Self Portrait by David Whyte

Self Portrait

It doesn't interest me if there is one God
or many gods.
I want to know if you belong or feel
abandoned.
If you know despair or can see it in others.
I want to know
if you are prepared to live in the world
with its harsh need
to change you. If you can look back
with firm eyes
saying this is where I stand. I want to know
if you know
how to melt into that fierce heat of living
falling toward
the center of your longing. I want to know
if you are willing
to live, day by day, with the consequence of love
and the bitter
unwanted passion of your sure defeat.
I have heard, in that fierce embrace, even
the gods speak of God.
  -- David Whyte
      from Fire in the Earth
      ©1992 Many Rivers Press

Enlightenment is a Gamble

By Adyashanti

Time to cash in your chips,
put your ideas and beliefs on the table.
See who has the better hand,
you or the Mystery that pervades you.

Time to scrape the mind’s [shzt] off your shoes,
undo the laces
that hold your prison together
and dangle your toes into emptiness.

Once you’ve put everything
on the table;
once all of your currency is gone
and your pockets are full of air,
all you’ve got left to gamble with
is yourself.

Go ahead, climb up onto the velvet top
of the highest stakes table.
Place yourself as the bet,
Look God in the eyes
and finally
for once in your life
lose.