Emptiness knows no limit
        it stretches to the infinite
        it can't be calibrated
        while all that's material can be measured-

       formless and intangible
       its mystery is unfathomable
      mother of nothingness
      yet it holds the entire universe

What does the echo say?
     Why has it chosen you?
     Special you must be
     or it wouldn't have come your way!

    What story does it convey?
    Can you with others share?
    Is it about love and joy
   or loss and dismay?

   What will your future portend?
   Will beauty revisit you once again?
   Has love for you ripened
   and erased all your pain?

   The echo -no doubt then
  has become your close friend
  your confidant and will
  accompany you to the end

West:  Steel yourself

Zen:    Still yourself

Let me
be the last
I'll be  patient
in timeliness
I trust-

gentleness
my hand it grasps
and whispers:
'Why rush?
The dawn
is not yet
the rose
hasn't risen
from the dewy grass
in slumber
still is the thrush

silent is the river
calm is its water
no boatman seen
all nature is serene
time is hushed-

are you in love?
She will appear
you should wait
trust her, you must!'

( It's as though
  I've wakened
  from a dream
  so long past)

I know
and feel sure
  I'll be blessed
though being last-
in oneness with time
in feeling its every pulse
my life will be in joy
abundantly cast.

It's not possible
    to please everyone
    even if you try your utmost
    would it serve any purpose?

    To serve the will of others
    is not incumbent on us-
    I'll live independently
   and just mind my own business

Let me not pray for my welfare but for the benefit of all others.

Let me not ask for plenitude but only what I need.

Let me bear my joy lightly and my sorrow , gently.

Let me live in contentment and never in envy or jealousy.

In my strength, let me help the weak.

In my weakness, let me be humble to seek the
help of the strong.

Let every word from my mouth be said in truth.

Even in my poverty,  let me have the generosity to give.

Let me be silent in my success and grant me the humility to accept my failure.

Let me not seek knowledge for my sake but for the benefit of serving others.

Let me not bow to the behest of the rich or the mighty but to retain my dignity.

Let me be in the company of the poor, the starving, the bereft and neglected, the sad and hopeless, the sick, the lonely, the forgotten and marginalised, and the homeless --to offer whatever help  and comfort I can, to give my time freely and also to render the dignity they deserve.

Grant me grace in my darkest hour and strengthen me in my utmost desperation.

As I have been given the gift of life, I am grateful and blessed-
let me accept my death gracefully and in equanimity.

I do lie--
when it doesn't hurt and benefits the party/parties concerned