Eternity
You might have seen the photograph
In the newspaper,
You know, the one where the geologist
Is standing on a boulder
Which he casually estimates is
More than one billion years old.
It probably didn't bother you,
I bet you just kept eating
Your breakfast
And went to work as usual
But for some strange reason
I just can't seem to let it go.
I mull it over and over until
My head spins and my mind reels,
A thousand million years...
Why, some people claim I'm over the hill
And I'm barely pushing fifty!
My life seems so inconsequential,
No more than a forgotten blink
In the Eye of the Supreme.
Feeling helplessly crushed by Time
I decide to meditate.
A soft serenity descends
And gradually my spirit ascends
Floating high above all thought
Of nimble geologists and oblivion.
To my heart's utmost joy
That is when it happens –
I hear my Master's loving Voice
Whisper within:
My child, fear not.
Take My Hand and
I will show you the Real in you,
The real You which is ageless,
Birthless and deathless,
Eternal.
Ashrita (New York)