Dhammapada - Thirst

Urged on by innumerable amounts of varying degrees of desire,

the urgent desires of the urgent minded

grows like a creeper up the tree of mindlessness. 

In imitation of monkeys,

the urgent minded are always jumping from

one desire tree to the next,

lifetime after lifetime.

Unable to distance oneself

from the urging self,

pretentions grow like

wild weeds in the forests,

that is, without restraint and abundantly.

Abundant in mindfulness,

every drop of sorrow

will fall off from one's lotus heart,

leaving a mist of happiness rising from the depths of Emptiness.

One may succeed in many attempts

at shortening the life span of one's desires,

but until one's thirst for one's urges

is quenched by Wisdom's Flame,

one's desire tree will continue to grow and re-grow unimpeded. 

Flowing in every direction

and impacting everything in an equal manner,

the urges of an unrestrained mind

carries away everything that is needed to attain to a genuine peace of mind.

Plagued by the thirst

to be always satisfied by the senses,

frightened are those who run about like hunted animals.

Hunted and haunted by their own desires,

this thirst for cyclical existence

should be the cause for one's future Enlightenment.

Using desire against itself,

desire can be a force of virtue 

if utilized in the Consciousness of the Buddha Nature.

So strenuous is the path to Nirvana,

for once freed from one forest of desire,

most are then unknowingly guided

into another more well disguised forest of desire.

Trapped in one's own network of ideas and urges

as a spider often ensnares itself in its own web,

those who are faithful to the Dharma

manage to find a way out of the maze of the mind.

Unattached to the past, present and future,

the mind can then think for itself

without needing to consult with the phenomena of time

in order to soar above the forest of desire.

Without having a thorn in one's side at all moments,

those who leave everything as it is

teach themselves about the Emptiness of the teacher-disciple relationship.

Having no one to teach

and no one to learn from,

the Buddha Nature is what it is.

Empty from the beginning of Samsaric existence

and Empty till the end of Nirvanic existence,

Emptiness is all that one needs

to be acquainted with,

for Emptiness is Freedom Without Condition.

Conditioned by willing oneself to suffer,

decondition oneself by being Empty.

Empty of desires,

an Empty Mind is as Fresh as a Thousand Oceans of Buddhic Joy.

By Julian Colgan

Awake to Buddhahood (Copyright)