Across Time

"Every day is a journey,

And the journey itself is home."

Matsuo Basho

Basho speaks to me of things that matter - to him and to me.  For example, last night, with the ease of one for whom timelessness is only another aspect of Oneness, he dropped in and without preamble said:

 "But when all has been said, I am not really the kind who is so completely enamored of solitude that he must hide every trace of himself away in the mountains and wilds.  It's just that, troubled by frequent illness and weary with dealing with people, I've come to dislike society.  Again and again I think of the mistakes I've made in my clumsiness over the course of the years.  There was a time when I envied those who had government offices or impressive domains, and on another occasion I considered entering the precincts of the Buddha and the teaching room of the patriarchs.  Instead, I've worn out my body in journeys that are aimless as the winds and clouds and expended my feelings on flowers and birds.  But somehow I've been able to make a living this way, and so in the end, unskilled and talentless as I am I give myself wholly to this one concern, poetry. Po Chu-i worked so hard at it that he almost ruined his five vital organs, and Tu Fu grew lean and emaciated because of it.  As far as intelligence or the quality of our writings go, I can never compare to such men.  And yet we all in the end live, do we not, in a phantom dwelling? 

But enough of that - I'm off to bed."

All I said was, "Good night my friend.  Sleep well."

There was nothing else to say. 

Bert Carson