Riparian greenstone hills
shelter the dry river
that leads to opals
amid the jasper sinews of the earth:
the place where we offer mantras
to the ten directions is colorless,
featureless, and utterly plain,
that we may know its true nature.
Sometimes we go searching for aspiration
when actuality is already waiting for us.
Why do we look elsewhere,
when here is already here?
In the midst of emptiness,
to the refrain of desultory wind;
the ordered mansions of the sky
protect the scattered monuments
while the yogis and their companions
wander in wild places.
The solitary traveler who appears
and reappears with nothing in mind;
heedless of the dangers,
admitting no obstacles,
today helps himself to this mountain,
and tomorrow crosses yet another.
Believing that we speak with others
is a thoroughly useless enterprise.
We had better try to understand
that we speak only to ourselves.