Hungry Ghost

"When you die,"
The lama said,
"You will walk through shadows."

"When you die,"
The lama said,
"You will still be hungry."

"Why?"
The man asked.
"Why will I be hungry?"

"When you die,"
The lama said,
"You will not be dead."

"When you die,"
The lama said,
"Death is not death."

"When you die,"
The lama said,
"Death is a but a door."

"A hungry man who passes through a door
Will still be hungry.
A hungry ghost that dwells within a man
Will hunger when the man falls into dust."

The Wrong Hero

If she did not stand up
When he said, "Girl, arise!"
Could she have seen the Light of God,
The Love within his eyes?

If she did not obey
When he spoke, "Talitha koum!"
Would then the Glory of the Lord
Be witnessed in her room?

If God she did not trust
When he kneeled by her bed,
Could she have opened up her mouth
To feed on living bread?

If she did not awake
When in her ear Christ spoke,
Would she have opened up eyes
And from nightmares awoke?

If she did not arise
When he took her by the hand,
Could have known the Prince of Peace
And in his presence stand?

Did not the girl rise up
From sleeping on her bed
When Christ the Holy Son of God
Said, "Live! Do not be dead!"

David

Do you know,
You are loved?

Loved of whom?

Your name, great,
Beloved,
Object of God.

God loves

The Beloved.

Thomas

A Word unto the Scientist,
The one who pursues Truth,
Who will not use the intellect
To know It without proof:

The Word to know, you Scientists
Who choose all words to use:
Both tens and threes, and cause to bes,
Approaching limits, twos:

The Word given to Scientists
Who judge the truth of words
Is this: the cause of life is bliss,
And death is caused by swords

That separate the flesh from life,
That cut the lung from heart with knife,
That cause the atom to explode,
That disjoins man from God he knows.

Here is the word, dear Scientist
That's offered unto you:
Read holy book, and for Truth look
That speaks inside of you.

For it is true that one and one
Does testify to two,
So does a slap across your cheek
Bring suffering to you.

So does the pain of death return,
When men send pain to men,
A planted seed, brings forth a weed,
To bear fruit sown by sin.

But God, who truth has planted
Into eternal soil
Will not bring life from death and strife,
Nor rest from work and toil.

So into his own body
A spirit he gave breath,
That within man, as he has planned,
Life will sprout among death.

Look to this Word, dear Scientists,
For Truth you claim to know:
The proof is clear for those who hear
These words the Spirit sows.

Let there, you Holy Scientist,
The Seed within you grow,
For He has sown the Truth in you
And caused you now to know

That He who made the darkness
Has filled it with his light:
A space he fills by divine will
Has rescued you from night.

But hear this warning, Scientist,
To you who will not see:
The opposite of one is none,
This only Truth you need.

For all the tools the Scientist
Has made or ever will,
Depend alone upon this One,
And never more reveal.

There is no more you'll ever know
That has not yet been shown:
This Word of Life will conquer strife
When in you it is sown.

Breathe in, you Holy Scientist,
Suck in the Holy Breath,
That testifies the God of Life
Has ever conquered death.

The Stone

He cut a stone from earth, and breathed into itself,
And sacrificed upon its face all ambition's wealth.
Though Judah built it up, Judas did tear it down
And stored it in a dwelling place, deep below the ground.

There did the living stone upon whom breath was breathed
Rest again, stained with sin, into Sheol received.
Till at appointed time, breath gave to it again,
Of his own lung, his will then done, gave back the stone to men.

They said, "This is not it, the stone returned to us,
For there we laid inside the grave the stone, and now it's dust!"
But he who won't be mocked by men the grave unlocked,
And unleashed death to take their breath and give it to his flock.

The stone he cut from earth, bears witness unto him
That all is life, but sin and strife, do wrest this peace from men.
And so, the stone lives on, as all who know him do,
For up from these the God of peace doth raise himself in you.

Star Sun, a Flower

You have the choice to breathe;
You have the choice to not.
You may choose to believe:
This only choice you've got.

For try to hold your breath,
Tis harder, that, to do
Than plant a seed of faith
In Him who breathes in you.

You cannot teach your heart
To skip appointed beats,
But slow your breath, and then
Again, slow breath repeat.

The heart will follow, too,
To slow its rapid pace,
And with your breath controlled
You teach your heart much grace.

And when you learn that you
Have no choice but to breathe,
Though slow, in grace, begin
To learn how to believe.

For never has a man
Exhaled his final breath
And still the heart beat on
As flesh that conquered death.

For you are spirit: know,
With every breath believe,
That spirit lives in you;
In flesh the Spirit breathes.

Learn now to tame your mind
That leads your heart astray.
Breath in the Breath of Life,
And know that It will stay

Alive when you are dead,
For you are not your flesh.
But temple born for God,
And by Him you are blessed.

There is no thing to know
But this: That God is God.
The rest is joy or pain,
The only choice allowed.

For try to stop your breath,
And you will taste of death,
But those who Him believe,
Will never cease to live.

Punk Funk Guru

For Chad Groves

Here is a mystery
That's obvious to see:
The plainclothes god in me
That gives me breath to be.

I do not make this breath
That that forms this shibboleth.
No height, nor width, nor depth
May save my soul from death,

But only one thing: Love,
An oil anointed dove,
Descending from above,
This spirit I speak of:

This force of life, this god,
That dwells in human bod,
That raises up from sod
Both love and peace in blood.

Breath deep this holy power
That dwells in you an hour
Before it fades, your flower,
And death drops seed in shower

Upon the blessed earth,
The womb from spirit births
Abundance raised from dearth,
New temples beyond worth.

The spirit grows in you.
No other work to do
But love, and as you do,
Allow the spirit, too.