Noble Truth #3

If our bodies are meant to unravel 
and deflate the corruption of suffering, 

if they are meant to be sacred vessels 
of the Dharma, 

then, perhaps, the Self is an engine 

rather than a hindrance or a curse. 

Lord Buddha told us the length of the Path 

is indefinite. He did not say it was meant 

to be exclusively unbearable. 

I make no dispute that humans are fated to perish. 

As suddenly as we're born, as suddenly as we live, 

so will determine through stochasticity 

and surprise 

the moment of our unappealable demise. 

Monks die, too. 

Sit calmly in your bhavana, monk. 

In your brow are the robes 

of a wise 

ancestor. 

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