What do you want in the woods, my boy,
like a bird
[1] exposed to the rain?
Monsoons refresh you,
for seclusion is for those in jhana.
As the monsoon wind
drives the clouds in the rainy season,
so thoughts concerned with seclusion
impel me.
* * *
A black crow
making its home in a charnel ground
inspires within me
mindfulness in —
based on dispassion for —
the body.
[2]
* * *
One whom others don't guard,
who doesn't guard others:
He is a monk
who lies down in ease,
unconcerned with sensual passions.
* * *
With clear waters &
massive boulders,
frequented by monkeys &
deer,
covered with moss &
water weeds:
those rocky crags
refresh me.
* * *
I've lived in wildernesses,
canyons, & caves,
isolated dwellings
frequented by predator & prey,
but never have I known
an ignoble, aversive resolve:
"May these beings
be destroyed,
be slaughtered,
fall into pain."
* * *
The Teacher has been served by me;
the Awakened One's bidding,
done;
the heavy load, laid down;
the guide to becoming,
[3] uprooted.
And the goal for which I went forth
from home life into homelessness
I've reached:
the end
of all fetters.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
like a worker his wage.
I don't delight in death,
don't delight in living.
I await my time
mindful, alert.