Middle Way

POETRY AND QUOTATIONS FOR CONSCIOUS LIVIN G

The

by Rose Carman

To my Mom for inspiring creativity and my Dad for instilling peacefulness.

Cover photo: Djanbung Gardens, Nimbin, NSW, Australia.

The book was created using iBooks Author 2.0, and printed on Envirocare 100% Recycled stock by Vertix Printing in Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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Foreword
The Buddha said that the middle way, the path between deprivation and overindulgence, leads to liberation. This is the path we all must take in order to not only cease the destruction of our world, but also to bring an end to our own suffering. The middle way requires moderation and wisdom, and changing our lifestyle in order to restore health to ourselves and to the planet. The inspiration for this book comes from the urgent need to sustain our natural world, as well as Buddhist teachings of the Dharma (the natural Law that upholds the universe), and Buddhist principles of interconnectedness, mindfulness, and the Four Noble Truths. These poems were written while traveling through eastern Australia between January and April of 2013 with the School For International Training study abroad program Sustainability and Environmental Action (SIT). See Endnotes for brief reections on select poems. While compiling the book I spent three weeks living an environmentally sustainable lifestyle in a low-waste house in Coogee, a beach suburb of Sydney, and attended meditation and yoga classes at the Livingroom Yoga School. I also spent ten days practicing meditation and working at the Santi Forest Monastery, where I learned from the monastics about Theravada Buddhist history, tradition, and regulatory structure (vinaya). The intention of The Middle Way is to create awareness of the heart and mind and of our connection to nature. Often we unconsciously let our thoughts and feelings run amok within us; poetry is one way of bringing awareness to this inner space. My goal is not to take a religious standpoint, but rather to motivate action for change by communicating Buddhist principles. The quotations are collected from those individuals whose words, written or spoken, I nd to be particularly inspiring.

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T H E M I D D L E WAY

the words themselves are not important. They are not the Truth; they only point to it. -Eckhart Tolle

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Awakening
Pt. I As we turn our heads toward the west, Vermillion skies fade into black but rst: The soft pink as sweet as budding blossoms Yellow glinting like the ripe seeds on a stalk. Purples plush behind feathery clouds Soft and whispering Anticipating shadows yet to come. Fleeting visions of those that are in danger, Calling out for help against the glowing sky, Calling, screaming out for help, Recognition that we are destroying them. Dont break the plane of the window. Dont break their esh with your bullets Theyre not here to interfere We interfere. Fear enters Moments building upon moments Stacking higher and higher, teetering My heart ips and utters sideways Back and forth, up and down A long way to fall. Waiting, waiting, where are they? Pt. II They must have arisen Coming towards us, circling again and again We waited Suspended in awe and humility When the rst one alighted On the black glass that was the river My skin prickled and my eyes swam. How can I forsake disclosing That ngers laced tightly together In awe and humility? Endangered, fragile we stood Stars peek out in the east. Then they came, Innite strings of shadows calling, Screaming out for help. We were not so much breathless as breath-full Mellow March air rushed into shaking lungs, Rivers of shadows passed by again and again Swarms of whirring insect-beasts They landed out of sight.

Bodies rigid and careful to keep From breaking the plane of the window As they settled, gathered. And the calling, the soothing, cooing Or were they screaming out for help? All light had gone, Our eyes now nely tuned to the blackness Made out shapes and envisioned Great distances traveled and horrors overcome.

Pt. III Exiting, no longer blinded No longer caged by carpeted walls The stars pierced accustomed eyes And vulnerable hearts. We walked with craned necks Heads bent back In awe and humility. Crackling sticks of the riverside snapped Underneath our feet The earth breathed life into the night Or maybe it was the other way around And in the dark the newness was created. They come, they land, They call out for help while we watch. It happens every day. This happens every day.

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Perhaps then, by embracing the vulnerability that comes with loss and movement and painful partings, we remind ourselves that to be lost is to be found anew, we realize that to move is to be still in a way that dees location, and that our pains are the portals, the nger holes through which the multiverse blows out mercurial tunes - Bayo Akomolafe

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The River
We oated down the river spinning, smiling, cold in the water but heated by the sun. Faces warm and turned upward or toward each other running. Little did we know we were ung to and fro, over rapids, rushing by boulders and root systems intertwined. Ripples and rocks, leaves logs and twigs at times careening at times serenely oating, oating. Little did we know Then we had oated, still the river diverged. We held on tugging at the other to new streams at times I thought you'd drowned at times I thought I'd drowned I think we both did at times Only to resurface to nd ourselves eeting, still oating. Little did we know

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Dont get stuck on the level of words The word honey isnt honey. You can study and talk about honey for as long as you like, but you wont really know it until you taste it. - Eckhart Tolle

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Cradle Mt.
Tiny worlds a cheek pressed against the ground the smell ah, the smell If only we were small enough to see this tiny plant as a tree to be the beholder of this perspective no bigger than little black lizards on the wall the feel ah, the feel

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The world is too magical, too promiscuous, too disrespectful to abide faithful to any one conception of it. - Bayo Akomolafe

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Night Swim
silver waters wash ashore warm against breeze-cooled skin shake sand from salty hair glitters gold in the moonlight lit up in the dark night sky scattered with stars worlds far from here with less words to say and more waves to hear

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[The] intention is that we want to wake up, we want to ripen our compassion, and we want to ripen our ability to let go, we want to realize our connection with all beings. - Pema Chdrn

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Abroad
Well look upon these days as tiny budding greenery scuttling bugs on dew dropped leaves the heavy heat and coastal winds. Well look upon these days as painful and rough yet laced with light and with laughter. Well remember, hearts aching the warm ocean, moonlight on the sand. But why wait to look back? Look now! Its happening.

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If you are doing the right thing for the earth, she's giving you great company. - Vandana Shiva

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Country Road
leaf-dappled light green acres sliding by and whispering, dancing delicate delighted gently lowered through the valley tasting air and sun spots atop moulded mountains of green and green crackle of gravel grazing cows lift lazy heads as we sigh silently staring as we go by thats how it was when we drove down the middle walked the line, just impolite

a year later nothings changed or maybe nothings the same except the thorns and vines and whispering, dancing delicate dreams of countryside winding fences stationed round and around
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No other life form on the planet knows negativity, only humans, just as no other life-form violates and poisons the Earth that sustains it. - Eckhart Tolle

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Public Transportation
What happens in the space between? Breathing in the heat of the day, And breathing out a cool ocean spray Over the masses busy shopping, Busy being busy. Their heat rising, Taking in their bustle Exchanging in the space between Issuing out new breath like a soft breeze Let it touch their cheeks Let it guide them to this edge.

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Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. - The Buddha

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Mother Ocean
Pray that you may open your minds eye so that when you look upon the sea you see the Mother I see. The space in between the earth and the sky the place where I hover held, groundless in silence awake and in dreams, breathing.

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Many people are so imprisoned in their minds that the beauty of nature does not really exist for them. They might say What a pretty ower, but thats just a mechanical labeling. Because they are not still, not present, they dont truly see the ower, dont feel its essence, its holiness just as they dont see themselves, dont feel their own essence, their own holiness. - Eckhart Tolle

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Backyard
alighted on a silken petal to nd a water droplet rolling reecting the color garden

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"The greatest art is to attain a balance, a balance between all opposites, a balance between all polarities. Imbalance is the disease and balance is health. Imbalance is neurosis, and balance is well-being." - Osho

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The Flame
In the long ame of a burning candle loneliness, (the feeling when you sit alone by a campre) longing, then nothing Then joy! Playfulness as it jumped and danced and trembled like a heart-space exposed. All around the room glowed white tiny wisps of dark grey smoke licked the glass, fading. Instead of fanning the ame, plunging into the depths of the sea, silent and calm quiet. Air lights the re Water cools the air and earth feeds the ame.

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T H E M I D D L E WAY

Expansion never happens through greediness or pushing or striving. It happens through some combination of learning to relax where you already are and, at the same time, keeping the possibility open that your capacity, my capacity, the capacity of all beings, is limitless. - Pema Chdrn

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The Cave Pt. I

Today I found The cave that is my torso Dark, drops of water Drip, drop Silence Drip, drop Needs air A mouth The wind that is my breath. Today I lit a re in the cave crackling, sparks Snaps, whirs Silence Drip, drop Feeds on air My soul The cave that is my torso.

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T H E M I D D L E WAY

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - The Buddha

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Home
brilliant light golden glowing everything else fades fuzzy around me buzzing around me singing in the kitchen washing dishes smells delicious cool earth on warm toes he doesnt know he doesnt know

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"The real thief is worrying. It takes away your time in enjoying life. The future is made right at this moment, thus worrying about the future is the same as neglecting your future." - Ajahn Brahm

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Questioning
what are you most afraid of ? can you be afraid of the past? of something thats not happening? certainly we are fearful for the future but the past? our idea of Time so limited! could we see that we live life just one way out of innite ways? that life could be lived oh, that life could be lived any way!

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T H E M I D D L E WAY

Rather than appreciate where we are, we continually struggle and nurture our dissatisfaction. Its like trying to get the owers to grow by pouring cement on the garden. - Pema Chdrn

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Unlocked
Epileptic images Unfurling ower-sounds surrounded us. The room, unlocked, Untouchable and hopeless A primetime life situation.

Fluttering curtains, eyelids and eye lashes the feeling coming and going like a dandelion seed wished upon the wind on the day when youre not quite sure what or why or how you came to be or where you are or who you are

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T H E M I D D L E WAY

The French translation of wandering is lerrance, the Latin root of which means to make a mistake. By our errors we see deeper into life. We learn from them. - Robyn Davidson

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What You Find There

Take me to the dock Stand and watch the water Weaving and rippling Lapping up against ancient wood Of violences past. Turn around one hundred times And see how weve remained Unchanged. Two bad bricks In a wonder-wall Was all it was Wasnt it? Or did our monument crumble To make way for new buildings? Flowers may grow again one day, Mightnt they?

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Are you polluting the world or cleaning up the mess? You are responsible for your inner space; nobody else is, just as you are responsible for the planet. As within, so without: if humans clear inner pollution, then they will also cease to create outer pollution. - Eckhart Tolle

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Fireplace
tender quivering heart raw place lurches at the slightest touch hovers over hot embers beneath smoky rooms in the space where its safe to crawl

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Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child our own two eyes. All is a miracle." - Thich Nhat Hanh

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The Cave Pt. II

I remember the sea caves carved out of sandstone, soft salty oors, etched initials on the walls. In the summer when the sand was high the cave was nothing but a ledge under which we'd crouch. In the winter when the ceiling was high a place to sit and contemplate silent fog. Waves would rush in and kiss tiny toes.

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No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. - The Buddha

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The Forest
Listen to the silence, Even when theres noise Find the littlest spaces, Even with no void.

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We are always coming and going, coming and going. - Lalantha

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Katau
Katau in Pli, the language spoken by the Buddha, means gratitude.

I would like to acknowledge my parents and friends for their continued positivity and their support of all that I do, my advisor Dr. Eshana Bragg for her guiding light and constructiveness, the SIT staff and students for constantly teaching me new ways of seeing the world, Cecilia Nunez for welcoming me into her home and including me in her sustainable lifestyle, the monastics and laypeople at Santi Forest Monastery for their hospitality and loving-kindness, Bayo Akomolafe for his inspiring talk at the Economics of Happiness Conference, and to our Earth for her beauty, strength, and determination.

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Endnotes
The following are brief reections on each poem. Awakening Originally titled Arrival of the Birds, this poem was actually written in March of 2012 after an Environmental Studies class trip to Kansas and Nebraska, USA. It is a relevant prologue for this book, as it was the beginning of my creative expression of an awakening to emotional connections with the natural world. The River On the Gordon River in Tasmania. Cradle Mt. SIT study trip to Cradle Mountain, Tasmania. Night Swim In Byron Bay, New South Wales. Abroad At times early on in the trip I started to think about how Id eventually look back and remember my study abroad experience, but in doing so, I missed what was happening in the present moment. The only way to affect the then is to act in the now. Country Road I wrote this after taking a drive through the countryside north of Lismore, New South Wales. I was incredibly moved by the landscape, and was reminded of landscapes Id seen on the Great Plains in the USA the previous year. I was delighted to nd similarities of two vastly different geographical locations.

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Public Transportation This poem is based on the meditation practice of Tonglen, which involves breathing in the suffering of others and in turn breathing out happiness to those beings. While using public transportation and walking around a great deal in Sydney, I found Tonglen meditation a good way to spread loving-kindness to strangers and avoid getting overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle. Mother Ocean I intentionally chose to live near the ocean to complete this book. Lulled to sleep by the waves as a child, I made a point to stay close by living in Coogee. I have always drawn inspiration from the ocean, and the intention of this poem is to spread this appreciation. With that appreciation I hope will develop the need for preservation of this omnipotent body of water. Backyard Cecilia, who I lived for three weeks, has a lush and thriving garden in the backyard of her house in Coogee. This poem was inspired by her wonderful plot, but also by the impressive backyard and community gardens that the study program visited. The Flame This poem describes an insight I had during a group meditation about the need for the balance of elements in my own life and in the world. This insight afrmed one of the main messages of this project: working for inner balance will create outer balance and healing the self will heal nature. The Cave Pt. I Group meditation, Coogee, New South Wales. Home Written after spending a sunny day in the garden in Coogee, New South Wales. Questioning Drawing upon traditional wisdom and indigenous worldview, I wrote this poem after the study program went on an Aboriginal camping trip. Westernized notions about how life should be lived, although dominant, are limited and by no means describe a be-all end-all way to live. Listening to Dreamtime stories of Aboriginal
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ancestry broadened my understanding of existence, especially in terms of connection with nature. Unlocked A reection on past, present, and future. Fireplace Putting logs on the re at Santi Forest Monastery, Bundanoon, New South Wales. The Cave Pt. II Memories of Mitchells Cove from my childhood in Santa Cruz, Ca., USA. What You Find There This poem, written after my stay at the Santi Forest Monastery, was inspired by a story told by Buddhist teacher Ajahn Brahm. In short, the story says that people tend to build walls in which 998 bricks are laid beautifully but all we see are the two bricks that we laid crookedly. Rather than acknowledging all the good work weve done with the 998 others we let the two bad bricks represent the entire wall. When we are trying to make change in the world its important to recognize the goodness that exists, goodness we can continue to build upon.

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About the Author

Rose Carman was born and raised by the ocean in Santa Cruz, Ca., USA. As an only child, brought up in a large and loving group of friends, she has a strong connection to her hometown and its community. She attended the Santa Cruz Waldorf School grades 1-8 where she rst took an interest in writing poetry, and at Santa Cruz High School (2006-2010) she continued her creative writing. Rose is currently enrolled as an Environmental Studies major at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, Ny., USA and plans to continue to work with environmental and spiritual sustainability after graduation in 2014. Shes travelled to Mexico, Costa Rica, England, France, Canada, and Australia. She likes grilled veggies, candied ginger, and swimming in the ocean.

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