Life Flies By
Life flies by and breaks our heart.
Our friends die. Things fall apart.
We run from what the mirror shows.
We act in ways we do not know.
The Power of Now can never last.
Our minds get lost. We can’t hold fast.
Nothing lifts the ego’s stain.
We fall and rise and fall again.
Through endless rounds of birth and death,
Nothing ends with our last breath.
So taught Buddha long ago.
Listen, then you too shall know:
There is one way to end this plight,
This endless fall of endless night.
Not by study, nor by prayer,
Nor by contemplation’s stare.
Not by moments of transcendence,
Nor declaring independence.
Hear the Buddha’s final teaching.
Listen to his final preaching -
Of the vow Amida said
Of the Pure Land that he made.
Once reborn there, we become
Buddhas, too - our suffering done.
Faith alone can bring us there.
Faith in hearts that are sincere.
Simply listening to this dharma
Breaks - at last - the power of karma.
Not in this life…but the next.
Here we wait…there we’re blessed.