Inspiration
Poetry & Photography
by Venerable Bao Co
Whispers Across Worlds
To my brother and sister Ahawee and Honehe with unconditional love,
The warm wind in the grasses,
these trees,
these shadows,
summer light intense and benevolent,
the entire mood weaved
into whispers,
across worlds,
time and space.
Decoding flashes,
silent poses,
intuitively knowing,
this remembered past.
The breath of the wise,
With words of sages,
drumbeats pulsating deep,
from Mother Earth heart,
voices like stardust echoing,
fireflies dancing
over coneflowers and goldenrods,
as if memory itself
had come alive,
to celebrate with us this meeting.
Shared moments of authentic presence,
the whole,
lead by the divine song-
a song beyond songs,
over dimensions unseen,
of no beginning,
and no end.
~ Ven. Bao Co
Today, quietly,
We come to the cushion-
To open ourselves to this new moment,
This fragile presence, precious and luminous,
Delicate gift of the now.
This breath, laced moment,
threads itself into every fiber of our being,
Softly unfurling to the serenity
That descends from above-
An ethereal presence lingers,
Simply:
The touch of grace.
And in this quiet infolding,
We rest- not in grasping, but in oneness,
Grateful, not for one particular thing,
But for all that is:
This breath, the stillness of peace
The lightness in the chest,
To know,
That we are a part to this vast
And grand mystery that holds us all.
With all my joy,
~ Ven. Bao Co
By Nature, I Am
In the sanctum of the forest
I go to listen to the giant ones
breathe the pulse of Mother Earth
together with their close-by friends,
as they share stories with one another
in harmonious scales, and shifting keys.
-Their bodies, limbs and roots
vibrate in an invisible tremble,
enveloping the forest in a muted symphony.
At their core, the sap sheamers with renewed life,
Among you, I stroll in ecstatic joy
enveloped by this life- force and strength.
I breathe deep, and become you.
-The river swells with the season,
moving deep through rocks and minerals
carrying liquid light
my mouth understands,
filling me up, with radiant rainbow colors.
-The silver lake receives it all,
large vasque of held water
where I long to visit
and sit in stillness by your side.
-In the climb of the mountain top,
I lay there
to marvel at the star dance
celestial bodies
In their inked canopy,
filling my eyes of stardust….
-To the infinite ocean
I always come back to,
Spring or Winter ,I hear the call.
Your waves pull me in each time,
Like you, by the Moon cycles
I was made of,
In my mother's womb.
-In the deserted plains - of Cairo
I breathe in the fire in the air
where the winds of change have unearthened
the golden and blue winged scarab.
~Ven. Bao Co
08/28/2024
Be greatful
Be grateful for the little things,
the big things and everything in between,
for the essence of a meaningful life
resides in this life flow running
through our heart each moment
like a ribbon
dancing in the cosmic wind.
Open your heart
to give and receive
more than you can ever imagine.
With unconditional love,
~ Ven. Bao Co
08/27/24
Blessings, blessings…
Blessings have already started,
You are alive this morning!
So give them away,
freely,
out of your generous heart,
just like a mother would…
With unconditional love,
~ Ven. Bao Co
08/24/24
Homage to Avalokiteshvara
Boddhisatva of Great Compassion!
You are within each and every one of us!
Seeing your Divine form
reminds us of our universal origin,
perfect in nature,
of pure luminous love,
the fabric of all creations,
of manifesting powers
flowing,
dancing across infinite time and space.
You are perfection!
So, drop into your heart beautiful one,
hear the yearning you have felt all along and
Remember Who You are!
~ Ven. Bao Co
10/23/2021
Details.
It is where the magic of Dharma resides,
In the details and the sum of its parts,
Life and Love in creation are manifested.
Take a moment-
Look into your own eyes,
A flower, a star, a dragonfly,
All, evolved through millions of years
In a perfection of design,
sophisticated balance,
beauty and magic.
Details.
Take a look at your very own breath-
A fully lived one,
It is in the richness of it,
that life unfolds within you.
An event of that magnitude is not a bagatelle!
What would any dreams or visions amount to
If details weren’t attentively attended to,
Like a fire on a stormy night?
Details,
It is what this whole existence is made of:
Details, details so many of them
Within each and everyone of us
All mirrors of this each other.
With love,
~ Ven. Bao Co