Dharma Hall, Chithurst Monastery

I come here
to find peace
and healing
to feel
that familiar wrap-around silence
to breathe
the age-old musty incense-prayer mix
to take refuge

in the shadows
rows of monks sit
their wheat-husk zafu-cushions
arranged on rusty coloured mats
neat hands relaxed
straight backs,
I can see them
as real as me
down through time
sublime.
inspired
I straighten my spine

here comes the mystery:
a sunbeam
lances laser-like
through the velux,
the ice-melt
in the cross-legged coomb
of my lap
it spills over
to pool around me.
how does the light find me,
single me out,
melt my resistance,
in that vast dark room?

as the sun beams in
the monks
disappear like dreams
at dawn.
I open my eyes
make my namaskar
and look at the face
of the Buddha.
all is well
his mouth curves
faintly, at the edges,
cool but warm
the smile of serenity


Sue