Eibsee

Years ago, on a different continent

I journeyed to Lake Eibsee

Seeking contentment

And bright clarity

To see

All the ways I was fumbling

So I journeyed to Eibsee

And on the winter snow and ice I was stumbling

To find sure footing.

However at Eibsee

The object for which I was looking

Was found: I could truly see

And in this seeing

I was free

To begin surrendering 

To the Sea

Inside my heart and soul

And thus

I wish to once again become full

In my emptiness. 

So, Dear Eibsee,

I say to thee: “Grant us the healing cool wind, and clear light for our seeing, as we stand in the fire of

Our lives, and stand with the truth of our being.”

-The Poet of Windy Blue

Lately, as I have been struggling with real life things, I have found myself struggling to surrender some of it. I’ve been grasping so desperately on to something that I think will make me happy. However, I must remember that inner peace is within. That to empty oneself of certain attachments can yield more fullness. In certain schools of Buddhism, there is a doctrine called “Emptiness Doctrine” which asserts that everything, at its most fundamental root is actually empty of any enduring or permanent essence. However, this emptiness means that everything exists in an extraordinarily interconnected way so that every “thing” is actually made up of component parts of every other “thing” in reality. Thus emptiness is fulness. Or everything is full in its emptiness. I am trying to relax into that sea of interconnectedness and to know that in surrendering to my circumstances, I might find what I am looking for in the act of giving it up.

The quote at the end of the poem belongs to an old college professor of mine, Dr. Thomas A. Forsthoefel, taken from his book “Soulsong: Seeking Holiness, Coming Home.”