As there's the Yang
so must be the Yin
when held in balance
nothing will wear thin

By the deserted beach we walked

not a single word we said

the weary sky had lost its early shine

it was there farewell you bade



in our hearts we knew in brokenness

what we desired we ne'er could have had

love-vows and pledges had short memories

those who love most the saddest tears they must shed

Not wise, Dr Sellars ,but curious, imaginative and quite intuitive.

Life is too complex and reason has vast limits. Some ignorance is healthy, too much knowledge is a burden as it encourages rumination and speculation (this wasters time) and also often leads to pride,  arrogance and bigotry. That's why the intellectual mind is not a happy one.  You well know geniuses and the smartest people suffered/suffer from mental problems----Schumann, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven,  Donizetti, Mahler, Ivor Gurney, Nietzsche, Van Gogh, John Clare, Churchill, Lincoln (he contemplated suicide), Wittgenstein (I thought of suicide every day--2 of brothers took their own lives), John Stuart Mills, Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway (too his own life), ......Back home, Les Murray, Michael Leunig, Sculthorpe, a former Premier of WA.....suffered/suffer from depression......more next time.  I gave 6 talks on happiness in 2018, not as a guru but as one who talks from experience....when I launched my 5th book IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ZEN- THE PATH TO A CALMER AND HAPPIER LIFE, sold in 14 countries and rated 5 star by 8 book-dealers.  
Please excuse me,  I got carried away.....

sincerely Peter

Young woman by stream

             cooling her feet in water

              sees her reflection

My poems are written

    in silence and solitude

    neatly and lovingly

    into glass jars I put



    I'm not what people assume

    to them I'm never rude

    my aloneness is my inspiration

    I wrote the best I could

The tides have swept and washed away
the long-laid debris on the sullied shore
it's the close of another day
very  much as that which went before-

what does my heart have to say
for what it should implore
but that which love and beauty loathes *to stay?
words fail and I can speak no more

Tomorrow's architecture
     is planned and constructed today
     its  every shape and size I'll picture
      allow no detail to slip away-

       then follows the next chapter
       the future and the further of the future-
       every life-book awaits an author
       hopefully it will therein contain my signature.

At the forest edge

all foliage is mist-covered

strange silence pervades

The world is held in silence

              as sublime notes fill the air

             such resounding resonance

             only the rarest can compare-



             the heart of love wells in abundance

             such divine music vanquishes every human care

             centuries to come will still keep in remembrance

             where beauty dwells, there's no room for despair

              

Sunday, 3.15 pm, Melb time.  copyright

Old indeed I'm getting
by the very minute
but new poetry visits
I'll not stay still nor mute

vibrant words shall set
my heart beating
thoughts shall run deep
my blood shall still be flowing

time shall my interest serve
the pulse of beauty knows no ceasing
centuries will run their swift course
but there's no room for poetry's dying

mark me so-- I'm getting older, weaker
summer's roses have gone sleeping
still my trembling pen I'll be holding
my last verse shall not surrender to withering

These days most people tend to be cosmetic
so rare indeed to find those who are authentic

Old photo on wall
myriad memories it stirs
past makes its sad call

I don't ever want to be measured
          others' opinions I've never treasured

Not knowing a thing fully
    doesn't at all imply folly

Search for no other guru
   that person is none other than you

I am no philosopher
merely a keen life-observer

Writing is the fairest universal democracy
it doesn't deny entry of or discriminate against anybody

Quiet study-room

memorabilia and books

I think of grandpa

In that our failing and falling
   each time a new story is spun
   our life is lived in myriad experiencing
   of things that are done or left undone

   yet the self should know no yielding nor regretting
   what was before brings forth something that's just begun
   mistakes, errors, doubts and pain though threatening
   are not to be feared-- such is the inheritance of every single one.

My beloved, say nothing
just give me your tender hand
our eyes will do the telling
our very hearts we will understand

It is too common-

   self-deception

  but suits the person

  it becomes almost like his religion

I think there's Zen in your works, tinge of Walt Whitman's as well.....


The universe is the home of the heart
the invisible holds the key to mystery
life is the shore looking to the sea
man and nature are one and never stay apart.

  forgive my puerile on the spot scribble!

Money has great affinity
to dishonesty

I take no one's side
       only to myself am I allied

Most people find being generous
as onerous

This is the world's biggest trouble-

most people regard themselves as 'special'

House by silent lake

   its light shimmers in water

   echoes of violin

Reflection of trees
shimmers in emerald lake
no song-birds today

JOHN LAWRENCE: IN MEMORIAM (departed on Sat, 19th December 2020)

      A deep silence has fallen
      on this summer-day
      our hearts are heavy-stricken
      a noble soul has been taken away-

      too soon John has farewell bade
      so many words he has not spoken
      yet - now we are all left bereft
      only past golden moments to be reminiscenced-

      
     a life that’s joyfully and gloriously lived
     in beauty and grace can never be ever broken
     but leaves a memory—thread stronger than grief
     these are words resting with John, though unspoken--

     now we are awakened to realise how brief
     are the days allotted to each— every moment but a token
     to be embraced and treasured — to live is to give
     our every care and love- in this thought John’s legacy shall never be forgotten.

2.30 pm,  Sunday, 20th Dec 2020

Ship drifting in sea

against ceaseless roaring tides

boatman thinks of home

Dear Rosie,

many thanks for your views---they are profound.

May I add?

Human nature is prone to self-deception---death is a taboo.  
Ernest Becker , the renowned Canadian cultural anthropologist, has had a profound influence on me----
his THE DENIAL OF DEATH is a classic. His earlier book was
THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF MEANING.

He died of cancer before 50 but calmly gave an interview a few days before his demise.  Taoism's ideas on death are most profound and such are also echoed in the writings of the Stoic masters.

My 5th book IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ZEN--THE PATH TO A CALMER AND HAPPIER LIFE, Oct 2018, has a chapter captioned COPING WITH DEATH, SUFFERING, GRIEF AND EMOTIONAL PAIN-- a small book of only 83 pages, on sale in 14 countries and rated 5 star by 8 book-dealers (visit Lim Sing AbeBooks, et al).  Published by Brolga Publishing, Melbourne.

I am a humanist.

I admire your wisdom and insight.

Please stay in touch

humbly

Peter

From three struggles there's no way of escape-

with life and others in general--the self, most important, in particular

which is saddled with too many an error and terror

as problems loom in every size and shape.

Thanks, Dr Eastman

It's in the darkest that the light will be most felt---
we adapt, we reinvent, we grow,
we become  more compassionate
and larger than pain and tragedy--
it will be a process of hope, renewal and resurrection
of our spiritual values--
this will give new meaning to our lives.

The past is a heartless bully
  it seldom shows any pity

Life is not
             what it does seem
             a large part of it
             is what we imagine

My failures make others happy
          they have better chances of victory

Doubt is better than certainty
         it's a window of talent--discovery

You aren't an expert
just because you assert

An expert
is born every day
at the same time
another fades away

Keep this always
     in your mind:
     don't expect life
     or people to be kind

This will be
their obituary of me:
'   We knew him not
    he was a nobody!'

Where there's the 'I'
              you should expect a lie

I never aspire to be a philosopher
content enough only to be my self-tutor

Dear Henri

   I have curiosity and am learning by the minute.  There's so much talent, wonder , beauty and adventure out there-  I must stretch out before my time is up.  Amidst so much pain and suffering in the world, hope we should not abandon as the most poignant battles are fought in times of adversity and, as somehow, some time in our lives, we have had glimpses of the better side of life---and, for that alone,  there is reason for gratitude. Warm wishes to all--mankind is one united family and if we hold on to this, we would have known the meaning of humanity and not lived in vain.

Yours sincerely

Peter

Farewell to the year of despair
as we enter the year of repair

DESIDERATUM



Live simply

think clearly

choose selectively

speak truthfully

tread cautiously



act honourably

practise honesty

give generously

accept gratefully

be humble in victory





lose graciously

praise genuinely

show empathy

cherish dignity

face death courageously

If my heart I place in the right direction
somehow I'll reach my longed-for destination

It struggled, it struggled for life
the helpless crawling, crawling creature
as on its tiny body, fragile body
I pressed---it wriggled and it did wriggle

and I thought of what Darwin wrote:
all animal life fought for survival, dire survival--
there's no room for any pity, not the slightest pity
the strong shall vanquish its weaker rival ,losing rival

clearly the crawler had no escape route, no merciful route
this time in impatience I squeezed,  squeezed harder and harder
the creature lay motionless--its life was over,  sadly over
I looked into my mirror which uttered---'You are the murderer-the heartless murderer!'

I can't say
words are adequate
for any expression
how are thoughts made?

I can't declare
of such I am sure
better in doubt
to humbly endure.

I can't convince
anybody--myself included-
wisdom shies away
leaving me confounded

but by this my enduring stand
I make-- my life I'll stake
in our love --  our hearts will understand
love never stays on the sad side of mistake.

Night wrapped in silence
not a single soul in sight
but the wind's moaning