The Life of a Soul

 The same day 

you plant a seed

is not the same day

you will see the tree

or the forest rise 

before you.

It will take years.

But when you 

nurture the seed,

pour your heart into it,

water the foundation,

award sunlight, 

patiently watch it grow, 

the forest will prosper, 

and it will become home 

to many more 

beautiful things.

If you treat your soul 

the same as a seed, 

then over time, slowly, 

your soul will become 

home to many beautiful 

things too.

If you look deeper

you will see, 

neverending drought 

cracking ground

cloudy skies

as you sit patiently, 

your soul will crumble

it will take minutes 

it will take years

becoming sand

sifted through closed fingers

blown in the wind

gone to time.

If you are lucky,

a sprout 

might emerge

if you are human,

it will wither

killed by 

the many more

beautiful things

who call it home.

And, if you 

grasp the hope 

you will be left, 

among the prosper

within the forest

for years 

carried by the breeze 

finding home in pain. 

There will be peace

in knowing, there is, 

something more

yet loss will prevail

and death will be imminent 

It will take time.

But when you 

accept these thoughts

this suffering

allow it to sink 

deep into your soul

it will become truth and you 

will see.

I see this as the second part of the poem. There is never, only beauty or only suffering. Like a coin there are two sides. Good and evil, black and white, up and down. Enlightenment isn’t a sense of superiority or a higher stature it is a life of acceptance. One that can acknowledge the good and the bad. Not neglecting one to see another more favorably. Siddartha doesn’t move past his son leaving. He realizes that the choice is his son’s and that he has to accept that. 

It’s too easy to be on either side of the spectrum. All good or all bad. Even when it’s somewhere in between, it’s easy to say this is a bad moment or a good one. There is no bad moment or good one. There is only a moment. The universe has no objective moral compass or standards. The events that you experience are just that, events- not good events or bad events. They just exist.