begin to ascend...

– Ridgewalker