In the teachings of the samurai
in the book of Hagakure, or hidden leaves,
it is said that a samurai, upon arising,
should picture their death and how they might die that day.
a catastrophe, a sudden illness, an accident, a duel
everything they can think of resulting in death
and they should pass the gates of their home into the world
as one already dead
this is the way too
of practitioners of impermanence
gratitude for what is given and what is here
acceptance of what is and what is lost
living in the present
doing their best to remember
who they really are
taking refuge
in the breath
from automatic thoughts and feelings
re-centering in the now
how best to navigate these times
than with our full presence?
or as much as we can muster
at any given moment
our resources are all here
if we know how to look
I strive to live by certain values
which shape my goals
which recruit drives
which adjusts behavior
and bushido has been a big factor
in a physical, psychological and cultural way of life
some lessons can only be learned with the body
Stoicism is another factor. From my father’s line. But as a
philosophy that makes emotional sense to me.
But aside this spartan ideology
is a magical calling, extraordinaire
enchanted pull for me since the dawn of my awareness in powerful
dreams like the moon and hare that foretold my future life.
in the intricacy of dreams and relationships therein
in the first and subsequent out of bodies that rocked my world
in the the psychedelic
and meditative journeys
in the daily meditation
in the uncomfortable confines of human form
and there’s the creative
which to me is just this dialog with the subconscious
and perhaps supraconscious as times
through its (the subconscious) modulation
and here’s the poetic and shamanic fields of soul
the places that want to make music
and art
and create rides and take tickets for phenomenological tours into
the mystery of existence