THE FOREST DĀKKINI

The sky offered me its blessing
how could I accept though
rather put some tealeaves in the kettle
and went to ask the waterfall

In the sunset I turned away
threw out despair
got rid of longing
and felt the fragrance of the air

Moving like a willow in the wind
I saw you deep down the trail
your look wasn’t frightening
tho' your eyes were somewhat pale

I followed you to the clearing
you said you want me right away
I’ve never seen anyone so daring
but who am I to complain

So I took the fire from the sunlight
to the vastness of the lake
Not all we do is without meaning
the rest’s on Life to irrigate

Of all the items that are arbitrary
such as future waiting to be made
comes the horror of being ordinary
with the horror of being great

Thus you put your arms around me
as if you gave me shelter from the rain
You leaned and whispered like a pine tree
to whom this poem I shall dedicate

Our bodies let go of their burden
while we were moving further in the hay
The one and only burden
through which we make them go in vain

The sunrise in your eyes
deep like the oldest wisdom’s well
Our hearts will never part
no matter when we say farewell

THE LAKE DĀKKINI

My toe touched the lake of Wisdom
bent my back, took a handful to my mouth
but you held my hand and told me
that side by side, we’ll take a bath

I remembered you clearly
for me you never wear disguise
from the kindness of the Sunlight
and from the wisdom of your eyes.

So when we dived in together
far behind were all my fears
in the lake as deep as a mirror
together we stay millions of years

Once all the concepts have merged
one in another, in the union of Joy
there’s no first, there’s no latter
and there’s no I merged with yours

Once we’ve found the answer
there’s nothing to look for
in the lake there’s no wisdom
and there’s no ignorance on the shore

There’s no reason and no quarrel
no wind that would steer the heart
all is one and one it stays forever
for there’s no Time to make it part

As one we still watch pass eons
one kalpa ends, another takes its place
as one we’re smaller than a point
as one we’re filling all the space

THE WIND DĀKKINI

As far as the endless sky goes
you are motion, you are air
every wave on the ocean
and the gentle feeling in my hair

From the first time you touched me
soon after I was born
till the last breath of this body
with you becomes one

You have countless sisters -
with Forest we share a heart
Lake shall forever be my consort
and Mountain has yet to come

With the lightness of a thought
you travel through many realms
with a leaf that you carry
from its tree to a distant land

You take my hand at sunrise
together we fly far away
or you bring us dark clouds
to give land much needed rain

I wait for you with patience
till you come and surround me
along with the fragrance
of the morning tea

THE SECRET MESSAGE OF THE MOUNTAIN DĀKKINI

One day I set out to explore life
chose the realm right in the middle
Saw human faces, saw them fight
their hearts for me were a riddle.

Then it all happened really soon
watching cherries in the wind
Right in their time of bloom
when I felt it from within

Sitting above a dark deep valley
my flute called on the rocky heights
when you showed your essence
in the stream of sunset light

Covered in a long forest’s dress
right as predicted by the wind…
your mind is a conclave of spirits
your strength comes from deep within

What takes others lifetimes to realize
all you embody in your heir
and I know I don't fantasize
when suddenly I hear you say:

Let the midnight fires dissolve
in the ocean of the day
Don’t dwell on what stays here
for all will perish and go in vain

And that's the story of our life
that first we cherish, then resent
like clouds, climbs up full of pride
then torn apart, falls down to its end

In the glory of the “endless” love
that gradually will turn into hate
as our Future comes to join Past
firmly giving birth to Fate

Henceforth I do as you told me
I don’t cling to the vanity of gold
but always bring the precious merits
which I then offer sevenfold

Like you I chose to be a mountain
for which no one knows the name
whose heart is firm in its stillness
as that of the ascets in their caves

To heal all sentient beings
try to ease their pain
caused by many confused spirits
that we calm and tame

RETURN TO THE FOREST DĀKKINI

As life goes forever and always
we try hard to change our fate
I went back to follow the old ways
to reconcile with the willow down the trail

Well hidden from most of the pilgrims
living deep in the forest’s dark
singing odes for the pond and river
in plain sight, yet nowhere to be found

Though I know how to find you
I follow your footsteps in the air
where the Sun and Moon come together
up the river flowing from your realm

From the first time I saw you
our hearts haven't parted ever since
you’re the same, lifetimes after
for over you, no time ever wins

You are embodiment of calmness
your hair only shivers with the wind
coming closer we will harness
all that we feel from within

Hence this time no horror
shall challenge the unity of ours
on its journey by the border
of the body and the heart

On the river that keeps flowing
we’ll glimpse the endless skies
holding tight long till morning
telling stories hidden in your eyes

Here the Sun and Moon stay joined
forever by a deep and spiritual bond
we find ourselves in our flourish
both in the substance and the form

With the might of coming thunder -
the sound of [hūm] is flowing thru our lives
while being covered deeply under
the magic shelter of your arms

So we may be here for lifetimes
how could one ever know…
tho’ perhaps I shall attempt to read signs
written on the water and the wall

And they may tell us stories
of countless springs and falls
that one day things will all cease
but who of us would heed such a call

For us time stays constant
as for the mountain and the lake
disturbed by no birth and decay ever
and no sunset or daybreak.

THE DREAM DĀKKINI

She is ringing on your doorbell
although seemingly worlds away
her eyes dissolve every dark spell
or demon standing in her way

Ever-present over ten thousand places
she has two arms and two legs
but her head is of a thousand faces
each showing one’s deepest thoughts

The power to free from karmic traces
she’s wielding firmly through the night
while her flaming trident shatters
obscurations of the clear white light

Before sleeping visualise her in your mind
naked blue body with white radiating eyes
holding a cleaver to cut off ignorance
and secret nectar in a top of a skull

Ornaments of all-penetrating wisdom
and focus are her greatest might
on her lotus throne in joyful laughter
she’s dancing on demons of the night

Perhaps you’ll recognize the moment
when she meets you out there on the reef
when time itself becomes elongated
your mind spreading across the endless sea

She comes to cure the deepest disease
those suffering from being arrogant and dull
who’d rather die understanding nothing
than give up the pretense of “knowing all”

Confused by searching for the threshold
of what we think is “just a dream”
we live oblivious to the difference
between a secret place and a fantasy

Disregarding any kind of subtle meaning
basically anything that isn’t made of stone
often in constant fear of what is coming
cracking teeth on the mystery of Life

So as a remedy for dissolution of the habit
most think irrelevant to the realm of sleep
with the nectar of awareness and knowledge
she makes us conscious in the land of dreams

She helps us rebuild this very habit
by analyzing all the phenomena around us
and understanding its quintessential meaning
to find and purge the ego lurking in the dust

To cast away the clouds that obscure
the ever-shining true nature of the mind
the one and only that becomes the essence
of both the dream and waking life

THE THIRD SONG OF THE FOREST DĀKKINI

Since before the dawn of Sunlight
spreading your heart to all beings
your mind offers the deepest insight
moving like a willow in the wind

Tho’ the world turns over and over
I no longer seek to change my fate
this time again I went to follow
the old and secret forest trail

Yet a feeling came all of a sudden
a sickness spreading through the roots
to what we owe for this burden
of the once strong and vital forest’s soul

To find the cause of the sickness
I went to look for sings on the way
all seemed half-dead and weary
I rushed to the willow down the trail

And there you stand an old lady
have I crossed the line of time?
your eyes gaze into distance
show the worry on your mind

By the strength of the whole being
reaching across space and time
I took you to the Lake of wisdom
your sister, a dear friend of mine

They all came to have a meeting
Wind, Forest, Mountain, Lake...
Dream joined us by nightfall
to talk of the wins and fails

Of the cyclic ways of mother nature
the joys and sorrows of humankind
who forgets the eons of her nurture
too blind to see the warning signs

To put things finally in motion
and since nothing is as it seems
we were at last joined by Ocean
who still had her part to redeem

And there came up the very notion
showed it self in a dream
to share the secret of a healing potion
to overcome the human greed

To reunite the future and the present
to get the work under way
they begun sowing from the far end
clearing the path of disarray

One day they’ll reach the middle
and Time will heal at its pace
though it may take lifetimes
to heal the Nature all the way

SECRET TEACHING OF THE FOREST DĀKKINI

I'd never guess how closed off
one turns living neither fish nor fowl
burried deep within city limits
slowly eating away the nature's soul

So what the hell am I doing...
waiting for some sign in the air
this is as good time as any
to head back to the old forest trail

It feels like ages since I've shunned
letting my ignorance lead me astray
now how can I ever hope for
to yet again find my way?

And so I roamed the forest dark
looking for a door to another world
all seemed strange and blurry
kept finding nothing, noting of the sort

I turned out an ordinary pilgrim
heart desperate, weak and frail
no matter how long I kept asking
noone knows of the old forest trail

And then it finally hit me
only a fool sees it all the same
tears poured from my eyes
as my mind realized its jail

There's nothing to look for
and nowhere to find a trail
in the midst of thorny bushes
of pleasures and disarray

I turned the light around
looking at the inner plane
there stood a lady willow
covered in a greeny veil

What do you think you look for?
your mind isn't there in the woods
for a merit you would kow-tow
you built a wall - no wisdom can get through!

I stood there speechless
unable to make a sound
it was just a simple willow
with a chirping meadow lark

There's always been a willow
at the shore of a crystal lake
a place not many even care for
it has a road only mind can take

Underneath you can see a treasure
- the nature of mind itself
yet for most it stays always hidden
made opaque by the wind of self

We stayed there long till morning
talking of the future and the past
there was neither doubt nor longing
every omen became the clearest thing

Only the purest of virtues
comes as the river of time itself
flows till the end of the universe
then is born and flows again