INSTRUCTIONS
Give up the world; give up self; finally, give up God.
Find god in rhododendrons and rocks,
passers-by, your cat.
Pare your beliefs, your absolutes.
Make it simple; make it clean.
No carry-on luggage allowed.
Examine all you have
with a loving and critical eye, then
throw away some more.
Repeat. Repeat.
Keep this and only this:
what your heart beats loudly for
what feels heavy and full in your gut.
There will only be one or two
things you will keep,
and they will fit lightly
in your pocket.
— Sheri Hostetler
from the anthology A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry
To study Zen is to study the self,
to study the self is to forget the self,
to forget the self is to be enlightened
by all things.
~ Eihei Dogen. 13th Century Zen Master
Love/Life Poems
