Thoughts after Tea at a Zen Temple

The monk thought he saw God

But, he would not listen

How would I still his mind

And speak in a language he admires?

Tao is the way

Opened and maintained by the Motion

Evident within the Universe

Energy resonating with the static 

That moves the untouchable

Logos is the Pattern

That the Motion Carries

That speaks to the Intellect

We carry inside 

That feels the meaning of invisible words

The reflection of the void

That becomes a sphere

Reflecting the light and dark

Passing days

Passing words

The flashing of the Will of God

In the beginning

What they name is unimportant

For some God, for others Buddha

But where this God is located

Within myself, or outside of the world

Whether I have attained and hate

Or, I lack and therefore love

Once we contemplate this

The language and the mythology

Become important

Because the names tell the stories

That lead us to God

Determines whether this God is real

Whether it is a projection of a darkened self

Or the opening of my heart

To the Cause of the Law

Reflected in my heart as a Vision 

A beam of Light called “Other” 

Listening to the drum-skin

Tightened through fasting

The thunder in the mountains

Can rumble in your stomach

Ear to the ground

Hollowed out by chanting

The stampeding of distant horses

Brings them into your mind 

Nothing lasts forever

The forms all fold and fade

In the end there stands the nothing

Which gave birth to it all

Beyond this stands pure existence

Energy fills this formless space

And forms arise but do not displace

And the nature of reality

Still stands as matter deteriorates 

The Unmoved Mover stands

Becoming one with that eternal

Space beyond the matter

To cease to depend upon the form

Pure Intellect is born 

Then through ceaseless struggle

All struggle is finally ended

And what was not intended

Finally becomes the finish line

Buddha was a prophet

He told us he was not God

And yet many don’t believe him

And cover him with gold

An idol of the idle

Who do not do what they were told

Christ stands with arms wide open

With claims of being

Both God and Man

The problems of existence, of pain, of injustice

Come together within His story

In a paradox of mystery

With a face we understand

Baoguo Zen Temple

By Bp. Joseph Boyd

(Ancient Church of the West)