Grasping

2026, January, Issue 183

Within this turbulent everchanging life,

grasping at what is not real,

maintaining this rigid view,

grasping, grasping,

grasping at that figment of imagination,

that untested premise,

that wild assumption

where everyone seems to agree,

that self is somehow real,

somehow not what it is,

obviously,

somehow other than as it is,

energetically holding

all that constant change

tighter, tighter, TIGHTER!

Reality eludes us in this way,

when we cannot fathom

what that is,

as it is, AS IT IS!

We see a world that is obviously changing,

Each and every moment changing,

Completely different

in every everywhere moment,

a universe changing

in every moment,

a multiverse that is changing

in every moment,

ALL OF IT!!

Why can we not see

This obvious beyond,

This apparent figment

Of our imagination?

DAMN IT!

How can

NONE OF IT

be real?

How can THAT

ever be

ever be known,

or controlled?

And, here we are

thinking that

we can make it stay

the same,

uneasily unchanging,

pretending it’s the same,

Here we are thinking that

it is somehow permanent,

Here we are thinking that

we can somehow control it

to serve us, this imaginary self,

Here we are thinking that

self is not merely something we

imagine to be real, thinking

it is more important than that;

We grasp, we cling to it all,

not seeing what is obviously not real,

closing off a little corner for ourselves,

in this dark space that is not real,

feeling uneasy about it,

knowing in the back of our mind that

we are making it worse;

We grasp we grasp

at what has never been real, and

then we wonder why we can never

have what we want, and

then we wonder why we have such a

difficult time, such frustration,

knowing, awakening, and

then we wonder why

no one will tell us this obvious

answer

this answer

that cannot be answered,

this question, this answer,

this knowing why we are here

in this eternal knot.

A poem by Robert Aho © 2026

When people come to Buddhism, it is not uncommon for them to do so because they are looking for answers, grasping at something, anything, seeking something that will bring it all into focus. It gets frustrating for many, because answers are not generally given; and, when some sort of advanced teaching, something considered secret, is revealed before they are ready, these people laugh about it, then leave in frustration. This happens all the time, and such a tragedy can be easily avoided by simply paying attention to the purpose and intention of Buddhism. The whole purpose is to awaken, it has nothing to do with providing answers to anything. This Path of discovery is for you to walk. It’s not about someone telling you anything.

To really get to know these vast teachings, then putting them into practice, we need to start with the correct intention. We need to understand something about this world, and how our own grasping at what is not real is a real problem for us. We need to start with the intention of awakening to what is real, to no longer seek fantasies about this unreal world, this invented life, this fabricated self. If we start with the assumption that self is somehow real, then we have started with a fallacy that can be easily disproven by simply investigating mind and all the things that revolve around every assumption that we have ever made.

If our first step is one that is all about discovering reality, rather than blindly believing that something is real, then we are off to a good start. We can begin to peel away the layers of delusion. We can begin to live our lives without grasping at fantasies that we have created.

When we are interested in discovering the answer to something, it is best not to start with an incorrect premise. Even this notion that there is an answer is an incorrect premise, an untested assumption. The Spiritual Path is one where we must be very careful not to assume anything at all. We must be very careful not to grasp at what is not real. In order to do this, we remain at ease in all circumstances. When we observe something with our senses, we do so without judgement, without becoming tense or uptight about it.

In this world of delusion, we can easily find many disturbing appearances. If we engage in that, then we further our own demise. By simply remaining at ease, not ignoring, not trying to push things away, not trying to pull things closer, not covering them up in any way, we can get beyond our constraints. Our constraints exist because we grasp at what is not real. When something happens, we think it is there forever, even though it was gone before it even happened, not ever being real in the first place. Grasping is the problem.

If we start out on the right foot, which is Aspiring to Awaken, then we start to see that the world has always been this way. The turmoil goes on forever. The suffering and delusion goes on forever. We are trapped in an endless cycle. Knowing that there is nothing else to do, we must awaken.

Blessings in Light,

Rigdzin Robert Aho