In our midweek meditation this afternoon we focused on the experience of awakening, and I found myself reciting a favorite poem of Rumi. Another of our members said that in her Buddhist tradition the same poem was regularly part of day-long shesshins. So we said together:
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep.
Remembering Rumi's poem, another poem, a prayer, came to mind, from Shantideva, an 8th century Buddhist monk and scholar:
May I be a protector to those without protection,
A guide for those who journey,
And a boat, a bridge, a passage
For those desiring the further shore...