Rocky Time For Poor Conversationalist Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

[Bodhidharma's‘Four Essential Practices'versified]:

Practice of Retribution of Enmity

Having given up the fundamental
And followed the superficial
I have engendered much injustice
The evil of my past calamities has ripened
And I have left behind limitless harm:
Therefore I accept my sufferings.

Practice of Acceptance of Circumstances

The changing seas of circumstances
Have brought forth consequences:
Everything that is desirable will fail
And all joys are transient.
Therefore I seek a steady mind
Without increase or decrease

Practice of Non-craving

To be attached to things is delusion
I will try to rest my heart and ask for nothing
All existences are empty
Both merits and darkness follow in step.
I will set fire to the house
And find calm in the ruins.

Practice of Abiding by the Dharma

Though the self stains sentient beings
Instances are emptied by non-clinging.
There is no self in the dharma:
I will practice without miserliness
I will practice with generosity
I will practice without hesitation and regret.