bit by bit, then all at once
a poem
Welcome to Wellness Wisdom - A newsletter for the thoughtful by Patricia Mou. A medley of resources and thoughts on wellness start-ups, personal development, mental health and philosophy.
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bit by bit, then all at once
Patricia Mou
What if finding what is true
Is just dissolving everything
that is untrue
Until all we’re left with is
a vast purified space
And so it goes
We cocoon ourselves
with all types of egoic outfits
Ideas, stories, identities, beliefs
Some our own, most of them others
Each replacing the next
In an insatiable quest around
the gaping black hole
that sits at the core
Candles we light
to ward off the ensuing darkness
Afraid of our nothingness
We grasp for anything
Naked at the bottom of the pit
we seek comfort in company
The blind lead the blind
in group transcendence, at self’s expense
Meaning over absurdity, purchased and borrowed
We substitute one untruth for another
In quicksand, we struggle
Until the burden is too immense to go on
Collapsing inwards
Bit by bit
Then all at once
Sometimes
A jolt pierces through the seams
of our carefully spun tapestry
The blackest despair
Becomes our most honest moment
A thread is unraveled
as Truth peeks in
We awake from the slumber
As it’s still ongoing
Lucid dreaming in reverse
We peer across the vast landscape
and see
for the first time
what’s been in plain sight
Talking heads and hero journeys
Realized, yet alone
We retreat to safety
But the tattered fabric can’t be mended
The struken bell can’t be unrung
When our clothes stop fitting
We realize the journey
can only be taken alone
Until finally the day comes
We quietly place our clothes by the water
And walk away from the desert mirage
Returning to our world
To be in it
But not of it
Naked yet one
The seam effacing itself
Into a vast purified space
Bit by bit
Then all at once
I was dreaming that I was a butterfly
fluttering happily.
Suddenly, I awoke—
Now, I wonder who I am—
A man who dreamed he was a butterfly,
or a butterfly dreaming it is a man.
Chuang Tzu
Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.
Ryokan
When the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace.
Nothing real,
nothing absent.
Not holding on to reality,
not getting stuck in the void,
You are neither holy nor wise,
just an ordinary fellow
who has completed his work.
Layman P’ang
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise.
Seek what they sought.
Basho
The great path has no gates, thousands of roads enter it.
When you pass through this gateless gate
you walk the universe alone.
Mumon
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I’m Patricia and have a full-time job but curate this newsletter in my free time as a labor of love.
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