On Pursuing That Which Leaves No Tracks

From the beginning                                     
there is nothing to be sought.
Already within
is the complete solution.

There is no sense in travelling.
No sense in seeking to get
from a learned teacher
the wisdom you already possess.

No sense in austerity
mindlessly sitting
sifting and searching
for another's insights.

No sense in adopting ceremonies,
rituals, oblations,
doing good just to feel good
trying to reach a destination hidden in the heart.

No sense in walking
to reach a goal that isn't there.
No sense in thinking
to solve a problem that doesn't exist in thought.

All you have to do
This minute
is to stop -
turn the mind upon itself.

Draw your sense within
Turn yourself inside out:
Gazing into the lake of awareness
Let what is there emerge from its lair.

Let what is there
invade your breathing.
Let what is there
pulsate in your heart.

Let what is there
warm your loins, spin in your skull.
What is this anguish of seeking in the future
that which is already lying in the palms of your hands?

Right now - you have it. Hold it close.
Look directly behind your own face.
Grasping the monster firm let him be
or he'll ride you out again along the paths of time.

And let it all go!
Fall!
Gone gone altogether gone!
See within the Universe ringing in your ears.

Time and space
are simply the ring
through which the Tiger
jumps.

Text by John Crook after study of the Platform Sutra. Approx 1975. Slightly revised 2001.