Open to the great sky

Do not cling to
This small mind,
This bag of skin.

Open to the great sky
Where there is no birth
and there is no death.

I really like this poem. It is all the more poignant because it was presented to our late brother blogger Michael at his Jukai ceremony just days before his death. And because my old friend Guy died in November. I don't know who wrote it - perhaps Michael's sensei. For me, the whole meaning of Buddhism is condensed into those six lines. All things are transient, so do not cling to fleeting forms, instead completely open up.