In each moment,
as everything falls apart,
as everything manifests, even though,
even though it is not really there,
even though it is empty of any
material existence, any inherent reality,
empty of anything that can be found,
manifesting just as a thought on the wind,
manifesting just as a whisper in the night,
appearing, then vanishing without a trace,
here we are grasping at it all,
hoping that it is real, doing our best
to nail something, anything, down,
even though we know, while not knowing,
we know beyond any shadow of doubt,
that nothing can ever last,
not for more than one iota
of any moment, gone,
gone before it even arrives,
because its essence is not real;
We know for certain that
we will be completely unable,
unable to take any of it with us
when we die,
or in the next moment,
we know, we know,
then forget completely;
And that is precisely what makes us
so nervous, so incredibly anxious,
because we pretend otherwise,
avoiding reality altogether,
through our material delusions,
so nervous, because we’ve been there before
and know that the death bardo awaits,
we know we will, once again,
be grasping, grasping
at all of our attachments in life,
clinging to what is not there,
trying our best to piece it all together,
to bring it with us, even though,
even though that is impossible,
even though only our conscious mind
transmigrates through this
empty cognizance we experience, we
will be flying uncontrollably, comically,
flailing with great comedic recklessness,
thrashing about as if we never knew anything,
grasping at what was never there in life,
freaking out in the energetic dimension
when we have no body, no body,
no physical reality to utilize,
no barrier to contain our fantasies;
Here we will be grasping,
clinging to our attachments,
all those things in life we hold dearly,
even though, even though,
even though we can take none of it,
nothing whatsoever with us,
as we find ourselves buffeted
by waves of every possibility
being hurled by our own
painfully deluded actions,
from an infinite array
of lifetimes, hurled
by our own ignorance
behind this grasping,
this grasping that we have
failed to realize
when we had the chance,
when we had the chance
as human beings;
Here we are, have been, and will be
agitated for all eternity,
beyond all reason, beyond all,
unless we awaken, unless, unless,
simply because we thought,
we grasped at all that, clinging
hysterically, frantically, as we
thought all that was real.
A poem by Robert Aho © 2025
If you really examine appearances, it is very easy to abandon this idea of materialism that seems to be the dominant philosophy in the world. We can see that everything we perceive is not really there; and, our senses pick up virtually nothing. If we are very good at perceiving the world around us, we can start to sense how everything everywhere, in each and every moment, changes continuously. If we look closer, we can start to understand that nothing is ever really there. It’s just an appearance. It’s a magical illusion—and we cling to it, grasping at what cannot be grasped.
When you start to understand the essence of reality, you start to understand the illusion. You start to gain some small understanding of reality. This is not so easy to do if you have started from this idea of knowing everything. We need to be able to let go as we discover more knowledge through our investigation of mind, appearances—what we think we know.
When we aspire to awaken, it is best to begin with the notion that we know nothing whatsoever. This is very humbling, because we can very quickly see that we’ve never really known anything. All of our grasping and clinging to every sort of attachment in life, all of our beliefs can be easily deconstructed, revealing that it has all been a lie. All of our grasping at this or that, all of our attachments have been about trying to make something real that can never be real.
When we aspire to awaken, we are not grasping at anything in particular, we are opening our heart and mind to what is, as it is. This is a very simple process; however, our own attachments make it difficult. Attachments can be anything and everything. We attach ourselves to the fantasies that we generate in life, to ideas and concepts, simply because we have convinced ourselves that there must be some sort of meaning to appearances. We fail to see what is actually happening because we refuse to go beyond our limited point of view. From beginningless beginnings we have failed to see things realistically.
Perhaps this makes some sense, simply because we have only known the illusory nature of all appearances. It takes another sort of effort to see things as they are. We must be able to remain at ease in awareness, rather than remaining in an agitated state where we cling to what appears.
Throughout our Path, we must let go of attachments. We must remain at ease. We must find a way to no longer cling to belief and concepts, thus removing our own bonds, discovering ultimate freedom.
Blessings in Light,
Robert Aho