Isolation, Illumination; a poem

The first of the Buddha's four noble truths is Dukkha: Suffering exists: Life is suffering. In Mathew 4;1 it says;

“The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him.”

There he fasted for forty days and forty nights, resisting temptation in pursuit of true wisdom.

In the modern age we are led to believe that life is meant to be easy, and that we deserve nothing less than success and happiness, so when things get hard we can easily crumble as if we are victims, cursing the world for our adversity.

Below is a poem ~ Isolation, Illumination ~ which I wrote as part of the Endo Unbroken film release. Adversity is inevitable part of being human. Often sickness and suffering can be a teacher, brutal, but loving, reminding us what it means to live by ushering us closer to source. The closer we listen to its silent messages, the more it can enrich us.

In the shadows of solitude, you were there,

your light broke through the trenches of despair,

in the anguish of illness, frail and worn,

your presence was an anchor, the eye of the storm.

When pain clung to my bones like an endless night,

you cradled my spirit, sharpened my sight,

a Love with no name, yet pure and deep,

formlessly lifting me from collapse where I weep.

You knocked at my heart, gentle and true,

i was on my knees, reaching, and there I opened to you,

in your presence, I drowned, sweet and kind,

through surrender, I returned to a peace that’s divine.

Suffering’s veil could not conceal your grace,

for it was there I found solace and strength in your embrace,

every trial and heartache, every tortured night,

was a beacon leading me closer to your light.

In the quiet of my soul is where you reside,

pain, a bridge to where you abide,

the illusion of separation momentarily dissolves,

you, the substance from which we all evolved.