MemoirsDeBardo

I

Asleep, we wait in light
for a beam to shine the way,
while the bubbles of the beer
are still rising.

II

Eager, we track long paths with luggage
leaving mountains and birds and trees
to seek refuge in
land unholy.

III

We run from what we know to what we dream of
to discover
we never really knew a thing.

IV

My wrist is burdened by no time measure
yet time burdens my abode
and measures the space
for all my pleasure.

V

I lose in thought
what I gain in Silence,
yet thought constructs
what Silence dares not reveal.

VI

Away from the Mantle of Darkness
we hide in a Tower of Light
with no doors and no windows
on what we should perceive.

Thoughts inspired by Darkness while waiting for Light at Hilton Airport, Rome
20-1st August 2001
eve of my 30th Birth Day
- on the sofa -

"Bardo means gap; it is not only the interval of suspension after we die but also suspension in the living situation; death happens in the living situation as well. The bardo experience is part of our basic psychological make-up. There are all kinds of bardo experiences happening to us all the time, experiences of paranoia and uncertainty in everyday life; it is like not being sure of our ground, not knowing quite what we have asked for or what we are getting into." - The Tibetan Book of the Dead, transl.by Francesca Fremantle & Chogyam Trungpa.

Picture: OLD DRAGON, which represents the realm of physicality in Oriental iconography.