Let's Fly

Lets fly to the sky, get lost be found.
Never once, not twice. I am a canopy of trees.
All the fish in the sea. Every man, woman and child.
I am you, you are me.
I really don’t know who I am,
I just see myself in everyone.
I live within everybody and everything.
I try to love everyone and get along,
In a world gone mad.
I love this life, to die to live again.
Within everything and nothing
And no one. I am.
-sadmonk

Going Within.

I couldn’t stop crying, the tears were uncontrollable.
At some point I broke down, why does life have to hurt so much.
I am the sadmonk I said to myself. I am supposed
To be sad. I stopped crying. I just wanted everyone to be friends.
My sadness is for others and wishing
I could make everyone’s life alright.
No more suffering and dying.
I have no time to be selfish and think about me.
I have to go and help others.
I will always be the sadmonk.
I care for everyone and everything.
-sadmonk

Dollars and Sense.

We cannot spend more money on defense of the people then
On offense of the people who are poor and have no more jobs
And homes to protect their families survival. No jobs, no money yet
Money to waste away on things that only harm us, others and the planet at large.
Stop and help to end the wars now! And put money back into our children’s future
And their children's future. That is planting the seeds of peace, and you will reap peace
In your people & lands for the unforeseen future. It all starts with education and jobs
That provide sustainability for all of our futures. Jobs that create things that help others,
Not things that destroy or enslave them.
-sadmonk

Miracle.

My addiction ends when I got sick and tired of being sick, poor, locked up and alone.
That was the end of the show. I got sick and kicked, I changed the way I thought by following the Buddha's way and in between I found myself, my health, my life, my wife and calling. It was a miracle.
-sadmonk

One Love.

There is an unbroken stream of time consisting
Of past, present and future. We have all lived innumerable
Lives together, we are all connected. I see us all.
The future is no different, we continue the circle.
There is no separation between any of us except for the ones we
Choose to love. Everyone knows that.
I guess I didn’t, I am stupid.
I have chosen to love everyone.
Those who follow also wish to live in a peaceful happy world.
All doors are open, love is not owned, it is Un-conditional.
Something we should give to everyone, Un-bound.
I know the truth and why we are here.
We are all one family, born to love.
-sadmonk

Pieces of my Past.

 

Another lifetime…
I don’t remember when it started or how.
A whole bunch of teens with no supervision,
No role models no nothing, no how.
Drugs was the order of the day.
We smoked the sherm, ate the speed, lsd.
Drank the ever clear, and smoked the weed.
What I was doing I don’t know, I lost myself.
A wounded young angry teen who lost his dad.
Lost his crown. Lost his head… went temporarily insane.
In and out of a penal system gone mad.
His baby sister dead at 17. In the ground she lay,
In my hole I was locked away.
All my friends dead, in jail and gone away.
Shooting up cocaine in my veins.
Was all that I craved.
My crazy days had just begun.
Feeding a habit an insane fixation.
A human pin cushion, a leper of society, no one said I could change.
Walking on the streets wherever I could lay my head.
Sleeping under bridges and eating out of the garbage can.
I really had lost all that I am….things were never anything to me.
No home only stealing from those I loved. Lost my soul.
How could this be, a young boy with no hope all despair.
I lost my mind, I had too.  I gave up one day. Just quit and walked away.
From everything. I wanted to live like others, work n play!
Just like it was another normal day. Please and thank you
For giving me another chance.
Happy and full of smiles.
Who was I just talking about?
It doesn’t matter!
Go live and play!
-sadmonk

Bodhi Day!

Everybody in life wants to tell you
What they believe is the truth.
They do not know. Only you do.
The truth is within you,
It has never been anywhere else.
Look deeply and you will see.
Upon awakening, you are free,
of suffering.
-sadmonk

*I wrote this today in honor of a great teacher from ages gone by.
The Buddha. Today we celebrate his day of awakening also known
as Bodhi (enlightenment) Day.
_/\_

The Buddha. PBS documentary.

 This is a wonderful story put together by PBS.
May you and all your loved ones be well.
_/\_
http://video.pbs.org/video/1461557530/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=PBSChannel&utm_campaign=TheBuddha

Sitting the mind.

There is no you and I, nor others.
That makes us all one.
There is nothing to attain to,
No Dharmas to grasp.
No Buddha outside of your mind.
What you have always had, sits right in your lap.
You are already complete in every way, a Buddha.
You do not have to tie your legs and mind up into knots.
That is just another attachment to a form, not the actual laying down of mind.
Hence "just sitting"...
Just drop the mind that is attached to name and forms.
If you sit with a monk just sit, but know that you are not two.
See that your it!, what more would you need to get?
Your it!
bowing
-Rev.Yao Feng Shakya

Zen Paintings

Learning to open again.

All of us at one time or another have become hurt and in our pain we become sad, lonely, angry, depressed and we withdraw from people and life. We learn how to close ourselves off from everything and everybody. Sometimes this is okay and necessary but it also prevents us from living our lives and in some extreme cases can ruin our lives and others. In my suffering, I built my own walls around myself, it was of my own making. I had to close myself off from anymore loss and hurt in my life, I guess I succeeded when I really ended up locked away from the world. At that point I stopped caring. I lost trust in myself and in others, I stopped believing that I could ever be happy.  Back then, my life was just a real negative and bad place that took me away from my loved ones. My attitude was,
I will never let anyone get close to me again. So, at the worst point in my life, I lost all hope and belief  and in so doing closed myself off from the world and everyone around me.
What I have learned since then will last me lifetimes.
I learned to change the way I thought about myself and others, the world was no longer a bad place. I learned to love myself and others, this is when I opened up again. I believe that everyone I know is special to me and precious. Everyone is my family and I love everyone dearly. I also for the first time seen in myself this compassionate, loving side that somehow I forgot, my inner child.  We all have it, we should never forget it.
Life is too short to not love everyone and to most of all be forgiving of ourselves and others. Now, I felt this love opening that changed my whole life. I felt this love for the entire world that overtook me. I felt this universal love for all life and all people. I was called to be a Priest. My whole life changed after that. It was all due to opening up again and changing the way I think about things, life and people. Zen says to empty your cup of tea! Hehe. No joke!
Most of all I learned to stop judging others, as others judged me in the past. I care about everyone deeply. I finally learned to open up and fully love again it was the most beautiful thing in the world. To see so many people who just like me, wish to love and be happy and peaceful.
I also believe that others can heal from their pain and suffering in the past and present. Not only can being hurt close us off to receiving what it is that we most desire in life, Whatever it may be. But our hurt can also be our awakening.
Remaining open and loving while we have been hurt is actually a way to help us through the difficult situations we face daily in life. So that we are not closed off anymore, we are able to help ourselves and others. By opening up our hearts again we can begin to heal and that is when this universe will open up with endless possibilities. For we must know that we are only limited and closed in our minds. Truly our minds have no limits, or doors to shut and close on this world. With our minds we can learn to overcome adversity, hopelessness, depression, negativity, and more importantly just how to live in this world without going insane.
I know firsthand now what it means to open up to everything and everybody, and I also know what happens when you get past your hurt and pain.
All the things in life that have prevented you from your hopes and dreams is now within reach. Buddhism teaches us that this is all a dream, well I have news too, this maybe a dream but one of our own making.
Now you can begin to heal and open up once again to love and life. It is quite a beautiful thing when you realize that through your pain and darkness that you have come to find the light of your inner being and all beings. That now you can create your own world, your own nirvana or paradise. In religions they all talk about a divine spirit and I believe as does the Buddha. That this spirit and light is nothing more then our openness and willingness to love all people and things. That is when we have learned to open up to what we truly are. 
Love & Light!
-sadmonk