Don't be Afraid

Who we are as human beings?

Who we are as a person?

Can we look at it honestly?

Can we look at it courageously?

With compassion and humor

With unconditional friendliness


Rainbow colors of life experiences:

Grief, relief; misery, joy; hurt, healing...

Can we accept every color of it?

Can we have room for all things to happen?

Can we have room for not knowing?

Can we stay without solidifying?

Can we stay on the brink?

Simply present and open!


In the moment of sadness,

In the moment of longing,

In the heartache of alienation,

Can we just relax and touch -

The vastness of the human heart?

Can we be open and vulnerable?

Can we be truly courageous?


Fear is just part of being alive

Without knowing fear -

There is no fearlessness

There is no courageousness

Can we directly feel it?

Can we get to know it?

Can we meet it face to face?


Pain is inevitable

Change is inevitable

Nothing is permanent

Can we fearlessly acknowledge it?

Can we learn to adapt to it?

Why do we struggle with it?

There is no choice

There is no escape

There is no hope

There is nothing to hold onto...

This mundane world is all there is!

Can we come out of our nest?

Can we grow up at last?

When there is hope, so is fear -

The other side of the same coin!

Hope robs the present moment -

The so precious present moment,

The only moment that matters!


Disappointment, embarrassment...

Irritation, resentment...

Anger, aggression...

Insecurity, jealousy...

Loneliness, fear...

These are our teaching moments

Where we reach our limits...

Where we die and born again...

Where a new beginning is possible...


We don't have anything to lose,

But just being programmed,

In our guts to feel otherwise!

Don't be afraid...

Can we catch those moments gently?

Can we touch them courageously?

Can we let them go compassionately?

To come back to here and now -

To the freshness of the present moment

To sow seeds of wakefulness

To stop this claustrophobic world

To put down centuries of our baggage

To step into a new territory, a new world -

A world of no reference point

A world of openness and freedom

A world of egolessness and peacefulness

A world of fully awake and alive


——

CK. Kamaraj

July 2013

P.S: I originally called it "Pema Says" — inspired by one of my favorite poem "Hokusai Says"