Part 4 — Gratitude and the Heavy Luggage

As he walked through the nights that married the days,
with the dawns and the dusks on their shoulders,
he sensed a feeling of gratitude growing within him.

Walking through the rough, yet by the kind and shy sun
he had decided, and became determined,
on cultivating this energy of gratitude further within him.

Father Sun raised his rays onto the meadows,
the darker forests, the little creeks,
and the vast valleys he walked —
with Father Sun bringing non-fear
and while he cultivated gratitude
to the multitude of conditions he’s been walking through.

He walked, and on the way he began to realize
that his luggage has been weighing him down —
dragging him more and heavier has it been
with the more time he has spent on the road.

And time — how he spent much on the roads.

Every road he walked on,
he took a memory from his memories
that linger and last.

He took one of them and walked with it.
He walked with it, stayed with it,
and felt its weight on him.

He cried with it,
and his tears watered the drought of Mother Earth.

He cried the mothers of all cries,
the fathers of all cries —
he cried till he had no tears left,
till his body became weak,
till his heart no longer beared crying,
till he could finally stop walking.

He stopped just for a while,
because his body collapsed —
out of grief, out of loss,
out of this deep memory of sadness
that came out of that memory.

He stopped just for a while.

Enjoy my other reads:

Stop Blaming Your Parents: Turning Mindfulness into Self‑Responsibility. On this link.

Living in Peace: How to Find Inner Peace in this World? On this link.

How to Transform Self-Sabotage with Mindfulness and Love? On this link.

Emotional Identity and Pain: Who Are You Without the Struggle? On this link.

External Resources:

Zen & Engaged Buddhism:

Plum Village 

EIAB